Bus Driver Changes Route to Get Bride to Wedding, Soon Ends Up in Groom's Place — Story of the Day

A kind bus driver is shocked when he encounters a bride stuck in the rain, but he doesn't hesitate to help her reach her wedding on time. Little does he know that his kind deed will have a huge impact on the rest of his life.

Fat raindrops pelted the windscreen as Bob pulled his bus to the stop. The weather had been miserable all day. When Bob opened the doors, he wasn't surprised to see nobody waiting to board.

He had no passengers either. Hardly anyone had ventured outdoors today unless they had to. The few passengers he'd had on board had gotten off at his previous stop.

Bob sighed. This was his last stop for the day. He'd considered skipping it to clock out early, but he knew his job was important. Many people relied on buses, and he wanted to avoid depriving anyone of his services on a rainy day.

"Time to go home then," Bob muttered to himself.

He was pulling away when a woman in a voluminous white dress rounded the corner. She held her skirts in her hands and had an umbrella tucked awkwardly under one arm.

An older man in a suit followed on the woman's heels. He waved and started shouting when he saw the bus.

Bob stopped and opened his doors. The pair rushed up to the bus. Once inside, Bob noted the beadwork and lace on the woman's dress and gaped. It was a wedding dress!

"Thank you for stopping, sir," the bride exclaimed.

"The vintage car I hired for my wedding day broke down en route to the church."

"Which church were you headed to?" Bob asked.

She said the name of the church and asked if Bob had a stop nearby.

Bob shook his head. "Not under usual circumstances, but I don't have any other passengers right now so I'll take you there."

"You're so kind, thank you!"

Bob smiled. The woman's clear green eyes reminded him of his daughter, and he knew he'd want someone to help her if she was in need.

Every day, the memory of the warm feeling Marjorie had awoken in him tormented Bob. Her smile and her kind eyes haunted him.

"I can't let you walk through the rain in your wedding dress, miss," he replied. "Every bride deserves the best on their special day."

The bride and the older man accompanying her sat, and Bob drove away. It was times like these that made him love his job. There was nothing more satisfying than being able to help others.

Bob pulled up right outside the church. The bride and her companion thanked him for his help.

"I'd love it if you came in, even if only for a few minutes," the bride said.

Bob agreed. His shift was over, and he wanted to see the young lady he'd helped get married. He entered the church and sat beside a woman with beautiful red hair and green eyes.

"Did you see the bride when you came in?" the woman asked, her brow creased in worry.

"I did," Bob said.

"I brought her here, in fact. Their car broke down on the way to the church."

The woman pressed a hand to her chest and sighed with relief. "That's why they weren't here yet! I've been so worried."

The wedding march sounded through the speakers then, and everyone turned.

The bride beamed as the older man who'd accompanied her on the bus guided her down the aisle. She gave Bob an extra bright smile when she reached him and nodded to the woman beside him.

The woman sniffed. "She looks so beautiful."

Bob turned to the woman beside him. The light cast a gentle glow over her face, making her appear angelic. She was far more beautiful than the bride, Bob thought.

"I'm Bob." He held out his hand to her.

"I'm Marjorie," she replied.

The ceremony started then, and everyone fell silent. Bob tried to focus but was distracted by the woman beside him. Every time she shifted in her seat, Bob caught a fresh whiff of the intoxicating jasmine scent of her perfume.

When she leaned in towards him, Bob felt all his blood rush to his face.

"Thank you so much for getting Carol to the church on time."

Marjorie glanced at his uniform. "You're a bus driver?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"It must've been very peculiar for you to see a woman in her wedding dress waiting at your stop." Marjorie chuckled. "I bet that's not something you see every day."

"Definitely not." Bob grinned at her. "And I almost didn't stop there, what with the weather being so terrible today. Not many people have been out in this rain."

"I love the rain." Marjorie smiled so brightly it brought a twinkle to her eye. "We don't see much of it back where I come from. I know it's inconvenient for some, but rain is a gift."

"I suppose it is."

"You know, I had my doubts about that old car from the beginning." Marjorie put her hand over his. "I'm very grateful you did make that stop. I hate to think how things might've turned out for Carol if you hadn't been there."

"I'm glad I stopped there too," Bob replied. "It was good of Carol to invite me in to see her wedding."

"I would've been very surprised if she hadn't after what you did for her," Marjorie said.

"Carol has a good heart and good manners to go with it. You clearly have a good heart too, Bob."

The compliment and the gentle look Marjorie gave him made Bob's heart beat faster. As he looked at her, Bob realized something impossible: he was falling in love.

Something about Marjorie had awoken feelings that had long lain dormant inside him. Maybe it was the way she smiled or the softness of her gaze.

Bob didn't understand it, but he felt then that everything that had happened that afternoon had led him here to meet this woman.

The entire congregation stood then to applaud the young couple. Soon, everyone was milling about as the ceremony ended. Bob turned to Marjorie, determined to ask for her number.

"Marjorie!" An older woman approached. "Congratulations. You must be so proud to see your daughter married to such a lovely man."

"I am. I know Carol and Michael are going to be very happy together."

Was Marjorie Carol's mother? But didn't that mean she was married to the man who walked Carol down the aisle?

Disbelief washed over Bob, leaving him feeling confused and uncertain. He glanced at the wedding guests surrounding him and noticed Carol's father coming his way.

Bob couldn't face the man. He slipped from the church and ran through the rain to his bus. He was drenched when he sat down and couldn't help feeling that the weather was a perfect mirror to the pain in his heart.

Days passed, and Bob tried his best to forget about Marjorie. He told himself repeatedly that he was silly to feel such strong emotions for a woman he barely knew. He reminded himself that he could never pursue a married woman and probably didn't stand a chance anyway.

Unfortunately, this didn't work. Every day, the memory of the warm feeling Marjorie had awoken in him tormented Bob. Her smile and her kind eyes haunted him.

While driving from one stop to the next, Bob imagined what his life might be like with Marjorie in it. He pictured himself coming home daily to her loving gaze and smelling her sweet perfume every time he embraced her.

Sometimes, he regretted not asking for her number. After all, he didn't know that she was happily married. His thoughts would spiral into scenarios where Marjorie and her husband were separated or divorced, but these daydreams always left him feeling guilty.

Bob could never wish ill on somebody just because it would open a path to his own happiness. And yet, he couldn't stop feeling that he was meant to meet Marjorie that day, that a divine force had a hand in forcing Carol onto his bus.

The next day, Bob pulled up to the same stop where he'd seen Carol and her father in the rain. To his shock, Carol and Marjorie were waiting when he opened the doors.

"Hi!" Carol bounded up the stairs.

"I hope I'm not disrupting your job, but I didn't know any other way to find you. I owe you a huge thanks for saving my wedding day. If it weren't for you, I never would've made it to the church on time."

"You wouldn't have been presentable when you arrived either," Marjorie added. She shuffled in beside Carol and held out a gift to Bob. "This is for you."

Bob felt himself blush as he took the gift from Marjorie. Inside, he found a hand-knitted sweater.

"This is too kind," he said. "I can't accept it."

"You can and you will, Bob." Marjorie leaned over to fold her hand over his. "If it weren't for you, I would've had to disown my brother for making Carol late to her own wedding."

"You can't blame Uncle Jim for the car breaking down."

"I can blame him for not checking it over properly before loading you in it," Marjorie retorted.

"Your brother?" Bob asked. He turned to Carol. "The man who walked you down the aisle is your uncle?"

Carol nodded. "My dad passed away when I was in my teens." She put an arm around Marjorie. "It's just been Mom and I since then. I've tried telling her she should start dating again, but she always tells me—"

"Love will find you when you meet a true partner, and destiny will lead you to them when the time is right."

Marjorie looked straight at Bob when she spoke. His heart throbbed in his chest, and he felt lost within her tender gaze.

"And now I see that she's right," Carol said. "My mom was very disappointed you left the wedding so early, Bob. One of the reasons I brought her with me today to thank you is because you're all she's spoken about the last few days."

Bob stared at Carol in amazement. He couldn't believe his ears, but when he looked at Marjorie again, she was blushing.

"You don't have to be quite so straightforward, Carol," Marjorie muttered. "It would've sufficed to give me an opening to ask Bob for his number."

"But where's the fun in that?" Carol winked.

"I'm glad Carol told me that." Bob stood. "Marjorie, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since the wedding. I was going to ask for your number, but then I felt certain you must be married, so I didn't."

"Now, I wish I'd had the courage to speak to you then," Bob continued. "I would've saved myself a lot of agony. I won't make that same mistake twice."

Bob leaned over to speak into the loudspeaker. "I might not know you very well, Marjorie, but I feel even more certain now than I did before that we were meant for each other. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Marjorie and Carol both gasped.

"Yes!"

The passengers on the bus clapped and cheered. Bob embraced Marjorie and was sure that he was the happiest man in the whole world at that moment.

Bob and Marjorie enjoyed getting to know each other over the next few weeks. Every day they spent together affirmed what they already knew: they were perfect for each other.

When the big day finally came, Marjorie and Bob were married in the same church as Carol. As Bob watched Marjorie walk down the aisle toward him, he was struck again by the sequence of mishaps that had brought them together.

Bob had arranged a surprise for Marjorie to celebrate the odd happenstance behind their meeting. When they exited the church, one of his colleagues was waiting behind the wheel of Bob's bus. It had been decorated for the occasion with 'Just Married' signs and a string of cans.

Marjorie laughed with delight. The newlyweds and all their guests boarded the bus together and headed for the reception.

What can we learn from this story?

• Fight for the people you love. If Bob had the courage to ask Marjorie for her number at the wedding, he would've spared himself a lot of sadness wondering about her.
• Trust your feelings. Although it can seem illogical, there are times in life when the best way forward is to trust your gut instincts.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a man who confesses his love to a woman on the day she's marrying his brother.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.