Maggie, looking radiant in a dark green sweater with silver earrings, laughed. “It was like something out of a romance novel,” she said. “Remember that big ice storm we had a couple of years ago? Travis was still living alone then. His windmill was frozen, and he had to climb to the top and free up the vanes so it would turn. I was driving past the ranch on my way home from an errand when my car hit a slick spot and slid into the ranch gate. Travis was climbing down when it happened. He was so distracted that his feet slipped on the icy ladder, and he fell all the way to the ground.” Maggie shook her head. “I came flying out of the car, half-afraid that I’d killed him. But then, as I looked down at him, he opened those beautiful eyes . . . Oh, my, I just melted.”

“And you lived happily ever after!” Katy clapped her hands.

“Not quite.” Maggie smiled at her. “Travis was madder than a hornet. He read me the riot act. I left thinking that he was the grumpiest man I’d ever met. But I found out later that he was just concerned about my dangerous driving. So everything worked out in the end.”

“And now you’ll be getting married in the church, wearing a beautiful white dress,” Katy said. “When I marry Daniel, that’s what I want, too.”

A momentary hush fell over the room. Megan exchanged glances with Connie Parker. The families knew, of course, that Katy and Daniel wanted to get married. But Katy had just made their intention public—news that was bound to surprise, even unsettle, some people.

It was Maggie who saved the situation. She reached over and took Katy’s hand. “Katy, dear, you deserve to have exactly what you want,” she said.

Slowly the silence in the room returned to the murmur of polite conversation. “I can’t believe you’re putting this wedding together at the last minute,” one of the women said.

Maggie grinned. “What do you mean by ‘last minute’? I’ve waited more than thirty years for this.”

“Who’s going to be your maid of honor, Maggie?” someone else asked.

Maggie shrugged. “I would have asked Tracy, but she’s going to perform the ceremony, so maybe nobody. But Clara’s going to be my flower girl—she’s had plenty of practice. And we’re thinking of letting Bucket be the ring bearer, if we can be sure he’ll behave. Conner’s going to be Travis’s best man.”

“And what about decorations—things like flowers?”

“The church will be decorated for Christmas. Along with some pretty candles, that should be nice enough. And Francine is catering the reception in the social hall, so you know that’s going to be wonderful.”