“You invited…?” Dane’s tone lost its edge, sounding more confused than angry now.
“Could you wave, Fairy?”
I obliged, throwing my hand out of the tangle of branches and leaves I’d gotten myself stuck in. “Pictures look great, Iz.”
She clapped her hands as Eva dropped down beside me, grasping me by the forearm and hauling me out of the bush. “You are so consistent,” she murmured.
It sounded to my ear likeTake me back into the trees.
Esther bounded out from behind a pine tree. “Hi, Dad!” she sang as she barreled into her father’s middle, drawing a startled “Oomph” from him.
“What, Esther…?” Dane twisted in bewilderment. “How many of you are there?”
“Just four,” Jack said, bringing up the rear.
Dane’s mouth dropped open, and then he turned to Isobel. “You… planned this?”
She cleared her throat. “The thing is… I want to be your wife, but I’m not really sure about a giant wedding. I…” She stumbled over her words. “I didn’t like how your last one ended.”
Dane took her in his arms more fully. “Is that what the delay has been, love? It wouldn’t be like that.”
“No. It won’t. I’ve made sure of it.” Isobel nodded to our motley crew. “I want to marry you here. Now. Well, in ten minutes. I do have a dress I want to change into, after all.”
Dane’s mouth fell open again, and a slow smile spread over his face. “You sure? Here?”
“It’s perfect,” Isobel rushed on. “Just you, me, and the people we love most.” She held out a hand and knit her fingers with Esther’s. “What do you say?”
It was a rare sight to see Isobel Moreau look nervous. Did she think he’d say no?
“Isobel,” Dane softly said, cupping her cheek in one hand, then cutting us a quick glance before deciding he didn’t care about an audience. With the other hand, he held his daughter, as he dragged Isobel in for a kiss.
Eva bumped me with her hip. “Money shot,” she whispered as I snapped the photo.
Esther pushed them apart. “So, will you marry her or not, Dad?”
I’d never seen the man smile so wide. “I thought she’d never ask.”
Isobel gave us ten minutes, during which Eva did indeed haul me back into the privacy of the trees, but only to change. From our overnight pack, she dug out a slightly wrinkled sundress.
I warmed. This was the pink one. With the pockets.
“Am I clear?” she asked, already peeling off her T-shirt.
“You’re good.”
She tugged the dress over her biking shorts. This was one of my favorites. It was loose and pretty, perfect for summer. Best of all, it fell slightly off her shoulders. I loved that.
Eva tossed me a look. “Are you staring?”
“Oh, absolutely.”
She laughed, a little self-conscious.
I watched her freckles disappear beneath a layer of cotton. “When you blush,” I said as she tossed me a shirt of my own, “you match your dress.”
Her reaction only proved my point.
At Isobel’s request, there was no apparel in our party finer than a dusty pair of tennis shoes and a pair of suspenders Jack wore over his flannel shirt. As officiant, he stood at the edge of the overlook, his back to the sky. Affection swelled within me as I watched him pull a notecard from his pocket and mouth a few words.
