She stepped over to the opening and kept her eyes on the very front, purposely blurring her peripheral vision. Standing facing her were Jeremy and the preacher. To Jeremy’s left stood all four of her brothers. Jeremy and Aaron, who was his best man, looked reasonably happy, if a bit nervous. But the other three all wore expressions more suitable for a funeral than a wedding.
Elyse forced herself to smile at them while the crowd watched Kaleigh glide down the aisle, a vision in her green dress, carrying a single red rose. To Jeremy’s right, there was a blank spot for Crystal and ones for Elyse and Kaleigh. Bree and Crystal’s high school friend, Phoebe, looked beautiful in green dresses, also, both of them beaming. They were married, so Elyse took it as a good sign that weddings were still a happy time for them. Finally, just before she stepped out into the aisle, Chance and Matthew returned her smile. Luke still scowled. She knew him well enough to know he was thinking about how glad he’d be to get out of that monkey suit and away from all the froufrou.
Her attempt at self-distraction worked until she actually started walking. She could feel the eyes on her. Her palms were sweating so much, she was afraid the white rose she carried against her red dress might slip from her fingers. What if she dropped it? Or what if she dropped it and stepped on it?
She was drowning, her lungs filling with her own fear. She was supposed to look at Andrew. That’s what they’d agreed on. Her frantic gaze skittered across the spectators and locked with a familiar pair of blue eyes. Andrew, sitting near the front, in an aisle seat, was turned toward her. The smothering panic immediately washed away like the tide going out.
She kept her eyes on him and breathed evenly as she concentrated on walking in time to the music. How could one person make her feel so much more assured yet still make her stomach flutter? As she drew closer to him, she gave up on answering that and took her place beside Kaleigh.
“The Wedding March” blared through the building, and the crowd rose. In the doorway, arm locked with their daddy’s, Crystal waited, her blond hair in an elegant twist on top of her head, a few loose wisps around her face. Her beauty was enough to take anyone’s breath away, but Elyse heard Jeremy softly gasp. She glanced at him, and the love written all over his face made her throat ache. What would it be like to have someone look at her like that?
No sooner had the thought formed than Andrew turned his head slightly and caught her gaze again. The expression on his face was so close to what she’d just seen on her future brother-in-law’s that her heart stopped beating for a second.
Andrew loved her. She knew it as well as she knew that Crystal and Jeremy loved each other. A smile floated across her face, and Andrew responded with a broad smile of his own. The conversation they’d just had—though one with no words—was one they’d always remember.
CHAPTER 31
Kaleigh tucked the phone number into her tiny black purse and gave a wave to the guitar player as he went back up to the stage. She walked back over to where Elyse and Bree were sitting.
“Someone you know?” Elyse asked, her brow raised.
“A friend from high school.” A friend she’d never have approached if Carlton had been here. She slipped into the seat next to Bree. “Anybody notice I didn’t bring a date?”
“What’s the right answer to this question?” Bree tossed a tiny bag of birdseed at Kaleigh.
Kaleigh caught it with one hand. “The right answer is yes, you noticed, and you’re dying to know why.”
“Yes, we noticed, and we’re dying to know why,” Bree and Elyse chorused.
“Good.” She grinned and told them about her day at the boat.
Bree gasped. “You told a doctor to keep his nose out of your business?”
She nodded. “I feel kind of bad about that considering he really couldn’t help being there. But he didn’t have to react.”
Elyse laughed. “You don’t ask much, do you?”
Kaleigh shrugged. “The bottom line is Operation New Me is over. I’ve decided to be happy with myself. I didn’t need a date for this wedding.” She winked. “Besides, dates just get in the way of accepting cute guitar players’ phone numbers.”
“Good point,” Bree murmured.
Kaleigh reached down and slipped off one black stiletto and rubbed her heel with her hand. “I’m so glad I don’t have to wear these all the time.” She snapped her fingers. “That’s what dating Carlton was like. Wearing shoes that pinch your feet.” She grimaced. “Of course, he could have said the same of me.”
“Nice.” Elyse slipped her shoes off, too.
Mama walked over to them and plopped down beside Kaleigh. “I think they’re about to leave on their honeymoon.”
“Feels weird, doesn’t it?” Elyse said softly.
Kaleigh glanced at her sister. “We’ve still got each other.”
“C’mon, guys,” Bree protested. “Getting married isn’t like moving to a foreign country and cutting off all communication.”
“I don’t know. Who was complaining earlier about not having Internet?” Kaleigh asked Elyse.
“I think it was our sister-in-law. The one who lives in a foreign country.” Elyse kept a straight face.
“Chicago?” Bree asked.
“We’re kidding,” Kaleigh assured her. “Let’s go throw some birdseed at the deserter and her new husband.”
They walked, laughing, outside into the breezeway of the community building. Jeremy’s truck sat over to the side.
Bree pointed to it. “Good to know the McCord boys found some way to keep from being bored to death during the reception.”
Shaving cream letters spelled out JUST MARRIED. Empty cans hung from the back bumper.
“McCord boys?” Kaleigh drawled. “I’ll have you know I helped.”
Elyse gasped. “You did?”
She nodded. “It was a lot of fun.” And something else she wouldn’t have done if Carlton had been there.
Crystal and Jeremy came out the door behind them, their heads close together. Smiles lit their faces. Crystal, dressed in the turquoise top and brown skirt they’d all helped her pick out for traveling, said a word to Jeremy and broke away to join them. Over her sister’s shoulder, Kaleigh saw her daddy speaking to Jeremy. What was he saying—“Take good care of my daughter”? Probably.
Still clutching her wedding bouquet in one hand, Crystal hugged each of them. “We’ll be back next week sometime.”
Kaleigh nodded. “Tell Cancun hi for us.”
Crystal giggled. “I will.”
Jeremy came up behind her and pulled her into his arms. “We’d better go, Mrs. Buchanan.”
“I have to throw my bouquet.”
Immediately Kaleigh was swept up into a throng of single females, ranging in age from seventy-year-old Mrs. Maxwell to six-year-old Beka. All of them clustered together behind Crystal. From the corner of her eye, Kaleigh could see the photographer snapping pictures.
Crystal kept her back turned and tossed the bouquet over her head. Everyone cheered as the cluster of white and red roses fell neatly into Elyse’s hands. Kaleigh grinned as her older sister blushed. But she also noticed Elyse’s eyes immediately sought out Andrew.
Kaleigh dropped her hands and reached in her pocket for the birdseed packet she’d opened earlier. She was glad she hadn’t caught the bouquet. And glad that she hadn’t brought a date to the wedding just for the sake of not being alone. Along with the crowd, she tossed birdseed on Crystal and Jeremy as they darted to their truck, beginning their new lives together.
Kaleigh was happy for her sister. She glanced to where Elyse beamed as she and Andrew examined the bouquet. Both sisters. But she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt more at peace. Alone. Or as she’d tried to tell Carlton—with herself.
***
Elyse paced in the foyer of her house, peeking out the window every few minutes. What if Andrew hated the gift she got him? What if he thought she was pushy? This morning at Mama’s had been wonderful, but when everyone h
ad settled in for an afternoon nap, Andrew and Elyse had split up to go home and get each other’s presents. He was supposed to meet her at her house in five minutes.
She grabbed the bright red packages from beside the door and carried them into the living room for the third time. The dogs followed her curiously. “I can’t decide whether to meet him at the door with them or bring him inside so we can sit down and open them.”
Missy blinked.
“I know. I definitely should invite him in.”
The doorbell rang, and leaving the gifts in the living room, she went to open it.
Andrew looked as nervous as she felt. The two packages in his hand were elaborately wrapped with curling ribbons and big bows.
“Wow. You did a great job.”
He laughed. “I took them to the 4-H booth outside of Walmart and got them wrapped.”
She nodded. “I should have done that. Come on in.”
In the living room, he sat on the couch.
She sank down beside him then popped up again like a waffle in the toaster. Pasting on a smile, she moved over to the chair catty-corner to the sofa. “So I can see you,” she murmured.
“You first,” she said.
He nodded and took the first red package from her.
As he tore it open, Elyse scooted to the edge of her chair.
His eyes widened when he saw the compact but complete paint set. “I can’t believe you did this.”
“I’m sorry. I know you said you were going to use what you had and be done.”
He shook his head and swallowed. “You have no idea what this means to me. To know that you believe in me enough to buy me paints.”
She shoved the tall, skinny gift to him.
He opened it and laughed. “This is amazing. I left my easels behind when I—” His voice drifted off, and he ran his hand over the simple lines of the fold-up easel. “You don’t know how many times I’ve sat out under the awning of my camper and wished I had an easel.” There was something in his eyes she didn’t quite recognize. Remorse? “I guess I’ve just been stubborn by not buying one.” He stood and tugged her to her feet. “Thank you. You couldn’t have gotten me anything I’d like better.”
He hugged her, and she wrapped her arms around him and listened to his heartbeat. Steady and sure.
He released her. “Now it’s your turn.”
She sat back down, and he put the big square box in her hands first. She lifted it. “It’s light.”
“Oh no, you’re one of those.”
“One of those whats?”
He winked. “A tester. One who shakes and prods and weighs gifts to try to decide what they are.”
She shrugged and ripped the paper open then the box. “I don’t have to be a tester if—” The words died on her lips as she saw a cream cowboy hat nestled in red tissue paper. “Oh, Andrew. It’s beautiful.” She pulled it out and put it on her head. “What do you think?”
“You look just like I imagined. Which leads me to your next gift.”
He dropped a smaller package on her lap and remained standing.
She looked up at him. “You don’t have to be nervous. I know I’ll love it.”
A wry grin twisted his lips. “We’ll see.”
She wanted to prolong the moment, so she slowly unwrapped this second gift, slipping the tape from the seams and gently opening it. Something inside was wrapped again in red tissue paper. When she pulled the paper back, she drew in an involuntary breath. “Andrew...” Tears burned her eyes as she lifted the small painting out. It was her, with a cowboy hat, leaning on the fence around her yard. The dogs played in the background. At the bottom were delicately filigreed words: COWGIRL AT HEART.
She remembered when he’d told her she was a cowgirl at heart. From that moment on, her courage had seemed to increase exponentially. She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. “Thank you so much. It’s perfect.”
“I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
She jumped up and hugged him. “Want to go for a walk?” Maybe the cool air would dry her emotions some.
In the foyer, she stood the small painting up on the table underneath the hooks and turned to Andrew. “Looks good, doesn’t it?”
He laughed. “I’ve never been any good at evaluating my own work, but I’m glad you like it. I had a lot to work with.”
She blushed as she hung her cowboy hat on one of the hooks by the door and exchanged it for a toboggan. “Thanks.”
Outside, they walked toward the river without speaking. Halfway down the path, she shivered.
“Let’s head back to the house,” Andrew said.
She nodded. They turned and started back. When they got back to her driveway, she briskly rubbed her gloved hands together and blew warm air into them. “I can see my breath.”
Andrew put his arm around her shoulders. “Want to go inside?”
She shook her head, loving every detail of today, even the way the perky tassel on top of her knitted cap bounced when she moved. “Never.”
“I think it might be a little cold to stay out here forever.”
“Nope,” she said. “It’s not cold at all.” She leaned her head against his shoulder. “You’re all the warm I need.”
He stopped and pulled her into a hug. “I agree,” he whispered against her hair. “This is the best Christmas I can ever remember having.”
“My family are pretty neat, aren’t they?”
“Yes, they are. But one member stands out above the others.”
She put her finger to her chin in mock concentration. “Hmm ... that would be Luke, I guess. He’s the tallest.”
He reached up and took her hand and folded it into his. “As far as I’m concerned, it would be you.”
She giggled. His eyes darkened, and he bent down and kissed her lightly on the mouth. She put her arms around his neck.
He drew back and looked into her eyes. “Elyse, I—”
A car came bouncing up the lane. Andrew let go of her, and she turned around to face the visitor. “Why would Jack be out here on Christmas day?” she asked absently.
Andrew shook his head. “I don’t know.” He glanced at the sheriff. “Unless they found Zeke.”
“After all this time?” She figured they’d seen the last of him. And she sincerely hoped she was right.
Jack got out and walked up to them. “Merry Christmas, Elyse. Andrew.” He frowned at Andrew. “This is difficult, but I need to ask you a few questions.”
Andrew stiffened. “Why don’t I follow you back to the station?”
“You can talk in my house,” Elyse said. She looked at Jack. “What’s this about?”
Both men stared at her, and a cold sliver of fear slid down her spine. “Andrew?” Her voice sounded unnaturally high-pitched, even to her own ears.
Andrew’s shoulders slumped slightly as if someone had set a huge burden on them. He motioned Jack into the house. “We can just talk here.”
When they were all three inside, Andrew took off his gray hooded jacket and hung it on the hook by the door with deliberate motions.
Elyse kept hers on. She was almost shivering already. She was suddenly reminded of the night of the storm. How could this be any worse than that? She put the dogs in the den and led the way to the living room. “Want me to wait in the kitchen?” she asked.
Andrew shook his head, his face drawn and pale. “Whatever it is, you might as well hear it.”
He sat down on the couch, and Elyse sat next to him. She reached for his hand, and he squeezed hers then released it.
Her heart pounded. This was crazy. They’d been through so much already. What else could be lurking around the corner?
Jack cleared his throat and leveled his gaze at Andrew. “It’s about the gun that Zeke had that day he attacked Elyse.”
Andrew’s brows drew together. “What about it?”
“I don’t know how the report got delayed so long, but it finally came back. That gun was registered to a woman
in Texas named Melanie Lawson.”
Elyse thought she heard a small gasp come from Andrew. “I had that gun in my hand,” he murmured.
Jack nodded. “Someone put two and two together eventually and figured out that it had been stolen in a house break-in.”
“I can’t believe it.” Andrew’s color had shifted from pale to slightly green.
Elyse looked at him. What did this have to do with him?
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