With the puppies settled once more and all the thread cleaned up, she finally closed the door and headed in to get ready for the wedding.
She had a date, after all.
The doorbell rang just as she was finishing her makeup.
Her stomach quivered with anticipation. If she had missed Ian and the children this much after only a few days, how would she cope once he was back in England and out of her life?
She checked her image in the mirror, feeling a little like a princess heading to the ball in her prettiest dress. Only she supposed she was the fairy godmother and the busy little mice, too, since she had made this one herself.
She had designed her dress to be elegant but understated, a simple column of the palest turquoise, tea-length with capped sleeves.
She had chosen to wear her hair simply to match the lines of the dress, in a French twist that accentuated her neckline and collarbone and showed her earrings to good effect.
Heart pounding, she hurried to the front door. She expected only Ian and was delighted to find Amelia and Thomas standing on either side of him.
“Hello.” She managed a smile, though she felt slightly giddy.
“Hi.”
He hadn’t taken his eyes off her since she opened the door. Sam met his gaze and couldn’t look away, trying not to shiver at his hot stare. She wasn’t sure how long they stood in the doorway gazing at each other. Fortunately, Thomas broke the silence.
“Hullo,” Thomas said. “We’re here to take you to Aunt Gemma’s wedding.”
She managed to jerk her gaze away from his father to find the boy looking dapper in a charcoal suit just like Ian’s, a miniature version that fit him perfectly.
“We’re a few moments early,” Ian said, finally finding his words. “Sorry about that but the children were dressed and clean for five minutes. Mrs. Gilbert suggested the best chance of keeping them that way was simply to leave for the wedding before they could mess things up again.”
“I’m almost ready. I only need to grab my shoes and check on the puppies one more time.”
Amelia made a tiny sound of excitement. “Please, Dad. May we say hello to the puppies?”
“If you look and don’t touch. Gemma probably wouldn’t mind dog hair all over you but the photographer she’s hired might.”
“We’ll be careful,” Thomas promised.
Samantha took them to the sewing room and opened the door, keeping the gate in place. All the puppies yelped in greeting, dancing and writhing around, to the children’s delight.
“I love these puppies,” Amelia said with a sigh that sounded as if it came from deep within her soul.
“I do, too,” Thomas said, his voice wistful. “I so wish we could take one home with us.”
“We’re leaving on Wednesday next,” Amelia said. “I wish we didn’t have to go.”
She sounded so sad that Samantha wanted to kneel down right there and wrap her arms around her.
“What about all your friends at home? You told me about your friend Christine, who was going to Barcelona this summer with her family. Won’t it be nice to tell her about your trip to Idaho?”
“That will be fun, I suppose. I’ve sent her pictures of the puppies and she’s so jealous. She adores puppies.”
“There you go.”
“Still, I’ll miss the puppies. Pictures aren’t the same as hugging them.”
“They’ll be going to their new homes next week, anyway.”
“Will Betsey be sad about not being with her babies anymore?” Amelia asked, suddenly looking stricken.
“She might be sad for a day or two. But she’ll be all right.”
“Will you be sad?” Thomas asked.
“A little. But I’ll be all right, as well.”
“I’ll miss you,” Thomas said, his voice a little shy. She could almost feel her heart shatter.
This time she did kneel down, as hard as it was in her dress, and hugged both children.
“I’ll miss you both, too. You’ll be sure to write me, though, won’t you?”
“Yes. Would it be all right if I colored a picture for you?” Thomas asked.
“Definitely.”
“Maybe we can FaceTime, too, on Dad’s computer,” Amelia suggested. “That’s what we do with Aunt Gemma.”
“I would like that very much,” she said.
When she stood again, she found Ian in the doorway to the living room, watching the interaction with an expression she couldn’t read.
He cleared his throat. “We really should be going. We wouldn’t want to be late for Gemma’s wedding.”
“No. Of course not. I only need a moment.”
She slipped into her bedroom for her shoes and evening bag and then returned to the living room. “Ready.”
She might be ready for the wedding, she thought as they all headed for Ian’s vehicle. But she was certainly not ready for everything that would come after.
HOW WOULD HE possibly be able to keep his hands off Samantha through the entire evening?
The evening was one thing. He could endure anything for one night. But how would he be able to walk away from her to fly home in only a few days?
She had become infinitely precious to him during the short time he had been in Haven Point. He pictured her there as she had been a short time ago in the hallway of her home, holding both of his children and looking as if she was about to weep. His chest ached.
How had she become so very important to his world?
She brought sunshine and joy into a world that had seemed dark and cheerless for a long time.
The children chatted all the way to the house of Gemma’s friends where the wedding would be held. As soon as they walked to the backyard, which was decorated with garlands of entwined ribbons and lush, brightly colored flowers, his mother headed straight for them.
“Thank the lord you’re here,” Margaret exclaimed.
“What do you need me to do?” Ian asked immediately, afraid he had forgotten some kind of wedding responsibility.
“Not you. Her.” She pointed to Samantha. “We’re having a wardrobe malfunction. The mother of the groom is wearing a dress that just ripped at a fairly important seam and she’s
