Bride Included

Josie wished she could drum up even half the enthusiasm her daughter possessed. “Probably Friday.”

“Wow!” Bending down, she plucked a wildflower from a patch, then another, gathering a pretty yellow bouquet. “Can I be one of those girls who stands beside you and holds flowers?”

Josie managed a smile. “I’d love for you to be my maid of honor.”

Kellie’s eyes glowed with anticipation. “And will there be a big cake and a fancy dinner and dance afterward?”

Josie knew Kellie was remembering the wedding they’d attended last year for a friend of the family. It had been a lavish, traditional affair, with all the pomp and circumstance every young girl dreamed of. A beautiful white dress, a handsome groom who adored his bride, and vows that included loving and cherishing till death them did part.

Loving and cherishing wasn’t part of the agreement. Just a quickie marriage that would ensure she kept the ranch in the family. “It’s going to be a small, quiet ceremony,” she said in answer to her daughter’s question. “And there won’t be a reception afterward.”

Disappointment put a damper on Kellie’s excitement. And then an idea revitalized the sparkle in her eyes. “Maybe I could bake you and Mr. O’Connor a wedding cake!”

Josie suppressed a groan at the thought of explaining a young girl’s whimsy to Seth. “We’ll see.”

Crossing her arms over her chest and propping her backside on one of the fence’s rungs, Josie watched her daughter frolic in the meadow, picking flowers and pretending to be a bride. It was obvious that Kellie didn’t understand that she was marrying Seth because she had to and not because she wanted to. But Josie was okay with that because it eased her daughter’s fears to believe her mother was willingly marrying Mr. O’Connor.

Seth, her husband. The idea was difficult to get used to, considering she’d long ago given up trying to find a man worthy of that title. She’d dated a few times over the years, but the men she’d gone out with had heard about her “reputation” and expected more from her than a dinner companion and friendly conversation. Fending off groping hands had become a frustrating and depressing process—so much so that she’d decided it was easier to forgo the rituals of dating.

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