Ann Mars, owner of the This ’N’ That shop. Ann, an active woman in her mid-eighties, had been assigned to be his host and helper when he moved to town.
The two women were both faithful Christians, and both loved their town, but they were as different as night and day. Miss Coraline, with her short gray hair and dress suits, always seemed in charge. Ann Mars coiled her long white hair on top of her head, smelled like sugar cookies and could sweet-talk a snake out of its skin. She was genuinely nice and made a person want to do things for her. Coraline was dignified. Ann was less than five feet tall and slightly stooped.
“Welcome, ladies. To what do I owe this pleasure?”
Miss Coraline spoke first, which seemed to be how she was wired. “As if you don’t know, Patrick Fogerty. We’re here to help with crowd control.”
He looked at the two women and tried to remain serious. But he smiled; he couldn’t help it. He was picturing the tiny Ann Mars holding back the crowd waiting outside his store. A good wind would blow her over and that crowd could trample her.
“I’m not sure why I would need crowd control. Isn’t it just your average Monday in Bygones?”
Ann Mars wagged her finger at him. “Do not play with us, young man. You saw that crowd out there, and it isn’t your…”
She turned a little pink and Miss Coraline cleared her throat. “What she means to say is that as handsome as you are, that crowd isn’t here to buy drills or nails. They’re here to see if Gracie shows up for work.”
“I’m sure she’ll be here.” He reached for his store apron, dark green with deep pockets for tools and other items he might need.
“She’s going to need you,” Coraline Connolly said with a lift of her chin. He hadn’t known her long but that look seemed to mean she meant business.
“I think she has plenty of people.” The back door eased open and he smiled at his two friends. “And here she is.”
Miss Coraline pulled the door open and Gracie stepped into the room, her face a little pink and her short dark hair a windblown halo around her face.
“Oh, Miss Coraline, Miss Mars, I didn’t expect you.”
Ann Mars didn’t say a word; she grabbed Gracie in a tight hug and held her until the moment became pretty uncomfortable. Patrick glanced at his watch. It was nearly time to open. He looked at the complicated group of females standing in front of him and he wondered why he had ever thought small-town life would be simpler.
“There’s a crowd out front,” Gracie said after she’d wiggled free from the arms of Ann Mars.
“Yes, there is, and I guess we know why they’re here.” Ann pursed her lips and snorted.
“To buy hardware supplies?” Gracie dropped her purse on the table where she’d left her flowers two nights ago. The flowers were now wilted, a symbol of the wedding that hadn’t been. She picked them up and started to dump them in the trash but first she removed the ribbon.
A symbol of her own stubbornness. She’d had to fight for that ribbon, so she might as well keep it.
“Are you okay?” Patrick stood next to her, his words quiet in his husky voice.
“I’m good. A little nervous. But I can’t hide forever.”
“Gracie, you’re going to have to face this.” Coraline edged close and gave the flowers a disgusted look. “What a mess. But you did the right thing. I don’t know why you did it, and that’s your business, but I never felt good about you marrying that young man.”
Gracie kissed Miss Coraline’s cheek. “Thank you. I guess I didn’t, either.”
“So now we face the fallout. Together.” Coraline linked her arm with Gracie’s. “You have us. And you have Patrick. And someday you’ll meet the man of your dreams and have a wonderful life.”
“I think I’ll take a break from romance,” Gracie murmured, unable to look up for fear of seeing Patrick.
“Are you okay?” Ann slipped close. “You look flushed.”
“I’m good. I just need to get back to work and get past this.”
Patrick glanced at his watch. “Time to open up.”
“And face the music,” Coraline said with a bright smile.
“I don’t think we want to talk about music,” Ann Mars whispered to her friend. “It might make her think of the wedding.”
Gracie smiled as she followed Patrick into the main part of the store. When she saw the crowd at the doors, she faltered. She had expected people to be curious. She hadn’t expected a mob.
“This is more than I expected. From the street it looked like a few people, not a crowd.”
“They’ve been out there for an hour.” Patrick paused, looking from her to the door and back to her. Gracie wanted to sink into the floor. “You could take today off.”
She shook her head. “No, I’m staying. If I don’t face it today, I’ll have to face it tomorrow or the next day.”
Eventually she’d also have to face Trent and his parents. They’d called yesterday, but her dad had been firm, telling them they could wait a few days and then informing them that this big wedding had been their idea, not his and not Gracie’s, so the expense was theirs.
Her dad hadn’t asked a lot of questions about why she’d left the church the way she had. He’d never been comfortable with father-daughter talks and had counted on ladies in town to take those discussions off his hands.
She swallowed past the lump that settled in her throat as Patrick turned the dead bolt and opened the door. The crowd poured into the store, more interested in her than the great sale on power drills.
Those drills were a really great buy.
A young woman approached Gracie, elbowing people out of her way as she moved through the crowd towing two young children behind her. Gracie didn’t know her but the brunette smiled as if they’d been friends forever.
“Can I help you?” Gracie cleared her throat to get the words out.
“Yes, you can. I need to know how to fix a window that lets in cold air. I need help.”
A window? Gracie hadn’t expected that. She breathed a sigh of relief and led the woman to the section of the store with sealants, window plastic and other do-it-yourself items.
“Here we go. Is it just one window?”
The woman looked around, glaring at customers who tried to get close enough to listen. “More than one. And I have to do this job myself. With two kids and a husband who decided he might as well be single, I’m on my own. Good for you, Gracie Wilson, for running before the wedding.”
“Oh, I…” She didn’t know what to say.
“It’s better to walk away from a wedding than walk away from a marriage.”
“I see, well, yes.” Heat crawled up her cheeks. “Let’s see. Do you want the plastic? It’s easy to put it up. A few tacks, a hair dryer and you’ll save yourself a lot of money this winter.”
“I think that’s perfect. Do you think I can put it up myself?”
“I put it up every winter on our old farmhouse.”
“That’s great.” The young woman gave her a hug and then hurried away with plastic and two children.
Gracie started to turn but a woman grabbed her arm and gave her a big hug. Gracie squirmed away and saw that it was a friend she’d gone to school with.
“Gracie, I don’t know what happened, but we’re behind you.”
Gracie opened her mouth, but she couldn’t