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“That’s what I told her. I said, Mom, this is what you look like. This is where you are in your life. It’s okay.” She shook her head. “I just wish she’d go get a wig. She’d be so much happier.”
“Why won’t she?”
Jill shook her head again and slipped her hand away from Hannah to pick at something on the cuffs of her jeans.
“What is it?” Hannah pressed.
“Haven said she won’t go get a wig, because they’re expensive, and Mom and Dad have spent everything they have on the wedding.”
“Oh, come on,” Hannah said. “She didnotmake it your fault your mom can’t get a wig.”
Jill looked at her out of the corner of her eye before turning fully toward her. “You’ve met my sister, right?” Jill and Haven didn’t see eye-to-eye on many things, and Jill claimed she was the perfect older sister who did everything right.
Haven’s view of Jill was that of a spoiled kid who got what she wanted, because she was the favorite. Neither of them were exactly right, because the truth always lay somewhere in the middle. Truth could be gray sometimes.
“I’ve been saving up,” Jill admitted. “I’m going to get her a wig for Mother’s Day.”
“That’s a great idea,” Hannah said with a smile.
“It won’t be in time for the wedding, though.” Jill leaned over and rested her head against Hannah’s shoulder. “Thank you for tonight. I didn’t even know how much I missed this until now.”
“Yeah.” Hannah looked out the big front windows and into the darkness. “Do you think she’s had the baby yet?”
“If she has and Nate hasn’t texted us, I’ll seriously rip him apart when they get home.”
Jill and Hannah laughed together again, and then both of their phones sounded in near harmony. “Has to be them,” Hannah said, struggling to get her device out of her back pocket. The corner caught, and Jill sucked in a breath and squealed.
“Oh, it’s a boy,” she said, looking up with pure sunshine pouring from her. She’d definitely have a baby very soon after she and Slate got married if at all possible, and Hannah couldn’t lie and say that wasn’t what she wanted too.
She finally freed her phone and swiped on the text from Nate. It was a picture of him, Ginger, and a cute, tiny, red-faced baby wrapped in a soft, blue blanket. A sigh escaped Hannah’s mouth. “He’s perfect.”
Another message came in.Meet Ward Talbot Mulbury. 20-inches long. 9.2 pounds. He arrived at nine-sixteen this evening, and he can really cry.
Hannah smiled at the message, so many feelings running through her.
Ginger did great, Nate said next.She’s fine and asleep already. I know a lot of you have been praying already, but we’ll take any more you can give. She was so stressed and so scared, and I think she just crashed.
Hannah’s heart went out to Ginger, because she’d seen and tasted that fear on her. She’d experienced it when she stared at the gulf, begging the Lord to bring Luke and Connor up out of the water.
“Talbot is the perfect middle name,” Jill said. “In fact, I really like it for a first name…”
“You can’t be serious,” Hannah said, though she knew very well that Jill meant it. She’d always liked strange or quirky names. Last names for first names. All of that. “You would too if you’d been named Jill,” she always told Hannah.
“Yeah,” Jill said. “Talbot Sanders…it’s got a nice ring to it.”
“Heaven help us all,” Hannah said. Jill settled against her again, and they sat there, the two of them, in wonderful silence. Hannah loved her friends on the ranch, and in quiet moments like this, she knew and understood that she’d never truly be left alone, whether she got married or not.
It only felt like it sometimes.
* * *
“Pink or yellow?”Jill asked a couple of weeks later. She turned from the full-length mirror in the bridal shop. The dress had been delayed, and she only had fifteen days until the wedding. Her gown had fit like a glove—finally—and now she needed help picking out her headgear.
Jill wasn’t what anyone would describe as traditional, and she didn’t want a veil. Right now, she held two flower crowns in her hands, holding them up for Hannah’s vote.
“Put the woodsy one on again,” Hannah said, moving to stand next to Jill. She wasn’t the only person there, but perhaps everyone would like a second look at their choices. Jess came up beside them, and Emma crowded in with her baby in her arms.
Ginger hadn’t come on the trip, because she’d only been home for a couple of weeks, and she didn’t want to risk exposing baby Ward to anything dangerous.
