Ready to Wed (14 page)

“I’m sorry, Jane, but, really, it would have gone much
better had I known of this upcoming visit. How long have you been aware of it?”

“Just a few days.”

“But you knew he was coming here?”

“I knew he was coming to Acorn Hill. I didn’t think he expected to stay at the inn.” Jane got an idea. “Hey, maybe I’ll be gone that weekend.”

“But we need you to cook, Jane. We’re booked.”

“Why weren’t you booked when Justin called?”

“I had two rooms left.”

“Why did you give one to him?”

Louise’s lips pressed tightly together, and Jane could tell she was getting irate. “I don’t tell falsehoods, Jane.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I don’t expect you to lie, Louise. I just thought perhaps you could have dissuaded him somehow. What about Belle’s parents and that whole wedding business?”

“That is the following weekend.”

“Oh, right.”

“As I said, I’m sorry, Jane. But I was in a difficult position.”

“I know, Louise. Actually, I would have told you about his letter last night when I told Alice, but you had gone to bed.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Alice as she came in through the back door. At this moment, Louise and Jane were standing on opposite sides of the kitchen table, looking tense.

“Justin called,” said Jane. “Louise took the call and had no idea what to do.”

“Do about what?” asked Alice.

“Justin wanted a room for Memorial Day weekend,” explained Louise.

“You didn’t give him one, did you?”

Louise let out an exasperated groan. “I’m getting the feeling you two are against me.”

Alice went over and put an arm around Louise. “Of course we’re not, Louise. I just hoped, for Jane’s sake, that Justin might find other lodging during this visit.”

“As I informed Jane, I’m not accustomed to telling falsehoods. If someone asks me for a room and a room is available, I book it.”

“Poor Louise,” said Alice kindly, “you got caught in a tight spot. And anyone, in your shoes, would’ve done the same thing.”

Jane sighed as she put a carton of cream in the fridge.

“There must be a way to undo this,” said Alice. “Can you call Justin back and suggest that other accommodations might be more suitable?”

“He didn’t leave a number. He was calling from the road.”

Jane stopped her busy work and faced her sisters. “What now?”

“Well, we have a week,” said Alice. “Right, Louise?”

“Exactly.” She nodded. “Justin said he plans to arrive here next Friday.”

“Terrific.” Jane rolled her eyes. “I suggested to Louise that I might skip town.”

“We need her to cook,” said Louise.

“I could do the cooking and prep work ahead of time,” said Jane quickly. “Then Alice could take care of serving and whatnot. Right, Alice?”

Alice looked uncertain. “I suppose.”

“I got the distinct feeling he was coming here to see you, Jane. Or is there someone else in Acorn Hill that he has an interest in?”

“Perhaps God sent Justin a dream and he is coming here to meet his darling wedding Belle,” said Jane. Alice laughed. “Oh, Jane!”

Louise began to chuckle too. “Nice try, Jane,” she said, “but you know good and well Justin is coming here to see you. What I would like to know is, why?”

“That’s a very good question, Louise. I wish you had asked him.” Jane returned her attention to unloading the pantry items.

“Jane is perplexed over this,” Alice said to Louise. “She doesn’t know anything more than we do right now. Only that Justin is coming and that he wants to talk to her.”

“That’s odd,” said Louise.

“Yes,” agreed Jane with her head still in the pantry. “Very odd.”

“But I’ve come to a conclusion,” said Alice. “After Jane told me about Justin last night, I prayed about the whole thing. And although I don’t know Justin’s purpose in coming to the inn, I do know the purpose of the inn.”

The kitchen got quiet. Jane removed her head from the pantry and looked at her sisters. Alice was smiling and Louise had a thoughtful expression.

“‘A place where one can be refreshed and encouraged,’” said Louise, reciting the first line from the plaque that hung by the front door.

Jane nodded, then contributed the second line: “‘A place of hope and healing …’”

“‘And a place where God is at home,’” finished Alice. “And maybe Justin simply needs a sample of those things in his life.”

“Maybe.” Jane continued putting things away. But what if Justin wanted more than just a sample? What if Justin was coming here for the purpose of reuniting? She wondered if Alice could be right. What if Justin had changed? What if their relationship could be as good as it had been back in the beginning? What would she say to that?

Chapter Eleven

F
riday afternoon, Jane was setting out some freshly baked cookies to greet the new guests when Belle made an appearance.

“Good afternoon, Jane. My, those smell just heavenly. I caught a whiff of something delicious clear up in my room.”

“You’ve changed your outfit,” said Jane as she arranged the cookies into a pleasing design on the silver platter. Belle now wore a silky pink dress that made her look as if she was going to a party, or perhaps planned to be the guest of honor for a wedding shower, although Jane hadn’t heard of such plans. “Very pretty,” said Jane.

“You’ve changed too,” said Belle with a twinkle in her eye. “I didn’t want to say anything, but those were the most curious things you had on your feet, Jane. Whatever do you call them?”

“Crocs,” said Jane. “And my aunt Ethel feels the same way about them. She calls them duck feet.”

Belle giggled. “Well, I have to admire a girl who goes
around looking like that in public. You must have a much better self-image than I do.”

Jane chuckled. “Or else I just don’t care.” Then she pointed down to her more conservative loafers. “But my sister Louise prefers I dress more properly in the house.”

“Oh, Jane, did you hear the news?” asked Belle in a lowered voice.

“News?” Jane frowned. “Have you received a proposal of marriage?”

“Oh no, nothing like that. But Louise mentioned that a couple of single men just checked in. They’re twins.”

“Twins?”

Belle nodded, her eyes wide. “That just increased the percentage of available men in Acorn Hill by, well, I’m not terribly gifted at math, but I would venture to guess about ten percent.”

Jane smiled. “Yes, that’s probably about right.”

Belle clapped her hands. “I can’t wait to meet them.”

“Perhaps the cookies will lure them down,” said Jane. “And since it’s nice and warm today, I think I’ll go whip up a pitcher of lemonade as well.”

Jane was just putting ice into the pitcher when she heard a voice calling, “Hello,” from the back porch.

“Come in,” Jane called back, wiping her damp hands on a dish towel.

“Hi, Jane,” called Sylvia Songer as she let herself in. Sylvia was Jane’s best friend in Acorn Hill and the owner of Sylvia’s Buttons, a fabric and needlework shop. She was a gifted seamstress and a fabric artist. She held a folded quilt. “I just had to show this to you, Jane. I finished it last night. To celebrate, I had Justine come in to watch the shop for me this afternoon.” Then Sylvia unfolded a quilt of intricate sunflowers against a geometric background of varying shades of blue.

“Oh, it’s beautiful, Sylvia.” Jane fingered the fine craftsmanship. She reached over and hugged her good friend. “It’s so great to see you. I’ve been about to call you dozens of times these past few days and—”

“Why haven’t you?”

Jane shook her head. “Something always comes up.”

Sylvia pushed a strand of strawberry blonde hair off her forehead and made a funny face. “Like the guest Lloyd brought into my shop yesterday?”

“Belle?” Jane whispered, nodding her head toward the dining room to warn Sylvia that a certain guest might still be in there.

“Want to run out for a cup of coffee?” asked Sylvia as she began to refold the quilt.

“Sure,” said Jane. “Just let me put this lemonade out and I think I’m good to go.”

Belle was sitting at the dining-room table with a wedding magazine. “Maybe the twins will like some of this,” said Jane as she set the pitcher on the sideboard. “You might even want to take it out on the front porch, it’s so nice out.”

“What a lovely idea.”

Jane almost suggested to Belle that she hide the wedding magazine from the twins, but Belle was in command of her campaign, and maybe the magazine was part of it. “I’ll see you later, Belle,” she called as she went back to the kitchen and rejoined Sylvia. The two of them slipped out the back, and Sylvia put her quilt safely back into her car before they headed toward town on foot.

“So what did you think of Belle?” asked Jane after they were a block from the inn.

“Besides her being odd?”

“She is awfully sweet,” said Jane. “It’s hard not to like her.”

“I suppose. But all that wedding mumbo jumbo, and she doesn’t even have a fiancé?” Sylvia shook her head. “What’s with that?”

“Did she tell you about the dream?”

“Sort of, but it still didn’t make sense.”

“No. I don’t think it makes sense to anyone,” said Jane, “except for Belle.”

“Well, I’ll tell you one thing, the bachelors in this town
are starting to run when they see her coming. The word has spread that she’s on a manhunt. Craig Tracy actually ducked into my shop to hide this morning when he saw her walking his way.”

Jane laughed. “I can just imagine him crouched between the bolts of calico and baskets of yarn.”

“Yes, it was pretty comical. I told him he was being silly and that Belle wasn’t going to grab him and drag him down the aisle. But he said she was a formidable force that he’d just as soon avoid.”

“I’m worried about her ordering those wedding flowers from him,” said Jane. “I mean, what will she do if there’s no wedding? Will Craig be stuck with them? Or will Belle have to pay the bill?”

“I say have the girl pay up front. Speaking of which, did you know that Belle asked me if I could make her a wedding gown as well as four bridesmaid dresses and have them all ready for her by the first weekend of June?”

“Are you kidding?” Jane turned to look at Sylvia as they paused at the corner. “Does she think you’re some sort of a magician? How could you possibly get all that done in such a short amount of time?”

“I told her it was impossible.”

“I wonder who her bridesmaids are supposed to be.”

Sylvia chuckled. “She suggested that they were all related
to one another, some new female friends that she’d made here in Acorn Hill. Any idea who she might mean?”

Jane gasped. “Ethel did mention that Belle had hinted at including her in the wedding, but I thought that might’ve been wishful thinking on my aunt’s part.”

“How is she anyway?”

“Better. But, according to her, still not fit for public viewing.”

“Poor Ethel.”

“Do you really think Belle is going to ask my sisters and me to be in her wedding?” Jane cringed inwardly, imagining herself and her sisters lining up at the Grace Chapel altar for Belle’s pink wedding.

“I’ll tell you this much, Jane, after seeing the photo she gave me for the bridesmaid dresses yesterday, well if I were you, I’d decline the honor.” Then Sylvia described a dress with a tiered full skirt trimmed with lace. “And the shade of pink …” She shook her head sadly.

“Let me guess?” said Jane. “Pepto-Bismol?”

“Exactly! How did you know?”

“That’s the color of her car and, obviously, her favorite.” “Oh my.”

Now Jane felt guilty. She hadn’t really meant to be mean about Belle. “She really is a sweet person. I don’t completely understand her, but she means well.”

Sylvia frowned. “Do you think I should help her with her dresses if she persists?”

“Oh, Sylvia, I don’t know. You said yourself it’s probably not even possible.”

“True. But I did give her the name of a bridal shop in Potterston. I told her if she got ready-made dresses I might be able to do some minor alterations and help her with her veil, just small things.”

“Well, I guess it’s like Craig and the flowers. As long as Belle pays for everything up front, and as long as you have the time and you want to help, well, I suppose it can’t hurt.”

“Unless it hurts Belle.” They paused to let traffic go by.

“But what if she’s right? What if her dream was authentic and she really does get married?”

“Get real, Jane.”

Jane chuckled as she pointed down the street. Sylvia, as usual, was good medicine. Although a little younger than Jane, they seemed to speak the same language. “How about the Good Apple for coffee?”

“Justine told me they have orange-ginger scones today.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Once they placed their order and were seated, Jane knew this was her opportunity to ask Sylvia for advice. Now that both her sisters were aware of Justin’s impending visit, it seemed right that Sylvia should be in the loop as well.

“Something weird happened this week,” said Jane after their coffee and scones were served.

“You mean Belle?”

Jane laughed. “No, no. Let’s put the subject of poor Belle to rest for a moment. This was something else, Sylvia. Something from my past.”