gone, she jumped in her car and headed to the florist to order her wedding bouquet and what she wanted to wear in her hair in lieu of a veil. Then she dug through her closet to make sure the heels she planned to wear with her dress weren’t any higher than the ones on her boots.
“Ta-da!” she crowed when she lined them up side by side and saw they were the same.
She didn’t bother to make a list of who to invite, because she’d been here for such a short time. The only people she really cared about being there were Dan and Alice Amos, because Dan had trusted her enough to rent her a house on her word, and Ruby and Peanut Butterman. Peanut, because of his help in getting the Bottoms, and Ruby for keeping her secret about the shooting. And Mavis Webb, for being the single reason that Cathy was free of Blaine Wagner forever. Duke was the one who’d grown up here. He needed to invite the people who meant the most to him.
* * *
Christmas Day arrived in sunshine. Cathy drove herself up to the farm with a sweet potato casserole topped with a brown sugar and walnut crumble and a sack of gifts.
Duke met her at the car, and when she handed him the hot dish wrapped in a tea towel, he smiled.
“Lord, but something sure smells good,” he said.
“It was my mother’s recipe. Just me including her in our life.”
“Can’t wait to try it,” he said, and then walked her inside.
She left her presents under the tree and went into the kitchen. It felt so normal to be with the Talbots now. She was only days away from becoming one herself, and so integrated within the family that she felt like she’d been there forever.
Hope’s baby bump was showing now, and her last day of work had come and gone. Just being able to pace herself and her days now had made all the difference in her energy level, and Jack was happy she was home.
“Are you sure you’re up for a wedding here so soon after Christmas?” Cathy asked.
Hope laughed. “Honey, we’ve been trying to marry Duke off ever since I came into this family, and for the most part, he wasn’t having any of it. I’m so happy for the both of you that I’d do it twice just to see him smile. He is so in love with you, and that’s the way life is supposed to be.”
Cathy sighed. “Thank you, just the same. I’ve never known anyone so entrenched in family and taking care of people as he is. I think he’s perfect. He wanted to have it here, and all I want is for him to be happy, so that’s how this happened.”
“And it’s all good. Mercy and Lon just drove up. Go find Jack for me and tell him I need the ham out of the oven.”
* * *
The day was like Thanksgiving with them, except for ham instead of turkey. Her mama’s sweet potato casserole went perfect with the ham. They opened presents after dinner.
Bath salts for soaking for Hope and Mercy. Leather gloves for Lon and Jack, and a dark-blue pullover sweater for Duke that was just a shade or two darker than his eyes.
Cathy’s presents from Hope and Jack were things they knew she liked from when she’d stayed with them. Thick warm socks and a soft throw. And then she opened her present from Duke.
“It’s hard to think of what to buy for the woman who just bought half the town,” Duke said, which made everyone laugh.
Cathy grinned, and then she opened the box, only to find a smaller box inside and then a smaller box inside that. She was laughing when she got down to the last one, and then she opened it to find a necklace.
The chain was white gold and the pendant hanging from it was an obelisk-shaped gemstone of greenish-lavender. It had been years since she’d seen this, but she immediately knew what it was.
“Oh, Duke, is this—”
“Alaskan jade. I know it’s the state gem of Alaska, and I wanted to give you something from where you began.”
She threw her arms around him in front of everyone and burst into tears.
“Oh lord, please don’t cry. You’ll make me cry, too.”
“Put it on me, please,” she said, and so he did.
After that, he caught her rubbing the jade countless times, and could only imagine what memories it evoked.
The day