“I did what I had to do.” She blinked innocent eyes.
Anne began to fit the pieces of the puzzle together in her head. “You were behind it all? You knew who I was that first day? You lied to me the whole time?”
“I never lied to you, dear. You just assumed I had no idea who you were. I never said that.”
“But you said we were plotting together to find a wife for Steven.”
“And we did plot together.”
“But Gram, weren’t you trying to fix me up with Evan? You never suggested anything about Steven…”
“I never intended for you to end up with Evan, dear. It was always Steven. I tried subtle suggestions, but you were all fired up about finding a different wife for him. I had to be creative to pull it off.”
“And when you bought me that dress and invited Evan to the Christmas party?”
“I was desperate to light a fire under Steven, to get him moving.”
“Your little fire almost got Evan killed,” Steven said. “I can’t believe you let Anne wear a dress like that around him.”
“The dress was for you, Steven. And it worked quite well. You can’t blame me for Evan’s behavior. I didn’t tell him what to do. He did that all on his own.”
“And when you kept saying you didn’t like Henri? Was that part of your plan?” asked Anne.
“No,” chuckled Gram. “I really don’t like him.”
“At least we’re in agreement on that, Gram,” Steven grinned. “That’s why I sent Michelle over there during the Thanksgiving holidays. I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone, if they got back together.”
Anne looked at her husband in shock. “You never told me you sent Michelle to be with Henri.”
“Sorry, honey,” he said, without a hint of sincerity. “But you forgive me, right?” He planted a firm kiss on her lips.
“I don’t know. But I like the way you apologize.”
She asked Mr. Hamilton. “And were you in on the plot too?”
“Margaret tried to explain it to me, but I don’t quite understand how women think,” he said with a perplexed smile. “You had me pretty confused when you dropped by the shop on Saturday morning.”
“Not nearly as confused as I was.”
Mr. Hamilton handed Anne a gift bag. “I know you don’t usually open presents at the wedding reception, but I’d like to explain this one.”
Anne was delighted. “It’s heavy… Did you carve something for me?” She dug into the large bag and pulled out a beautiful pair of carved wood figures.
“Oh!” she exclaimed, as tears sprung to her eyes. “I can’t accept this, Mr. Hamilton. This is ‘Inseparable Love.’ You said you were going to give it to your granddaughter.”
“Well,” he said with a sly wink, “soon, that’ll be true.” He put his arm around Gram and gave her a little squeeze.
“Ohmygosh! You’re getting married?” Anne hugged Gram first and then Mr. Hamilton. Steven picked his Gram up by the waist and twirled her around.
“Put me down this instant,” fussed Gram. But she was laughing in spite of herself.
“When?” asked Anne. “When are you getting married?”
“We’ve got to get married pretty quickly,” said Gram with a straight face. “Before I start showing… People will talk.”
At this, the entire group fell into hysteria.
The wedding couple found Ellen and Ben. Ellen gave Anne a sheepish grin.