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Grace smiled sadly and squeezed his hand.

"Do the police know who assaulted you?"

"They don't, and I doubt they ever will. The restaurant owner knows, but he's not telling. He has offered to pay my medical expenses but seems otherwise eager to put the episode behind him. The whole city, it seems, has moved on now that the strike is over."

"Thank you for protecting me," Grace said.

"I'd do anything to keep you from harm, just as I'd do anything to make you happy," he said. He looked at her with longing eyes. "I'm sorry for putting you on the spot the other day. It was thoughtless and selfish."

"It's OK. It's not every day a woman like me gets a marriage proposal. You spoke and acted out of kindness. That's all that matters."

John nodded but didn't speak. He straightened a pillow between his back and the headboard, leaned back, and rested his eyes.

"Can I get you anything?"

"I'm all right. I just needed to get comfortable."

"Does the patient need his pillows fluffed?" Grace asked with a mischievous smile.

"Now that I think about it, I believe I do."

Grace got out of her chair. She grabbed the pillows, patted them firmly, and stacked them neatly behind John's back. When she finished, she leaned over, ran a hand through his thick brown hair, and gave him a soft kiss. Satisfied that she had fluffed her patient's ego as well as his pillows, she returned to her chair.

"Be careful, Miss Smith. You don't want to create any talk."

"I think your warning is a bit late, Captain. I've already created quite a stir in this neighborhood."

John laughed.

"Yes, you have."

"Your mother seems to have come around, though."

"She'll come around more, too, if you give her the chance. This is all new territory for her. It's new territory for
me
."

Grace got out of her chair and approached a nearby nightstand. She straightened a bouquet of flowers and then read a few of the half-dozen get-well cards scattered on the top of the stand.

"It looks like your supporters have made the rounds."

John chuckled.

"You can thank Caroline Walker for that. She was on the phone to half the city when I came back from the hospital. I can't complain. It's nice to have people who care about you."

Grace read another card, went back to her chair, and glanced out a window at the darkness beyond. She had forgotten how incredibly dark it could get in an age when exterior lighting was still something of a novelty. When she returned to her host, she returned with a smile.

"Thank you for the roses," she said. "They're beautiful. Lucy said your mother delivered them this morning."

"I thought it was only right that I got you something. Today
is
Valentine's Day."

"Yes, it is. That's why I came over tonight rather than wait until tomorrow."

Grace leaned over to one side, grabbed her purse, and placed it on her lap. She opened the purse and pulled out an embossed envelope with the name "John" written on the front.

"I got you something too."

She handed him the envelope and leaned back in her chair.

John studied the item for a moment and then glanced at Grace. He wore a face that betrayed both amusement and puzzlement. When he opened the envelope, he retrieved a greeting card bearing the image of a young woman holding a large red heart to her chest. The inscription on the front read: "My heart: What are you going to do with it?"

"I see Cupid paid a visit to Kenmore," John said with a friendly laugh. "It's lovely, Grace. I'll take this over 'Get Well Soon' seven days a week."

He smiled at her for a moment and then looked at her more seriously.

"As for the question, I think you know the answer. I want to keep your heart. I want to hold onto it as if it were the most precious thing in the world. I don't want to lose you."

Grace smiled and returned her hands to his.

"You don't have to. I'm not going away."

John leaned forward and kissed Grace long and tenderly. A moment later, he leaned back on his pillow and retrieved the card from the nightstand. He flipped it open and read a handwritten message from Grace on the otherwise blank inside panels. When he was finished, he put the card down on the bed and smiled at his visitor.

"Thank you. This makes my day," he said. "But I'm curious about one thing."

"What's this?"

John lifted the card, opened it widely, and turned the inside panels toward Grace. He pointed to a spot in the lower right corner of the right panel.

"You've written 7-19-19 here in very small print, with nothing else around it."

He looked at her with playful eyes.

"Is that some sort of combination?"

Grace did not answer right away. She instead drew closer and put a hand on his arm. When she lifted her eyes and studied his face, she saw that a curious expression had replaced his smile.

"It's not a combination, John. It's a date, a very special date."

Grace put a hand on his face and looked at him with moist eyes.

"July 19 is the day my parents were married many years ago. July 19 is the day
I
want to be married this summer."

She paused for a moment and smiled softly.

"I don't need more time to think things over. I don't need more time to explore my heart. I know what I want and I know what I need, and what I want and need more than anything now is you. My answer to your proposal is yes."

CHAPTER 62: ALISTAIR

Sunday, February 23, 1919

The head of the household scanned the faces around the room, grinned, and shook his head. He hadn't seen this many people, much less smiling people, around his dining table since Thanksgiving, when he celebrated the end of a bloody war. He had a different reason to celebrate today, though it was a reason he could not have imagined even a few weeks earlier.

Alistair tapped his fork against a crystal wine glass and waited for the room to grow quiet. When the conversations ceased, he grabbed his glass and rose from his chair.

"I have always known this day would come – the day I presided over a large table and gave my blessing to the union of a young woman and the man she has chosen to be her husband. I have always known it would be a blessed and happy day, one I would cherish and enjoy," Alistair said. "What I didn't know is that this day would come when Penny was seven years old."

Laughter erupted around the table.

"I must admit that I saw none of this coming – or at least coming this quickly. When I first met Grace in October, I assumed that she was months, perhaps years, away from a happy transition. When I greeted Lucy at the train station in November, I assumed that she would remain in Seattle to complete her college education. I did not assume that each would be married before the summer was out."

Alistair turned to Lucy and then to Grace. He flashed Lucy a smile with a gently scolding glance and Grace a smile with a decidedly approving nod.

"Life, however, has a way of dashing our assumptions and our best laid plans. So does love. As my dear wife frequently reminds me, the human heart has a mind of its own. It is a force that no one should underestimate and all should fully appreciate. It is the reason we live, literally, and the very thing that brings us here today."

Alistair picked up his glass and raised it.

"Let us all lift our glasses and give a toast, not only to two wonderful couples but also to the spirit that brought them together. Here's to Bill and Lucy, to John and Grace, and to love itself."

Alistair smiled approvingly as several glasses came together around the table. For someone who hated giving speeches and toasts, he was becoming quite adept at both. He looked fondly at Penelope, who seemed to revel in the moment, and wondered how it would go when her turn came around. Thankfully, her turn was still several years off.

A moment later, the Greens, the Walkers, Grace Smith, and William Vandenberg settled into a dinner of roasted duck, braised carrots, potatoes, sauces, and salads. All but Penny and Grace filled their glasses with a 1912 Chateau de Pez St. Estèphe, a French red wine that had been difficult to get before the war and even more difficult after Washington enacted prohibition.

"Tell us about your plans, William," Robert Walker said. "Alistair informs me that you recently received your call and will soon be traveling to Minnesota."

"Indeed, I will," Bill said. "Indeed,
we
will. Lucy and I will board an eastbound train Sunday morning. I've been given the opportunity to lead a small congregation in Mankato, not far from where I grew up. I would like to give Lucy the chance to meet my family and see the area before she decides to throw her life away with the likes of me."

Robert laughed.

"I'm sure she'll find both your family and Minnesota to her liking. Do you plan to return for your wedding?"

"We're still working that out, Mr. Walker," Lucy said. "I want my father to attend. If it is more convenient for him to come to Minnesota, we will be married there. If it is not, we will return to Seattle. Either way, we would like to be married in June or July."

"Well, you'd better make it June then or get married here," Edith said with her nose to the air. "I won't be bridesmaid in mosquito season or in the horrid humidity they have there. Besides, you don't want to compete with the other social event of the season."

"Are you still set on July 19, Grace?" Lucy asked.

"I am. We are," Grace said. "It is a date that is special to me."

Alistair smiled as he considered Grace's deft reply. He knew the date was special to her. He knew why it was special. He also knew it was socially convenient. By putting off her wedding until July, Grace had ensured that she would not walk down the aisle in a state that would surely prompt tongues to wag and gossipy guests to speculate. She would be able to marry John in a church wearing a dress befitting a young bride and not an expectant mother.

"Then we shall have to coordinate accordingly," Lucy said. "I want to attend your wedding and I most definitely want you to attend mine. If nothing else, you can keep an eye on Edith and see that she behaves herself around all of those farm boys."

Grace laughed.

"I'll do that."

"Can I be a flower girl?" Penny asked.

"You can be mine," Grace said.

"Not if I get her first," Lucy said.

"I'll be in two weddings? I can't wait!"

Penny beamed and bounced in her chair.

"Settle down, dear," Margaret said to her daughter.

"I see no reason why Penny cannot attend both weddings, so long as they do not interfere with school," Alistair said. "I know I would love to see each of you married here in Washington and even here on the property. I can't imagine a better way to start the summer than to marry off two of the kindest and loveliest women in Seattle in a place that is dear to us all."

"I too know of a suitable property," Robert said with a smile. "It has a magnificent dining room, much more space, and flower gardens that are the envy of the community. Best of all, this property is just a stone's throw away. Perhaps we can work something out."

"You men can fight over the venue," Margaret said. "The rest of us have more important matters to address, such as preparing two women for their big day. Since neither of our brides has a mother, Caroline and I will simply have to fill the void. Do you ladies find that suitable?"

"I do," Lucy said.

"I do, as well," Grace added.

Alistair smiled when he heard the replies. He could imagine a lot of "I dos" in the coming months. He looked forward to watching these marriages grow, just as he looked forward to the logical challenges of planning and hosting the weddings of the century. There were few things in life more satisfying than giving a young couple a proper send-off.

The head of the household sipped a glass of wine, studied the nine others at his table, and saw family at its finest. He saw smiles, heard laughter, and felt enough electricity to light up half the state. He felt blessed to be part of the assembly.

Still, he fretted. There was something about the scene that didn't feel right: something that had bothered him all day, something he could sense but not identify. He didn't know whether to call it superstition or worry, but he knew it was something he couldn't write off.

If nothing else, he had a problem with perfection. The plans of these four had fallen into place a little too quickly and a little too neatly to leave him entirely at ease. Life, he knew, was not a smooth brick highway but rather a dirt road filled with rocks, potholes, and dead ends.

He glanced at Lucy and Bill, and then at Grace and John, and sighed. He could see the change coming to their lives, the kind of change that would make them or break them and define them forever. He hoped and he prayed it would be change for the better.

CHAPTER 63: GRACE

Saturday, March 1, 1919

Grace laughed as she watched Alistair load three suitcases in the back of his Oldsmobile: one for the entire Green family and two for Edith. Grace wondered whether even two would be sufficient for the overnight trip to Mukilteo.

"Are you sure you packed for the weather, Edith?" Grace asked as she gave her future aunt a playful grin. "It can get frightfully cold on the beach. You may need another sweater."

Edith shot Grace a not-so-friendly glance as she led Penny by the hand to the car. She opened a door, helped the child into the vehicle, and then followed her in. She had been in a decidedly foul mood since Lester Pierce, her progressive schoolmate, had progressed to a coed with more progressive views on personal morality.

"I'm afraid that Edith may be a bit disagreeable today," Grace said to Margaret as they stood with Lucy near the edge of the U-shaped driveway. "It appears that her history student has moved on to someone else."

"She'll be fine," Margaret said. "These things happen."

Margaret left Grace and walked twenty feet to the car. When she reached Edith's open window in the back, she lowered her head and spoke to her daughter in the far seat.