2
“Go on.” Aunt Martha waved them away with a sniff, then turned back to the booth.
“This is fun.” Della practically skipped to keep up with Ward. “How did you keep everybody out of the field?”
“My new team needed the practice.” Ward tightened his grip on her hand as they worked their way through the crowd near the Sevens Cider tent.
“Now that I think about it, there wasn’t even any traffic on that road by the farm.”
He shrugged. “Sheriff owes me a favor.”
“How did the picnic get there?”
He glanced at her. “You don’t think I did it?”
She thought about it. “No. It was too pretty. Besides, you were with me the whole time. I bet Lizzie set it up.”
“Nope,” Ward said.
“Donovan! Lucy!” Sam waved at them from the register of the Sevens tent.
Elyse smiled and beckoned them over.
“Piper? Did Piper set it up?” Della asked.
“No.” Ward stepped behind the table and shook his father’s hand. “Thanks for the pallet.”
Ralph grinned. “Worked out okay, I see.”
“She said yes?” Elyse asked. Her eyes twinkled with amusement like she already knew the answer.
“Yes!” Della squealed like a little girl and held out her hand. “See?”
Elyse and Sam crowded around Della’s hand. The people near the front of the line surged forward.
“’grats, bro.” Mason hit Ward on the shoulder.
“Oh, stop doing the cool guy thing.” Della laughed. “Come on, I need a hug.”
Mason gave her a squeeze, then moved on to shake Ward’s hand. “Seriously, congratulations. Does this mean I can get some more singing lessons from Lucy?”
Ward groaned. “You’re not ditching college to start a band, are you? I don’t think I can handle security for both of you.”
“Not yet.” Mason gave him a shit-eating grin.
Della nudged Ward’s arm. “He can do both, you know. At least until he figures things out. Anytime you want coaching, just let me know, Mason. You should talk with Piper, too. She’s an excellent vocal coach.”
“Really?” Mason’s face had the same fire that Piper’s used to have when they were kids.
“Stop corrupting my brother,” Ward grumbled.
“Too late,” Della and Mason said at the same time.
“We better get going,” Ward said. “It’s almost curtain time.”
“Okay.” Della couldn’t leave without giving everyone another hug. She waved her left hand at the people in line. “I said yes!”
“Congratulations!” several people shouted.
“When’s the big day?” others asked.
They were surrounded by small-town love and well-wishes. It was a different kind of high than being onstage, but it made her feel just as good.
She rode that high all the way to the courthouse in the middle of the square. They snuck in the same way they had last year, only this time it was Renic who peered out from the partially opened door. When he saw Della, he opened it all the way. “Come on in.”
Della held up her hand as soon as the door shut behind them. “Look what I got.”
Renic’s smile softened as he examined the ring. “Very nice.” He shook Ward’s hand. “Welcome to the family.”
“Thanks,” Ward said. He sounded touched.
“Where’s Lizzie?” Della asked.
“Everybody’s waiting for you in the courtroom at the end of the hall.” Renic gestured for them to go ahead.
The courtroom turned out to be a small but stately space with dark wood accents and a hand-carved wood bench. Instead of lawyers, all of her sisters and their partners waited inside.
“So this is what a real courtroom is like?” Della asked. She pitched the question so that her voice would carry through the room. “I thought it would be filled with serious people doing serious things.”
Heads swiveled in her direction, and a chorus of “Congratulations!” and smiles greeted them.
Lizzie reached her first and had her arms around Della before anyone else could get close. “DellBell! I’m so happy for you.”
“Knew he was the one,” Mattie said as her arms came around the two of them. “He took a bullet for you.”
“He’s definitely the one she needs.” Piper piled on to the group hug.
With her sisters’ arms holding her close and their love all around her, Della’s happiness grew too big to hold. Happy tears and burbles of laughter spilled out when she tried to speak. “I love you…I love you all…so much.”
Piper laughed. “You love him too, right?”
Della put her forehead against Piper’s. “Yes. I do. I really do.”
She thrust her left hand into the middle of their circle like a magician revealing a magic trick.
Mattie held her hand still. “Ooh, look at the sparkle.”
“It’s beautiful,” Lizzie said through sniffles.
“I don’t know, it could be bigger,” Piper said, but her wide grin said she was joking.
“It really is perfect, isn’t it.” Della stared at it, but all she saw was the love in Ward’s eyes when he gave it to her.
“Pre-show mind meld,” Piper said.
Della put her arms around Piper’s and Mattie’s shoulders, while Lizzie joined the huddle from the other side. Their heads pressed together in the middle.
“We haven’t done this for way too long,” Della whispered.
“We should go back to it,” Mattie said.
“Agreed,” Lizzie said. “Bell Babes…sing it.”
“Ahh,” Mattie sang in a clear middle C.
Lizzie joined in with the next note in the chord, a pleasant G.
Piper added the A-minor harmony.
Della hopped in last with the high F.
They let the chord ripple out, their four voices blended into perfect harmony.
They grew the sound until all the men joined in. Adam went even higher than Della, and Blake landed somewhere near Piper. Renic joined in, his tone somewhere around Mattie’s.
Then she felt Ward’s hands on her shoulders, heard him take a deep breath, and let out a note that would have made a dog cry.
They all dissolved into laughter.
Della turned to him, her arms snaking up around his neck. “Oh, honey.”
“I’m tone deaf.” Ward shrugged.
“It’s not about the notes.” Piper slapped his shoulder. “It’s about the effort. Well done.”
“Hey, you never let me get away with that,” Blake protested.
“You aren’t tone deaf,” Piper told him. She winked at Ward. “Neither are you. You just need practice.”
“No.” Ward shook his head, but he never took his eyes off Della’s. “I don’t need to be a songbird.”
“Me either.” Lizzie held her arms out. “Come on, give me a hug before we go out to the front.”
After another round of hugs and backslaps and handshakes, the door opened.
“Showtime, people,” Aunt Martha said. She surveyed the group. “Just the performers backstage. The rest of you have reserved seats on the front row.”
Her gaze stopped on Blake, and her brow lifted in approval. “Well done. I like the facial hair. Adds an air of mystery.”
She turned her attention to Adam. “You…here.” She handed him a baseball cap. “Hopefully we’ll avoid a scene before the show.”
He put it on, but Della could tell it probably wouldn’t stay there. “Can I help it if I’m beautiful?”
“Dude, we talked about this,” Blake said.
Adam shrugged. “Hey, I’ll do my best, but I don’t exactly blend.”
Mattie gave him a fond kiss on the cheek. “Try. Just for tonight.”
“Give me back my phone.” Lizzie held out her hand to Renic. “I need to check on something.”
Renic shifted away from her. “You’re off duty tonight.”
Della eyed his back pocket, where a phone had clearly been stashed. “She gave you her phone? She lives on that thing.”
“I didn’t give it to him. He stole it.” Lizzie’s frustration was evident in the stiff set of her shoulders, but Della also saw the worry in the little lines along her forehead. “It’s not show related.”
“I know exactly what it’s related to,” Renic said.
“What?” Della asked. She’d never seen her sister so desperate.
“I just want to check in on Carrie and make sure the wedding is all set for tomorrow night,” Lizzie said in her most reasonable tone.
“No, you don’t.” Renic shook his head. “You want to check that Carrie hasn’t done something horrible with our daughter. You have to let go, Lizzie.”
“It’s my first time away from her,” Lizzie said. “I have a right to be nervous.” Her voice wobbled, and her eyes were a little too bright.
“Oh, Lizard,” Della said with a little giggle. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this nervous. Not even when that one guy snuck into our bathroom backstage with a bow tied around his privates.”
“This is different.” She sniffed. “I just want to send a quick text.”
“You want to run home and make sure her head is still attached,” Aunt Martha said. “Trust me, every mama in the crowd gets that. Why didn’t you bring the baby with you?”
Lizzie’s cheeks went a pretty shade of pink. “Because I might have mentioned feeling overwhelmed and that I needed a break.”
“So here we are,” Renic said. “She’s taking a break for one night if it drives us all insane.”
“I think it might,” Lizzie confessed.
“Okay, people. Enough chitchat. Showtime.” Aunt Martha clapped her hands like she was summoning teenagers. “Everybody not onstage, off with you.”
Adam, Blake, Renic, and Ward grouped up.
“Nice job on the ring.” Renic clapped Ward on the back as they went out the door.
Della followed them, curious about where the conversation was headed.
“Mine’s bigger,” Adam said.
“Mine’s perfect,” Blake said.
Renic opened the exit door. Brick poked his head in. “Ready?”
“Let’s do this,” Renic replied.
Brick nodded and held the door open for them.
Ward glanced at Della. “It’s not the size. It’s the message.”
“Man. You don’t talk much, but when you do,” Blake said with a laugh. “We have to up our game.”
“Speak for yourself,” Adam said.
Brick gave Della a thumbs-up, then shut the door.
Aunt Martha swept past Della. “Ten minutes to curtain, ladies.”
“Come on, Piper. Let me borrow your phone,” Lizzie pleaded. “I know you have it with you. Just one quick text.”
Piper gave her a not-so-innocent shrug. “I don’t even own a phone.”
“You little liar!” Lizzie whined. “That thing is surgically attached to your hand.”
“Not today.” Piper pressed her lips together, but her eyes twinkled.
Della tucked her arm through Lizzie’s. “You worry too much. Becca is having a great time because Carrie knows what she’s doing. Is Ben with Carrie tonight?”
Lizzie nodded. “Unless he got called in for an emergency.”
Della squeezed her sister’s arm. “So my niece has a doctor literally in the house with her, plus Mark, plus the security I’m sure Renic left all around the inn.”
“He left a small army, plus more on standby,” Piper said. “She’s fine. They’re fine. We’re all going to be fine.”
“Yes, but…,” Lizzie said.
“You’re going home tomorrow, right?” Mattie asked.
Lizzie nodded. “We have the Travers wedding tomorrow night. All hands on deck.”
“Meaning one day away was all you could stomach,” Piper teased.
“Come on, you need a distraction.” Della pulled her reluctant sister through the doorway and down the curtained makeshift hallway to the stage. “Let’s take a peek at the crowd like we used to do.”
All four of them grouped up around a slit in the red curtain like they had when they were kids. Mattie, the tallest, took the top spot, then Lizzie, Piper, and Della took the bottom.
White folding chairs had been placed in rows across the small park and parking lot that formed the central square not occupied by the courthouse. The entire square had been roped off, just like last time, only now it was crammed with rows of chairs that stretched over the entire lawn, and every one of them was filled. Della could see security positioned at intervals along the rope and the small entrances they’d created to keep people from merging into a mob.
Where the chairs ended, people stood, filling every nook and cranny like there was going to be a parade.
“Wow,” Mattie said. “There’s kids in the trees. How cute!”
“I think there’s people on the roof across the street, too.” Piper pointed.
“There’s an apartment above the boutique,” Della said. “I think it has a deck up there.”
“I thought this was going to be a low-key event,” Lizzie said.
Della could hear the tension creep into her sister’s words. She didn’t like it when things didn’t go according to plan.
“It is.” Della stared out at the crowd. “Well, it was. Kind of.”
“Did they advertise this?” Piper asked.
“Oh, honey, there’s no need to advertise.” Aunt Martha patted Piper’s shoulder. “Word gets around good enough without that.”
“There’s the guys.” Mattie pointed to the front row.
Adam and Blake sat at center stage. From the surreptitious glances of the girls behind them, Della thought Adam had already been recognized, but so far nobody had asked for an autograph.
“They actually blend in, don’t you think?” Lizzie said. “A little? Blake does anyway.”
“That’s because he does that for a living,” Piper said. “He’s an actor. He gets paid to blend.”
“Adam doesn’t have the ability to blend. He gets paid to stick out,” Mattie said with a sigh. “Where’s Renic and Ward?”
“Renic’s waiting for me to join him over by that tree.” Lizzie pointed to the right, near the courthouse. “He’s there with Ward. I thought maybe he’d sit with Blake and Adam. They saved him a chair.”
“Ward likes to stand where he can see me and the audience,” Della said. “He never sits. Like, ever."
Mattie turned away from the curtain. “You must feel safe with him here.”
“I know I do,” Piper said. “There’s an army out there between Greg and his team, Romi and her team, and Storm Security. I have a feeling Annie could really kick some ass if she needed to. We’re all safer than the president here.”
“It's more than that,” Della said. “I feel…”
Safe didn’t even come close to explaining what she felt. There had to be a better word.
“Complete?” Lizzie suggested.
“That too, but also…”
“Important?” Piper said.
Della gave her a light shove. “No. Yes, he does make me feel like I’m this precious thing that he’d like to put in a vault somewhere, but he also makes me feel…”
“Loved?” Mattie said with a quiet smile.
There were murmurs of agreement on that one.
“Yes, but…” Della searched for the right word, frustrated that she couldn’t find it. “I feel like…like he really sees me. He sees the girl who served drinks at his dad’s bar, and the one who loves to sing and who loves to be onstage. He sees Lucy and Della. It’s like…like…I’m more me around him. Does that make any sense?”
Piper put her arm around Della’s shoulders. “He gets you.”
“Yeah.” Della leaned into Piper, happy to finally have put into words what she’d been feeling for a long time. “He gets me, all of me.”
They all watched for a minute, not saying anything.
“I love small venues,” Mattie said.
“You know I’m a fan,” Piper said.
“Me too,” Lizzie said.
“We should do this every year,” Della said. She couldn’t take her eyes off Ward. She laid her hand on the new panic button she wore around her neck. It was an upgraded model. Spencer had assured her that they’d never lose the signal, no matter how remote her location.
It linked her to Ward. It was a connection that couldn’t be broken, no matter what, but she had a feeling she’d never need to use it.
Her sisters all had one too. Piper’s was a ring, Mattie’s a bracelet, and Lizzie’s had been worked into a necklace similar to Della’s.
Della held out her hand to watch the ring he’d given her sparkle in the lights.
Ward was always alert, always ready, and now…now he was always going to be hers.
“Ladies, are you ready?” Aunt Martha asked.
They all turned away from the curtain.
“We’re all set here, Martha,” Lizzie said.
They let her step onto the stage, then clustered around the opening to watch. “Welcome, everyone, to the annual Wires Crossing Apple Festival.”
She waited for the applause and cheers to die down, then continued. “This year, you may have heard a rumor that the talent show was canceled. It wasn’t. It will be held in its entirety Sunday night, starting at seven sharp. I expect you all to be back here to support our contestants.” She glared at a few faces to make her point. “That means you, Jeremy Porter.”
He frowned at her.
“Don’t you worry, Martha, he’ll be here,” the woman next to him shouted. “Or he won’t eat for a week.”
“Oh, that’s not fair,” Jeremy said.
Those who could hear the exchange laughed.
“Now we have a very special one-night-only show that I have a feeling you’ll all really enjoy. If you behave yourselves, it might even become an annual thing.”
Aunt Martha glanced at the curtain. Della gave her a thumbs-up.
“Please, everyone, join me in giving a very warm welcome to one of our own…Lucy! And…well, I suppose I can’t hide it now…The Bellamy Sisters!”
“Good show,” Lizzie said as they ran out onstage together.
Piper and Mattie waved to the crowd, while Della gave Aunt Martha a quick hug and a thank you before joining them.
“Hello, Wires Crossing!” Piper said. “Thank you so much for making our sister’s stay here so very special.”
“Thanks to you, all of you, she’s found a place she can truly call home,” Mattie said.
Della bounced up to the two of them and held out her left hand for the crowd to see. “Especially since, as you may have heard, I said yes!”
The crowd jumped to their feet and cheered. Della turned to find Ward near the old tree. There was a hint of a smile around his lips and eyes, and he stood a little straighter as some of the crowd’s attention turned toward him.
If it had been anywhere else, he probably wouldn’t have appreciated having the spotlight, but this was his hometown, and these were his people.
Their people.
Della beamed at him and mouthed, I love you . She patted her necklace, which had become her signal to him.
He dipped his chin in a half nod.
The music started, and Piper took the first verse.
Mattie joined in with harmony.
Her sisters took turns on the next verse, playing back and forth, getting the crowd pumped up. It was a Bellamy Sisters favorite, and the whole crowd knew the words.
The music shifted to the bridge.
Della stepped up and took her sisters by the hand, and together, they hit the high note.