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Chapter 1
Serena

Serena was forty, had never been married, and was lonelier than she’d ever been in her life.

And she knew why.

It was because she still hadn’t found her soul mate—if there was such a thing—and the fact that she had just learned three days ago that her so-called significant other, Tim, was sleeping with another woman. Which might not have been so surprising had Tim not been claiming for months—nearly a year, to be exact—that he loved her and that she was everything any man could want in a woman. Although now, as Serena thought back on their overall relationship, she couldn’t deny how obsessive and protective he had been when it came to his smartphone. He’d almost always kept it on silent, claiming that he didn’t want a single thing to interrupt the quality time they spent together, and he also rarely checked his phone in front of her for missed calls or text messages. Worse, there had been a few times when Serena had traveled to out-of-town speaking engagements, and she hadn’t been able to get in touch with him at all. But then, like clockwork, he would finally call her back the next morning, waking her up and apologizing for dropping off to sleep a lot earlier than usual or for not seeing that she had called him until at that very moment.

Serena had, of course, been suspicious, the same as she had been of every man she’d dated, but this time around, she had tried to be more trusting. She’d told herself that being paranoid, skeptical, and insecure wasn’t good, and that maybe Tim really did love her as much as he said he did. She had also decided that he didn’t seem like the kind of man who would be unfaithful, not with his regularly talking about his belief in God and the fact that he seemed to have a huge amount of respect for her and her decision to remain celibate.

Of course, this hadn’t always been Serena’s normal way of thinking, but then a couple of years ago, she had begun making her relationship with God a much bigger priority in her life. Then, after she and one of her best friends, Michelle, had attended this amazing Christian women’s conference, they’d both decided they would no longer have sex outside of marriage. They’d talked about it for two days, both by phone and in person, and what had truly sealed the deal for them was when the keynote speaker had said, “When you have sex with someone, you willingly give them a part of your soul that you can never get back. So why not wait for the one man who genuinely loves you and who wants to spend the rest of his life with you?”

But again, Serena had thought Tim was fine with her celibacy decision and that they were good. That is, until his other woman had obviously found out about Serena and had decided to record the audio of Tim and her having sex, and then had sent the file to Serena’s website email address. At first, Serena had wondered how the woman had even known who she was. But it wasn’t as though Mitchell, Illinois, was some huge metropolitan city, and for all Serena knew, this other woman could have seen her and Tim out on one of their many dates. It also wasn’t as though most people in the city didn’t know who Serena was, what with her having a popular lifestyle blog and being a nationally known speaker.

Serena dropped down onto her navy blue leather sofa, leaned back into the corner of it, pulled her knees up close to her body, and rested her elbows against the tops of her thighs. She pulled her ponytail around and onto her left shoulder, and without warning, tears flowed down her high cheekbones. She was so unhappy, and the more she mentally replayed that raunchy, Xrated audio recording and tossed one awful thought through her mind after another, she wondered what was wrong with her and why after all these years of dating—one man after another—she hadn’t so much as been engaged before. In fact, no one had ever even asked for her hand in marriage—that is, unless you counted that time when one of her former high school classmates had seen her dining at a restaurant, and out of nowhere, declared how much he had secretly always loved her, how he had never stopped loving her, and that if she would have him, he would marry her anytime she wanted. Serena had been stunned, to say the least, and while she hadn’t wanted to hurt his feelings, all she’d been able to think about was how not only did she barely remember him, he also wasn’t her type. Not even close.

And the even bigger truth? She could tell he didn’t earn at least a six-figure salary.

But there was something else that had bothered her, too: the grayish-blue short-sleeved maintenance shirt he’d worn. Not to mention the fact that the name of the plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning company he worked for had been stitched on the upper left-hand side of it. His working attire had told Serena everything she’d needed to know, and since she had hired that very company in the past for some of her own heating issues, she’d known her former classmate wasn’t the owner of it.

And yes, she also knew that success and wealth didn’t mean everything, but she had decided a long time ago, back when she’d been a small girl, that once she became an adult, she would live a completely different kind of life in comparison to the horrible one she’d been forced to endure while growing up. If she could help it, she would totally forget about her penniless, project-housing upbringing. She would forget about the fact that she and her younger sister, Diane, had sometimes gone to bed starving…as well as about being forced to wear secondhand clothing, all of which the other children at school had ridiculed Serena about daily. Of course, this latter part hadn’t been something Diane could relate to because unlike Serena’s deadbeat father, whom Serena still had never met, Diane’s father had taken her school shopping at the start of every school year. He’d gifted her with some of the best clothing money could buy, and then he would give Diane even more clothing at Christmastime. And if that hadn’t already been enough, he also made sure to buy Diane a whole new summer wardrobe at the end of every school year.

But as much as Serena had tried with all her might, for years, to forget about her unfortunate and unfair childhood, she hadn’t. And as much as she hated to admit it, deep down, she still resented her sister for having a much better father than she’d had—a father who had loved and adored her, spent time with her one to two weekends every month, and who had willingly made his child support payments on time, without fail. Serena knew that her mother’s choice to date and sleep with Diane’s father—a much more responsible man than Serena’s father—wasn’t her sister’s fault, but what Serena hadn’t been able to deal with was the pathetic way Diane had always bragged about everything. From having the better father to receiving all the beautiful clothing to all the summer vacations her father took her on annually, Diane had bragged, bragged, and bragged some more, and Serena had never truly gotten over it or forgiven her sister.

So no, Serena couldn’t and wouldn’t settle for just any man, and if she could help it, she would, with no exceptions, marry the man of her dreams. A man who was well-educated and one who could financially bring to the table as much as she did. In particular, a man like Tim, who was chief financial officer for a large insurance company. And if God answered all Serena’s prayers, her future husband would ultimately be able to provide her with a whole lot more than that, and the beautiful son or daughter they would have would experience a much better childhood than she had—a son or daughter Serena would need to have very soon, because her biological clock was now ticking pretty loudly.

More than anything, though, Serena wanted to live the absolute best life she could, and she wanted to begin doing so, much sooner rather than later. Although, she couldn’t deny that whenever one of her three best friends, Michelle, Kenya, or Lynette, brought up the subject of marriage, she pretended that marriage couldn’t have been further from her mind. Why? Because she didn’t want any of them to know just how unhappy she was being single. Especially since Serena knew a good number of women who preferred being single and that many of them were happily living their lives to the fullest.

And there was another reason, too, why Serena didn’t let on to her friends about how much she wanted to be married: all three of them thought her standards were set way too high and that, on too many occasions, she had overlooked some of the kindest, caring, and most respectable men around. Men who had been very interested in Serena, yet Serena had still either turned them down the very moment they asked her out on a date Or if she did agree to date them, she would do so only one or two times and then basically—according to her friends—dump them as quickly as possible.

But the thing was, it was all because Serena knew what she wanted, and this was also the reason that she was willing to wait for as long as she had to—even if it meant spending another holiday all alone and in tears, the way she was doing now on Memorial Day. Her sister had invited her over to celebrate at her house, but to be honest, Serena didn’t feel like being around Diane and her boyfriend—two lovebirds who acted as though they were young teenagers who had just fallen in love for the very first time. Actually, Serena didn’t care to be around her sister on any day, let alone a holiday, but still, today it was mostly because of the whole lovebirds thing. Serena had also declined cookout invitations from Michelle, who was happily engaged, and Kenya, who was happily married. And the only reason she wasn’t getting together with Lynette, who was happily divorced, was because Lynette and her two teenage girls were away visiting Lynette’s parents in Mississippi.

The more she thought about it, though, it was so amazing how Serena, Lynette, Kenya, and Michelle had met at church when they were small children, became best friends, and remained best friends for more than three decades, yet they still led very different lives. But in many ways, they were also very much alike. For example, they had all turned forty this year— Serena and Michelle in January and Kenya and Lynette earlier this month; they all shared very similar Christian, family, and moral values; and with the exception of Lynette, who was a stayat-home mom, they all had great careers or owned their own businesses. But again, when it came to their relationship statuses, they couldn’t have been more different. Serena was single, Michelle was engaged, Kenya was married, and Lynette was divorced. Which just went to show that every human being had a very specific and preordained destiny. Still, being single at the age of forty was not the destiny Serena had been expecting or hoping for, and she prayed with everything in her that God had something much better planned for her future. Yes, He had blessed her with a wonderful college education and two degrees from Yale, as well as a wonderful purpose of writing and speaking, and she was grateful to Him for everything. But what she was also beginning to realize more and more was that success didn’t mean much of anything—that is, if you didn’t have someone to share it with.

Someone you loved.

Someone who loved you back.

Someone to take vows with.

Of course, it was true that Serena didn’t want just any man, but she also didn’t want to continue being alone. What she wanted was to be married. And while she knew there was no such thing as having a perfect marriage or a perfect relationship of any kind, she wanted to find the man who was perfect for her.

What she wanted was to get married and live as close to happily ever after as she could.

Chapter 2
Michelle

This was by far one of the best Memorial Days ever. The reason? Michelle was finally engaged, and in just over three short months, she and Dr. Christopher Blake III would become husband and wife. They would soon be joined by five hundred of their family members and friends, and they would be well on their way to creating a lifetime of wonderful memories. Needless to say, Michelle couldn’t be happier. Especially since God had blessed her with the opportunity to meet one of the best men she had ever known in her life. Yes, it didn’t hurt that he was one of the most knowledgeable cardiothoracic surgeons in the country, but more important, he was kind, loving, and compassionate, and he genuinely loved God. He also loved her, and he showed her just how much on a consistent basis. From flowers to chocolate-covered fruit to jewelry, he regularly showered her with gifts for no reason other than to let her know how special she was to him.

So yes, God had truly blessed her in more ways than she had even prayed for, and she was grateful. And while she, too, worked in the medical field, in her dream job as a geriatric nurse practitioner, that wasn’t how she and Chris had met. It had been her father, Larry, who had introduced them instead. Of course, in all honesty, Michelle shouldn’t have been surprised, what with her father’s and mother’s adamance toward Michelle meeting and marrying a man who came from a prominent family. So when Chris had hired on Michelle’s father to handle the entire negotiation process for the partnership offer he had received from his employer, Larry Jackson hadn’t hesitated mentioning his daughter to his new client. Then, as it had turned out, the more Larry had gotten to know Dr. Christopher Blake III, the more he had liked him and discovered that Christopher III was perfect for his only child. Lucinda, Michelle’s mom, who, like her husband, was a top attorney, had felt the same way, and the next thing Michelle had known, her parents had invited Chris over to their home for dinner. They’d also basically told Michelle what time she should be there, too.

This hadn’t been a surprise, though, because for years, Michelle’s parents had regularly tried playing matchmaker when it came to her love life, except none of the other men they’d set her up with in the past had been her type. They hadn’t as much as come close to choosing the right person for her, but she did have to admit that with Chris, they’d done exceptionally well, and she was grateful to them.

Michelle glanced over at her father, who was turning meat on the grill and laughing and talking with Chris and his dad, Christopher II. Then she walked closer to the patio table where her mom, Michelle’s future mother-in-law, Audrey—who had already become her mother-in-love—and Michelle’s Aunt Jill were sitting.

Michelle placed her hand at the top of her forehead, blocking out the bright, hot sunshine, and she was glad she’d gotten her hair cut in a super short but elegant hairstyle.

“Once Daddy finishes the last of the grilling, we should be good to go.”

“Well, I’m definitely ready,” Audrey said.

“I’m ready, too,” Aunt Jill agreed. “Usually when I cook a lot of food, I’m not hungry at all. You know, because of all the tasting that goes on. But I’m hungry today.”

All of the women laughed, and then Lucinda said, “I really appreciate all the work you put in for us, sis, because you know I’m certainly not the cook in our family.”

Aunt Jill chuckled again. “No, you’re definitely not, and you know I was glad to do it.”

Michelle smiled because for the first thirty years of her life, even though her parents had lived very well and resided in what most people would consider to be a mini-mansion, the three of them had celebrated nearly every single holiday at her Aunt Jill’s. Michelle had always been thrilled about it, though, because for one, Aunt Jill could cook absolutely anything, and two, while her house wasn’t all that spacious, she had a very special way of making everyone feel right at home. She was simply an amazing woman, and that was the reason that some of Michelle’s fondest memories included all the times they’d spent at her aunt’s home.

Now, though—at least for the past ten years, anyway, once Michelle’s parents had built and moved into their current home—Aunt Jill had begun spending the night with her sister and brother-in-law on the evening before any big holiday. That way, she could cook huge meals in their picturesque, custom-style gourmet kitchen. Aunt Jill loved everything about it, and she always seemed so happy when she was there in her element, doing her favorite thing, which was cooking for the family she loved. Especially since she didn’t have a husband or any children. Although, it wasn’t as if Michelle was complaining, because this was part of the reason that Michelle and her aunt were so close, and the reason Aunt Jill was more like a mother to her than an aunt.

Michelle saw her father removing more meat from the grill and placing it in a large tinfoil cooking pan. Then, Chris picked it up and headed across the multicolored rock-textured patio toward the house, and Michelle followed behind him so she could place the meat in the oven until the rest of it was done. But as soon as they walked inside and Michelle slid the patio door closed behind her, Chris set the pan of meat onto the granite-topped island and pulled her into his arms. “Have I told you how much I love you?”

Michelle crossed her arms behind his neck, smiling and admiring how handsome he was. “Not in the last few hours.”

“Well, I do. Baby, you’re my world, and I love you with all my heart. Now and always.”

“I love you, too, baby, and I thank God for you.”

“And I can’t wait to marry you. I can’t wait for you to become Mrs. Christopher Blake the Third.”

“Neither can I, and thankfully, we only have a little while to go.” Chris grinned at her.

“What?”

“It’s actually twelve weeks, five days, and a few hours from now.”

“Wow, talk about detailed.”

“Well, when you’ve waited for as long as I have, you can’t help but count down to the big day. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I am totally on board with you wanting to honor God. But I’m still human and I still want…more than anything…to make love to you.”

“I want the same thing, sweetheart,” she admitted. “Believe me, I do.”

“And I’ll tell you something else. It hasn’t been easy. Not with me loving you as much as I do. I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone, Michelle, and you mean everything to me.”

Tears filled Michelle’s eyes, and Chris kissed her with what seemed like more passion than he ever had, and she kissed him back with the same intensity. But when their kissing stirred up the kind of fiery feelings that made them both want to do so much more, Michelle pulled away.

And Chris sighed with frustration. “Like I said, this isn’t easy.”

“I know. But it’s like we just talked about, it won’t be long.” Chris shook his head and sighed all over again. “Well, right now, it feels like it’s going to be forever.”

For the next few minutes, Michelle and Chris laughed and chatted about the “wait,” the wedding, and their honeymoon in Jamaica. But soon after, Chris grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and went back outside to see if Michelle’s father had finished grilling. Michelle stayed behind, double-checking to make sure she had pulled out enough dipping spoons from one of the utensil drawers for the side dishes, but it wasn’t long before she thought about something she’d tried her best to not think about ever again: the chance meeting she’d had just a few days ago with her first love, Steven Price.

She had run into him at a grocery store, and while it had been years since the two of them had seen each other, their meeting had felt as though they’d never spent much time apart at all. They had seemingly picked up where they’d left off, and then once they had said their goodbyes and headed down the paper products aisle in separate directions, Michelle had glanced at her watch and seen that more than thirty minutes had passed by without her realizing it. She and Steven had chatted for much longer than they should have, and while Michelle couldn’t help feeling guilty about it, she had told herself that there was nothing wrong with catching up with an old friend. That there was nothing inappropriate about conversing with someone she had simply run into by coincidence—even if it was the former love of her life.

She had told herself, for what seemed like a thousand times…that there was also nothing left between her and Steven. Nothing at all. But no matter how hard she tried believing her own conviction, there was something else she just couldn’t get over.

And it worried her.

In truth, it terrified her because there was no denying it. She and Steven still had noticeable chemistry between them. And not just a little bit of chemistry, either. No, the chemistry they shared was strong, comfortable, and familiar, and although Michelle had tried her best to push everything about Steven completely out of her mind, she found herself thinking about him multiple times every single day. And checking his Facebook profile and postings…every single day. She even thought about what could have been had her parents not interfered in her and Steven’s relationship. Had they not believed Steven’s high school education and fast-food management position weren’t good enough for their only daughter. Had they not threatened to disown her…if she married the man she loved with her entire being.

Sadly, Michelle thought about a lot of other things, too, but more than anything else, she thought about the loving, compassionate, caring man who had just hugged and kissed her and confessed his undying love for her. She thought about the love she had for him, too, and how blessed she was to be marrying him. Which was the reason that from this moment on, she would focus on Chris and the incredible life they were going to have together instead of focusing on some previous relationship that had ended years ago.

She would become the best wife she could be to Chris, and she would forget about the fact that Steven and his wife were now divorced. She would also ignore something else that she had thought about every single day since running into Steven, which had everything to do with her feelings for Chris. Because while she certainly did love Chris, God forgive her, she wasn’t so sure she was in love with him. She even worried that maybe she never had been, and until now, she also hadn’t thought too much about the fact that there was a very big difference between loving someone and being in love with them. There was a huge difference indeed, and it was that part, in and of itself, that frightened Michelle the most.