A Ring For Christmas: A Bride by Christmas / Christmas Lullaby / Mistletoe Manoeuvres

“The thing is, Clyde and Precious feel they’d better be kept up to date on what’s what, you know what I mean? Just in case the moms quiz them later on why they decided on something. For example, if you have them get married in a hot-air balloon, they want to be prepared with a solid story about how they have this thing for hot-air balloons. Get it?”

“I…”

“Therefore, I’ll be sticking pretty close to you through this whole endeavor so I have all the details straight to pass along to them as we go. My father will take up the slack for me at the office to free up some of my time because Clyde is his favorite nephew. My dad is semiretired, but for this occasion he’s willing to put in extra hours.

“So I’d say that about covers it. Remember, no expense spared. Oh, and Precious is about your size, so there shouldn’t be any problem about your picking out her wedding dress—if you want a traditional wedding dress. That’s up to you. Any questions?”

“I-I’m stunned,” Maggie said, shaking her head. “I’m having difficulty comprehending all this because it’s so…I can’t even think of a word to describe it.”

Try brilliant, Luke thought smugly. The Plan was nothing short of brilliant. Maggie would produce the wedding of her dreams. He had set it up perfectly to be able to stick close to her through the whole thing and he’d be chipping away at those walls of hers little by little, brick by emotional brick.

She would come to love him, just as he loved her. God, she just had to fall in love with him, want to marry him and spend the rest of her life by his side. Ah, please, Maggie.

“Will you do it?” Luke said. “I mean, take on this project?”

“Well, yes, of course I will. Yes.”

“Great. That’s even more than great. Thank you, Maggie, from the bottom of my heart. I’m really grateful. That is, Clyde and Precious will be very grateful to you for doing this.” Luke paused. “I realize that you don’t wish to ever marry, but that doesn’t mean you haven’t thought about the kind of wedding you’d like to have if you intended to marry, even though you don’t…intend to marry. Right? Did that make sense?”

“I think so,” Maggie said, frowning slightly. “Yes, I understand what you said. And I suppose I do wonder about how I would do things each time I coordinate a wedding. It’s human nature, you know what I mean?

“For example, when Ginger finally settled on pale yellow as one of her colors, I couldn’t help feeling that with so many blond bridesmaids a deeper shade would have been more striking. Of course, I didn’t say that to Ginger, but I was thinking it.”

“There you go,” Luke said, nodding. “That’s exactly what I was referring to. Have you ever put together a holiday wedding before?”

“No.”

“Then you won’t be influenced by a previous bride’s choices. The decisions will be exclusively yours.” Luke beamed. “Won’t that be fun?”

“I…”

“You’re not scheduled to do another wedding right away, are you?” Luke said. “You’re free to concentrate totally on Clyde and Precious’s do?”

“Their wedding will have Roses and Wishes’ undivided attention,” Maggie said, smiling.

“Great.” Luke frowned. “Mmm. The church. Which one would you pick?”

“Me? Well, I happen to be Episcopalian, but—”

“Terrific. You can book the same church that Ginger and Robert had. That will suit Clyde and Precious just fine.”

“Well, sure. Okay. Goodness, my head is spinning. This is rather overwhelming because it’s so…strange. What about bridesmaids? The dresses have to be custom-fitted, you know.”

Oops, Luke thought. Quick, St. John, come up with a solution to that.

“Well,” he said slowly. “Who would you choose as your attendants?”

“Me? My sister and my best friend.”

“That’s all? Just two?”

Maggie laughed. “Not everyone has seven bridesmaids like Ginger, Luke.”

“True,” he said. “Two. I’ll pass that on to Precious. Why don’t you find out what size dresses your two choices wear, and the seamstress or whatever you call her can adjust to the size of Precious’s bridesmaids.”

“Well, it’s not perfect, but it might work if there’s time enough to nip and tuck before the actual wedding—provided, of course, that everyone is at least close to matching in size. My sister Janet wears a twelve. My best friend Patty is a ten.”

“And you?”

“Me? I wear a size eight.”

“Got it. I’ll double-check all three of those numbers with Precious.” Luke paused. “There. Problem solved. We’re a good team, Maggie Jenkins.” Luke looked directly into Maggie’s big brown eyes. “A very good team. You. Me. Together.”

“Together,” Maggie whispered as she stared into Luke’s mesmerizing eyes.

She was about to start planning her fantasy wedding, Maggie mused dreamily. The one she would never have but had thought about so very much. And Luke St. John would be beside her every step of the way, as though he was the groom and she was the bride and…This was totally bizarre.

And very, very dangerous.

She had to keep herself grounded in reality through the months ahead, not get emotionally caught up in what she and Luke were doing. It was an unusual project assigned to Roses and Wishes, that’s all.

The bride was Precious, the groom was Clyde. She must remember that at all times. And keeping her head and heart straight would be a lot easier if she quit gazing into those compelling eyes of Luke’s.

“Well,” Maggie said much too loudly and causing Luke to jerk at her sudden outburst, “this has certainly been an interesting meeting.” She got to her feet. “As the owner of Roses and Wishes, I’d like to sincerely thank you for your confidence in me to coordinate the perfect wedding for Precious and Clyde.”

“You’re welcome,” Luke said, rising. “Just out of curiosity, what will you do first?”

“Select the colors. There are so many things—details, details, details—that have to tie into them that it’s important they are chosen early on.” Maggie laughed. “The way Ginger kept changing her mind about her colors was nerve-racking, to say the least.”

“You won’t have to worry about that type of thing this time, will you?” Luke said, smiling. “You’re planning your wedding—so to speak.”

“Well, yes, so to speak. But not really. Well, sort of, because whatever I decide is how it will be. But then again…Never mind. It’s going to take a while to adjust to such a once-in-a-lifetime endeavor.”

“That’s what weddings should be, don’t you think?” Luke said quietly. “A once-in-a-lifetime, forever-and-ever event for the bride and groom?”

“Of course.” Maggie sighed. “But in today’s society the forever-and-ever part doesn’t mean much to some couples.”

“There hasn’t been a divorce in our family,” Luke said, “for as far back as anyone can remember.”

Maggie’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding. That’s amazing.”

“Not really,” Luke said, shaking his head. “I believe that St. Johns are just very good at listening to their hearts, knowing what is right and real and falling in love with someone who is on the same wavelength. My dad fell in love with my mother when they were in the seventh grade. I kid you not, it’s true.”

“Awesome,” Maggie said. “That’s a rather dopey word to use, but it fits. Seventh grade? And there hasn’t been even one divorce in your family history? Totally awesome. Almost unbelievable. You don’t suppose some of those couples stayed together even though they were miserable because they didn’t want to be the first to break that magical spell, do you?”

“Nope,” Luke said. “No way. A stranger seeing any of my family with their partners would be able to tell that they’re deeply in love. Ginger and Robert will grow old together and be just as happy as they were at their wedding. So will…Precious and Clyde. Yeah, so will Precious and Clyde.”

“That’s so beautiful,” Maggie said wistfully.