“Would it matter if I wasn’t?” Vi stepped back, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m not going to lie. It’s weird. It’ll take getting used to and…I don’t trust Hayden with my baby sister. Not by half. But…” Suddenly, Vi hugged Eve again. “I’m in love with my husband. I made the right choice all those years ago.” She held Eve at arm’s length, searching her expression. “Are you sure, Eve? Really sure? This isn’t one of your impulsive decisions where you throw yourself wholeheartedly into something without thinking it through? Like the time you tried to make a treehouse with the cardboard box the refrigerator came in? In the rain?”
“I was at work and you didn’t tell your father what you were doing,” Mom said, staring in the direction of Dad’s photograph on the mantel.
“Or the time you bought grapefruit for a lemonade stand?” Vi gave Eve’s shoulders a gentle shake.
“You thought they were big pink lemons,” Mom mused, smiling a little.
Something inside Eve eased at their gentle teasing. Everything was going to be okay. “It’s impulsive but…I love him.” Saying it again made it feel real. She took Vi’s hands and held them over her heart. “That said, I’m not prepared to marry him on Monday. I need your help first.”
“A dress,” Vi guessed, smiling a little. “And flowers.”
“Shoes,” Mom guessed, smiling a lot more. “And something blue.”
“I hoped you’d understand.” Eve drew them in for a group hug. “I love you both so very much.”
“Mama? Did you say we’re getting married on Monday?” Katie stood in the doorway to the backyard, cradling the pieces of Gary the Gnome. Eve hadn’t noticed her open the door. “Are we going to be a family again?”
Not trusting herself to speak, Eve nodded.
“Yay!” Katie joined their group hug. “Let’s celebrate by saving Gary.”
But Gary’s surgery would have to wait.
Chapter Six
“I thought you were in love with Violet,” Gran said as they waited on the steps of Bentwood Creek’s historic town hall on Monday morning. She wore one of her blue church dresses and a fancy pair of white cowboy boots.
“Violet married someone else, Gran.” Hayden loosened the string tie around his neck and rolled his shoulders in the suit he’d only worn one day before—his last wedding day. “I’m marrying Evie.”
Despite the morning sunshine, Hayden’s toes were cold inside his black cowboy boots.
A man can carry the world on his shoulders as long as his cowboy boots are planted firmly on the ground.
That was one of his grandfather’s quotes. Hayden scuffed his boots on the pavement, then planted them resolutely, standing taller.
“Why do I feel like I’m missing something?” Gran shaded her eyes as she stared up at Hayden. “How did you propose? I hope it was romantic. Wouldn’t want your bride to hold that against you on your anniversary.”
“It was as romantic as need be, Gran.” Even with her faulty short-term memory, Hayden wasn’t going to tell Gran that his marriage had a definitive end date. For all intents and purposes, the rest of the world would be told they’d loved each other from afar for years and that Hayden didn’t want to waste another day apart.
Gran tsked. “Sounds like you need a do-over proposal, Hay-Hay. Or at the very least, a fantastic wedding gift.”
Wedding gift?
He had none.
Hayden rolled his shoulders back, reminding himself, this wasn’t a real marriage and required no wedding gifts. But the guilt persisted.
“What time did you say this wedding was?” Gran asked, glancing up and down the empty street.
Hayden checked the time on his phone. “Five minutes ago.”
She’s late.
Hayden shoved his phone back into his pocket. It wasn’t just his toes that were cold now. His fingers felt like ice.
Violet was late too.
Air left Hayden’s lungs in a painful rush. But…