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Maggie was deep in conversation with the sheriff when Kelly walked into the store a little after noon the next day. Good, maybe she was giving the poor man a chance. He obviously liked her.
Kelly sniffed the air in the store. Elaine was definitely cooking up something delicious today. The sweet aroma of caramelized onions contrasted with the bitter tang of garlic. Everything smelled good this morning.
She and Ryan had talked long into the night, finally coming up with the outline of a plan. She’d go back to California to her teaching job, and he would join her in a few weeks. They’d make the next step from there.
In the morning, she’d called Bruce to put the sale on hold. Her grandmother had thought she was good enough to run the high-end gatherings. It was time to stop restricting her options.
Heading back to the tables, Kelly was happy to see Alex sitting at one, nursing a cup of coffee.
“I’m surprised to see you here,” Alex said.
“I wanted to touch base with you and Maggie. Things have changed a little.”
“Oh?”
“I want to wait until Maggie’s here.” Kelly glanced over at her friend and Tom. “What’s up over there?”
“I’m not really sure,” Alex said. “Tom came in a bit ago, and they’ve been talking ever since. I heard something about Gregg and Teagan, but I’m not sure what that’s about. Maggie will fill us in, I’m sure.”
Kelly nodded. “Any word on Betsy’s son?”
“Betsy’s back at the post office, so he must be on the mend. As far as we know, no one’s charged Henry with anything.”
“That’s good. I hope it stays that way.”
“I do, too. There’s no way he’s responsible, at least intentionally. And the US Forest Service investigators were pretty sure the fire was deliberately set. I don’t know why they’re chasing this new theory.”
The front door thudded shut, and Maggie appeared, a whirlwind of color and motion. Today she’d dug up a tie-dye shirt from some ancient pile to pair with her jeans and tennis shoes.
“Mom’s trying a new recipe, and since you’re both here, you’re her taste testers,” she said as she settled into the seat.
“If it tastes as good as it smells, it’s a winner,” Alex said.
“And why are you here?” Maggie asked Kelly. “Shouldn’t you be packing or something?”
“Like I said, things have changed.” She slowly drew her left hand from her lap and put it on the table.
“A yolo sapphire?”
“It’s on her ring finger,” Alex pointed out. “Her left ring finger.”
“Hallelujah! Ryan finally made his move!” Maggie shouted.
“Shh. The whole town doesn’t need to know,” Kelly said.
“Oh, yes it does,” Maggie said.
“It took him long enough,” Alex added.
“So when? Does that mean you’re staying?”
“I’m still going back to California, at least for the short term,” Kelly said. “Ryan’s going to join me. Then we’ll see what happens. We’ll definitely be back here next summer.”
“Oh,” Maggie said, her shoulders drooping.
“But I’m going to do another retreat,” Kelly said. “And I’ll help you with your plans for the performance space. Fundraising in the summer when the tourists are here will be a lot more productive.”
“Good.” Alex nodded.
“But she’s leaving,” Maggie whined.
“She’s coming back. Give Montana a little more time, and she’ll hook Kelly good.” Alex flashed Kelly a confident smile.
“That will have to do,” Maggie said.
Kelly laughed. Living in two states for a while might be a challenge, but at least there were friends in both places.
“What did Tom have to say?” Alex asked.
“It’s good news,” Maggie said. “Well, kind of. I’m going to wring Teagan’s neck when I get ahold of her.”
“Why?”
“It seems Gregg’s determined to find out who set the fire. Apparently, one of his close friends was seriously hurt in an arson-caused fire a long time ago. When they announced this was probably the same cause, he was determined to find the culprit. And ... And ...” Maggie’s voice rose with her agitation. “He dragged my daughter into danger with him!”
“But they’re both okay,” Alex said calmly, placing her hand on Maggie’s arm.
“Yes.”
“Good then. So have they caught the person?”
“They think so. Remember that old tan pickup they’d seen?”
“Yep,” Kelly said. “I thought it was someone looking for work.”
“Well, they got suspicious when they realized he’d been hired on at a couple of different locations across the state right after the fires started near there.”
“And that’s strange? I’d think a temporary firefighter—or whatever they call them—would naturally be at different locations. He has to go where the fire is.”
“Not that close to the start of the fire. Anyway,” Maggie continued, “Gregg—I’m going to ring his neck, too—started watching this guy. He took a look in the back of the pickup once and saw a gas can.”
“That’s not unusual around here,” Alex protested. “A lot of folks do that in case they run out in the middle of nowhere.”
“But that wasn’t all. There were some gadgets with timers. Gregg said they could be set to start a flame and self-destruct once the fire really got going. They’re almost impossible to find.”
“But they found one,” Kelly guessed.
“They found a few.” Maggie nodded. “And with Gregg’s information, they were able to find the guy and charge him.”
“So Henry’s off the hook,” Alex said.
“Yep.”
“That’s good. I’m glad,” Kelly said. Her little community was almost back to what it was before the fire started.
“Here you go, ladies.” Elaine balanced the tray on the edge of the table and gave them each aluminum-wrapped packages. “Spicy chicken and onion wraps. Perfect for a cool fall day, don’t you think?”
None of them answered. They were too busy unwrapping the aromatic food. Murmurs of satisfaction was all Elaine was going to get.
Kelly let a purr of satisfaction escape.
Life was good.
# # #
ULTIMATELY, THE DECISION to sell the California house and move her life was easy. As promised, Ryan came down to the coast a few weeks after Kelly began teaching. Living in Montana, even for a short while, had changed her. She longed for the quiet and solitude of a long afternoon. She missed the drive and purpose of her friends to make Promise Cove the best place it could possibly be. Even practicing the piano, which she’d taken up again once she was settled, wasn’t quite the same.
Although having Ryan sit on the couch, hand-sewing his latest project with a smile on his face had made it easier.
So she’d tendered her resignation, ending her teaching career after the midterms and made plans for Christmas in Montana. Over the two-week school break, her family would celebrate, and she and Ryan would get married in the barn. They’d take the honeymoon in Hawaii after her work ended.
Cynthia declared it was all happening too fast, but Kelly told her the timing was perfect.
––––––––
THE FRIDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS ...
Romantic classical music played as Lisa walked down the makeshift aisle in the barn. Alex, Maggie, and Ruth had enlisted others to set up chairs and decorate the space with Christmas wedding flowers, ribbons, and twinkling lights. Peter, whom Ryan had convinced to be his best man, stood awkwardly to one side. Kelly’s parents watched from the front row. They’d arrived a few days after Christmas, loaded with presents, even a few for Ryan.
Kelly smiled at the memory. After an initial hesitation, Cynthia had given her future son-in-law her traditional air kisses, then taken him aside to lecture him on exactly how her daughter needed to be treated.
Kelly smiled up at the man beside her as they waited for Lisa to get to the front of the room and turn. There was no need for her mother to worry. In the few months since they’d made their commitment, he’d proved to be a loving partner, ready to work through the inevitable issues of a newly intimate relationship.
As she waited, she took in her wedding setting. Her friends had created beauty from almost nothing. The scent of pine filled the room from the green boughs that hung from the ends of the rows of chairs, twinkling lights strung among them. They’d created a small arbor from poinsettia plants, white wicker, and greens from the forest around them, along with more twinkling lights.
Kelly’s heart filled with joy and pulsed in waves for the small community she’d grown to love. So many people were here, accepting a general invitation she’d sent out that was passed person to person until everyone knew they were welcome. And they had come, decked out in jeans, button-down shirts, flowing dresses with cowboy boots. Next to her, Ryan stood tall in a dark blue suit with a red tie. The same red was reflected in the accents to the white Christmas dress she’d chosen. Her small bouquet added a touch of green for the season.
Finally, the music she’d chosen for their walk began. She took Ryan’s arm, and they started forward, the crowd standing as they passed. When they finally reached the front, Betsy smiled at them. She’d turned out to be an ecumenical minister and had agreed to lead them through the vows they’d written and the exchange of rings.
All Kelly was aware of during the ceremony was the promise in Ryan’s dark brown eyes. His words flowed over her like a loving baptism. Once their vows were exchanged, they turned toward the side, where Julia Leonard, the singer-songwriter who’d attended the retreat, sang a sweet song she’d created for them out of gratitude for the strength she’d found during the retreat.
When the singer finished, Kelly and Ryan exchanged rings. Then, with a triumphant blare from the sound system, they headed back down the aisle. At the rear, they held an impromptu reception line while dozens of people rearranged the barn area into small table groupings and set up a bar and a space for dancing. The caterer lined tables with food that soon set Kelly’s stomach rumbling. At the far end of the food table, Charlene’s contribution of a wedding cake sparkled with green and red trim.
They spent the next few hours talking and dancing. They’d taken their turn as the first to dance, their choice of song a slow melody they’d both been fond of in their twenties. But as long as she was in his arms, the song didn’t matter.
At one point, she noticed the sheriff and Maggie in a deep discussion. Maybe her friend would finally give Tom a chance.
Susan and Gabriella were rarely off the dance floor. Susan’s arm had healed well, and she’d become well-known in the town.
Kelly looked up at the man she’d married and smiled. “I love you.”
“I love, you, too,” he replied. “I can’t believe how lucky I am.”
She snuggled closer to the man who’d stolen a piece of her heart decades ago. Henrietta had been right to bring her home to Promise Cove.
It was where she belonged, right beside the man she loved.
The End
I hope you enjoyed this story. Spring in Promise Cove, the next book in this series, will be out in 2022. To be notified when the book is available, please click here to join my mailing list.
