CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The engagement of Annie Applegate and Lucas Porter didn’t come as any surprise to the community of Promise, thanks to Louise Powell, who took delight in being the one to spread the word. If anything, people seemed genuinely pleased.
In the last week of June, Annie did more business at the bookstore than at any time since she’d opened. Almost everyone in town dropped by to offer congratulations and best wishes. Talk of their engagement was all over town. People assumed it was a love match, and the jokes about the brevity of their courtship flew fast and furious.
Both Annie and Lucas took the teasing in stride. She didn’t let it bother her and knew Lucas didn’t, either. Other than Wade, no one needed to know the details of their agreement. Annie didn’t tell anyone, not even Jane.
The two weeks between the Cattlemen’s Dance and the wedding passed in a blur. Annie sewed identical dresses for Heather and Hollie, went shopping in Austin with Dovie and Jane for her own wedding dress and spent the rest of the time packing up her tiny apartment to move in with Lucas and the girls.
Mrs. Delaney left for Kansas with a clear conscience. Heather and Hollie spent almost every day with Annie. She loved these girls and they in turn loved her.
On the day of the wedding, Savannah brought a lovely wedding bouquet filled with delicate white rosebuds to Annie at the church. She hugged her close. “I hope you’ll be happy,” she whispered.
“I intend to.”
While the ceremony was small and private, the reception would be in the church hall later the same day. Annie was astonished and pleased at how many people had asked to be invited. Dovie had baked the wedding cake, and the women’s church group provided the decorations.
“Are you ready?” Jane asked Annie when she arrived at the church with Cal.
Annie inhaled deeply. “I think so.” She wore an antique-white suit that fitted her perfectly. Dovie had been the one to find it. This wasn’t the type of outfit Annie would normally have chosen, but she’d tried it on at Dovie’s insistence. The minute she saw her reflection, Annie knew. It felt as if the suit had been especially designed for her and this day.
“You’re beautiful,” Jane said softly, her voice full of emotion. “I wish your dad had come.”
“It isn’t necessary.” Annie understood and accepted her father’s detachment.
Lucas and the girls, along with his parents, arrived next. As soon as Heather and Hollie saw Annie, they raced to her side, their new patent-leather shoes tapping in the vestibule.
“Oh, Annie, you look so pretty!” Heather cried.
“So do you,” Annie said and bent down to hand each girl a small bouquet of pink roses. They were serving as her bridesmaids and looked angelic in their pink floral dresses with wide satin sashes.
“Does everyone know where to stand?” Wade asked, signaling that it was time to start the ceremony. Annie had decided not to walk down the aisle; with such an informal wedding, it seemed unnecessary. Grandiose.
The small group gathered at the front of the church. Annie hadn’t paid much attention to Lucas until then. He wore a dark suit and looked wonderfully handsome, if a little nervous.
She could hardly take it in—a few minutes from now, she’d be this man’s wife and stepmother to his daughters. At some time in the future, she’d bear his child. From this day forward, Lucas and the girls would be part of Annie’s life.
Perhaps she should have been more nervous, more uncertain, but she wasn’t. She stood confidently beside Lucas, waiting for her future to begin.
Wade McMillen opened his Bible, and with a warm engaging smile, looked first to Annie, then to Lucas.
After a few introductory words Wade said, “Lucas, if you’ll repeat after me. I, Lucas James Porter, solemnly promise to love, honor and cherish Ann Marie Applegate in sickness and in health…”
Lucas shifted his weight from one foot to the other, then held up his hand. “Could you stop?” he murmured.
Annie’s gaze flew to the man she’d agreed to marry, her heartbeat echoing in her ears. From the way he avoided looking at her, Annie knew.
Lucas had changed his mind.
“Son?” Carl Porter, Lucas’s father, sent Annie a quick nervous glance. “Is something wrong?”
“I don’t know.” Lucas sounded ambivalent. Unsure.
“You don’t want to go through with the wedding, Lucas?” Wade asked gently, without censure.
He didn’t answer. “Would it be all right if I spoke to Annie privately for a moment?”
“Of course,” Wade told him.
Annie saw Jane and Cal exchange looks as she accepted Lucas’s hand and walked with him, her heart in her throat, all the way to the back of the church. Not knowing what to expect, Annie waited for him to explain.
“I can’t do it, Annie.”
Of all the things she could have thought just then, what came into her mind was the fact that her dress had cost nearly three hundred dollars. She was worried, too, about moving all those boxes back into the tiny apartment above the bookstore. Crazy concerns. Mundane meaningless problems.
“Are you saying you want to call off the wedding?” she asked, doing her best to remain calm.
“No,” he said, his expression utterly miserable. “I want us to do this—more than anything—but I can’t vow to love you. I can’t stand in this church, and before God, promise you something that isn’t possible.”
Annie’s knees were about to collapse, and she lowered herself onto the closest pew. Her hands gripped the bridal bouquet with a ferocity that numbed her fingers.
“I have little enough to offer you as it is,” Lucas said in a low hoarse voice. “The benefits of our union seem to be almost completely one-sided. I refuse to mislead you. I’ll never love you—not the way you deserve, Annie. I buried my heart with my wife.”
“I see,” she whispered.
Wade joined them. “Is there a problem I can help with?”
“It’s the vows,” Annie explained when Lucas wasn’t immediately forthcoming. “We aren’t in love.”
“Ah, I see,” Wade murmured. “Would you be more comfortable if I omitted the word ‘love’?”
“Can you do that?” Lucas seemed at a loss. “I’ll cherish Annie and honor her as my wife. I’m willing to commit my life, my resources and my future to her. Is that enough?”
Wade looked to Annie for the answer.
“It’s enough,” she told him.
Lucas relaxed visibly. “Thank you.”
Wade patted Lucas on the back. “Shall we continue, then?”
“Please,” Annie said. She stood and placed her hand in Lucas’s. She’d had all the words about love before, and they’d been hollow. To anyone else it might seem she was being cheated, but Annie felt no such loss. She was prepared to pledge her life to an honest man who refused to mislead her in any way. He would honor and cherish her, and that was more than any other man had given her.
Jane studied Annie as if she wanted to pull her aside for a second consultation. Annie tried to reassure her with a smile. “It’s fine,” she whispered.
“You’re sure?”
Annie nodded.
The ceremony proceeded without further pause and was immediately followed by the reception. Annie barely knew most of the people there. The support from the community she’d lived in for such a short time was a blessing she hadn’t expected. For three wonderful hours, there was laughter, music and good food. Wade and Cal offered toasts to the newlyweds. Carl Porter spoke to Annie in such a welcoming way she was moved to tears. And then it was time to leave. Amy and Jane accompanied Annie when she went to change out of her wedding dress.
“There’s something very special about Promise,” Amy McMillen said when Annie mentioned her surprise at the number of people. “I arrived in Promise only a few years ago myself,” she continued. “At the time, I felt as though I didn’t have a friend in the world. But somehow…it was as though the entire town wrapped its arms around me. It felt almost as if everyone had been…waiting for my arrival.”
“Wade certainly was,” Jane teased, joining them.
Amy grew still. “I thank God for my husband. I love him more every day.”
“I thank God for mine, too,” Jane said and rested her hands on her very round stomach.
“I’m grateful for Lucas,” Annie admitted, and the three women hugged each another.
“Darn it, you’re going to make me get all weepy,” Amy mumbled. “I know you’ll be happy with Lucas, Annie. You’re both such special people.”
Come to Promise, Jane had written all those months ago. It won’t be long before it’ll be like home.
Two months after her arrival, and Annie felt she was part of a real family for the first time since her mother’s death.
* * *
Jeannie French had hoped Sheriff Jordan would show up at the reception for Annie and Lucas Porter. But she hadn’t realized how many people would be there. Everyone she knew in Promise had crowded into the church hall to wish the newlyweds happiness. Jeannie didn’t know either Annie or Lucas well, but she admired Lucas’s reputation and was fond of his daughters. Heather would be going into the third grade, and Hollie would begin first grade. Annie Applegate seemed both pleasant and sincere; her bookstore was a boon to the community and a place Jeannie visited often. Annie had helped her find several hard-to-locate books on the history of the Texas hill country. History, particularly state history, was a passion of Jeannie’s.
Jeannie was in the mood for romance, in the mood for real-life love and happy endings. She also recognized that she’d completely misjudged Adam for months because of some trivial incidents and minor accidents. Now she’d ruined any chance with him. What she needed was a way to let Adam know she was interested. That she’d revised her opinion. If he did attend the reception, she might have an opportunity to hint at her feelings. So far, he was nowhere in sight.
The church hall was beautifully decorated, with flowers everywhere. A table set off to one side was stacked high with exquisitely wrapped gifts, and the wedding cake was lovely. Not until Gina Greenville served her a piece did she realize this wasn’t a traditional white cake, but cheesecake with a basket-weave frosting made of sweetened cream cheese.
Jeannie had just taken her first bite when she finally saw Adam. He was standing on the opposite side of the room, wearing his uniform; he’d apparently stopped by either on his way to or from work. She wondered why she hadn’t noticed earlier how attractive he was. He looked great—masculine and authoritative—and it wasn’t just the uniform.
Her mouth closed around the plastic fork, and she simply stared. He must have felt her gaze because he glanced up and their eyes connected. Jeannie swallowed the bite of cake, which slid down her throat like a solid piece of cheese. Her heart pounding, she attempted a friendly smile.
In the two weeks since they’d met at the movie, she’d thought almost constantly of Adam. She’d hoped to hear from him and was disappointed she hadn’t.
She’d attempted to be kind in her earlier rejections, but knew she’d hurt his pride. Her one fear now was that Adam wouldn’t be inclined to accept her apology.
She made an effort to look casual as she worked her way across the room. “Been to any good movies lately?” she asked him a few minutes later.
“None to speak of.”
Before she could continue the conversation, he moved off, joining a cluster of men that included Cal Patterson and his brother, Glen. Jeannie tried to ignore her disappointment. She chatted with Martie, the school secretary, all the while searching for Adam, hoping she wasn’t being too obvious. She couldn’t believe he’d leave so soon.
“Are you eating Milk Duds or popcorn these days?”
Jeannie whirled around to find the sheriff standing behind her. “Popcorn.”
He smiled in approval. “Plain or buttered?”
As she’d told him earlier, she’d never been good at word games. But she waded in, anyway. “Buttered,” she told him. “The real thing, too.”
“Same for me,” he murmured.
Jeannie suspected more was being discussed here than snack-food preferences—which was fine with her.
“Well, I see you two are finally talking to each other.”
Jeannie hadn’t noticed Max Jordan until he spoke. Both of Adam’s parents joined them, looking pleased with themselves, as if they were solely responsible for this moment of potential romance. Margaret smiled benevolently at Jeannie, hand tucked inside her husband’s elbow.
“Glad to see it,” Max said. “Always thought it was a damn shame that my son—”
“Dad,” Adam warned in a low growl.
“Go on,” Jeannie urged Max, wanting to hear what he had to say.
Max glanced between her and his son. “On second thought, I think Adam would prefer to do his own talking.”
“Thank you, Dad,” Adam said stiffly.
The four of them stood there for a few minutes and made small talk about the weather, the loveliness of the bride, and the annual Fourth of July Willie Nelson Festival, which would be held once again without Willie’s presence. A few years earlier, the star had unexpectedly shown up at the annual rodeo and chili cook-off and people still talked about it. As soon as Max finished a story about Cal Patterson and an ornery rodeo bull, Margaret looked at her son. “Well, are you going to ask her?”
“Ask her what?”
“To dinner,” his mother said patiently.
“Personally, I think you ought to take Jeannie out to see Bitter End,” his father suggested. “Have you visited the old town yet?” he asked her.
“As a matter of fact, I haven’t—” she smiled at Adam “—and I’d very much like to.”
“Adam can arrange that, can’t you, son?” Max said.
“Perhaps,” Adam agreed. “Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
For the second time that night, Jeannie’s spirits fell with Adam’s departure. Everything had seemed to come together nicely once his parents joined the conversation, but then Adam had walked away again. Jeannie felt deflated. She’d never been any good at this romance thing. Finding the right man seemed easy enough in love stories. Usually the heroine recognized him in the first few chapters—but not Jeannie. She flailed around, ignored a good man and then insulted him, and now she didn’t know how to set things straight.
Lucas and Annie were getting ready to leave for their honeymoon when Jeannie saw Adam step out of the hall. She gauged her time carefully and followed him into the parking lot.
“Sheriff Jordan,” she called out as he neared his patrol car.
He turned at the sound of her voice.
Fortunately no one else was there. “Do you have a minute?”
“I…” He glanced at his watch, but she didn’t give him the opportunity to respond.
“Good. First, I want to say I’m sorry. Earlier, you said you were interested in dating me and I told you I didn’t think that was a good idea. I’m afraid I might have spoken…hastily.” She couldn’t get much more direct than that. It was up to him now.
He seemed to consider her words, then he nodded, turned and walked away. Again. Well, that answered that.
By the time Jeannie got home, she felt even worse. It was for times like this that chocolate was created, as every woman knew. Not wanting to leave the house on a chocolate run, she scrounged around the kitchen. The best she could come up with was a half-full sack of stale chocolate chips. She tasted one, then threw them out.
Okay, no chocolate. Desperate to find comfort, she ran bathwater and emptied an entire bottle of a perfumed bath concoction under the faucet. Bubbles exploded and grew to a frothy towering mass.
Jeannie didn’t care. She waited until the bubbles died down a little, then stripped off her clothes and sank into the hot water, sighing deeply.
Eyes closed, she soaked for probably an hour, replenishing the hot water from time to time. She soaked until her skin was wrinkled and prunelike. And then she had to stand under the shower to rinse off the soapy residue of the bubble bath.
With her head wrapped in a towel and her terry-cloth robe securely cinched around her waist, she wandered barefoot into the living room and turned on the television. Lucas and Annie were about to embark on their honeymoon, and the best she could do was reruns of Law & Order.
The show had just started when the doorbell chimed. Peering through the peephole, she saw Adam Jordan standing there. Under any other circumstances she would have hurled open the door and greeted him enthusiastically. But not when she looked like this!
That was her problem, Jeannie decided. Her timing was all wrong. He was interested and she wasn’t. Now she was interested and he wasn’t. Hell, she didn’t care what she looked like, she wanted to know why he was at her front door.
Doing her best to pretend her appearance was perfectly normal, she opened the door. “Hello, Sheriff,” she said as nonchalantly as she could.
He squinted at her, but didn’t speak.
“Yes?” she urged.
“Do you still want to go to Bitter End?”
She brightened. “Yes.”
“Is tomorrow all right?”
She nodded. “That would be perfect. Two o’clock?”
“Two o’clock.” He stepped away from her porch.
It was all Jeannie could do not to toss off her towel and dance a jig.