she didn’t see any mascara marks on the white linen.
“So, the locket is a go?” Michael asked.
“Definitely.”
“Good, let’s go,” he said, standing up from the table and then leading her back to the car.
“Where?” Grace asked, laughing as he hurried them along.
“To the jewelry store. I want to give it to her tonight, and if we’re there before 2 o’clock, Tom promised to have it engraved before he closes this evening.”
“My, my,” Grace told him as he helped her into the car, “You have been busy.”
“Just covering all of my bases. Why don’t you start going over that very busy schedule of yours and pick a wedding date.”
Grace opened her mouth and then promptly closed it as he shut her door and jogged around to the driver’s side. “Really? You want me to just pick a date out of thin air?”
“No. I want to take a two week vacation with Daniella after the wedding, so pick a date when you can get away for that long.”
“That’s easy then. June. Anytime in June. I usually take the entire month off to decompress between one choir season and then next.”
“Done. June it is. I should probably warn, you – my mom is going to make a big deal out of this. Brad and Teresa have said numerous times if they had to do it over, they’d elope. I don’t have the heart to do that to my mom, so we might as well enjoy the fuss.”
Grace laughed, “I think I can do that. Alec and I just had a simple wedding at the base. A little fuss this time won’t be too much of a hardship.”
“I’m going to remind you of that a month from now when you’re ready to run off to Las Vegas.”
“Not going to happen. I want a church wedding with all of the trimmings. Do you think Pastor Harris would marry us?”
“I’m sure he would. Why don’t you call and ask him tomorrow?” Michael said, referring to the pastor of the small church Grace attended on a regular basis.
Michael and his family had been attending a larger church, but Michael had readily switched, saying he liked the feel of the small congregation and felt at home there. Grace smiled all the way back into town. Valentine’s Day was just two more days away, and for the first time in several years, she was actually looking forward to the holiday.
Chapter 10
Castle Peaks, Montana, later that night…
“Sara?” Trent called out as he entered the house by the backdoor. He entered the kitchen and sniffed appreciatively at the pot on the stove. Chili! Yum!
“Sara?” he called again, heading into the large family room and still not seeing her. Her car was in the driveway, so she had to be here somewhere. He’d gotten a message from Becky that Sara had stopped by the sheriff’s office looking for him. She’d looked like she’d been crying, but hadn’t seemed upset.
He looked through the house, but still didn’t see her. “Sara?!” he hollered one more time, and then he heard the crash from the garage. It was used more for storage of things, than cars, and he headed in that direction.
“Sara?” he called out as he opened the door between the mudroom and the garage.
“Over here. Can you come take this box before I drop it?” her voice called out.
Trent glanced to where the voice had come from and then he spotted her. She was standing on a makeshift stool, holding a box aloft with one hand, while she tried to remove the one sitting underneath it. “Sugar, what in the world are you doing? Get down from there.”
“But I need this box out.” Sara spared him a glance and then nodded her head towards the box she was holding up, “If you could just hold this box for a minute, I can pull the other one out.”
Trent reached up and took hold of the indicated box, lifting it above his head and watching her carefully as she extricated the box beneath it. “What’s so important that you needed to risk your neck to get it?”
“My mom’s wedding dress,” Sara informed him triumphantly when the box slid free. She started