Love Finds You in Groom, Texas (36 page)

“Indeed, they are.” The two paused to gaze into each other’s eyes. Jake finally broke the silence in the room by clearing his throat.

Maggie snapped to attention. “There’s leftover wedding cake if anyone’s interested. Who wants a slice?”

Anne paused, waiting for Aunt Bets to say something about how they shouldn’t eat sugar in the middle of the day, but the woman didn’t do as expected.

Bets rose and took Leo by the hand. “I’ve been pining for a piece of that cake since we got here. And I think we need ice cream too. My sister’s homemade ice cream is the best in the county, if I do say so myself.”

“Why, thank you, Bets.” Maggie grinned with obvious pleasure.

“One more thing.” Bets turned to face Emily. “I’m going to make an assumption that there’s another doll buried out there with my name on it.”

Emily’s gaze darted away. “I, um, I…”

Bets knelt in front of her. “Do me a favor, child. Let her rest in peace. I think I’d rather start fresh too.”

Emily shocked them all by throwing her arms around Bets’s neck.

Uncle Leo extended his hand and helped Bets stand. “Anyone want coffee?” she asked. “I can put some on to brew.”

“Sounds wonderful.” Leo gave her an admiring look as she sashayed from the room. In fact, it almost looked as if his eyes couldn’t leave her.

He wasn’t the only one having a hard time keeping his eyes off a woman. Uncle Bert had snagged an extra glance at Maggie as well. She’d pretended not to notice, of course, but Anne felt sure she knew exactly what she was doing. Looked like Emily wasn’t the only one with acting abilities.

Anne wanted to laugh. No, she wanted to dance a jig—the kind of jig Bets wouldn’t have allowed just a few short days ago. The kind she would go on dancing forever in her heart.

Jake watched the goings-on with some degree of humor as everyone made their way into the kitchen. In one day, he’d acquired a bride-to-be, learned that her uncle would be building a store in town, and discovered that his mother had feelings for Bert Denning. Not bad for a day’s work.

As he gazed across the sea of people and into the eyes of the woman he loved, a lump rose in his throat.
Don’t cry, Jake. They already think you’re a mama’s boy. You don’t want ’em to think you’re a sissy too.
He released a slow breath and managed to get his emotions under control just as his four brothers approached.

“Looks like our courtin’ advice paid off, little brother.” Jeremiah slung an arm around his shoulders. “And I, for one, couldn’t be happier.”

“Same here,” Joseph added.

“Because I’m not gonna be the last single fella in town?” Jake asked.

“No.” Jeremiah’s expression grew serious. “Because if anyone deserves this, you do.”

Jake thought about his brother’s words as he glanced Anne’s way. She offered him a shy smile as she ran her fingers over the little cross necklace. He’d never seen such a look of contentment on a face before. With a very full heart, he eased his way through the crowd and wrapped her in his arms.

Anne smiled as Jake planted a kiss on her cheek. She held tight to the little necklace, complete peace washing over her.

Uncle Bert drew near and spoke in a soft voice. “I’ve been noticing your cross for days, Anne, but I keep forgetting to say something about it. Do you know the story behind it?”

“It was my mother’s.” She smiled as she fingered it.

“Yes, but did you realize it was once my mother’s?” he asked.

Anne gasped. “No. I had no idea.”

“Yes. My mother passed it down to your father when he married. He, in turn, gave it to his new bride. So I think it’s only fitting that she passed it on to you.”

“Amazing.” Maggie drew near and gave the cross a close look. “And just think, Anne—one day you can pass it to your daughter.”

Anne’s felt her face grow hot. Heavens. Would she one day have a daughter? Jake pulled her closer and placed a kiss on her temple.

“C’mon, everyone. Let’s have some cake and ice cream.” Maggie went to work at dishing it up. Anne offered to help, but Maggie wouldn’t hear of it. “Not today, honey. This is your day. Yours and Jake’s.” She gave her son a wink.

Emily approached and embraced Anne. “Isn’t it interesting, Annie? My story really is coming true.”

“Really?”

“Yes. After we talked the other night, I sat down and rewrote the scary parts. I made them nice.” She shrugged. “Well, mostly nice. I did leave in one Indian scalping and added a train derailment. Couldn’t leave that out. But don’t you see? Much of it actually came true.”

“Who could have known?” Anne bent and gave her sister a kiss on the cheek. “But I’ll have to agree with Uncle Bert that you were born to write.”

“Want to hear about the one I’m writing next?” Emily giggled. “I think you’ll like it.”

“Sure. Why not. What’s happening in your next story?”

“Well, there’s a beautiful lady named Annie who marries a handsome cowboy…and they have seven baby girls.”

Anne swallowed hard. “Seven?”

“Maybe six. But they all live together on a big ranch in Texas.”

“I see.” Jake cleared his throat. “And, might I ask, are you patterning your characters off anyone you know in real life?”

She nodded. “Of course. Any writer worth her weight in salt knows there’s just a tiny line between fiction and reality.”

“And sometimes that line gets a little blurry, I understand.” Jake grinned. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“Me either.” Anne laughed and then looked again at Emily. “What happens after that, honey? Do they all live happily ever after?”

“I dunno.” Emily waggled her eyebrows and laughed. “I guess that’s up to you.”

“I see.” Anne gazed at Jake, her heart swelling with joy. “If I get to choose, I’ll go with the happily-ever-after ending. Even if it is a little sappy.”

“Sappy is good.” Jake gave her another kiss on the cheek. “I can live with sappy.”

“Good.” Anne slipped her arm around his waist in response. “Because I have a rather sappy idea I’d like to pass your way when you have the time to talk it through.”

“What’s that?”

“Oh, just a little idea I had about opening up a wedding chapel on the road leading to town.” She gave him a wink.

“A wedding chapel?” Kate squealed. “Oh, how lovely.”

“What a delicious idea!” Emily chimed in.

“This is the town of Groom, after all,” Anne said. “It makes sense to have a wedding chapel.” Her excitement grew. “I can see it now. People will come from all over the place to get married in Groom. What a novelty it will be. We’ll have a beautiful outdoor area with a gazebo…and an inside area, too. What do you think?”

“I think I’d like to be the first groom to walk that aisle,” Jake said. “If you like the idea.”

“I guess we’d better get busy, then.” Maggie laughed and looked toward Bert and her sons. “How long do you think it will take us to put up this chapel she’s talking about, boys?”

“I don’t know.” John shrugged. “Maybe a month or two.”

“Maybe less,” Joseph added. “If we ask for help from our neighbors.”

“I think that’s a fine idea.” Maggie crossed her arms and appeared to be thinking. “That’s just what we’ll do. We’ll plan it just like the old barn raisings we used to have when I was a child. How does that sound?”

“Perfect.” Anne felt the edges of her lips curl up as a satisfied feeling swept over her.

“Anne, what do you think of this?” Uncle Bert’s eyes sparkled. “What if we added a department in the new store for bridal needs?”

“Bridal needs?”

“Things like fine china or glassware.”

“And silver,” Maggie added.

“And table linens and other things of interest to a bride-to-be,” Bert continued. “What do you think?”

“We could put it all together in one department?”

“Yes, and you could work there, if you like. Who knows. Maybe you’ll drum up customers for the wedding chapel. We could lean on each other.”

“Interesting idea. Most of the brides will be from out of state, I suppose.” She smiled as something occurred to her. “Now that Jake and I are getting married, there aren’t any single men left in Groom.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Jake said as he sliced the cake. “I’d almost forgotten about that.”

“I know of one,” Emily said as she stuck her spoon into her bowl of ice cream.

“Oh? Who’s that?” Anne asked.

She pointed across the table. “Uncle Bert. He’s not married, and now that he’s planning to stay, he’ll be a Groom resident.”

“Ooh, Uncle Bert!” Kate clasped her hands together.

They all turned to look at him, and his eyes widened.

“I’ve decided I’m going to write a romance novel with you as the main character, Uncle Bert.” Emily lips turned up in a sly grin. “You can be the hero. How does that sound?”

“Oh, well, I don’t know about that,” he said. “I’ve been an old codger far too long to think about adding a love interest to my story.”

“Those are the best stories of all,” Emily said. “The ones with the surprise endings. In my story, you’re going to marry…” She paused and then looked at Maggie with a grin. “A wonderful woman who loves to cook and who has a heart of gold.”

Maggie cleared her throat. “Anyone else want coffee? Or cake?” She looked at Bert. “Anything at all?” She clamped a hand over her mouth after she uttered those last words, and she held it there until everyone in the room stopped laughing.

Bert quirked a brow, and his handlebar mustache twitched. Anne almost laughed but quickly swallowed it. No point in bringing further embarrassment. Still, she found it wildly ironic—as Emily would say—that Jake had passed the “last single man in Groom” mantle to her uncle. Wildly ironic, indeed.

About the Author

Award-winning author Janice Hanna, who also writes under the name Janice Thompson, has published more than sixty books for the Christian market, crossing genre lines to write cozy mysteries, historicals, romances, nonfiction books, devotionals, children’s books, and more. Her passion? Romantic comedies! Janice formerly served as vice president of the Christian Authors Network (
christianauthorsnetwork.com
) and was named the 2008 Mentor of the Year by the American Christian Fiction Writers organization. She is passionate about her faith and does all she can to share the joy of the Lord with others, which is why she particularly enjoys writing.