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THEY GOT MARRIED AT Hollister Lutheran Church on the last Saturday in August. Their families and friends overflowed the small building and poured onto the front lawn. Flowers filled the church, most of them from Viv Jacobsen’s garden, some from Caroline Hollister’s.
Mari wore a simple, ankle-length white dress of cotton eyelet. She’d made it herself. Pam stood as her matron of honor. Spence was Travis’s best man. Jonathan gave Mari away.
After the ceremony, everyone went to the Grange where they ate and drank and danced until the moon rose high in the sky.
But Travis had taken Mari home by then.
Beneath that same moon, he walked her to their cabin. Together, they opened their front door. Then he swung her into his arms and carried her over the threshold.
There were vases of flowers everywhere—Viv and her women’s club friends, Mari guessed. A chocolate meringue pie sat on the kitchen table, a sweet offering from Sage. Through the open bedroom doorway, a beautiful patchwork quilt caught Mari’s eye. So, that was the secret project Angela’s quilting group had been working on all summer.
Mari loved this place. She loved these kindhearted people who had embraced her and nourished her and given her the space to figure out who she was.
She loved Travis Hollister, who’d done all that and more.
“I love you,” she said and drew his face down to hers to share a tender, lingering kiss.
“I love you,” he said, his glistening eyes telling her she was the beat of his heart, his every breath. “My sweet Mari. My wife. Welcome home.”
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THANK YOU FOR READING Travis and Mari’s story. You’ll see them again in the next book in this series, The Wrangler’s Wish. Those who read the first book in this series, That Hollister Man, know I drew much of my inspiration for the setting of my Sweet Grass-Montana Romance series from the writings of Paul “Spike” Van Cleve whose family raised cattle and horses and ran a dude ranch in “Melville Country.” Melville, Montana is the unincorporated community upon which the fictional town of Hollister is based.
Spike met his wife, Barbara Knudson, when she was supervising a Girl Scout camp trip in the Crazies in the early 1930s. She was backing out of a tent when Spike rode up on horseback and said, “I sure hope the front end looks as good as the back end!” They married in 1934 and enjoyed 48 years of marriage before Spike passed away in 1982.
As soon as I read that story, I knew I had to include Spike’s “improper” remark in this series. I’ll forever treasure reading that scene to Spike’s youngest daughter Shelly, now in her 80s, while visiting her one beautiful afternoon at her ranch in the Crazies. A tough Montana gal who still rides her horse bareback the fifteen miles from the family homestead at Otter Creek to the guest ranch along Sweet Grass Creek, she slapped one hand on her jeans-clad thigh, tossed her head back and cackled with delighted laughter. I hope you got a laugh too!
For this book in particular, I also must acknowledge the inspiration and insight I’ve received from the work and writings of Buck Brannaman, the man who inspired Nicholas Evans’ book, The Horse Whisperer. I encourage anyone interested in the art of natural horsemanship to read The Faraway Horses and/or watch the documentary, Buck.
Grady O’Rourke’s story is next. Continue reading for a preview. Have you read Spence and Sage’s story yet? And then... Well, you’ll see. There’s Mack. Shawna. Colt. Elias? Gunnar? Kane? You might be wondering about Chey. Yes, he’ll get his own HEA very soon. Look for the next book in this series to arrive in Fall 2021.
Until then, all the best to you and yours.
Happy reading,
Maggie
P.S. Was the ending of this story emotionally satisfying for you? Did you lose yourself in this sweet escape to Montana? Do you think your friends would enjoy reading it? Tell everyone about it in a quick review on the site where you purchased this book. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration. It means the world to me.
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