Epilogue
The day for the wedding quickly arrived. On the day of the wedding rehearsal, Trixie got up early and headed into White Plains. She left a note for her parents letting them know where she was and that she wouldn’t be at the rehearsal. She parked her jeep at the hotel where she was going to stay and made her way down the main street looking at the different shop windows.
This is one way for me to stay out of the way with the wedding preparations, she thought brushing a stray strand of her hair out of her face. After all that has happened from when I returned home, I don’t feel right about being in the wedding party.
Trixie thought back to Brian coming home to Crabapple Farm. He looked tired, but was smiling. He walked over to her as soon as he saw her and pulled her into a tight hug. He thanked her several times for coming to find him.
She tried to brush it of, but knew he wasn’t going to make light of it. Honey had also thanked her and gave her a hug. Their gratitude made her feel worse for the way she had been behaving. She felt guilty. She knew how much she had hurt them because of her fighting with Jim. She felt that by staying out of the way, she wasn’t causing them anymore pain. She felt she didn’t deserve to be in the wedding party for what she had done. She planned to arrive at the church after the processional and watch them say their vows.
Now, it was just hours before the wedding and she was wandering down the street again. The drive was short and she knew she would get there just in time.
She was staring in a window when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning quickly, she saw Jim standing there. She looked at him. His hair moved slightly in the breeze. She saw he was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.
"What are you doing here?" Trixie asked.
"Probably the same thing as you."
"Well, enjoy yourself." Trixie turned back to the window.
"Trixie, we need to stop this."
She turned and looked at him letting out a breath. "Jim, I don’t want to get into this with you."
"I love you Trixie."
"We need to..." Trixie stopped. She wasn’t sure she heard him right. "What did you say?"
Jim stepped closer taking her hands in his. He touched her face with his right hand. "Trixie, I love you."
Trixie was stunned. She never expected Jim to have feelings for her after all these years. She knew her feelings for Jim were just as strong as the first day they met.
"Jim, I..."
"Shh," Jim said putting his fingers to her lips. "I don’t want you to say anything just yet." He moved his finger from his lips. "Over these past few days, I have done a lot of thinking. Most of it about you and me." He took a breath. "When you left for college, I was torn you weren’t going to join the rest of us. I expected you to do what Honey and Di did. It took me a long time to realize you could take care of yourself."
Jim squeezed her hand. "And you can. I’ve seen it first hand since the day we met. I’m sorry for the way I acted when you left for college. My fear of losing you got in the way and I did lose you. I thought it would be better if I pushed you away because I didn’t want to lose you."
"Jim."
"Let me finish."
Trixie nodded her head.
"I know there’s a lot of distance between us right now, but I’d like to start rebuilding what bridge." He lowered his voice. "Trixie, you are the morning, afternoon and night of my life. You made me start trusting again. I can’t picture my life without you in it. I love you Trixie."
She stared at him. She never expected Jim to say those words to her again. Trixie took a breath. "Thank you for saying that." She looked him in the eye. "I love you too."
He leaned in and gave her a kiss. She pulled back a little. He asked, "What is it?"
"Jim, I’m glad we said this to each other, but we’re going too fast."
"Trixie, we’ve known each other for almost 10 years."
"I know that. But if we want this relationship to last, we need to go slowly."
"Like going out on dates and spending time together?"
"Exactly. We need to find out if there is still a relationship for us."
"I’m willing to try if you are," Jim said. "We have to try. I have missed seeing and talking with you these past five years."
"I’ve missed that too."
"So, what do we do now?"
"Why don’t we just walk and talk."
"May I hold your hand, Miss Belden?"
"Sure, Mr. Frayne."
They made their way down the street in silence, with a feeling of comfort washing over both of them. Trixie said, "I bet Moms and Dad had a fit yesterday when I didn’t show up at the rehearsal."
"They were probably just as livid as Mother and Dad."
Trixie looked quickly at Jim. "You didn’t go?"
"Why should I? Honey booted me from being the wedding. Besides, after everything that’s gone on this week, especially the way we were acting, I didn’t think it was right. We were unfair to them with our behavior and I thought it was best if I stayed out of it."
"I thought the same thing. It wouldn’t be right after all our fighting."
"Were you planning to go to the ceremony at all?" Jim asked.
"I was planning to slip in the church once the ceremony began. I can’t miss my brother’s wedding. I already missed one."
"I can’t miss my sister’s either," Jim said. "Well, since we are both going, would you care to sit with me?"
Trixie looked at Jim. She could see he was serious and willing to take their relationship slow.
"I would like that."
Jim looked at his watch. "We should probably get changed and get going if we intend to make it on time."
"Good idea."
Trixie and Jim slid into the last row of the church as the minister started the ceremony. They both felt it was the start of something wonderful, not only for their siblings, but for themselves as well.
The End