Love Promises (Sully Point, Book 4) (22 page)

"No, don't do that," Maggie asked.
"I made it really sturdy and strong. It's meant to be played with and
slept on and carried around."

"Really?" Anna asked.

"Really."

Sophia had gotten up to look at the quilt.
"Your stitching has always been good, but this is something more. Good
job, dear."

Eric noted how Maggie's face glowed at hearing the
praise in her mother's voice. The decoupage boxes were also a big hit. Then
everyone had to look at the earrings she was wearing and congratulate Eric on
his good taste.

His gift for Sam and Anna was a surprise to
Maggie. He'd given them an open reservation at a spa for a weekend to relax and
get away. With it was a handwritten certificate offering babysitting services
for Joshua while they were gone.

Sam got up and shook his hand over that one.

Maggie said in a quiet voice, "You know
you've volunteered me, too, for this babysitting adventure."

"We need the practice," he said.

"That's true."

More gifts were opened until eventually wrapping
paper was everywhere and Sam brought a bag in to collect it all. Eric was
touched by a painting of an old guitar that Anna had done for him. While he was
admiring it, Sophia came to sit beside him.

"The wedding. Anna says that you may want to
have it sooner than originally planned. How much sooner?"

Eric glanced around to find Maggie, but she was
out of the room. "Uh, well, yes. We were thinking maybe New Year's
Day."

"What?" Sophia screeched.

Silence rang around the room and Maggie came
running in. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"New Year's for the wedding! Have you lost
your minds? That's only a week away. It can't be done!"

"Now, Mom, don't get all crazy on me. We'd
rather get married sooner rather than later. I'm sure we can get the church, I
mean, who else would be using it that day?"

"I don't care
where
you are having it.
I care what you will be
wearing
. Your dress. There's no way to get it
done in time."

"Wait a minute. You already started it? But I
only just told you a few days ago. I wouldn't expect it to be ready. We'll have
to go with something I can buy."

Sophia blushed a bit. "I started it earlier
this year. I had hopes you would find a use for it sometime in the next few
years." She shrugged. "And you have. Only, the lace, the beading, I'm
not sure we can have it ready. I'll have to call Beatrice. She's been doing the
stitching."

"Mom, it is Christmas vacation. You can't ask
Bea to work."

"Of course I can! You think she would let
anyone else work on your dress? I've got to call her. Plus we have to get it on
you. Your measurements don't ever seem to change, but what with the
pregnancy...we'll have to see."

"Please, Mom. At least let the woman have
Christmas."

Sophia nodded. "Perhaps you're right, dear.
As for the rest of it, the flowers, the cake, the invitations, I leave that all
to you and Anna to figure out. I'll be helping Bea with the dress. Sam, we're
going to need a plane or helicopter or something to go get her."

"I'll work it out," he said.

"Why don't we sit down with Julia and Holly
and Betsy later on," Anna suggested. "We can start making a list.
Then we can hit the ground running tomorrow."

"Good idea," Maggie said, looking a little
dazed. "Where'd that tray of pastries get to?"

* * * *

Christmas dinner at Holly and Jason's house was a
loud, boisterous affair. Maggie found herself to be the center of attention of
the women who were all ready to discuss how to make the wedding happen on such
short notice. Holly knew of a florist in the city that she thought could be
enticed with money to get the flowers they needed on time, coordinating with
the local Sully Point florist. Anna insisted on making the wedding cake. Betsy
had connections at the church and was sure she could get that lined up the very
next day. Julia said she'd be happy to print the invitations off her computer,
and to get some volunteers to deliver them all. Sophia wasn't sure if they
could get Maggie's sisters there in time but she was handling calling them to
find out.

Maggie wandered over to the group of men standing
around the fireplace. She heard Sam saying, "The best thing we can do is just
be ready to fetch things or people for them, and to pay whatever is needed to
make this come off on time."

Cody said, "I'll get the booze for the party
afterwards. I'd better go tell them that."

"That reminds me," Jason said.
"Where will the reception party be? I'll go offer the house to them."
He followed Cody across the room to the women.

Sam and Eric noticed her standing there.
"Aren't you on the wrong side of the room, girl?" Sam asked.

"Very funny. They've got it all under
control. I'm relieved, to tell you the truth. I had no idea how we were going
to pull this off in such a short time, but they're all raring to go to make it
happen. I had a question for Eric," she said, staring pointedly at her
brother.

"I'll just go see if they need any
money," Sam said and walked quickly away.

"What's up? You look a little tired."

"I am tired. I was thinking of going upstairs
for a little nap. Walk with me?"

"Sure." He put his arm around her
shoulders and they headed down the hall.

"When will your parents get here?"

"Tomorrow morning. They'll be jetlagged as
hell, but they will arrive. I thought they could stay in the cabin since I'm
never there."

"Good idea. Listen, just how judgmental are your
mother and father?"

"Judgmental? Not at all. They're pretty
easygoing people. You're not worried about meeting them are you?"

"Well, yeah. What are they going to think
about my getting pregnant? Will they believe it was an accident and not on
purpose?"

Eric chuckled. "Maggie, if you could see your
face when you talk about anything, you'd know that they will believe you. You
can't lie worth a damn. Your honesty shines out of you. There is nothing to
worry about. I promise."

"I hope you're right."

He kissed her and she fell asleep almost
immediately in the green bedroom. When she woke up an hour later, she felt
refreshed and energized. She heard laughter from downstairs and hurried down to
see what was happening. They were playing one of those drawing games, where one
member of the team drew what the word was on a big pad of paper, and the rest
of his team had to guess what it was. She was quickly added to Eric's team.

After much laughter and bad drawing, everyone
agreed that Anna really counted as two people since she was an artist. Her team
won handily.

They had dinner in the dining room where the table
shone with crystal and gleaming silver. Roast beef tenderloin and various
winter vegetables made up the meal. Maggie took one look at the brussel sprouts
and asked that they be removed from sight. Several people scrambled to get them
back into the kitchen. After that, she was fine.

Frank announced that he would be in charge of a
seafood fest for the after-wedding party. That brought the wedding back to the
forefront of discussion, and Maggie was amazed at how much had been figured
out. Everything appeared to be under control and she thanked them all
profusely.

Finally, the party wound down and she and Eric
drove back to the apartment. He was excited by how well he was getting along
with her father, and she watched his face, lit up like a little boy's as he
described a possible hunting outing next year. She thought she'd never get
tired of seeing his face or hearing his voice. When they got home, she pressed
her body against his and said softly, "Make love to me."

He picked her up and carried her into the bedroom.
Their slow, yet passionate, love-making was her favorite Christmas gift.

* * * *

The next day Maggie threw up once out of pure
nerves. Then it was time to meet Eric's parents. Before she could say anything,
a short, plump woman came up to her and hugged her. They were at the air strip
outside of Sully Point, and his parents had just flown in on a chartered Lear
jet.

"There you are! Maggie, you are a godsend.
What a miracle that you two met. I've been telling Grant this whole time on our
way back that it was like the fairy tale, except that Eric was the sleeping
beauty."

Maggie was somewhat confused, but so happy to be
hugged instead of slapped that she didn't care. Then her hand was being shaken
by Grant, Eric's father, who had a big smile on his ruddy face.

"Nice to meet you, young woman. Little thing
aren't you, just like my Louise."

Maggie realized that she and Louise were about the
same height. The older woman put her arm through Maggie's as they walked toward
the car. "You'll have to tell me the whole story, but later when we have
more time. Tell me first how the wedding plans are coming along."

"Uh, you do know that I'm pregnant,
right?"

"Yes, yes. I couldn't be happier. I can't
wait to be a grandma. Eric sounded thrilled about it on the phone, and if he's
happy then I'm over the moon."

"Why? I mean, you make it sound like you
thought he would never get married."

"That's because I didn't think he would. He
was always so caught up in his computers and his work, first studies and later
his business, that I despaired of him ever meeting a nice girl and settling
down like a normal person. Not that Eric could ever be normal, as I'm sure you
already know."

"Yes, I do know that."

"Then we got the telegram saying he was in
love and I couldn't believe it. Next came word that you would be getting
married, and then the pregnancy. You could have knocked me over with a
feather."

They got into the car, Maggie being maneuvered
into the back seat with Louise. "Now tell me about the wedding
plans."

On the drive to the cabin, Maggie told Louise
exactly who was doing what in preparation for the wedding. Louise asked some
questions using the right names for the right people, and Maggie mentioned she
was surprised Louise was keeping track of all the new people's names so well.
Louise smiled and said, "Photographic memory. And I remember pretty much
everything I hear. Eric gets those talents from me."

Maggie nodded and didn't let on that she hadn't
known Eric had those gifts. This very talkative woman was not the bubblehead
Maggie had first thought. Louise had kind, but sharp, eyes that took in
everything. She had an infectious laugh, and smiled frequently. Maggie began to
relax in her presence, and realized that she could like her future mother-in-law
very much.

They dropped his parents off at the cabin to let
them unpack and get refreshed, promising to return within the hour. Everyone
was gathering at Holly and Jason's house for some updates to the plans and to
assign duties. Everyone except Julia, who was manning the phones in her shop,
answering questions from all the new computer users. She expected to be there
all day. She had promised to start on the invitations, in between calls.

Maggie suggested they pick up rolls from the
bakery, and some meats and cheeses from the deli, to take to Holly's. They bought
a large amount of both and stopped by the florist to talk to him about
coordinating with the florist in the city. After some consultation on when and
where things were to be delivered, and negotiating a bonus since it would be
happening on New Year's Day, they were finished with their errands.

Grant and Louise were waiting for them, standing
outside looking at the view of the ocean.

"Mom, Dad! Get in the car, it's freezing cold
out here," Eric shouted to them. They walked carefully over the snow to
the car.

"What a marvelous place," Louise said.
"I can see why this is a tourist town."

"We're hoping to make it more than that with
the Sully Point Project," Maggie said, and proceeded to fill them in on
the details.

When they drove up to Jason and Holly's house,
Louise's mouth fell open and she was silent for the first time since Maggie had
met her.

Grant said, "That is some house."

"It's huge," Louise finally said,
getting out of the car. "How on earth does she keep it clean? It would be
a full time job."

"It is, pretty much. She has help,"
Maggie told them.

They went inside and Holly and Jason were there to
greet the newcomers. Holly took the lunch supplies they'd brought with a
grateful smile.

"Come on into the big room. Sophia and Ed are
already here. They took Anna's car. Sam and Anna were having a time with Joshua
this morning. They'll be here for lunch."

Soon Cody, Betsy, and Frank joined the group and
Louise and Grant were introduced to everyone. Louise was thrilled to meet
Sophia and knew of her designs in the fashion world. She immediately wanted to
see drawings of the wedding dress.

"The plane that brought you in is going to
pick up Beatrice next. She's got the dress and has done a wonderful job on it
thus far."

"Mom," Maggie said. "I still say
it's wrong to ask Bea to come here for this."

"My dear, you have no idea how excited she is
to be coming for your wedding. When we ran up the preliminary dresses this past
June, she was the one to talk me into going ahead and working on them."

"Dresses? As in, plural?"

"Um, yes. I ran up Beth's and Rose's
too."

"Do they know?"

"Rose does. She just laughed and said she's
never getting married so I'm wasting my time. Beth doesn't know."

"I guess it's good you did it, since
otherwise I'd be getting a dress off the rack. Thanks, Mom."

Sophia looked surprised and gratified as her
daughter came over and hugged her.

They talked of flowers and limos, invitation
deliveries and food prep, and everyone was feeling pretty good about how
everything was coming along. Until Grant spoke up.