Chapter 15
“I ’ve waited decades for one of my children to get married, and now this is the second wedding in a matter of months!” Lincoln’s mother exclaimed. She straightened Lincoln’s tie and brushed a fleck of dust off his shoulder. With the wreckage of house number1 cleared away and the new foundation going in, they’d decided to hold the wedding in the backyard of number37. They were using the bedrooms as a staging area to get ready for the ceremony.
“Well, this is the Marryingest Town in the USA,” Lincoln said. Charlotte had told him about Veronica’s designation and showed him some of the posts the influencers were making on that theme lately. There were lots of photos of the women in matching bridesmaids’ dresses pretending to catch bouquets. Sometimes one of them wore a wedding gown with her back to the camera, coyly faded out in the distance as the rest of the women hammed it up in the foreground.
“That isn’t even English. And it’s not true, either,” his mother protested .
“Seems like our resident publicity team is determined to make it true,” Lincoln said.
“Has Carter said anything about Amanda?”
“Like what?”
“Like am I going to be a grandmother soon?” His mother stepped back and looked him over.
“I haven’t heard anything.”
She tutted. “Well, you can’t say we didn’t set you boys a good example.”
“Mom.”
“Are you going to have children?”
“I hope so.” He and Charlotte had talked about it and decided to wait a year to give themselves time to settle into their relationship first. He wouldn’t tell his mother that right this moment, though. No need to disappoint her before the wedding even took place. A year would pass swiftly with all the work they still needed to do. He hoped that before it was over, his parents would come home to Elliott Ridge themselves. “You heard the Davises are moving back to town, right? One of their grown kids is coming, too, and bringing the grandchildren.” They’d lived on the Ridge right until the end, when the mill failed and everyone had to leave. Hudson had contacted them along with many of the other families who’d lived in town during its heyday, and they were the first to decide to return.
“I did hear that.” His mother smiled happily. “They’ll be a credit to the town, I’m sure.”
A credit to the town. Lincoln hadn’t heard that turn of phrase in years, and it brought back memories of how things used to be. How they’d all been so proud to belong to the Ridge.
He felt that way again.
“And I heard talk of a catering business,” his mother added. “I poked my nose into the kitchen earlier. Cal Evers sure looks like he knows his way around a kitchen. He’s preparing quite a feast for the reception.”
“So far the catering idea is just talk, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns into more,” Lincoln said.
“I’ll go find my seat. Your father wants a word with you.” With one last hug and kiss, his mother slipped out of the room. A moment later his father came in. He was walking confidently, and Lincoln thought he looked better than he had in years. The first few weeks of rehab after his hip replacement had been difficult, but lately his father’s progress had advanced by leaps and bounds.
“Heard you wanted a word with me,” he said.
Lincoln laughed. His mother always worked hard to make sure the men in her family communicated with each other. “Well, what do you think?” he asked. “Will I do the family proud?” He held his hands wide and let his father get a look at him.
“You always do the family proud,” his father said gruffly. “All you boys do.”
Lincoln let his hands drop to his sides. His father had never said anything like that to him before. All his levity gone in a heartbeat, Lincoln cleared his throat. “That’s not true. I know I caused our family to break up. I made us leave the Ridge. Now I—”
“ You made us leave? I’d like to know how.” His father stared at him in astonishment, and Lincoln stared back.
“I told you to buy that new equipment just before the market crashed. If you hadn’t taken that loan, we wouldn’t have gotten into the fix we did.”
His father waved that all away. “That loan was just the tip of the iceberg of our problems, and you were a kid back then. You think I listened to you?”
“Didn’t you?”
“I let you feel your oats,” his father said. “I let you practice having an opinion. That’s what I did.” He studied Lincoln. “You blamed yourself all this time?”
“Of course I did.” Lincoln studied him in return, feeling like he was seeing his father for the first time. “I took my job seriously, even if I was only twenty. I researched everything I could find about how to improve our mill. I wanted us to shine. Instead we crashed and burned.”
“Because the economy tanked, the price of lumber fell, a bunch of banks made a bunch of loans to a bunch of people who couldn’t pay them off. Handed out credit left and right and then tried to reel it all in when the tide turned. Sank themselves with their own greed and took us all down with them! The crash didn’t have anything to do with you or me.”
“I thought you blamed me all this time.”
His father stilled, suddenly looking every year of his age. “If you did, then I’m the one who let you down.” He studied Lincoln’s face. “Carter said something like that at his wedding. He thought if he hadn’ t agreed to leave the Ridge and join the military, none of the rest of you would have gone. He thought he’d disappointed me—or worse. But he wasn’t to blame for what happened, and neither are you. I was angry back then—at the world. At our competitors. Hell, at myself for judging conditions wrong. I was angry at you and your brothers for forcing me to confront the fact we had lost the battle. That doesn’t mean…” His words trailed off. Lincoln understood he couldn’t finish the sentence, but what he didn’t say echoed between them. That doesn’t mean you weren’t right.
He found it hard to swallow suddenly and turned to the mirror, fussing with the tie his mother had just straightened.
His father laid a heavy hand on his shoulder. “You’ve done good. You and Carter have our mill churning out lumber at a solid pace.”
“We’re not back to how it was.”
“Not yet, but you will be. I can see you lot are determined to make this work.” His father squeezed his shoulder. “I’d better find your mother. Think you can make it to the altar on your own?”
Lincoln laughed, but the sound was shaky. “Yeah, I got this.”
“I know you do.”
“Your house turned out so well,” Megan said as Amanda helped Charlotte with her veil. “It’s all so pretty.”
“I think so, too,” Bella chimed in. She handed Charlotte a glass of water. “Remember to hydrate.”
“Thank you. I can’t believe it’s finally done.” It had been a scramble to complete the kitchen in time, and the stove had arrived only two days ago, but now it was installed, and the whole house shone brand-new.
“Even Admiral looks spiffy today,” Megan went on. “He’s a completely different horse from the first time I saw him.”
“He’s come a long way,” Charlotte agreed.
“He’s the town mascot,” Amanda said. “Veronica and her friends are making him famous. Did you know he has his own social media account?”
“I follow it,” Megan said with a smile.
“I think he likes Elliott Ridge,” Charlotte said.
“What’s not to like?” Megan looked around the bedroom, pausing when she noticed the little horse figurine on Charlotte’s dresser. “That’s so cute. Did you have it when you were a girl?”
“I found it here in the house, actually. The day I picked it out.” She smiled at the memory. “It’s kind of a talisman now, since Rally helped me escape from Ivan.”
“What a coincidence,” Amanda said, pinning the veil to Charlotte’s hair. “I found a bear statuette in my house the day I picked it out—and if a bear hadn’t startled my father when he tried to shoot me, I might not be here today.”
“That’s creepy,” Megan said. “But I still wish I lived on Elliott Ridge. You two get to see each other all the time. There’s always something going on up here. I follow Veronica and her friends online,” she admitted. “When I’m sitting alone in my house after work, there’s post after post of everyone having fun.”
“I know,” Bella chimed in. “I’m jealous, too.”
“That’s not real,” Charlotte told them. “I mean, it is lots of fun up here, but every minute isn’t a party, the way those women make it out to be.”
“But this is the Marryingest Town in the USA,” Megan said wistfully.
“That’s right,” Bella said.
Amanda groaned. “If Veronica and the others keep posting that, we’ll be overrun with single women.”
“Isn’t that what Carter wants?” Charlotte asked. “Lincoln told me they need women to lure in more men.”
“I bet more will come,” Bella said.
“They have to,” Amanda said tartly. “That’s part of the Calamity Year narrative, right? Women flocking to Elliott Ridge from all over the country, bringing problems and marrying the locals. At least, that’s what Dennis says.”
“Have you seen him lately?” Charlotte asked her. She hadn’t seen him in weeks. Not since Ivan had shot her.
“No.” Amanda shook her head. “It’ll be a shame if he misses the wedding.”
“Want me to go look for him?” Megan asked. “He knows I’m not trouble.”
“Speaking of trouble, how are things between you and Gage?” Amanda asked.
“Okay, I guess. We’re talking to each other, at least, but he’s still holding back. I confronted him once about why he hasn’t asked me out again, and he told me he didn’t want to jinx it.”
“Jinx what?”
“He didn’t clarify, but I think he meant all this. Bringing the Ridge back to life. Like, if he dated me, his family would lose the mill and the town. Guess he thinks I’m bad luck.” When she looked at her hands, Charlotte’s heart squeezed for her. Megan obviously cared the world for Gage. What was he playing at keeping her hanging like this?
“You’re not bad luck,” Amanda said. “If Gage is holding back, it’s because he doesn’t trust himself—not you. He didn’t want to return to the Ridge in the first place. He’s so scared of losing it again, he can’t let himself enjoy being here.”
“Maybe.” Megan didn’t seem convinced, though. Charlotte thought there was more to it than that, too. It seemed to her Gage was afraid to be happy. A lot of people thought if they reached for what they wanted, fate would step in and slap their hand away from the prize. They thought it was better not to love at all than love and lose, to turn an old adage on its head.
“He’d better watch out,” Megan said. “Blake Warrington is being awfully persistent. He’s sent me flowers twice and keeps asking me out. I keep turning him down.” She sighed. “I’ll find Dennis.”
“Thanks. Dennis saved my life in a way,” Charlotte said. “Lincoln told me he gave him the weapon he needed to protect me from Ivan. I want to thank him.”
“I’ll help you find him, Megan,” Bella said, and they left. Charlotte faced Amanda.
“How do I look?”
“Stunning. I’m so glad you’re marrying into the Elliott family. I never had such a good friend before.”
“Me, neither.”
“The two of us really are trouble, aren’t we?”
“We were trouble. Now we’re going to just be a couple of old, boring, married ladies.”
There was a snort behind them, and they turned to find Dennis in the doorway. “You don’t know the half of being old,” he told them. He was dressed in a clean, pressed suit, leaving Charlotte so surprised she didn’t know what to say.
Megan slipped back into the room after him, Bella on her heels. “I found Dennis right outside, lurking in the bushes,” Megan said.
“I don’t lurk,” he said.
“You always lurk,” Amanda said. “But that’s okay. It suits you.” A corner of her mouth twisted, and Charlotte had to bite her lip not to laugh.
When Dennis scowled at them both, Charlotte rushed to assuage his hurt feelings.
“Where have you been, Dennis? Where do you go when you disappear like that?”
“Been here the whole time.” He shrugged.
“No, you haven’t. I’ve been searching for you for a month!” she exclaimed.
“Not looking in the right places.”
“That’s why I’m asking where the right places are. ”
Dennis shrugged again. “Here and there. Where there’s work needs doing.”
Charlotte realized she wasn’t going to get anywhere with this line of questioning. The picnic baskets she and Amanda had left for him always turned up empty several days later. She hoped he’d enjoyed the treats. “I’m so glad you reappeared,” she said truthfully.
“Don’t see why.”
“Because I wanted to thank you!” She crossed the room and took his hands. Dennis eyed her suspiciously, but she didn’t let go.
“Thank me?” Her gesture seemed to confuse the old man. “For what?”
“For saving my life.”
“Humph. I didn’t do anything.”
“You gave Lincoln that pistol. If you hadn’t, who knows how many people might be injured—or dead?” She leaned up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Dennis. I’ll never forget what you did.”
He grumbled but didn’t pull away.
“Dennis walked me down the aisle,” Amanda told her. “My father couldn’t, since he was in jail—and I didn’t want him there.”
“I don’t have anyone to walk me down the aisle, either,” Charlotte said. “Dennis, would you do me the honor, too? Then I wouldn’t have to walk alone.”
He grumbled some more, but in the end, that’s what they did. After Megan checked that all the guests and the men in the wedding party had assembled in the backyard for the ceremony, she, Bella and Amanda went down the stairs first, resplendent in their sage green bridesmaids’ gowns, and positioned themselves near the back door. One by one, they exited down the steps and onto the lawn, making their way down the aisle between the rows of chairs.
Last, Dennis walked with Charlotte, lending her a surprisingly strong arm to lean on. It pained her to know none of her family were there to fill the seats on the bride’s side of the aisle, but Steven was there with his wife, smiling broadly, and Veronica and her influencers and Anne and her programmers filled in the rest of the rows. They all cheered her on as she made her way past. Though there were unfamiliar faces on Lincoln’s side there were many others familiar to her, and she couldn’t stay melancholy long when she took in the joy and friendship reflected in their expressions. She was still new to Elliott Ridge and Chance Creek County, but she had already made a home here. She was surrounded by people who wished her well.
And the most important person in her life stood waiting at the end of the aisle, smiling.
Love shining in his eyes.
When Lincoln took his place near the flower-covered archway that stood in for an altar and looked back at the crowd of friends and family gathered to celebrate this day with him, he felt like he was looking at their progress personified. Their numbers had swelled in the past few months. The twenty temporary mill workers had increased to thirty-five permanent ones. Anne and her programmers and Veronica and her influencers made an island of fresh-faced city folk among the more weathered visages of the country people he’d grown up with.
“They’re coming,” Hudson warned him. He added with a gesture of his hand, You’ve got this , in their private language.
Lincoln watched Megan step carefully down the back steps from the house and approach the aisle between the rows of seats in her pretty sage green dress. She was followed by Bella and then Amanda, who smiled broadly at him as she approached.
But when Charlotte stepped out of the house, everyone else faded away. She was radiant in a gown fit for a princess. With its tailored bodice and floating layers of poufy fabric—tulle? his brain supplied from somewhere deep in the recesses of his memory—she seemed to float down the aisle toward him, her gaze never leaving his. He almost felt like he was drawing her toward him by the sheer magnetism of his desire. He would never get enough of this woman, he decided right then and there. He had to be the luckiest man in the world to have won a partner as smart and beautiful and kind and—
“Hits you right in the gut, doesn’t it?” Carter murmured.
“Yeah.” Lincoln told himself he’d spend his life creating a whole world for Charlotte. He’d build up the mill. Attract more settlers. Make every decision as carefully as he could.
And once in a while, he’d take a wild leap of faith, trusting that it would go this well again.
When Dennis placed her hand in his, it was all Lincoln could do not to kiss her on the spot.
“Dearly Beloved,” Reverend Halpern began.
This is what happiness is , Lincoln thought. And they were just getting started.
Charlotte was trembling when she took Lincoln’s hand and faced the reverend, but it was with pure joy, not fear.
She’d never dreamed a world like this one would invite her to be a part of it. She had a whole family now. Good friends. More acquaintances than she could shake a stick at.
A knitting club.
She wanted to laugh for the wonder of it all, but she kept her expression solemn, afraid that people wouldn’t understand. Lincoln squeezed her fingers lightly, as if reading her thoughts. There would be plenty of time for laughter later. Among other things.
As she spoke her vows, all Charlotte could do was tell Lincoln with her eyes how happy she was to be saying them. She knew how hard he was working to build a community on Elliott Ridge—and knew he was doing it at least partly for her.
More couples would find their way to each other here in the future. She was sure of it, even without Dennis’s premonition or the influencers’ online campaign. This was a vibrant, growing place people would be drawn to. There were still hurdles to overcome, but there were so many people to help overcome them.
She glanced at Lincoln’s brothers and saw her own determination to get it done echoed in their eyes. Stripped of their bantering and bickering, she saw them for who they were: men dedicated to repairing the community they loved.
They were good men, she thought, her throat tightening. And Amanda, Megan and Bella were good women, the kind she’d always wanted for friends.
She wasn’t alone anymore. Would never need to be so again in the future if she didn’t want to be. No one would treat her the way Ivan had. Not here.
She’d found love. Friendship. Work. Community.
And a man to share it all with.
“You may now kiss the bride,” Reverend Halpern said.
Lincoln turned her to face him. Charlotte went up on her toes, her heart full to bursting as they kissed. The cheers of her new friends rang in her ears as she clung to Lincoln.
“Hello, Mrs. Elliott,” Lincoln whispered in her ear.
“Hello, Mr. Elliott.” Charlotte leaned against him, so happy in his arms.
She’d finally found her home.
And she meant to stay right here.