'This should have been the happiest day of my life.' Gail Thorn thought to herself as she sat with her father in the back seat of the black limo. Gail had plan for this day for months, maybe even years, and now that the big day was here, the feelings that she thought would magically appear, had not. The wedding of Larry Chandler and Gail Thorn was to be the wedding of the social season. The coming together of two such powerful families had been well planned out even before the birth of the bride and groom.
The father of the bride John Thorn wasn't really jumping for joy that his little girl was about to become a bride. The man that she was about to marry was only half the problem. The other half was a bit more complex. He had enjoyed six years with her. She had become everything to him. Gail Thorn was so much more than a daughter to John, she was the love of his life. And the thought of sharing her with another man nearly drove him insane.
They rode in silence, both knowing what the other wanted to say, but they dear not speak their truth, for it would break whatever resolve they had left. But they knew this day had to come. Someone had to protect their family, and the secret they held. It would be Gail who would make the sacrifice for their family, and for their love.
Gail knew just how her father felt about this marriage, he hated the very idea of his daughter being in another man's bed. She had been his for six years, and when he thought of his soon to be son-in law's hands touching what has been his for so long, it made the man's blood boil with the kind of fury that was best reserve for murder.
''Dad please don't look at me that way.'' She said as she fiddled with her hair. The sadness in her lovely green eyes spoke of just how fur she would go to protect them.
''How do you want me to look at you Gail? This is so wrong, and you know it. Please honey, you don't have to do this. You say the word and we can turn this limo around and head straight for the airport, and we can be on the next plane to where ever you want to go. But please baby don't do this. Don't make me walk you down that aisle and watch you marry another man, when we both know that you belong to me.'' John pleaded.
She saw the love in his eyes. It was the love that has always been there for her. Gail also saw great sadness in them as well. However, he was wrong, because it was too late. There was already talk and whispering going on behind their backs. People wondering what the true nature of their relationship was. During their six year affair they had to be so careful as not to raise questions about their relationship. After all John Thorn was a young handsome wealthy widower, who could have any woman he wanted. But there he was night after night, and year after year at home alone with a growing daughter as his only companion.
However, there were questions, questions that have lead them to this moment in time where it felt like they were about to lose everything.
''Dad, you know why I have to do this. You know that it has nothing to do with me being in love with him. I am getting married today because I have to protect us dad. If word ever got out about us, you would go to jail. And with Aunt Mary and Aunt Pearl sniffing around, well who knows what could happen. Look daddy my plan is going to work. I will marry Larry today and pretend to be the happy bride who is so much in love with her new husband that she can't see straight. But you and I will know the truth. I love you daddy.''
John caressed her cheek with the palm of his hand. Deep down he knew she was right. But when he thought of her giving her body to another man, something that only he had had for nearly seven year, well the very idea of it could drive him insane.
She loved his touch, and how it always made her feel inside. She looked so beautiful in her white satin wedding dress. Her father could not take his eyes off her. In his eyes there could never be another woman that could ever hold his heart the way she has. Looking at her right at that moment he could barely believe how fast the years have gone by. She has always been the apple of his eye, daddy's perfect little girl. She has had his heart from the very moment that he first laid eyes on her. Only a few minutes old and she had already had him wrapped around her tiny finger. There were no words that could match the pride and the love that he felt for her. She had gone from his sweet baby girl, to his teenage lover, and now she was a young woman about to be married in order to protect their family.
They had only minutes to express their feelings for one another. With the planning of her wedding Gail had not had the time to spend with her father like she had wanted to. She had moved in with Larry two months before their wedding day. The night before she moved out was the last time they had made love.
She had longed for his touch, to feel him inside her one last time was something that she just could not pass up. Gail reached for the car phone, and when Tommy answered; she asked him how long would it be before they arrived at the church. Tommy said that it would take less than five minutes. She looked back at her father and saw the faint look of hope in his eyes, and she knew that she could not marry another man without letting the only man that she has ever loved know that he will always have her heart.
She give the driver instruction to take a detour, that they need at least another half hour foe themselves. Tommy follows the orders of his boss's daughter. He has been driving for Mr. Thorn and his daughter for nearly five years, and outside of the two people in the back seat of that limo, it is Tommy who knows the true nature of their father daughter bond.
