The gown was pretty, but best of all was Elaine’s face, radiant with quiet joy. Annabelle did her best to describe how lovely her older sister looked.

“The lace collar frames your face, but it’s the puffed sleeves that make it so special. You look very regal. Feminine but regal. Like a princess. Walter is going to be over the moon when he sees you heading down the aisle toward him.”

Maude rolled her eyes. Elaine couldn’t see the gesture, but for days Maude had been making perfectly audible comments that subtly belittled Walter. Their father, always in the background in their family, kept his nose buried in the newspaper.

Elaine’s fingers trembled as she smoothed the satin at her hips. “I just hope I don’t spill anything on it. That would be just like me to drop a big lump of custard on my lap.”

“You don’t need to worry,” Annabelle said, for she’d already discussed the wedding menu with Walter and Martha. As the father and wife of a blind soldier, they both understood the challenges of eating while blind. “Everything is going to be bite-sized finger food with no sloppy sauces.”

Maude huffed. “I guess we won’t be treated to any of that fancy mustard Walter sells.”

Annabelle ignored the comment. “There are going to be crab cakes, and Martha will make miniature cheese quiches, and then of course wedding cake. Walter has arranged for the best baker in town to supply the cake.”

“Sounds good,” her father said. How different Roy Larkin was from almost everyone else in Washington. His canvas trousers and plaid shirt never looked out of place on the farm, but it was more than his clothes that made him stand out here. With deep grooves on his face and thickly calloused hands, he was a man who worked in the sun and battled frigid winter wind. Her father was salt of the earth, and she loved him for it.

He stepped outside while Elaine changed back into her regular dress and Annabelle hung the wedding gown carefully. If she ever got married, it would be nice to wear this dress too. It was the finest garment in their family.

But it paled in comparison to the fancy lavender dress Gray’s companion had worn.

She sighed. It was only because Elaine was getting married that Annabelle felt so abandoned and alone. And useless. Once it had been her job to escort Elaine to and from the library each day, but now Walter arrived at their apartment and drove Elaine to the grocery, where she was learning to prepare the delicacies they sold in the shop.

“Shall we go out for dinner?” Elaine asked once she was properly dressed again and their father had rejoined them. “It will be better than anything Annabelle and I can prepare.”