lived in a twilight doze most of the time, but she always brightened when she realized it was Callie leaning down to give her a kiss on her withered cheek. Thanks to Grant, she was in a better nursing home situation now, being cared for every minute by loving attendants.
Still, Callie thought how lucky Grant’s grandfather was to still be well enough to be living at home, even if he wasn’t very mobile any longer. It was just too bad he couldn’t see the wedding he was so interested in having take place.
And then, she had an idea. She stopped by Grant’s office when she got back to work.
“Grant, I know your grandfather can’t come into town for our wedding. But listen. Why don’t we take it to him? Why don’t we have the justice come out to the ranch? Would he do that?”
Grant thought it was a great idea and she could see that he appreciated her thinking of his grandfather that way. She had a warm glow for the rest of the afternoon.
But in the end, it turned out she should have left well enough alone. The plan had been to have a quiet, private wedding in the justice’s chambers with two witnesses. That was it, just a quick transaction, shake hands and off everyone would go. Instead, now that they were having the wedding at the ranch, everything was turned on its head.
She couldn’t blame anybody but herself. It had been her idea. But once the setting changed, things started spiraling out of control, and before she knew it, she was being asked what sort of wedding cake she wanted and did she want to have finger food or a sit-down dinner, and did she mind if the cousins from Redmond came? They would stay quiet and in the background, but they were older and had loved Grant as though he were a child of their own and would be so hurt if they found out they hadn’t been included.
So suddenly they were having the wedding of the year, out in ranch country at any rate. When everyone you met was just so excited about the wedding, how could you keep them away?
“I don’t even have a decent dress to wear,” Callie fretted as the whole thing loomed like a curse just a day away. “I mean, if we were really doing this right, I would have a hair appointment and a dress and veil and all the other things a bride expects to have. And here I am, going into a big wedding with little wedding outfits and preparations.”
“I thought that was what you wanted,” Tina said.
“Sometimes I want dumb things,” she said, frowning her frustration. “I’m getting a very bad feeling about this. Is someone trying to tell me something? Is this a sign that I’m not prepared for this marriage? That I’m doing something recklessly without considering all the ramifications?”
“Oh, calm down,” Tina said, trying to reassure her. “You’ve just got the jitters. Everything will be fine tomorrow. You’ll see.”
Callie tried to calm down. She took a long shower. She washed her hair. She packed a case of things she was planning to take out to the ranch to use in the wedding. Then she repacked the case she’d prepared to take to Grant’s apartment after the wedding. Then she repacked it again. Then she put a new shade of polish on her toenails and redid her fingernails.
But the whole time, all she could think about was Grant. How could she marry a man who was still in love with his first wife?
She was getting married for the second time. Was this her second big mistake? She’d married Ralph, her first husband, because he and his mother had been good to her when she was desperate and she was grateful. And now-had she fallen into the same trap again? She was marrying Grant because he promised to take care of all her problems and make life smooth and easy for her. How was that so different from the reasons she’d used to talk herself into marrying Ralph, another man she didn’t love?
Why couldn’t she seem to learn from her mistakes? Was she one of these people who kept falling into the same pattern again and again and ruined their lives?
“It’s different this time,” she whispered to herself.
Yeah. Right. That was what those sorts of people always said, wasn’t it?
“No, really. It’s different. Because this time, I understand what I’m getting into. I’m not expecting marriage to make everything perfect.”
Perfect? This might not even end up normally average, forget perfect.
She went back over all the steps in her head, reminding herself of how this was a business deal first and foremost. That they were both in this for something other than the usual love thing. That they both had to keep cool, calm and collected if this was going to work for them.
No emotions. At least, not so anyone would notice.
But she just wasn’t sure if that was going to work in the long run. In fact, she was afraid she already liked Grant a little too much. Should she tell him? If not, could she keep a secret like that for the rest of her life?
This was agony. Maybe they should just forget the whole thing. Maybe she ought to call him and…
It was late when Grant picked up the phone. He heard Tina’s voice on the other end.
“You’d better get over here fast,” she said.
He tensed. “What’s wrong?”
“We’ve got a bad case of cold feet developing. You might want to come over and try to nip it in the bud.”
Funny, but he’d been expecting this. In fact, he’d faced a bit of the old frigid feet thing himself, wondering how he could possibly be contemplating doing something so contrived and difficult to bring off.
“If you still want to marry this woman tomorrow,” Tina was saying, “you’d better come and make your case.”
“Again?”
“Again.”
He sighed. But what the hell-maybe trying to convince her would firm up the crumbling edges of his own confidence.
“Okay,” Tina was saying. “I’m going to take Molly and go grocery shopping. You will have about an hour and a half before I get back. Put it to good use.”
Good old Tina. He’d gotten to know her better over the past week and understood why she and Callie were so close. He was glad she was on his side. If she were working against him, he wouldn’t have a chance.
He was at the apartment in twenty minutes. Callie was home and she let him in, looking curious but not particularly surprised to see him.
“Tina called you, right?”
“She said your resolution was wilting. I came over to give it life support.”
She gave him a tragic look, turned and led the way to the couch, where she flopped down, pulling her legs up under her. He sat down in a chair facing her and spent a moment enjoying the way the lamplight played with her golden hair.
“You’re not going to desert me, are you?” he asked her softly.
She met his gaze and held it for a long moment before she slowly shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she said doubtfully.
He could have asked for a little more positive spin on that less-than-ringing endorsement. But at least she wasn’t calling him names and throwing things.
“Tell me, Callie. What is it that’s making you feel uncertain tonight?”
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again.
“Oh, I don’t know. This whole thing. I mean, this started out being a small business deal. Remember that? Now we’re stuck with this gigantic wedding with all sorts of people coming, lots who I don’t even know. This wasn’t supposed to happen. It’s all gotten out of hand.”
“No, it hasn’t,” he said, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, all calm male confidence and optimism. “Callie, the wedding as a party means nothing. Officially joining our lives in the pursuit of a baby-that’s what’s important. All the rest is frills.” He shrugged. “If you want, we’ll cancel it and go back to our original plan.”
She stared at him. “We can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
She bit her lip. “Everybody’s so excited about it.”
“Great.” He smiled at her. “Let them have the party without us. We don’t have to go.”
She smiled, thinking of it. Most of them wouldn’t notice the bride and groom were missing until halfway through the day. She could imagine the scene.
