“He loves them, you know. Each one,” Brynnie said as she and Luke paused for a glass of champagne. “All the hard feelings that existed between the girls and him, well, let me tell you, it’s taken its toll. Trying to put this scrappy family together has been hard on him.”

“And on his daughters,” Luke added.

“Oh, my, yes. Even Katie.” Brynnie sipped slowly. Her face was flushed and her fading red hair, precariously curled onto the top of her head, was starting to fall. “Here, would you mind holding this?” She handed him her glass, extracted a bobby pin from her crown and held it between her lips as she expertly tucked the falling loops of hair into place again. “There we go.” She pushed the bobby pin to the spot where it belonged, securing her tresses, then took her glass from him. “What I wouldn’t do for a smoke,” she admitted, “but I’m trying to quit, what with John’s condition and all. I suppose you know that he had himself a heart attack.”

“I’d heard,” Luke admitted, still watching John and Katie move easily around the dance floor.

“That’s what started all this—him and me getting together and his obsession with making us all one big happy family.” She glanced up at Luke. “I’m not a gambling woman, but I’d bet my life that our family’s a little bit like Humpty-Dumpty—darned near impossible to put together. At least, not as fast as he’d like it. Emotions take time to heal.... Oh, listen to me. This is a wedding, for goodness’ sake, and here I am gettin’ maudlin.” She blinked rapidly, sniffed, and swept a beringed finger under her eyes. “It’s so silly. I guess I just want John to be happy.”

“He looks like he is,” Luke observed as the music ended. Katie looped her arm through the crook of her father’s elbow and they maneuvered through the knots of people clustered around the ballroom floor.

“I hope so,” she said fervently as John and Katie approached. John and Brynnie moved off.

“So what did Mom tell you?” Katie asked. “I saw you two with your heads together.”

“She was just giving me some background on the family.”

“Such as?” she asked as his arms surrounded her again.

“Your mother seems to think there’s no hope of bringing your family together.” He held her tight and got lost in the scent of her perfume.