Debbie Macomber: Summer Wedding Bells: Marriage Wanted / Lone Star Lovin'

Make time for friends. Make time for

CEDAR COVE

16 Lighthouse Road

204 Rosewood Lane

311 Pelican Court

44 Cranberry Point

50 Harbor Street

6 Rainier Drive

74 Seaside Avenue

8 Sandpiper Way

92 Pacific Boulevard

1022 Evergreen Place

1105 Yakima Street

A Merry Little Christmas

(featuring

1225 Christmas Tree Lane

and 5-B Poppy Lane)

BLOSSOM STREET

The Shop on Blossom Street

A Good Yarn

Susannah’s Garden

(previously published as

Old Boyfriends)

Back on Blossom Street

(previously published as

Wednesdays at Four)

Twenty Wishes

Summer on Blossom Street

Hannah’s List

A Turn in the Road

Thursdays at Eight

Christmas in Seattle

Falling for Christmas

Angels at Christmas

A Mother’s Gift

A Mother’s Wish

Happy Mother’ s Day

Be My Valentine

THE MANNINGS

The Manning Sisters

The Manning Brides

The Manning Grooms

Summer in Orchard Valley

THE DAKOTAS

Dakota Born

Dakota Home

Always Dakota

The Farmer Takes a Wife

(Exclusive short story)

Debbie Macomber

featuring Marriage Wanted and Lone Star Lovin’

www.mirabooks.co.uk

To Randall Toye

who has supported and encouraged me

for twenty-eight wonderful years

Savannah Charles watched the young woman wandering around her bridal shop, checking prices and looking more discouraged by the moment. Her shoulders slumped and she bit her lip when she read the tag on the wedding gown she’d selected. She had excellent taste, Savannah noticed; the ivory silk-taffeta dress was one of her own favorites. A pattern of lace and pearls swirled up the puffed sleeves and bodice.

“Can I help you?” Savannah asked, moving toward her. Startled, the woman turned. “I…It doesn’t look like it. This dress is almost twice as much as my budget for the whole wedding. Are you Savannah?”

“Yes.”

She smiled shyly. “Missy Gilbert told me about you. She said you’re wonderful to work with and that you might be able to give Kurt and me some guidance. I’m Susan Davenport.” She held out her hand and Savannah shook it, liking the girl immediately.

“When’s your wedding?”

“In six weeks. Kurt and I are paying for it ourselves. His two younger brothers are still in college and his parents haven’t got much to spare.” Amusement turned up the corners of her mouth as she added, “Kurt’s dad claims he’s becoming poor by degrees.”

Savannah smiled back. “What about your family?”

“There’s only my brother and me. He’s fifteen years older and, well…it isn’t that he doesn’t like Kurt. Because once you meet Kurt, it’s impossible not to love him. He’s kind and generous and interesting.…”

Savannah was touched by Susan’s eagerness to tell her about the man she wanted to marry.

“But Nash—my brother—doesn’t believe in marriage,” the young woman went on to explain. “He’s an attorney and he’s worked on so many divorce cases over the years that he simply doesn’t believe in it anymore. It doesn’t help that he’s divorced himself, although that was years and years ago.”

“What’s your budget?” Savannah asked. She’d planned weddings that went into six figures, but she was equally adept at finding reasonable alternatives. She walked back to her desk, limping on her right foot. It ached more this afternoon than usual. It always did when the humidity was this high.

Susan told her the figure she and Kurt had managed to set aside and Savannah frowned. It wasn’t much, but she could work with it. She turned around and caught Susan staring at her. Savannah was accustomed to that kind of reaction to her limp, the result of a childhood accident. She generally wore pants, which disguised the scars and disfigurement, but her limp was always noticeable, and more so when she was tired. Until they knew her better, it seemed to disconcert people. Generally she ignored their hesitation and continued, hoping that her own acceptance would put them at ease.

“Even the least expensive wedding dresses would eat up the majority of the money we’ve worked so hard to save.”

“You could always rent the dress,” Savannah suggested.

“I could?” Her pretty blue eyes lit up when Savannah mentioned the rental fee.

“How many people are you inviting?”

“Sixty-seven,” Susan told her, as if the number of guests had been painfully difficult to pare down. “Kurt and I can’t afford more. Mostly it’s his family.…I don’t think Nash will even come to the wedding.” Her voice fell.

Despite never having met Susan’s older brother, she already disliked him. Savannah couldn’t imagine a brother refusing to attend his sister’s wedding, no matter what his personal views on marriage happened to be.

“Kurt’s from a large family. He has aunts and uncles and, I swear, at least a thousand cousins. We’d like to invite everyone, but we can’t. The invitations alone will cost a fortune.”

“Have you thought about making your own invitations?”

Susan shook her head. “I’m not very artsy.”

“You don’t need to be.” Opening a drawer, Savannah brought out a book of calligraphy. “These are fairly simple and elegant-looking and they’ll add a personal touch because they’re individualized.” She paused. “You’ll find other ideas on the internet.”

“These are beautiful. You honestly think I could do this?” She looked expectantly at Savannah.

“Without a doubt,” Savannah answered with a smile.

“I wish I could talk some sense into Nash,” Susan muttered, then squared her shoulders as if she was ready to take him on right that minute. “He’s the only family I have. We’ve got aunts and uncles here and there, but no one we’re close to, and Nash is being so unreasonable about this. I love Kurt and nothing’s going to change the way I feel. I love his family, too. It can be lonely when you don’t belong to someone. That’s Nash’s problem. He’s forgotten what it’s like to belong to someone. To be in a relationship.”

Loneliness. Savannah was well acquainted with the feeling. All her life she’d felt alone. The little girl who couldn’t run and play with friends. The teenage girl who never got asked to the prom. The woman who arranged the happiest days of other people’s lives.

Loneliness. Savannah knew more than she wanted to about long days and longer nights.

“I’m sure your brother will change his mind,” Savannah said reassuringly—even though she wasn’t sure at all.

Susan laughed. “That only goes to prove you don’t know my brother. Once he’s set on something, it takes an Act of Congress to persuade him otherwise.”

Savannah spent the next hour with Susan, deciding on the details of both the wedding and the reception. With such a limited budget it was a challenge, but they did it.