Web of Dreams (Casteel 5)

truth about me. We've been living a lie all this time, and now she has taken me from him and brought me here to live with a man twenty years younger than she

is. More lies. Everything is lies, lies, lies!"

But like the coward I am I swallowed my

dream words. The power of the music, the lights, the

excitement and the sight of Tony standing so tall and

handsome at the altar with little Troy looking so

grown up and serious beside him stopped me. I felt

utterly caught up in this madness, tossed about by its

waves. I glanced at Grandma Jana sitting in the front

row and saw her nod and smile at me. Even she was

lost in the ceremony now. Events were flowing over

us. We couldn't hold them back.

Little Troy peeped out from behind Tony,

searching for me. When he saw me, he smiled and

waved. Tony looked down at him and he drew back

smartly. Then Momma took her place at the altar; the

music stopped, and the words began. My heart

pounded at the sound of them, especially the sound of

"To have and to hold from this day forward, for richer

or poorer, through sickness and in health, 'til death do

you part."

Momma had taken the same oath with Daddy

and it hadn't mattered a bit. What did it mean to say

those words, even before an altar? I studied Tony's face to see what was going on in his mind. Did he think the same thing I thought--she had said these words with another man and broken that oath? Did

she mean them now?

Tony gazed into Momma's eyes as she spoke.

He looked bewitched. In some subtle, mysterious

way, she'd managed to gather in his reins, and now

she was in complete control, I thought. He looked

ready to accept anything and say anything to have her.