I jerk my hand away. “You haven’t noticed it, because I’ve only been wearing it around Jack. And Jack and I haven’t seen each other much these past few days. Truth be told, Cess, I’m confused about a lot of things right now.”
“That’s unlike you.” Cecily drapes a linen cloth over the cart and pushes it against the wall, out of the way. “Come with me.” She takes me by the hand and drags me out of my office.
“Where’re we going?” I ask, tripping along beside her.
“To get some air. I have a headache. I drank too much champagne last night.” We burst through the back door onto the veranda. “Sit.” She motions me to a rocker, turns on a propane space heater, and plops down in the chair beside me. Our few guests from last night have checked out, and we have the porch to ourselves.
“Talk to me, Stella. You’re not having doubts about marrying Jack, are you? You love him, right?”
“Of course, I love him.” I spread my arms wide at the grounds and the mountains in front of me. “But I love all this every bit as much. I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose it.”
Cecily pumps her legs, rocking her chair back and forth. “We all want the farm to succeed. But it won’t be the end of the world if it doesn’t. You’ll find something else to do.”
I stare at her, mouth agape. “This from the woman who’s been so stressed out about her career she’s been biting everyone’s heads off for weeks.”
Cecily sinks into her shoulders. “Sorry.”
“You’re forgiven,” I say. “Anyway, what else would I do? I’m not sure I’d be happy scooping ice cream at the Dairy Deli.”
“But you’ll still have Jack. Isn’t that enough? I’d be happy scooping ice cream as long as I have Lyle.”
“Ha. I know you, Cecily. You might be happy for a while. But you would grow bored quickly, and then what would you do?”
Cecily palm-slaps the arms of her chair. “I’ll have babies. Duh. Don’t you want a family, Stella?”
“Yes, I want children. I just don’t know if being a stay-at-home mom is enough for me.”
“Have you considered that maybe you don’t love Jack?”
My throat swells, tears fill my eyes, and I turn away from her. When the wave of emotion passes, I say, “Is it so wrong of me to want a family and a career?”
Cecily lets out a sigh. “Not at all. Like you, I want both. I’m mentally preparing myself in case things don’t work out at Jameson’s.”
I rest my head against the back of the rocker. “Listen to us. We’re being so negative. Brian has assured me we’re a long way from closing our doors. Even if the party bombs, we have the opening of the wellness center next spring to look forward to. With a spa and state-of-the-art fitness center, we’ll be able to market ourselves as a resort.”
“That’s true,” Cecily says. “I hate to say it, but with everyone being so health conscious these days, not having a fitness center hurts us.”
Katherine’s grounds crew draws near with leaf blowers, and we have to wait for them to move on before continuing our conversation.
“You know, Stella, you should tell Jack how you’re feeling. When Lyle asked me why I’ve been so irritable lately, I shared my concerns about the possibility of losing my job and having to move away from Hope Springs. He asked me to marry him the next night.” She flashes her ring at me. “He’d already bought this and was planning to propose at Christmas. But he gave it to me now, so I won’t be stressed anymore.”
I smile at her. “He’s a great guy, Cecily. I’m so happy for you.”
“That means a lot.” Cecily shifts in her chair toward me. “I hope you’ll be my maid of honor.”
Gasping, I bring my hand to my chest. “I would love that. I’m flattered you asked me, Cecily.” I reach over the arm of the chair and hug her. “Christmas is less than two months away. That’s not a lot of time to plan a wedding. Are you sure you don’t want to wait?”
Cecily shakes her head. “Christmas works for both our families. Thank goodness we have Presley to work her magic.” She stands and stretches. “I need to find some Advil for this headache. Are you coming in?”
“You go ahead. I’m going to sit here a minute.” As soon as she leaves, the tears I’ve been holding back spill from my eyelids. I do love Jack. But do I love him enough to suffer through thick and thin?
As though I’ve summoned him through mental telepathy, the door opens and Jack emerges from the building onto the porch. “There you are. I’ve been looking for you. We have an issue with the women’s locker room in—“ He stops in midsentence when he sees my face. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Everything.” I run my thumb along the band of my engagement ring. “I’m not sure I can marry you, Jack.”
“What’re you talking about? What happened?” He drops to Cecily’s vacated chair, and I repeat everything I told Cecily about my concerns for my career if the inn goes bust.
He listens without speaking until I’m finished. “Are you having doubts about your feelings for me?”
I care about him too much to lie to him, and he can’t help me unless I’m honest with him. “I don’t think so, but I’m not sure.”
The muscles in Jack’s face tighten, but he doesn’t appear angry. “Think about how drastically your life has changed since April, Stella? You found out about the father you never knew you had. You moved from New York City to a tiny town in the mountains of Virginia. You nursed your baby sister through meningitis. You managed the multi-million-dollar
