High Plains Hearts (63 page)

The holidays sped by on winged feet. Thanksgiving gave way to Christmas, which bowed to the new year. And through it all, Livvy kept working, sending out flyers, calling travel agents, attending a travel agency gathering in Los Angeles. She’d even found a company in Valley City that would supply more orange T-shirts and blue glasses, just like the old ones.

She was determined to make this work.

And it seemed as if was going to. The phone began to ring. E-mails trickled in at first, and then increased. When she went to the mailbox, there were envelopes, some filled with requests for more information, others containing reservations and checks.

The brochure said it all:

But the test was going to be summertime. And when summer came, so did the guests. The cabins were full and the shouts of happy children combined with the songs at the bonfire every night, with Gramps leading the vespers. She was surprised at how quickly Sunshine’s reputation grew, as a place where Christian families—or any family wanting an easy, comfortable setting—could spend a vacation.

Now it was August, and the season had been a smashing success. Livvy had had several requests to winterize the cabins so the resort could be open year-round, and she was considering it—even if her trusty
Complete Guide to Home Construction and Repair
wouldn’t quite be up to the task.

Trevor had upgraded his rattletrap truck to a huge SUV and was now the official transport to the Bismarck airport—and had, indeed, managed to get a new iPod.

Her parents had come from Sweden and left with a new hobby—fishing.

Best of all, Gramps was much better. The doctor’s suspicions had been right: The old man’s confusion was the result of a drug interaction. Gramps was now as lively and alert as any teenager.

Life was good here in Sunshine, Livvy thought. Very good. And it was all because of what God had done. This was her inheritance—an inheritance of family and friends and love.

Hayden arrived with a delivery from Grocery World, and as they were putting it away in the kitchen, he commented on the success of Sunshine.

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” she said, and as she turned around, he caught her in a surprise embrace.

“Do you know what else you can’t do without me?” he asked. “This.”

He kissed her, squarely on the lips. “Let’s put the ice cream away. I want to show you something down by the lake.”

“Why? Is something wrong?” she asked, a crease of worry working its way up.

“Nothing’s wrong, but it’s something I think you should see.”

She hurriedly put the ice cream in the freezer, and left the nonperishables on the counter.

“Come on,” he said. “Come with me.”

He took her by the hand and led her out of the house. Leonard followed them, his tennis ball in his mouth, and behind the dog came Martha Washington, her tail plumed as the chicken chased her, biting at her. Hayden shook his head and muttered, but he was smiling.

“What’s this about?” she asked.

“Well,” he said, pausing at the spot where the path opened to the lake, “I wanted a place where we might have some peace and quiet, but I didn’t include the critters in the equation. And there’s Gramps, out there on the dock. Well, so much for privacy. That’s all right.”

“What are you talking about?”

Hayden took her hands. “Livvy, I love you. I love everything about you, and I love the way I feel when I’m around you. You’re the one that God has meant for me, I’m sure of that. Livvy—”

He dropped to one knee, and Leonard raced over and dropped his spit-covered tennis ball at his feet. “Not now, Leonard.”

The dog nudged him, nearly knocking him over, and Livvy had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. Hayden was so serious, but Leonard was insistent.

“Okay. Here.” Hayden threw the ball and wiped his hands on his pants. “Quickly, before the beast comes back, Livvy, will you marry me?”

“I will! I will!” She knelt, too, landing squarely on the chicken, which flew upward in a great display of feathers and offended squawks, and landed on Martha Washington’s back. The cat shot straight up into the air, and Leonard, seeing the great game at hand, joined in the fray.

She heard none of it. She only knew that Hayden was kissing her.

“I knew it,” Gramps said from the pier, where he was fishing. “I knew it.”

The wedding was an autumn celebration, with Trinity decorated in the colors of the season. Bo and Al were their miniature groomsmen, and Bo flung the contents of his basket of multicolored leaves with such force that several guests were picking them out of their hair.

Gramps was there, as were her parents, and a surprise guest joined them from Boston: Mr. Evans, who gave them as a wedding present a copy of the advertisement, now framed. How he had gotten hold of it, she had no idea, but some things about love are simply magic.

Like Sunshine.