Free The Trouble with Tulip by Mindy Starns Clark

life together.
    â€œHere we go,” her mother whispered when it was her turn to head down the aisle. After that went the bridesmaids. Jo watched them slowly make their way to the front as Danny took each photo in turn.
    He was so utterly adorable in his tuxedo—and so completely clueless as to his own adorableness. Jo treasured him in a way that was different from how she felt about anyone else in the world. That’s why it was so difficult for her to hear his objections to her marriage.
    Jo watched the flash of his camera, forming a final response in her mind.
So what if Bradford and I rushed into things? After today we will be husband and wife. And then we can spend the rest of our lives together, learning everything there is to know
.
    The music changed and the congregation stood and turned.
    â€œWe’re on,” Kent said softly.
    Together they walked down the aisle toward Jo’s future.
    Bradford was standing tall at the front of the room, looking more handsome than any movie star. From his precisely cut blond hair to his tan skin and square jaw, he really did look as though he could have stepped straight from the big screen. As she walked forward, Jo studied his face and tried to lock onto his gaze, but he wouldn’t quite meet her eyes.
    The moment Jo reached the altar, she knew something was wrong. At first, she blamed it on the heat. The lights. The attention. Maybe Bradford wasn’t used to being up in front of a crowd, especially not in a tuxedo, about to be married, so it wasn’t terribly surprising that his eyes were darting about, his skin pale. But as Jo’s father gave her away and she stepped into place beside the man who was about to become her husband, she couldn’t help thinking it was more than that, that Bradford looked as if he were ready to faint.
    Jo could see the sweat on his forehead, the shaking of his hands, the panic in his eyes. Briefly, she considered stopping the ceremony to ask if he needed a glass of water or to sit down and put his head between his legs.
Maybe a whiff of camphor on a cotton ball or a cool compress to the pulse points at his wrists would do the trick
, she thought, remembering one of her past columns, “Tips for Conquering Stage Fright.”
    â€œDearly beloved,” the minister said, snapping Jo from her thoughts. “We are gathered here today to unite this man and this woman in holy matrimony.”
    The minister opened the ceremony with a few words of greeting and then a prayer. Jo closed her eyes for the prayer, asking God to calm the heart of the man beside her.
    Still, she could practically feel the tension radiating from Bradford. He was breathing heavily, little huffs that kept getting stuck in his throat. She opened one eye to steal a glance at his face, half expecting him to be crying. But, no, he was just standing there with his head bowed and his eyes closed, his lips puffing together, opening and closing, like a fish. Were he not such an incredibly handsome man, the mannerism would have looked ridiculous. As it was, Jo couldn’t help thinking how very much she wanted to comfort him. He needed to relax and enjoy the ceremony.
    She reached out to slip a calming hand into the crook of Bradford’s elbow, but as she touched him he jerked away, almost as if he had been electrocuted. Jo quickly retreated, placing her hand back on the stem of her bouquet and feeling her face flush with heat. As the prayer ended, she kept her eyes on the minister, blinking back tears. While he proceeded with the ceremony, Jo could hear Bradford softly clear his throat repeatedly, his breathing even more rapid than before.
    Deep in her heart, then, she wasn’t really surprised when everything fell apart. They were at the point in the ceremony where the minister asked Bradford if he took this woman to be his lawfully wedded wife. Bradford hesitated in his answer long enough to earn gasps from some of the bridesmaids.
    â€œDo