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There’s no way to say it without telling the hard, gut-wrenching, beautiful truth.

Darlene Moriarity is dying. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe the next day or the day after.

But before the 48-year-old Tehachapi woman succumbs to the cancer that has metastasized in her liver, Moriarity has something she must do.

“I want so much to be married to the man I love,” she said Thursday, her voice weak, but her resolve unmistakable.

So on Saturday, surrounded by a small contingent of friends and family at her home in Stallion Springs, Darlene Moriarity and Scott Slota will exchange gold rings and promise to love each other until death and beyond.

The groom spent the past month at the Stallion Springs condo taking care of his fiancee’s every need, said Geneva Dassa, one of Moriarity’s “two best friends.” But he had to return to his home in Florida a few days ago for business reasons.

The plan was for Slota to return in time for a Friday wedding, but he was caught up in a search for a “trillion cut” diamond ring — Darlene’s favorite — and missed his flight.

He was expected back late Friday night, in time for today’s ceremony.

“Their love for each other,” Dassa said. “It’s a beautiful thing.”

The couple met some eight years ago through the Internet. Darlene was living in Southern California, Scott in south Florida. Several months later, Darlene moved to Florida to be close to Scott.

“They didn’t want to live together before marriage,” said Darlene’s other best friend, Shelly Johnson, so Darlene moved into her own place.

Time passed. Darlene became ill, and her life was dominated by chemotherapy, surgery, hope and relapse.

“After the first surgery, doctors told her she was one of the lucky ones,” Johnson recalled. But luck was not in the cards.

Darlene moved west to be close to family and friends who could help take care of her. Scott had to remain behind to keep his marketing business going.

Moriarity knows today’s wedding can never grow into a long marriage, but she believes the promises of love repeated here on earth can live on through eternity.

She even asked her close friends and family to be baptized so she could feel sure that all of them could some day be together again.

“I was baptized as a child,” Dassa said. “But I did it again for her.”

The Rev. Wayne Meade, chaplain at Hoffmann Hospice, will officiate the wedding. But more than that, he will be present as someone who has come to know Darlene and Scott at a time when there is no hiding from the larger meaning of their lives.

Exchanging wedding vows at a time like this may seem unrealistic to some, Meade said.

“But I sense a love between these two,” he said. “It just radiates.”

Darlene is a beautiful woman, but the disease has altered her appearance, Meade said.

“She was afraid she wouldn’t look pretty at her wedding,” he said. “I told her there’s no such thing as an ugly bride — and it’s the beauty below the surface that really counts.”

Meade estimates he has been involved with more than 500 hospice patients since he became the spiritual counselor at Hoffmann more than three years ago.

And he has seen terminal patients tenaciously hang on to life until they were able to complete one final task, one last wish.

That’s what he believes Moriarity is doing.

“The last thing on Darlene’s agenda,” Meade said, “is to be a married woman.”

-- BY STEVEN MAYER, Californian staff writer