A Wedding on Lilac Lane by Hope Ramsay (best book clubs .txt) 📕

in her ears, the simple chain around her neck. She probably even noticed the lack of an engagement ring she’d refused to let Jim buy her. God only knew what the woman thought about her dress, which Ella had found online for less than fifty dollars.

So this woman had been Julianne’s best friend? It seemed so unlikely after the things Jim had told her about his late wife. Julianne had sounded like a down-to-earth sort of person, much like her younger sister, Brooklyn Huddleston. Brenda had a hard time squaring what she’d heard about Julianne Huddleston with the bejeweled woman standing in front of her.

Unless Tammy had come to ruin the party.

“Dammit,” Jim murmured when the woman finally moved on. “Why didn’t you tell me Tammy Hansen was on the list?” he said, turning toward Dylan, his obvious annoyance confirming Brenda’s worst suspicions.

“I didn’t know,” Dylan said, looking toward Ella. “Was she on the list?”

“Um,” Ella said. “She wasn’t on the invited guest list. But Representative Everly RSVP’d yesterday by email and her name was on his email. So, um, no one snuck her in, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Wait, had Ella just come to Dylan’s defense? Evidently, Jim’s son had thoroughly snookered her daughter. But then Ella had a gullible streak a mile wide; otherwise she would never have believed the BS Cody had handed her over the years.

Jim stared down Brenda’s daughter. “Are you sure?”

“Of course she’s sure,” Dylan said.

Jim scowled at his son.

“Come on, guys,” Ella said on a long breath. “The guest list is no longer a subject for debate or name trading. Who is Tammy Hansen anyway?”

“You didn’t hear?” Brenda said. “She’s Julianne’s best friend.”

“Oh. Yikes. I didn’t know. But, even if I did, it’s not like we could have…” Her voice faded out.

“It’s worse than that,” Jim said in a hard voice. “She’s the woman I almost married when Dylan was fifteen.”

Brenda’s heart went on another breath-stealing romp through her chest. Why the hell hadn’t Jim ever said one word about almost being engaged to someone else?

Jim took her by the shoulders. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, not knowing what to say to him. Until this moment, she’d never mistrusted him. What other secrets had he kept from her?

“It’s not what you think. I’ll tell you all about it later, but we still have a few guests to greet, okay?”

She wanted to believe Jim, but she’d lost a little faith in him. Maybe he hadn’t lied to her exactly. But he’d certainly kept the truth from her, and that didn’t seem like a good place to start a marriage.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Of course Brooklyn Huddleston would be invited to this engagement party. Brooklyn was Dylan’s aunt—his late mother’s younger sister. Some people might have left Brooklyn off the list, but Jim Killough wasn’t that kind of person. Brooklyn would always be his sister-in-law no matter what. Not even a new wife would change that.

And really, Ashley didn’t hate Brooklyn, although she was mildly jealous because Micah St. Pierre seemed to prefer Brooklyn’s scones to her oatmeal. Although, in truth, Ashley made scones too, but the Rev had always insisted that he preferred oatmeal.

The answer to this confounding problem was quickly answered though, when Micah showed up on Brooklyn’s arm, evidently her plus-one for the evening. The turn of events quickly confirmed the worst fears of the Piece Makers. It was one thing for their minister to have his coffee at Bread, Butter, and Beans, Brooklyn’s coffee shop, and quite another for him to be squiring her around his younger brother’s yacht.

Since all of the Piece Makers had been invited to this party, it wouldn’t take long before one or more of them pulled Ashley aside, utterly scandalized by the Rev’s behavior. Of course, a few weeks ago, these same ladies had been bemoaning the fact that their minister was unmarried.

Now, just because he’d chosen a Methodist, some of the ladies would go into meltdown.

On the bright side, no one seemed to be overly concerned that Micah, a mixed-race man, had set his heart on Brooklyn, who was white.  Maybe things were changing here in Magnolia Falls.

“Can I go listen to the music?” Jackie asked, tugging on her dress and pulling her from her thoughts.

“Okay. But don’t get into trouble, and do not hog the chocolate fountain, you hear?”

“Yes, ma’am. I want to listen to Ella play.” His blue eyes got a dreamy look to them, and Ashley didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Her little boy had a big crush on Brenda’s daughter. Maybe there was hope yet that he’d one day grow out of his obsession with Captain Teal. Of course, the poor child was going to get his heart broken when he discovered that Ella had a secret lover.

Because what she’d seen earlier was not sisterly. Plus, Ella hadn’t been sleeping in her room or even using the bathroom at Howland House. She would arrive half an hour before breakfast service, tiptoe up to the third floor, and then come down the stairs as if she’d been up there all night.

But Ashley had seen the silver Honda dropping her off. She hadn’t put it all together until she’d seen Dylan’s car parked down at the clinic a few days ago. Ella and Dylan were having a fling right under their parents’ noses.

And Ashley had decided not to do one thing about it. And if any Piece Maker asked her, she was going to lie like nobody’s business and hoped she could carry it off. Because she was a terrible liar.

She got herself a glass of champagne and escaped to the ship’s bow for a good view of the sunset. This spot had the advantage of being far, far away from the Piece Makers, who had congregated at the yacht’s stern. She sipped the wine and enjoyed her solitude.

Until Patsy Bauman sneaked up on her. “We need to do something about this,” she said, not bothering to even explain what “this” was all about.