Page 41 of Christmas at the Ranch
“It’s all last minute, we only started planning yesterday.” Beatrix was still talking. “Samantha is my maid of honor. Without Samantha, there wouldn’t even be a wedding.”
Samantha put down the snow globe she was holding. She turned her attention to Beatrix.
“I didn’t do anything,” she declared.
“I wouldn’t be standing here if it weren’t for you,” Beatrix said,and beamed. “I still can’t believe we only met three days ago. I feel like we’ve been friends forever.”
“You’re the maid of honor and you only just met?” Marigold glanced from Samantha to Beatrix.
“It’s a long story,” Samantha mumbled, forcing herself to smile.
“With a fairy-tale ending.” Beatrix gave a little laugh. She took out her credit card and handed it to Marigold.
“Could you please ring up the earrings?” she asked. Then she turned to Samantha. “Why don’t you pick out a necklace or earrings for yourself. While you do that, I forgot to tell Hank the inscription for the cowboy hats. I’ll meet you there when you’re finished.”
Beatrix hurried out of the store. Samantha was left standing awkwardly at the counter.
Marigold placed the earrings in a box and wrapped it in tissue paper.
“Your friend seems very generous,” Marigold observed.
“Beatrix is like a strobe light at a rock concert.” Samantha couldn’t keep the bleakness out of her voice. “When she shines her light on you, it’s impossible to look away.”
Marigold studied Samantha carefully. She tied the box with a blue bow.
“You don’t approve of this wedding,” Marigold said.
Samantha barely knew Marigold. She couldn’t share her feelings with a stranger.
“It happened so quickly,” Samantha said instead. “I hope Beatrix doesn’t regret not having a big wedding surrounded by all the people she loves.”
“It’s more than that,” Marigold prodded. Her eyes lit up in recognition. “Does it have something to do with the man you were sitting with at the fireworks display?”
“How did you know I was with anyone?” Samantha asked in surprise. “When I turned to the bench, you were gone.”
“I went to get hot chocolates. When I came back, you were busy.” Marigold smiled warmly. “I didn’t see his face, but it seemed like you shouldn’t be interrupted.”
Samantha blushed furiously. She had to stop blushing. Sloane Parker never let her cheeks appear hot. It was the first rule of being a secret agent.
“He was just a friend.” Samantha shrugged. She fiddled with a buffalo-shaped bottle opener. “Though he happens to be the groom.”
“You and the groom have developed feelings for each other,” Marigold said knowingly. “Deep down, Beatrix knows that and that’s why she’s rushing the wedding.”
Samantha almost laughed. Beatrix never even asked Samantha about her love life. Beatrix probably assumed Samantha was the kind of woman who was promised to her high school sweetheart. She only saw him three times a year because he was doing legal pro bono work in Mississippi. They already agreed he would propose when he returned to New York, and they’d get married in her parents’ house in New Jersey.
“The groom thinks of me as a friend, and I don’t have feelings for him,” Samantha insisted. “I just…” She put back the bottle opener. “I hope they’re doing the right thing,” she finished lamely. “Marriage is forever.”
Marigold didn’t answer. She rang up the earrings and handed them to Samantha.
“In Native American folklore, the arrowhead isn’t merely used to ward off danger. It gives the wearer the courage to do all the things she’s afraid of.”
“What do you mean?” Samantha asked, frowning.
“Look inside yourself and see what you’re searching for,” Marigold instructed. “The answer might surprise you.”
After Beatrix finished at the cowboy hat store, Samantha and Beatrix entered Jackson Hole’s only bridal salon. From the minute they walked through the double-glazed doors, Samantha felt swept into a fantasy. The velvet wallpaper was petal pink and there were deep armchairs and a glass coffee table. A bottle of champagne sat in a bucket, and glass cases held pearl chokers and old-fashioned cameos.
Beatrix disappeared into a dressing room, and Samantha ran her fingers over a satin gown. She remembered how she used to scribble her and Roger’s names on her notepad at the PR firm. Even after Roger left, she still believed weddings were the most magical thing in the world.
