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Echoing Stephanie’s thoughts, her daughter said, “That’s beside the point. When
will
I meet him?”

Never
seemed like a good answer. She and James could elope and go live on a deserted island somewhere in the South Pacific.

“Mom?”

It was difficult to tell from Miranda’s tone if she was more angry or hurt. Stephanie didn’t want her to be either.

“Come for supper tomorrow night. You, Vince, and the children. Shall we say 6:30?”

And please, God, soften her heart between now and then.

Chapter 9

EARLY ON TUESDAY MORNING, James answered a knock on his back door. He felt a flash of pleasure at seeing Stephanie on the stoop. Then he saw the sadness in her eyes.

“Miranda didn’t take it well,” she said softly.

He drew her into the kitchen and into his arms.

“I don’t understand why she objects so strenuously.” Her words were muffled against his shirt.

He patted her back. “Would it help if I spoke to her?”

“We’ll find out tonight.” She pulled back from his embrace. “I’ve invited Miranda and her family to come to supper to meet you.” She grimaced. “You’re to be the main course, I’m afraid.”

James chuckled. “I think I’ll rather enjoy that.”

“Oh, James. Why couldn’t she just be happy for me? This past year has been difficult enough, learning to be alone. I’d never been alone before, not ever. I went from my father’s house to my husband’s house. After Chuck died, I thought I would be alone for the remainder of my days.” She touched his cheek with her fingertips, adding, “But now, there’s you, and I want to be with you.”

Silently, he led her to the chairs at the table. After they sat, he took hold of both her hands, squeezing gently.

Tears filled her eyes, then spilled over. “She’s so angry. I don’t understand why she’s so angry.”

“I’ve given this some thought, and my guess is she feels threatened by your love for me. She’s afraid she might lose the memories of her father if you marry again. Maybe she’s afraid she’ll lose you, too.” James wiped the tears from her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. “Don’t cry, love. It will work itself out.” His smile was meant to encourage. “Our children didn’t have much time to get used to the idea of us dating, and already we’re engaged. Once they see us together, they’ll know we’re doing the right thing.”

“I’m not so sure, James. Miranda’s so adamantly against it.”

“Let me show you something. Wait here.” He rose from the chair and went to his office, where he printed a copy of his youngest daughter’s email. Upon returning to the kitchen, he handed the slip of paper to Stephanie.

He waited to see her smile. He expected her to be glad that Paula planned to come for the wedding. But that wasn’t the response he got.

“What did Kurt and Jenna say?” She met his gaze. “Did they react like Miranda?”

He shrugged. “Not angry. A little concerned is all. But they’ll come around. So will Miranda.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t get married so soon.” She pushed a stray curl back from her forehead. “Maybe we should wait awhile.”

Wait? If any two people should understand that there was no guarantee of tomorrow, it was James and Stephanie. Both of them had lost their life partners too soon. Now they had a chance for happiness together. They’d prayed about this marriage, separately and together, and both believed it to be God’s will. What was the purpose of waiting?

James took hold of Stephanie’s hands for the second time. “Don’t falter now, Steph. We love each other.” He looked deep into her eyes, willing her to see everything he felt for her—the love, the desire, the delight. “Don’t break this old man’s heart.” He kissed her, his lips lingering a long while before he drew back and whispered, “I couldn’t bear to lose you now.”

* * *

Stephanie knew her love for James was real. Love wasn’t a commodity that ran out or was used up over time. No, the more one loved, the more love one had to give. It multiplied as it was spent. Loving James didn’t negate the love she’d had for Chuck. If anything, it made that love seem even more special. Because she’d been happy with her husband for fifty years, it made her want to taste that happiness again with James.

She wished her daughter understood that.

Stephanie stayed with James for another hour. Little by little, his quiet confidence helped calm her jangled nerves.

She left his house, feeling better than when she arrived, and drove toward Smith’s Market to purchase the food for that night’s supper. She wanted the gathering to be special. The menu would include grilled steaks, baked potatoes with all the fixings, and a nice tossed salad. Oh, and strawberry cheesecake. Cheesecake was Miranda’s favorite dessert.

But instead of turning left onto Hart Street, she turned right and drove several blocks before she realized she’d gone the wrong direction. When she stopped the car, meaning to turn it around, she discovered she was in front of Francine’s home.

Perhaps this hadn’t been an accident, the result of wandering thoughts. Perhaps she’d been drawn here for a purpose.

It was no secret in Hart’s Crossing that Francine and her daughter, Angie, had been estranged for many years. But since this past spring, their troubles had been resolved. The two of them were close again.

Hoping to gain some wisdom, Stephanie got out of the car and walked to the front of the Hunter home.

When the door opened, she was greeted by Francine’s warm smile. “Steph. What a nice surprise.”

“I hope I haven’t come at a bad time. It’s early, I know.”

“Never too early for a visit with a friend,” Francine answered. “Come in. Would you care for some coffee or tea?”

Stephanie shook her head. “No. I’m fine, thanks.” She was anything but fine. Otherwise, she would be at the market, looking over the packages of steaks.

“Let’s sit in the living room. We can enjoy the fall colors outside while we chat.” After both had settled onto chairs, Francine leaned forward and patted Stephanie’s knee. “What’s troubling you, dear friend? You look like the world is atop your shoulders.”

“It’s about…it’s about James. We…he and I…James asked me to marry him.”

Francine’s face broke into an enormous grin. “Oh, Steph. That’s wonderful! I take it you had the good sense to say yes.”

She nodded.

Francine rose from her chair and embraced Stephanie. “I couldn’t be happier for you. Have you shared the news with any of the other Thimbleberries?”

“No. Not yet.”

“Well, we must do so at once. Oh, they’ll all be delighted. This is such marvelous news. A wedding. I love weddings.”

Stephanie touched Francine’s forearm, afraid she might head for the telephone immediately. “That isn’t why I came. At least, not entirely.” She waited until her old friend sat again. “It’s about Miranda.”

A knowing look replaced Francine’s excitement. “She doesn’t approve?”

“No. She thinks I’m being reckless or thoughtless. Or both. And she’s angry about it.”

“I’m sorry.”

Stephanie opened her purse to retrieve a tissue. “Frani, I don’t want to lose my daughter’s love. I don’t want us to be separated by this. I thought…I thought maybe you could give me some advice. You and Angie have worked out your differences. Tell me what I can do to make matters better between us.”

“You want my advice?” Francine leaned back in her chair, steepling her hands and touching her fingertips to her lips. After a lengthy silence, she lowered her hands. “Steph, I lost count of how many mistakes I made with Angie. In the end, only God could fix things between us, and that’s the only real advice I feel qualified to give you. Turn it over to him. Once I was willing to let go of Angie and get out of the Lord’s way, the miracle happened. When things were at their darkest, I clung to the promise in Joel that says, ‘I will give you back what you lost to the stripping locusts.’ Angie and I were stripped bare in our relationship, but the Lord restored us.”

With a nod, Stephanie turned her head to look out the window. She and Miranda weren’t estranged. Not as Francine and Angie had once been. True, they often saw things from different perspectives, but they rarely argued. They had a good relationship—or at least, she thought they did.

Am I making a mountain out of a molehill? Will she stop being angry if I give her some time?

“Steph, why don’t we pray about this together? I may not have an answer, but God does.”

Stephanie agreed with a nod, thankful for the offer, and the two women joined hands and bowed their heads.

* * *

James could have cut the tension at supper that night with the proverbial knife. Miranda Andrews was painfully polite, but there was no mistaking her true feelings about her mother’s engagement.

Stephanie’s grandchildren, Isabella and Foster, managed to keep the conversation going for the first hour, talking about what was happening at school and where Isabella hoped to go to college after graduation. But once the meal was done, James decided he was tired of tiptoeing around the real reason for the get-together.

Pushing his dessert plate back from the edge of the table, he said, “Miranda, I’m glad we finally managed to meet. I’m sorry it didn’t happen sooner.” His glance swept around the table, pausing briefly on her husband and children before returning to her. “You’ve got a terrific family.”

“Thank you.” Miranda’s smile was brittle.

“I understand that you’re concerned your mother and I are rushing into marriage. I want to assure you, we’re not.”

Miranda lifted her chin, and her eyes sparked with anger. “How can you say that? You’re a stranger here.”

“Not to your mother, I’m not.” He reached for Stephanie’s hand. “We know each other—” with his free hand, he tapped his chest—“in here.”

“You haven’t seen each other more than a time or two in the past fifty years, Mr. Scott.”

“Please call me James.” He smiled, hoping to break through her defenses with a bit of humor. “I love your mother, and if I hadn’t been so shy, I would’ve asked her to marry me even sooner.”

The joke fell flat. If anything, Miranda looked appalled by his comment.

Vince, who’d said little throughout the meal, leaned toward his wife. “Honey, give the guy a chance. Hear what he has to say.”

James didn’t know who deserved his sympathies—Miranda, with her simmering hurt and anger; or her husband, for the glare his comment earned him; or their kids, who looked like two deer caught in the headlights, longing to escape.

Stephanie apparently felt the most sorry for her grandchildren. “Isabella, why don’t you and Foster take these dishes into the kitchen?”

“Sure, Grandma.”

The adults said nothing more until the grateful teenagers escaped from the dining room.

James glanced at Stephanie and gave her fingers a squeeze before turning his gaze on Miranda once again. “We’re not like those crazy celebrities who decide to marry in Las Vegas on a whim and regret it the next day. We’ve lived a long time, your mother and I, and we know our own feelings.” He paused to clear his throat. “I’ll make your mother happy. I’ll love and cherish her until the day I die. I’m not trying to take your father’s place, in her heart or in yours. I hope you’ll give me a chance to become your friend.”

“You could never take my father’s place, Mr. Scott,” she answered. “And I don’t need any more friends.”

Stephanie gasped.

“If you know Mom in your heart the way you say, then tell me this. What’s her favorite color? What’s her favorite movie?” Miranda threw the questions at him like a knight’s gauntlet.

James felt his composure slipping. What he wanted most was to give Miranda Andrews a piece of his mind, to tell her how childish she was being, to tell her to think of her mother instead of herself. But he didn’t say those things. “The truth is, Miranda, I don’t know yet. But it will be my pleasure to learn many of her favorite things the longer she and I are together.”

“My father knew the answers.” Miranda jutted out her chin. “He could’ve told you in an instant.”

James drew a deep breath, then met Miranda’s hostile gaze with all the gentleness and compassion he could muster. “Your father had five decades with this wonderful woman beside me, and I’d wager he still didn’t know everything about her. There are too many secret places in a woman’s heart for a man to ever hope to find them all.” He turned toward Stephanie, declaring his love once again with his eyes. “I want the chance to discover as many as possible in the years I hope to have with her. I promise I’ll do everything humanly possible to make her happy.”

“Vince,” Miranda said, “please get the children. We’re going home.”

“Miranda—”

“Mom, you know I’m right. You know you shouldn’t marry again this soon. You’re just lonely. That’s all. Dad was always there to help make the sensible decisions in the family. Well, I’m trying to help you in that way now. Don’t do this.” Miranda shoved the chair out of her way with the back of her legs, then fled the room in tears.

Vince rose slowly to his feet, setting his napkin on the table. “I’m sorry.” He gave a slight shrug. “It’s been rough for her since her dad died. She just needs a little more time.”

James glanced from Vince to Stephanie and saw doubt flicker across her face. For the first time, he feared what would happen if Miranda didn’t change her mind about him. If Stephanie was made to choose between his love or Miranda’s, who would win?

Chapter 10

From:
“James Scott” [email protected]

Sent:
Wednesday, October 12 3:47 AM

To:
“Paula” [email protected]

Subject:
October 29 or November 5?

HI, HONEY. WHAT DID you find out about taking time off at work to come for the wedding? Any problems? We’re looking at either the 29th of October or the 5th of November. Could you make those dates? Either? Both? Since neither Kurt nor Jenna said they would come for sure and you did, I thought you should have first choice of the date that’s most convenient for you.

I had supper last night at Steph’s home with her daughter, Miranda, and her family. I met Miranda’s husband, Vince, and their children, Isabella and Foster, at a high school football game three weekends ago, but she wasn’t able to be there, so this was our first meeting.