AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The woman ahead of her shrugged. “I’m sworn to secrecy.”
“Does it involve your floral work, Kenz?”
“I would die before I sold out Daddy Murph’s surprise.”
Lauren held up a hand to stall Helen’s next question. “It involves a hat. That’s all I’m saying.”
A hat? Helen adjusted the stocking cap on her head. Why on earth would Kevin’s surprise involve a hat?
The girls marched Helen straight to the cabin and through that short front door, and the moment she was inside, they stripped her of her outdoor winter gear.
“I feel like I’m involved with a gang of thieves here. Do I get to keep my clothes on?”
“Nope.” Shaking out Helen’s puffer coat, Lauren laughed and then pointed to the door on the right, one of two tiny bedrooms in this small space. “But you can have the dignity of changing yourself. Your evening attire is in there.”
Trying not to giggle while the girls worked ever so hard at not beaming, Helen eyed them with all the bits of motherly disapproval she could muster. It wasn’t much and she knew it. Then she followed the pointing fingers and took herself into that small bedroom she and Kevin had shared for several years.
One glance at the bed, and her breath caught. Laid out for her was a lovely vintage-style champagne dress embroidered with delicate white flourishes, the tiny beadwork stitched in. It was exactly her size and exactly a style she would have picked for herself at this stage in life. Beside it was a pair of white elbow-length satin gloves to match. And to the side lay the hat.
Thehat. How had she forgotten about the hat she’d worn rather than a veil? It’d been ever so important to her, though she could not for the life of her say why. And Kevin . . .
It had been one of the few details he remembered about their wedding day. That was a bittersweet truth that he’d confessed to her a half a dozen years into their marriage. He’d told her that he’d focused on the brim of that hat as she’d walked down the aisle, breathlessly anticipating when she would look up at him. And because of that, Helen now understood what he’d been up to.
Today, they would do it all over again.
She’d never really considered a vow renewal. Truthfully, it hadn’t seemed like an important thing to think about. But as it clearly was something that had pressed on Kevin’s heart, hers melted into it.
“Mama Helen?” Becca spoke softly from the doorframe.
Helen turned. Suddenly she was aware that a sheen of tears threatened to spill from her eyes. She blinked them back and smiled at the trio of girls watching her.
“It’s lovely.”
“Daddy Murph asked Kate to pick it out—but she insisted he approve it.” Kenzie said. “And he wanted the hat.”
“Yes.” Helen glanced back at that accessory. It had held him in place at the front of the church that day when every frightened instinct he’d had screamed for him to bolt. “He would.”
Lauren’s brows rose at that, but she didn’t ask. “Kate will be here in a few minutes to do hair and makeup. Then your ride arrives in forty.”
“My ride?” They hadn’t maintained the driveway to the front of the cabin. When the kids used it, they did so with a beast of a four-wheel drive—usually Brandon’s old truck. The one that Megan swore she’d put into the lake someday when he wasn’t looking. Helen pictured herself climbing into that thing wearing her new beautiful dress.
Ew. She’d rather walk the half mile, thank you very much. Also, perhaps it was time she went into cahoots with Megan on the truck-sinking plan. It was well past its prime and needed an irreversible burial.
“We walked here just fine—”
Yet again Lauren held a hand up. “You’ll see. And you’ll love it.”
Thirty-eight minutes later, Helen felt elegant in her new 1920s-style dress. The V-neck and drop waist were a flattering cut, and the delicate patterns worked into the shiny fabric added just enough glam to make it special, but not over the top. Kate had swept Helen’s hair back in a loose, flat braid that she had wrapped at her neck, creating an elegant, bohemian style that easily accommodated the 1980s wedding hat.
She was a style mashup of decades and loved it.
Kate pushed the final pins that would secure the hat. “That does it.” Her blue eyes danced as she smiled at Helen in the mirror. “You’re stunning.”
Helen stood, and the girls—now four of them in the cabin with her—oohed and ahhed.
“I assume you have a groom for me somewhere.” Helen winked.
Before anyone could answer, the sound of men clamoring and talking loudly outside cut in. None of them, however, were Kevin. The door burst open, and there stood Matt, Jacob, and Jackson. All dressed in suit pants, snow boots, and winter coats, and all wearing a red-plaid fur-lined trapper hat. Helen laughed at the sight.
