Hannah took a deep breath and repeated her great-grandmother’s saying in her mind. In for a penny, in for a pound. She’d opened the subject and now it was time to tell her mother that her continual wavering about the wedding plans had gone on long enough. It wouldn’t be nice, and it wouldn’t be pretty, but Hannah was about to put an end to it. “You’ve changed your mind about everything else that concerns the wedding. For all we know, you might change your mind about marrying Doc, too.”

“I’d never do that!”

“Okay. That’s written in stone then. But think about this, Mother. You might not be marrying at all since you can’t make up your mind about your dress, the bridesmaid dresses, the flowers, and the menu and decorations for the reception. I don’t even think you’ve chosen a wedding invitation yet . . . have you?”

“Well . . . no. No, I haven’t. But I’ve narrowed it down to four and there’s still time as long as I don’t have the invitations hand-addressed by a calligrapher.”

“Yes, you probably missed the ticket on that one.” Hannah prodded a little harder. “I hope you get them in the mail in time for the postal service to deliver them. You know, Mother . . . I’m really beginning to wonder if you want to get married at all. You’re certainly dragging your feet when it comes to making wedding decisions.”

“But . . . but . . .” Delores sputtered, and then she took a deep shaking breath. “Just because I’ve changed my mind a few times doesn’t mean I don’t want to marry Doc. I just want everything perfect, that’s all. It’s very important to me.”

“It’s important to us, too. You raised three daughters and you put us in charge of the wedding,” Hannah reminded her. “And you know, full well, that perfection isn’t our long suit. We’re trying, but you’re knocking down every one of our ideas. And when, and it’s a big when, you finally agree on something, you change your mind again within a week. You said you didn’t care, that we should do it and you’d go along with anything we planned.”

“Well! I didn’t mean I’d go along with absolutely anything you planned.”

“Okay, let’s keep this simple. Are you going to let us do it? Or are you going to fight us every step of the way?”

Delores sighed and put her head in her hands. She stayed that way for a long moment and then she took her hands away. “All right, Hannah,” she said. “You’re right. I’ve been vacillating too long and I haven’t been fair to you girls. Give me three choices on everything and I’ll decide.”

“You promise?”