Page 139 of Promised to the Cowboy

“I know,” I whisper.

“You’re allowed to be happy and terrified at the same time.”

I look down at my hands. Our rings are downstairs in Jacob’s pocket, both simple gold.

Kitty crosses the room and settles the circlet into my hair. “There.”

I look in the mirror. The greenery follows the curve of my pinned-up hair, soft and wild and exactly right.

“What is it?” I ask.

Kitty names six different plants. I understand none of them.

“Flowers,” Shay translates.

Kitty sighs.

A knock sounds at the door, and everyone goes still.

“Who is it?” Delaney calls.

“Me,” Maggie answers. “And nobody open this door unless Evie is decent.”

“I’m decent.”

“Emotionally or dressed?”

“Mostly dressed.”

Maggie enters carrying the small velvet pouch from the night she read Ruth’s letter. Her eyes find me, and her mouth trembles before she presses her lips together and crosses the room.

“Well,” she says. “Look at you.”

I swallow. “Is Gabriel okay?”

“He’s pacing holes into the barn floor while Daniel threatens to sit on him.”

“That means he’s okay.”

Maggie opens the pouch to reveal a narrow gold chain. A small stone rests at its center, pale and bright against the dark velvet. “Ruth left six stones for the wives she knew were coming.”

Their meaning will become clear with time.I remember Ruth’s words from that night.

“The other wives already have theirs. Now it’s your turn. Maggie lifts the necklace. “May I?”

I turn so she can fasten it behind my neck, the stone settling against my chest.

Her hands remain on my shoulders. “She would have loved you.”

The tears come then.

Jenna immediately reaches for a tissue. “Don’t rub,” she orders. “Blot.”

Maggie kisses the side of my head. “Ready?”

No.

Yes.