LITMIR.BIZ

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gushed. He was cornered now, and he could tell Kelly knew it.

      “Pleeeeaaassseee?” both girls pleaded in a singsong chorus Bruce knew wouldn’t let up until he agreed.

      “I’d never hear the end of it if I said no,” he admitted. “So sure, why not?”

      “Hey, can Carly and her dad come to church with us? We’re frosting Valentine’s cookies at activity time. Miss Yvonne told me.”

      “Sometimes being friends with the town baker gets you inside information,” Kelly remarked with a grin. “Are you and Carly a churchgoing family?”

      Though he found the question a bit intrusive, Bruce appreciated that she referred to Carly and him as a family. They still were, if barely, but he’d noticed that people stopped using the noun once Sandy had passed, and that always bugged him. “We used to be.”

      She didn’t reply, but gave him the politely disappointed look he’d gotten from far too many members of the church he and Sandy used to attend. This woman was clearly pushy about more than just flowers.

      “Do you always evangelize people who’ve been in town less than half a day?” It came out sharper than it ought to have, but making peace with the God who’d let Sandy die was a mighty sore subject. People back in Kinston were so cloying about the way they tried to coax him back to church. Rather than supportive, Bruce found the sad sympathy and the trite assurances that Sandy was in “a better place” to be suffocating.

      “Hey,” she countered, “my daughter’s just inviting your daughter to something she thinks is fun. No agenda, no pressure. Just cookies.”

      Bruce put a hand up. “I admit, I’m a bit...defensive on the subject.”

      She cracked a smile and raised an eyebrow. “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

      He dug into his sundae for a moment, not sure how to smooth over the moment or even sure he wanted to.

      “I get it,” she said after a moment. “Everyone’s got an opinion on how you should behave, how you should heal, all that. Most people are trying to be helpful, but not always succeeding.”

      “No, not always.” Hardly ever.

      Kelly finished her milkshake with a long slurp. “Well, the offer stands. Church is at ten, just down that way.” She pointed down the street, and he could see a quaint white steeple sticking up from a line of trees. “Hopscotch begins at...let’s say one o’clock. Meet us at the flower shop just next door and we’ll walk to my house.” She looked up at the sky. “Tina and Darren wanted snow for the wedding. I think they’re going to get some.”

      Bruce had seen the forecast for the coming weekend. “Maybe more than some, huh?”

      Kelly’s face dropped. “Let’s hope not. Three or four inches of pretty fluffy snow is great—this place looks like a wonderland in a fresh snowfall. But a big storm...” She sighed, peering at the sky again. “Right now they’re saying the storm will stay west of us. But I expect I don’t need to tell a pilot that a million things could happen between now and Thursday when everyone’s arriving.” She stood and collected her bag. “You may be grateful you came in so early.”

      “Surely you all are used to substantial snowfalls. I mean, there’s a ski resort two towns over.” It shouldn’t be like his friends in Atlanta who could be blindsided by a snowstorm because they lacked the experience and equipment to deal with the snow-slicked roads and poor visibility.

      “We know what to do with snow,” she defended. “But when you add planes, deliveries, rental cars, travelers and nervous brides into the mix, you can imagine it gets a bit trickier. Your friend’s happiness aside, the valley’s got a lot riding on this wedding. I’d rather not have to pull it off in crisis-management mode.”

      Tina had said something about this place being relatively new at the wedding thing, but Bruce got the sense her tension came from a bit more than that. Her desire to make sure things went well stretched beyond integrity into something that smacked of seriously high stakes. There seemed to be more to this wedding than just a bride and groom saying “I do.”

       Chapter Three

      Jean Tyler clutched her ginger ale and gaped at Kelly. “Really? He used the word evangelize?”

      Kelly recalled Bruce’s sharp look. “Clearly I struck a nerve. I mean, I wouldn’t have extended the invitation for them to come to church, but it was Lulu inviting Carly. The two girls hit it off instantly.” Back when both women were single moms, coffee before church was a Sunday tradition for Kelly and Jean. Kelly resurrected the tradition before today’s service to talk over yesterday’s baffling events with the best man and his daughter the flower girl.

      “I wish I could be there to see if he shows.” Matrimony Valley’s pale mayor leaned back in her chair. “I wish I could be anywhere without feeling like I need an airsickness bag in my pocket.” She looked down at her bandaged ankle propped up on an ottoman. “I never thought I’d be thankful for a sprained ankle or miss being able to take painkillers so much.”

      “So no one has figured out the real reason why you fainted on the town hall steps?” Kelly asked.

      “I think Yvonne suspects. But you’re the only one who knows I’m pregnant. It’s far too early to make it public. But I was never this sick with Jonah. Well, not with morning sickness.” Jean’s young son, Jonah, was deaf as a result of a severe fever Jean had contracted while pregnant. Kelly understood why it made her friend skittish about this new baby on the way, despite how blissfully happy Jean was now that she’d reconciled with and married Josh—Jonah’s father. “How’s the wedding going? I’m thrilled you got Samantha Douglas. Coverage from Southeastern Nuptials could make a huge difference for us.”

      “I sure hope so. George is threatening to go on the fritz again, and I hate having to say a prayer every time I turn ignition on the van.” Kelly looked up at this morning’s sunnier skies. “The spring brides can’t get here soon enough. The snow, on the other hand, can take its sweet time.”

      “Oh, I know. Josh has been watching the weather reports, too. He’s trying to get out to San Jose and back one more time next week.” Josh and a partner ran a successful software company on the West Coast. While he’d arranged to live here most of the time, work still involved many trips to California. “The last thing I need is for him to be snowbound somewhere in Tennessee with me like this.” She put one hand on her belly and gingerly wiggled the toes that poked out from the bandage.

      Kelly squeezed Jean’s hand. “Come on, you know Josh. He’d buy a snowmobile and plow his way over the mountains to get to your side if you needed him.” She returned her gaze upward. There was almost a whole week until the wedding, and mountain weather was nothing if not changeable. Today’s sunshine could easily flee and be replaced by clouds dumping a load of snow into Matrimony Valley. “I’d hate for weather to complicate things for the wedding, that’s for sure.”

      “There is always that for winter weddings, isn’t there?” Jean patted her stomach. “The upcoming attraction here and I picked the wrong wedding to stick you with.”

      Kelly didn’t want her friend worrying like that. “Hey, every wedding is complicated in its own way. Believe it or not, this couple seems very easygoing. Well, except for the best man, that is.”

      “You’re right—he doesn’t sound easygoing at all,” Jean agreed.

      “The challenges are all logistical. And those are always easier than the emotional ones, you know that.” She dunked the doughnut from Yvonne Niles’s Bliss Bakery into the steaming cup of coffee Josh had offered her when she’d arrived. They used to do these gatherings outside so that Jonah and Lulu could play before church, but now Josh could be outside with the children while she sat warm and cozy in Jean’s living room.

      Jean

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