Chapter 19
The breeze smelled sweet of fresh grass and daffodils as it wafted through the church, caressing the faces of everyone waiting patiently for the arrival of the bride. Chris could almost feel the rotation of the Earth beneath his swaying body as he concentrated on staying upright.
No doubts or insecurities ever crossed his mind but the mere fact of standing in front of a group of people, publicly professing his love was tugging on his nerves.
His thoughts rummaged through the last year. One year ago, today, he arrived in this place. This place that he cursed God for sending him to, this place which was now his home, his world, his life. He felt embarrassed now for his original behavior and could not believe how long it took him to soak in the blessing but on the same hand could not believe what a short time he was able to turn his entire existence around.
He went through the journey in his mind. What exactly had changed him? The Browley family? The hard manual labor? Hanna? All true answers but he knew that with the Lords help and his willingness, it was not a change at all, it was within him the entire time. All of the ingredients of the time had made up the recipe to bring it out and he liked who he'd become.
He thrived on the fact that not only was he received better by other people, he himself preferred this person he'd become. This person who was able to love and accept love. This person who found the worth in hard work and life, in general. This person who was happy.
When the piano began to ring out glorious music, Chris knew the love of his life had arrived. He sharply exhaled with relief that she had come even though he hadn't realized the speck of doubt. Of all the things he'd imagined in his life that he could be, husband never seemed to cross his brain.
The wedding march began to sound as everyone he now held dear to his heart rose to their feet and turned their heads toward the door.
Light streamed in as they were opened, illuminating an angelic silhouette. Hanna stepped in wearing her mothers wedding dress and holding a bouquet of flowers.
“Daisies.” Chris gasped. “she remembered.” A tear welled up in his eye as he struggled to fight it back.
As Hanna glided down the isle, her stare locked onto his, the crowd seemed to fade away. All the guests but one. Chris briefly took his eyes off of his bride and glanced over her right shoulder to the back of the church. Grandma.
The old woman lifted her hand to her lips, gave it a gentle kiss and blew it toward Chris. She took the corner of a hanky she held in her other hand and dabbed the side of her eye. ‘I am so proud of you’. Her lips said with no sound.
Chris smiled warmly at her, then turned his attention back to Hanna.
“I wanted to bring your grandma to our wedding.” Hanna explained, clutching the daisies next to her heart.
“She’s already here.” Chris whispered looking out to the back of the church which now stood empty. “I know she’s already here.”
“Dearly beloved..” Pastor Walling began. “We have gathered here today to join this man, Christopher James Scholt and this woman, Hanna Grace Browley in holy matrimony.”
Chris faced Hanna and took her hands when the pastor opened his Bible.
“A man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. They shall love one another wholly and as 1 Corinthians 13 states.. Love that is patient and kind. Love that does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
Pastor Walling placed his hand over the couple’s joined hands. “Chris, will you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, til death parts you?”
“I will.” Chris responded without hesitation.
“Hanna, will you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, do you promise to honor and obey, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, til death parts you?”
Hanna’s eyes glistened as she looked up to Chris. “I will.” she stated in a soft voice.
“By the power vested in me by our wonderful Lord and Savior, I now pronounce you man and wife.” Pastor Walling announced in a boisterous voice, then lowered it to Chris. “You may now kiss your bride.”
Chris continued holding Hanna’s one hand, as his other came up to her face, lightly stroking her cheek. He leaned in and placed his lips gently onto hers. When he retreated, he knew he now gazed into the eyes of his wife. Hanna, his wife.
The piano began playing again as Chris and Hanna locked arms and walked down the isle together. When they reached the door they heard the pastor making an announcement.
“There will be a picnic lunch on the church lawn immediately following, courtesy of Mrs. Browley, Mrs. Moyor and miss Emma May. Tonight, there will be a social and dance at the Scholt farm. Now, let us all congratulate the couple.” He stated raising his arms up to excuse the Browley family.
One by one, the town filed out of the pews and made their way to the back of the church to offer their words.
“I’m so happy for you both.” Mrs. Moyor exclaimed, handkerchief in hand. Her husband, rushing her from behind, shook Chris’ hand and gave Hanna a quick squeeze.
“Well, ya did it son. Ya sure nabbed yurself a mighty fine wife.” Mr. Kinsley said to Chris as he gave Hanna a kiss on the hand.
“I’m so glad I was able to be here for your big day, my dear.” Ms. Rougen stated to Hanna. “I know you’ll make a wonderful teacher and an even more wonderful wife. I wish I could be here to watch your family grow as I have watched you grow into a superb young lady.”
“Oh, Ms. Rougen, thank you.” Hanna’s voice cracked a little. “When are you planning to leave? You will make the party tonight, won’t you?”
“Don’t you worry, my dear. I will be at the party. I’m not due to depart until Tuesday, next.” She gave Hanna a wink, then moved the line along.
Chris looked down the line to see half the town still waiting to extend their congratulations. It was a wonderfully overwhelming feeling until his eyes reached the end of the line. Chris gulped. Cale Edmund. He had a lot of nerve showing his face at the wedding if he only planned to start trouble. He had shown up to the barn and house raising and though a little awkward, nothing trivial had happened. He was last in line, however. Everyone else had already made their way out to the picnic.
“Cale.” Hanna stated first.
“Hello Hanna.” He answered. “Hello Chris.” he then said, taking Chris aback. “I wanted to be last in line on purpose...”
Chris’ stomach tightened. ‘How dare he come to our wedding to cause problems!’ He thought as he felt his body heat up.
“I wanted to not only congratulate the both of you but to extend my deepest apologies for how things happened at the harvest dance. I have had a lot of time to think about it and even though the rejection hurt me terribly, I realized that it hurt worse not having you as a friend at all.” He turned solemnly to Hanna. “One of my duties as a best friend is to see you happy and I see that you are, so I am happy for you... both.” he then turned to Chris and offered him a nod.
Cale extended his hand to Chris, giving him a hearty shake. He took Hanna’s hand and kissed her on the cheek. With no further words, he exited the church leaving the two of them in silence.
“Now, that’s the Cale I know.” Hanna finally exclaimed as a single tear ran down her face. Chris brushed it away with his finger and took her into an embrace.
“I love you, Hanna. I am the luckiest man in the world to have you.” Chris stated looking deep into her eyes. He dipped her slightly and gave her a tender kiss.
“Alright you two love birds.” Mrs. Browley stated from outside
the church. “time to join your party.”
“To tell you the truth, my lad. I had my doubts about you when you first arrived here.” Pastor Walling admitted to Chris that night at the dance. “I sure was nervous about your adjusting to things around here.”
“I had my doubts as well. I never expected things to turn out the way they have. I feel blessed.” Chris responded appreciatively.
“I trust God with all of my heart and lean not on my own understanding, just as it tells us in Proverbs 3.” Pastor Walling continued. “I knew he’d lead you where you needed to be. I saw you grow from an immature child to an upstanding young man. The entire town is proud of you.”
Chris tried to hide his embarrassment but could feel his cheeks glowing. “Thank you, sir.”
“You did alright, adjusting I mean. Especially not being from our time.” The pastor gave a quick wink to Chris, patted him on the shoulder and walked off.
Chris stood there, wide eyed and mouth gaped. What had the pastor meant by that? Did he know something? How could he? Chris felt a tight sensation of embarrassment but couldn’t help but to feel relieved that someone may actually know and possibly understand his situation. Perhaps it could have been some 1800’s lingo that he was not aware of but what else could it have possibly meant?
He followed the pastor with his eyes, watching him talking with the other guests. His curiosity consumed him to where he didn’t care if he sounded crazy or not, he needed to know what the pastor was talking about. He took one step forward.
“There you are.” Hanna’s voice sang in his ear.
He whipped around to see her standing behind him. “My husband.” she said wrapping her arms around him. He accepted her embrace and for that moment, every question and concern wafted from his head. He was in the arms of the one he loved, nothing else mattered.
“Attention everyone.” Mr. Browley rang out. The chatter of the room slowly ceased as all eyes turned to him. “I’m so glad you all could come to celebrate the marriage of our very own, Hanna and Chris, this evening. Before we begin the music and bring out the food, I wanted to say a few words.”
Mr. Browley turned to Hanna and Chris. “I just want to say, that I am so grateful that Chris has come into our lives. Believe me, I wondered what I was getting myself into the first time I met this young man, but he has certainly proven himself with my farm, my family, our daughter and all of our hearts. Welcome to the family, officially, son.” He nodded to Chris who returned the gesture. “and to my lovely daughter. A wife, a teacher and a fine young woman. I could not be prouder than I am today and I know I speak for your mother as well when I say, we know you will continue to make us proud.”
Hanna’s eyes escaped a tear as she tried to control her sniffles. Chris wrapped his arm around her and gave her a comforting squeeze.
“Hear, hear... to the bride and groom!” someone from the crowd shouted out. “To the bride and groom.” everyone else echoed.
“Now let the celebration begin.”
The night began with a special song, danced only by Hanna and Chris. They felt every eye burrowing into them as they swayed in the middle of the circle. Hanna pulled her head back to look into Chris’ face. “I could not have asked for a more perfect day, with the most perfect man.” she said, resting her head back onto his shoulder.
Chris smiled warmly but quickly allowed it to fade away. He felt the same about her. What the pastor had said to him before, however, brought back a flood of wonder. How did he get here? Was he going to be sent back? Had he lied to Hanna about his past, deceived her? He suddenly felt that the secret he kept should have been revealed before the wedding. He didn’t want to risk losing Hanna, but it would have been fair for her to know the truth beforehand so she would have been given the chance to make up her own mind about who Chris really was... or used to be. Would it have mattered to her?
Chris was terrified to find out. Even if it would have been okay with her before the wedding, will it make a difference to tell her now? Would she be more upset that he waited? So many wonderings, so many questions. A clean slate was what this marriage deserved.
Late that night, Chris and Hanna sat in their matching rocking chairs in front of the dwindling fire.
“It’s so nice to be home, finally.” Hanna stated.
“It’s nice to have you here. I was getting rather lonely staying here all by myself. It’s nice to have someone to share it with.” Chris replied.
‘There are so many things I want to share with you, Hanna.’ Chris thought, remembering the argument within himself that had consumed his brain earlier. To tell her or not to tell her?
He felt he had everything else in Hanna that he could ever ask for. He wanted her opinion, her insight, her support about his travel. He wanted to confess about his childhood, his teenage years and even about the criminal activity he was involved with. He did not want her to fear him, he did not want her to lose respect for him but he wanted her to truly see how far he’d actually come. How far he had traveled, not only through time but also within his soul.
She would understand. She loved him and she had one of the most outgoing but gentle spirits he’d ever known.
‘How to begin...’ he thought. ‘Hanna, I’m actually from the future? I come to you from the year 1998? I used to be in a gang, lived 18 months in prison, fell asleep in an alley and traveled 130 years back in time, overnight?’ There was no easy way to begin this. Going over the possibilities in his mind made him even more terrified, but he had to do it.
“Hanna?” he squeaked out.
“Yes, Christopher.” she replied, leaning her head back then turning it ever so slightly toward him.
All the words that had just gone through his brain suddenly jumped out of sentence, bounced out of sense. He couldn’t understand what the first word could possibly be. He panicked to the point of dead silence.
After several seconds of deafening quiet, Hanna giggled. “Come on, let’s go to bed.”
She rose from her chair and extended a hand out to him. He grasped it and followed her into the bedroom. His eyes widened when he realized what tonight was. Their wedding night. He had been so preoccupied with his thoughts, it had not crossed his mind.
In the dark and in the silence, they awkwardly undressed and slipped into the bed. Even with the heavy quilt laying on top, the bed was quite chilly.
They moved their bodies closer for warmth as tingles covered Chris’ body when their skin touched. He loved this woman more than he’d ever loved anything or anyone else before. How could he tell such things, now? How could he not?
“Hanna?” he whispered.
“yes, husband.” she whispered back.
“I... uh.. just wanted to tell you... I could not have asked for a more perfect day, with the most perfect woman.”
He wrapped his arms around his lovely wife taking in the warmth of her breath and kissed her deeply.