Maggie scooted out the door, Will hot on her heels. “Maggie, wait. Are you seriously going to do this? Do you think we should exchange vows in front of most of the town of Fort Mavis?”
She rounded on him. “What choice do we have? My brother has expressed a dying wish. He expressed it to a state senator, for heaven’s sake. Got a judge to give us an exception that may or may not be legal then invited everyone. It’s the only thing he is asking of either of us, and I don’t know about you but I have a ton of guilt for abandoning him after Mom and Dad died. He’s my only living relative, he’s making only one request of me, and I’ll be darned if I’ll leave him hanging.” She placed a hand in the center of his chest and pushed. “Now, see if Juliana can get the wrinkles out of your dress shirt or, better yet, borrow one from Baxter and a jacket and get ready to say I do.” She dashed tears out of her eyes. “And find a ring!”
Maggie raced down the hallway toward her room, hollering for Juliana to come help her get ready. She had a thousand things to do and only a couple of hours to do it in. She might not be getting married for real, but a lot of people were coming to watch the farce, and she would at least look and act the part of a happy bride. Her crazy brother had set things in motion it would be very difficult to stop. Impossible to do so without crushing him. He wanted the best for both of them and to know they had someone to make them happy after his passing. And someone to take care of Honeysuckle Ranch.
What would she do with the ranch? Their parents had been 100 percent right to leave the lion’s share to their son. He loved the place and dedicated himself to making it a better, more successful ranch every day. She’d run as far and fast as she could.
In a couple of weeks, it would be hers. If she hadn’t guessed, Baxter had confirmed it. Which meant it became her responsibility and she’d have to either actively deal with it or sell it. Until now, she’d merely deposited the checks he sent her in the bank and invested them in long-term, safe bonds.
She could sell it. The ranch her grandparent built, her parents lived on for so many years, and Baxter dedicated his life to. But the alternative was to move back here and run the place. Give up everything she’d worked so hard for herself. Forget tenure. No schools were close enough to commute to, even if one were hiring.
Everything moved too fast. “Juliana!” she shouted, opening the door of her room but the woman was already inside, smoothing the folds of a long white dress. “Oh my God. Is that Mom’s dress?”
Juliana turned to face her. “Si. Your mama’s wedding dress. I found it in the back of her closet in a bag where it’s been for all these years. She always wanted you to wear it. I wish we had time to send it out to be professionally cleaned but I did my best. Is it all right?”
Maggie lifted it down from its hook and examined it from all angles. Classic 1980s style, with big poofy sleeves, a fitted bodice, and wide skirt with a train. Satin with lace overlays and embroidery. Thousands of tiny crystals caught the light. “It looks beautiful. I hope I can fit in it.”
“You are thinner than your mama was, but we can take it in here”—she pulled the waist smaller—“and here, at the hips, and it will be perfect.”
Juliana hustled her into the shower and was waiting when she emerged to help with her hair and makeup. Outside her window, the crews were setting up a fairy-tale wedding venue. She stole peeks from time to time, watching the men string lights through the trees and women carrying flower arrangements in the coral and white of Honeysuckle Ranch into the tents. Outside, on the lawn, double rows of chairs faced an archway draped in the same flowers, and it was there she would tell the biggest lie of her life.
Until death do us part.
Maybe not such a lie. But the death that would separate them was not one of theirs but Baxter’s. He should be marrying here. Why hadn’t he ever? He’d dated plenty of girls but never found one to settle down with. And now it was too late.
To some extent, they were probably helping him to fulfill what he’d never have and, in her desire to make up for her neglect, she would marry Will, no matter what a wreck she ended up after they annulled it.
After Maggie disappeared into her room, Will returned to Baxter’s. “I guess I’ll be needing a suit. Got one I can borrow?”
“Help yourself.” Baxter leaned back in his chair, his eyes closed. “Before I got sick, we were about the same size, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding something.”
Will opened the closet and pulled out a dark-blue jacket and slacks and a lighter-blue shirt. “This okay?”
Baxter opened his eyes and nodded. “Sure. And keep it if you like. I won’t need it soon.”
“Dammit.” Will hung the suit on the closet door and faced his friend. “You are milking this death thing. Why? You’ve never been the type to complain or use a situation to get your own way. Why now?” He sat back down across from Baxter. “I am puzzled.”
“I told you,” he said. “It will make me happy to see you two married since you’re together anyway.”
“Baxter, do you really think we were together already?”
He sighed. “I’m getting tired, Will. I think I will lie down a bit before the wedding.”
“Sure, as soon as you answer my question I’ll help you to bed.” Will stood over him. “Did you think we were together, really?”
“You should be.” He pushed on the arms of the chair and then fell back into the seat. “If you’re not going to help me, will you get someone else to? If I don’t get a rest before the ceremony, I’m likely to collapse during it.”
Will took his elbow and helped him to his feet. “You can’t trick us into getting married, you know.”
“It seems to be working pretty well so far.” He took small steps, his feet dragging. “And it’s the only way I can make sure you two stubborn people do what you should have done years ago.”
“Baxter, Maggie is willing to do anything you ask. She feels so guilty she didn’t know you were sick. You’re taking advantage.”
“Whatever it takes, bro. My little sister will be all alone in the world when I’m gone. You hardly even speak with your mother. I’m only hoping you will do what you should—finally.”
“This is unfair.”
Baxter leaned his back against a pile of pillows and lifted his bare feet onto the mattress. “Are you going to do it?”
“Yes,” he bit out. “Yes, you son of a farzle. Yes. I am going to marry your sister, and what’s more, I am going to do everything in my power to make this farce a reality. Are you happy now?”
Baxter’s eyes fluttered closed. Will waited but, when no answer was forthcoming, he tiptoed to the door and grasped the handle, ready to slip into the hallway. “Will?” The weak voice was barely discernable, and he returned to his friend’s side, prepared to listen to whatever he had to say.
“Yeah, buddy?”
“In the drawer by the bed. My mom’s wedding rings. She always wanted Maggie to have them.” One item off his to-do list. He’d had no idea where to find a ring in the less than two hours before the ceremony. He opened the box to find an engagement/wedding set encrusted with several carats of sparkling diamonds. It would mean a lot to Maggie to wear her mom’s rings.
“Do you think I stand a chance of keeping her, Baxter?” He pocketed the black velvet box. “Being back here has put me right back into the head space as last time with her. If she leaves again, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
“You’ll figure out what to do, Will. Does she know how you feel? Have you flat out said I love you?”
“No. I’m afraid she won’t say it back.”
Baxter yawned. “She loves you, buddy. Don’t you be worried about that. The question is how to make her realize she needs to be here. With you. On Honeysuckle. If she leaves, she’ll sell it. I can’t bear that idea. Our family’s blood is in this place. And sweat and tears. I want it to pass to your kids. My sister’s kids.”
“You got it, buddy. I can’t guarantee what will happen after
, but I’m going to go shower, shave, and put on this suit and be ready to march down the aisle at your command.”
Baxter’s eyes were closed again, but his lips curved up in a smile. “That’s what I like Unreasoning obedience.”
“Don’t push it.”
Chapter Nine
Maggie stood inside the front door and fluffed her skirts around her. She had refused to wear the sparkly headband decked with yards and yards of netting until Juliana got her to look in a mirror with it on. “Do I look just like Mom, Juliana?”
“Almost her exact twin,” the cook said. “But maybe even prettier. She’d be so proud, mija. She always liked Mr. Will. He is a good man and will make you very happy.”
“You know this isn’t real, right? We’re only doing it to make my brother happy.”
“Of course, mija. Now, go out there and get married to your sweetheart. It’s hard to find someone to love in this world, and you two have loved one another for more years than I can count. It’s not fake. You are fooling yourself.”
Before she could respond, the door opened and the notes of the “Wedding March” swirled into the foyer. “That’s my cue.” Maggie took a step out the door and into a fairyland of flowers and candles and hanging white lights. The sun lay on the horizon, still coloring the sky in oranges and reds, but in a few moments the lights would be needed. At the other end of a long aisle stood Will, with Baxter next to him, upright, but not too steady. Despite the steady pace of the music, she walked quickly. Her brother used some of the last of his strength to stand up for them. Juliana was her witness, but really Baxter was there for both of them, the underhanded little matchmaker. She wondered where Suzi and Candy were, the women she’d always expected to be her bridesmaids, but she’d even lost touch with them and had no idea if they’d moved out of town, too.
In her dress and veil, gliding past the rows of seats filled by people she’d known all her life, even if she hadn’t talked to any of them in a very long time, Maggie could almost believe it real.
The judge in his judiciary robes under the archway looked so serious, she felt a little scared. Would he know they were caving to the pressure of her brother? She doubted it. Neither did anyone else know. They were all there to help celebrate the culmination of a longtime relationship. Albeit one with a long break between phases. The cowhands sat in the front rows on the left, the bride’s family, or as close as she’d have soon, and on the right…she blinked away a flood of tears at the sight of Will’s mama, looking worn out as always, but her lavender dress and freshly styled gray-blonde hair were perfect for the mother of the groom. The woman stared straight ahead at her only and estranged son. Step Daddy was nowhere to be seen, but that didn’t mean they’d split up or anything, although she could dare to dream. He probably didn’t have the nerve to attend Will’s wedding. Or maybe Baxter made sure he hadn’t. For a dying man, her brother certainly had the ability to arrange things.
In a moment, she stood at the front with her husband-to-be. When the judge asked, “Who gives this woman?” Baxter took a step closer to her and said in a clear voice, “I do,” before linking their hands and returning to his friend’s side and his best man duties.
The vows were almost her undoing. “I, Maggie Lynn McAfee take you, William James Kyle…until death do us part.” He lifted her hand and spoke his then slid a ring on her finger. She glanced down to see rings held together by one of those little clasps. And her eyes, fonts of tears lately, puddled up again. Mom’s rings. The sentiment touched her. Baxter must have gotten them from the safe. What a beautiful idea. One guaranteed to get under her skin. “With this ring I thee wed.” He drew a hankie from his pocket and passed it to her.
They were legally married, provided the exemption was indeed legal, and Will bent toward her to obtain his first official kiss as her husband. It went on so long, she heard giggles from some of the young ladies in the gathering.
They turned to face the gathered guests, and the judge announced they were Mr. and Mrs. Kyle. Maggie Lynn Kyle. Nice sound to that name. Shame she wouldn’t have it long.
She and Will wandered into the biggest tent where a cake stood five tiers tall, covered with smooth fondant and a complex sprayed design of their linked names to compliment the flowers it also bore. As much as they’d had to rush, how could Juliana have arranged for the custom cake. She’d never truly appreciated the power of the McAfee name until she didn’t have it anymore.
After they’d greeted all their guests, the caterers began to circulate with trays of appetizers, and Maggie managed to get a couple of them, amazed and pleased at the great flavor. Everything was as if it had been planned for months rather than mere hours and at some point, Maggie decided to go with the program and enjoy it.
Maybe they would only be married for a matter of weeks, but with Will it was better than many people’s lifetimes together. They circulated through the crowd, talking with people she hadn’t seen since childhood. Everyone treated her as if she had never left, but there were also a number of new people and after making the rounds, she left her new husband and found Baxter sitting at a table in the big tent where the cake held pride of place and gleaming settings marked each place.
Sinking down next to him, she kicked off her shoes and sighed. “I think most brides go into training for this.”
“Sorry to rush you, Sis, but, you know…”
She kissed his cheek and smiled at him. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you and your sidekick Juliana might have planned this for a bit longer than twenty-four hours.”
“No way. How could I know you two would be back together?”
“Baxter, you shamelessly used your illness to trick us into getting back together. How could we embarrass the sick guy in front of the entire town of Fort Mavis by refusing to participate in the wedding of the century?”
“No, how could you.”
Will sat at a small table at the back, holding his mother’s hands in his and speaking earnestly to her. “It was nice that Will’s mama had time to get her hair done.” She glanced around the guests filtering into the tent, laughing and talking. “In fact, looks like all the ladies had a chance to get a new dress and have their hair styled. Everyone but me, that is.”
“Yeah, they’re all looking mighty nice, but you know how this town is. Fort Mavis always puts on the dog for a special occasion and you’re one of our own come back from far away.”
“Must have been busy down in the salon today.”
“Guess so. I don’t know much about ladies’ hair fussing.”
“No, don’t suppose you do.” Her new husband gave his mama a hug, and the woman wiped her eyes. He’d always been close to her, and she could only guess what it cost him to keep away because of his stepfather’s bad behavior. He’d been afraid of making it worse for her. Even though their marriage would end, she decided to do what she could to help repair the relationship. His mama wasn’t getting any younger, and she was all Will had. Once his wife annulled him and returned to her life in California.
As she sat by her brother, people came by and wished her well, said a few kind words to Baxter. They all knew the truth, but their attempts to be cheering reminded her what life in Fort Mavis was truly like.
A couple approached and Baxter attempted to stand. “Tony! Maggie, I don’t think you know Tony Carlton. He bought the Double C spread a while back, but I think it was after you left.”
“It must have been,” she said, extending her hand. “Nice to meet you, Tony.”
The rancher smiled and brushed a kiss on the cheek of the woman at his side. “And this is Sarah. She and her horse Scooter arrived one day out of the blue from the East Coast and we’ve never let them leave.”
The woman slapped his arm. “You make it sound like a hostage situation. The truth was, once I met Tony and spent a little time in Fort Mavis, I fell in love with both. I can’t imagine ever wanting to leave.”
The couple wandered off to sit at a table while Baxter introduc
ed Melanie, Tony’s housekeeper and her son, Jace. After they’d headed off to sit by Tony and Sarah, Maggie returned her gaze to Will and his mama who were also being approached by many of the townspeople. “She looks so happy, doesn’t she? I wish she’d just get rid of that man and come live with us.”
“Listen to you. Sounds like you might actually be planning a future here.” He smiled, but his lips wavered a little and she ached for him.
“Baxter, this has really gone on long enough. I feel as if I’m in a fantasy. I never let you run my life when we were kids and I’m not about to start now. You and Juliana have done your worst, now back off and let us figure it out.”
“I only want what’s best for you both. If you could see what you look like together, how you never let each other out of your sight. Like now.”
She tore her stare off Will and fixed it on the cake. The beautiful towering white cake with the happy little bride and groom on top and coral honeysuckles spilling down the side in a riotous cascade.
“Sis,” he said, twisting his hands in his lap, “all fun aside. All manipulations aside, are you really happy in California? Do you have lots of friends who keep an eye out for you? People who’ll jump in if you need a hand? Friends like the ones you left behind in Fort Mavis?”
Did she? Besides those fruitless first dates, she had her book club once a month and a few other faculty members she joined on Friday nights sometimes for happy hour at the winery near campus. But in eight years away from home, she hadn’t formed one friendship as solid as those she’d left behind. Why not? “I guess I just don’t bond well with people. But it’s okay. I love my work.”
“You always bonded here just fine. If we’d had a little longer I could have gotten Candy Albright here from Houston to be your maid of honor. I called her but she’s presently in labor with her second child. And Suzi Smithson is right there with her. They were both violent not to be here for you. But Suzi will be back in a couple of weeks—after she plays mother’s helper to Candy and her husband—and she threatened me with death if I let you leave before she got back.”
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