“Leland is my cousin,” Hallie said, and reluctantly, Braden moved so Leland could sit by Hallie. She couldn’t help staring at him.
“And you look like my dad’s sister,” he said. He saw the ring on her finger. “You’re engaged.”
“Wow. More family. But, no, I’m not engaged,” Hallie said.
“Yes, she is,” Braden said from the other side of him.
Leland looked over her head to Kit.
“Our Hallie is a very popular young lady,” Kit said.
The music began again and there was no more talk.
Minutes later, the groom and Jared came from the side to stand at the front. As Jared looked around the audience, he smiled at Hallie.
Braden leaned across Leland. “You know the famous architect too? Who’s next? The president?”
“Shhhh,” Hallie said and leaned back against the pew.
Leland was looking at her questioningly, but Hallie just shrugged. Kit’s eyes were sparkling in amusement.
When the music for the bride began, everyone stood up. Jilly’s dress was extremely simple: high necked, long sleeves. But the fabric was embellished with long rows of tiny silvery sequins. As she passed by, people gasped when they saw the back of the gown. It was covered with a transparent mesh and showed off Jilly’s beautiful, toned back to well below her waist.
“Now, that’s a gown!” Hallie said.
Kit smiled. “Our Jilly has always had a bit of fire in her.”
“When I—” Hallie cut herself off. She had an idea that if she even mentioned marriage, Braden would comment on it. What in the world was wrong with her?! Everything she’d ever dreamed of was happening, but all she felt was a sense of gloom.
She couldn’t help it, but she yet again looked toward the back of the church. Sitting in the last pew, near the aisle, with Raine beside him, was Jamie. He was staring at her and frowning, but Hallie smiled at him, glad that he was safe. Suddenly, her feeling that something was missing disappeared.
She turned back to the front and looked up at Leland. When he smiled at her, it felt good. He was her family. All around were Jamie’s relatives, but this man, Leland Hartley, was related to her.
He seemed to understand what she was thinking. He reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a card. It was an old photograph, probably early 1900s, of a pretty woman wearing a costume with a tall lace collar. It looked like something Elizabeth I wo
uld have worn. Beneath it was printed EMMELINE WELLS.
“Your great-grandmother,” Leland whispered.
If the pastor had not started speaking, Hallie would have bombarded him with questions. As it was, her hands held on to the card tightly. She’d never known anything about her father’s family and there had been grandparents only on her mother’s side. To suddenly see how she belonged in the world was touching something deep inside her.
“She’s almost as pretty as you are,” Kit whispered, making Hallie smile.
She gave her attention to the beautiful ceremony.
“How are you doing?” Raine asked as he sat down beside Jamie, whose chair was up against the tent wall. After the ceremony, the guests had been transported to a piece of land owned by the Kingsleys, where Jilly’s new husband’s daughter had designed a beautiful chapel. Jilly had wanted to be married there, but it wouldn’t hold even half of her big family. She’d settled on being married in the church, with the reception near the chapel.
“Great,” Jamie said, his leg stuck out before him, his crutches in his hand as though he were ready to leave at a moment’s notice. “The woman I love is wearing another man’s ring and dancing with every man here.”
“Interesting description of her,” Raine said. “Have you told her how you feel?”
“Hallie’s so nice she’d probably marry me out of sympathy.”
“I don’t think you’re right,” Raine said. “Hallie has a mind of her own and she doesn’t do things she doesn’t want to. She won’t dance with me.”
Jamie snorted. “She tends to like those skinny ones. Every Montgomery here has whirled her around.”
“And so have the Taggerts,” Raine said. “It’s just me she refuses. I thought she and I were becoming friends, but today she won’t even look at me. I wanted to tell her that our secret is out, but she turned away before I could say it.”