Free Here Comes the Groom by Karina Bliss

twilight. And the light was on in the parlor, the formal living room where Nan had once entertained her many visitors. Jo couldn’t remember seeing anything in her grandmother’s diary, but given the chaos of the past few days, she could have missed it.
    In the garage, she turned off the headlights and sat for a moment in the dark. Then hauling her heavy briefcase from the passenger seat, she entered the house.
    Perry Como crooned from the CD player and her mood lifted. Nan always played him when she was feeling well. Dumping her briefcase, she strolled into the parlor and stopped dead.
    “Darling,” said Nan. “We were just talking about you.”
    Dan filled another glass with champagne. “Tough day?”
    “You could say that,” she returned evenly, glaring at him. Accepting the glass, she turned to Nan, trying torecall how alcohol affected her medication. “Should you be drinking?”
    “Pooh, one won’t kill me.” Her grandmother toasted Dan. “Besides, we’re closing a deal.”
    Perry warbled that everyone knew where this was heading.
    “What deal?”
    “Daniel has offered to prune the hedges this weekend.”
    “He has enough to do on the farm.” Despite her promise to Pat, Jo couldn’t keep the sharpness out of her voice. He was boxing her in, closing off all escape routes.
    Nan’s smile faltered. “Oh, dear, why didn’t I think of that?”
    Dan leaned forward and chinked his glass to Rosemary’s. “Because you know I’ll always make time for my favorite women,” he returned gallantly.
    “Poppycock,” Nan retorted, but she was smiling again. The three of them together was almost like old times. Almost. Jo sipped the champagne, holding the bubbles on her tongue before swallowing. Well, if the mountain thought coming to Mohammed would further its cause, the mountain thought wrong. “How about we go for a drive in the morning, Nan? Get out of Dan’s way.”
    His eyes gleamed appreciatively.
    Nan looked appalled. “You can’t leave a man alone with a chainsaw, Jocelyn.”
    “Anyway, your part of the deal is to supply lunch,” Dan said smoothly. He turned to Nan. “But if you feel I’m intruding…”
    “Nonsense,” protested Rosemary, “you’re practically family.”
    Perry crooned about two hearts forever linked. Jo gulped her champagne. “Where’s Polly?” she asked her grandmother.
    Dan answered. “The housekeeper? She’s making dinner.”
    “Jocelyn, we’ve had such fun talking about when you two were children,” said Rosemary. The more her grandmother lost of the present, the sharper the past seemed to become. “Tell me, Daniel, are you still intending to join the army?”
    He looked puzzled, and Jo’s fingers tightened on the stem of her glass. “You mean rejoin the army?” he asked. “No, my resignation’s permanent. And I’m back to take over the farm from Herman, remember?”
    Nan sat back in the armchair and played with her pearls. “Oh, yes, of course.” She sought out Jo, no longer a grande dame but a confused child.
    “We like this tune,” Jo reminded her as another old-timer, Vince Bugatti, began to croon. “You know I’ll never leave you,” she sang softly.
    Nan’s expression cleared. “No one cares like I do,” she finished in a sweet contralto. “Vince Bugatti.” Confidence restored, she turned back to Dan. “You grew up extremely handsome, Daniel. In fact, you have quite the look of my Graham, don’t you think, Jocelyn?”
    Instinctively Jo exchanged a smile with Dan. “I think Pops was a little rounder.”
    “And balder,” said Dan.
    “Not when I married him.” Nan’s brow furrowed. “Someone else is getting married soon.”
    Jo stiffened. “No, they’re not.”
    “I’m sure they are.” Her grandmother’s voice was querulous again. She rummaged through her black handbag. “I write things down,” she said to Dan. “Because of my memory… Jocelyn, what have you done with my notebook?” Her tone accusatory, Nan tipped the