Chapter 18

Within three days, people began showing up at the lodge, carrying copies of their favorite Chapel Hill books, wanting to have them signed and to have photos taken with the now-famous author.

Trey Austin had already become every woman’s dream when he began a nationwide search for his Cinderella, but finding out he was also the mysterious author of the Chapel Hill novels elevated him even more in the public eye.

The number of people who began coming to lunch at the lodge increased dramatically, to the point that some were actually waiting in the lobby for a place to sit, and at the request of local booksellers, Trey went to the stores and signed the copies of his books they had on hand, which helped slow down the flurry of unexpected visitors to the lodge.

One evening after the first week had passed, Trey flopped down onto the sofa beside Marley, took her hand, and kissed her work-worn knuckles.

“You are a wonder. You’re taking all this in stride, and I’m looking for a place to hide,” he said.

She laughed. “My business has always been about all kinds of people coming from everywhere. You’ve been holed up on your own in an office for what…the past ten years…answering to no one but yourself?”

He grimaced. “Pretty much.”

She ran her fingers through the dark thatch of his hair, feeling the wiry coarseness beneath her palms, and then massaged the back of his neck.

“Trey…sweetheart…this isn’t terrible. It’s just different. You haven’t lost yourself. You’re broadening your horizons.”

He grinned. “Oh, so that’s what it’s called.”

“I think after the novelty wears off, the rush will subside. After that, a new book release might cause a resurgence. And maybe the film. Morris LeHigh already expects you at the premiere.”

“He knows I’ll show, but I’m planning to trot your pretty little ass up the red carpet with me.”

“That would be something,” she said. “Anyway…that’s in the far future. Nothing to worry about now. Oh… Five boxes were just unloaded on the front porch. I had Jack bring them inside. They’re in the hall. I’m thinking they’re the copies from your publisher.”

“Oh… I’ll check them out. If they are, I’ll get the books signed and on the shelves. That bookshelf Jack built is about to be put to good use. Is it located where you want it to be?”

She nodded.

“Then I’m on it. Why don’t you take a break? If anybody needs you, I’ll send you a text.”

“Ordinarily, I’d argue that, but I think I will put my feet up for a bit.”

A few minutes later, Marley was stretched out on the sofa and Trey was out in the lodge signing books and putting them on the shelves. They were slowly coming to a place of peace.

***

Some nights, Marley went to bed wishing her parents were still alive to see this happening. And other nights, she accepted that they were likely watching it all unfold.

They’d set a mid-April date for the wedding, after the snowy season had passed. But neither of them wanted to turn it into an event and decided Marley’s Christmas guests and Trey’s agent would be the sum total of their guests, because those were the people who loved them.

***

On January fifteenth, the day of Marley’s birthday, she woke up to a pair of diamond earrings sparkling from a little box beside her pillow and Trey coming into the room, bringing her breakfast in bed.

“Trey! The earrings! They’re beautiful,” she said, and promptly put the little posts on the studs into her ears. “Thank you. You’re spoiling me, you know.”

“Keeping you satisfied in every way is part of my job.”

She laughed. “You’re just waiting for me to reassure you that you are indispensable, which you are. And terribly good at what you do.”

“Nothing is too good for my angel. And before you panic…Wanda is checking out the guests who are leaving, and Toni and Angela have the kitchen in hand. This is your day, darlin’. I want to give you the world, but I come bringing pancakes instead.”

Marley pulled a T-shirt over her head and straightened out the covers as Trey put the tray down in her lap.

“I see there are two forks,” she said.

“Your eyesight is amazing,” he said, and watched her take the first bite. “Happy birthday, angel mine. Enjoy.”

***

Later in the day, a huge three-tiered birthday cake was delivered to the lodge. Marley was surprised and delighted.

“Trey! It’s huge! What in the world are we going to do with all this cake?”

“Put it on the dessert table at the lunch buffet. Everybody loves you. They can have cake with you. Here. I even made a little placard to put beside it.”

MARLEY’S BIRTHDAY CAKE. HAVE A PIECE. WE’RE CELEbrATING MARLEY TODAY.

Pieces of cake had already been sliced onto little plates, and one of the servers stood ready to slice more. Every single person who ate with them that day also left her with a birthday blessing.

Marley’s life was full and overflowing.

***

January passed into February. A late snow fell on Valentine’s Day and melted off within the week.

February slipped into March without a hitch.

Life was full and busy and hectic, and Trey was up to his ears with the new novel.

***

Then one morning in mid-March, just before daylight, Trey heard Marley get up. He waited for the sound of the shower to come on, or to hear drawers opening and closing. Something ordinary. Instead, there was silence, and then he heard her being sick and flew out of bed and rushed in.

She had already thrown up and was sitting on the side of the tub with her head in her hands.

“Honey! What’s wrong?” Trey asked.

She pointed to the sink without looking up.

He saw a pink-and-white test strip lying on the counter with two little lines running across the little window.

“You’re sick!”

“Not exactly. I’m pregnant. No need for a shotgun wedding. We’ll just use the one we already planned.”

He didn’t know whether to laugh at her nonsense in the middle of her misery or cry from the joy of the news.

“Oh my God…sweetheart…oh my God. I am so sorry that you’re miserable, but I feel like heaven finally opened the gates to let me in.”

Marley’s eyes welled. “There you go, talking pretty again,” she whispered, and started crying.

Within seconds, she was in his arms, and he was carrying her back to bed. Then he grabbed a wastebasket and pulled it close…just in case.

“What can I do? What do you need?”

She looked up then, laughing through tears. “You already did your part. I just need the world to stop spinning, and I’ll be fine, too. So, you’re not upset that this happened?”

“Never,” he said, and then a thought occurred. “Are you afraid I’ll turn into my father?”

“Absolutely not,” she said and then closed her eyes again. “Ugh. I need the room to stop spinning. I’m not afraid of anything about you. I was mostly alluding to fatherhood interfering with your newfound fame.”

Trey ran to get a cold cloth from the bathroom, then folded it and put it across her forehead.

“Maybe that will stop the spinning. Now, hear me. Fame is fleeting. Life means nothing without you. The baby is ours. The beginning of our family. I can’t wait to be a father. I can’t wait to hear someone call me Daddy and to be present for every milestone. I will be everything for you and them, in a way no one was for me. The best thing about me is that I already know what not to do.

“I have so much love to give, Marley, but before you, there was no one to give it to. Finding you was the most wonderful Christmas gift I’d ever been given, and now you’re the gift that keeps on giving.”

“Then we’re good here,” she said. “And just so you know, other than morning sickness, this is the happiest feeling I’ve ever had.”

He took her hand. “I have only one request.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“If it’s a boy, we do not name him after me. There will be no Anders Allen Austin the fourth. That ends with me. Every child needs to become their own person. Not have to grow up being constantly compared to the other namesakes who came before them.”

“I promise. We’re starting our own line, making a brand-new Austin.”

Trey nodded. “Thank you. Maybe we could name him Corbett Austin, and keep the Corbett name alive.”

She smiled. “And if it’s a girl?”

“We should probably name her Angel. Just to keep the good guys on our side.”

“They’re already here,” Marley said.

“How do you know?”

“Because if they hadn’t shouted at me in my sleep to wake up, I would have probably thrown up in bed.”

He laughed, and she laughed with him.

***

There were balloons and ribbons hanging from the Corbett Lodge sign out on the main road, and a sign taped across it:

CLOSED FOR THE WEDDING

Meredith Bernstein had flown in yesterday. Trey picked her up at the airport. They took one look at each other, smiled, then embraced.

“You are my only guest. By choice. Thank you for coming,” he said.

“I wouldn’t have missed this for the world. I hear congratulations are in order again. Fatherhood will suit you.”

“I know,” Trey said. “Let’s go. Marley is anxious to meet you.”

“And I, her,” Meredith said as he walked her to the car.

As soon as they were on the way, Trey began talking. “I can promise you the most amazing assortment of wedding guests you will ever experience. Just know that they were her parents’ friends before she was born. They’ve watched her grow up, and they are her honored guests every year at Christmas dinner. She knows about everybody in the city, and they know her, or at least know of her. But these people are all she has left to call family.”

Meredith’s eyes narrowed. “If you think you’re warning me to be prepared for people who do not mingle within high social circles, there is no need. We all come from the same place. We just wear different clothes and different faces.”

Trey glanced at her. “You sound like Marley.”

“Excellent!” Meredith said.

He laughed. “You would say that.”

A few minutes later, they arrived at the lodge.

Meredith gasped. “This place is amazing!”

“Yes, it is. Wait until you see it inside.” He grabbed her bag, then helped her out and up the steps. Just as they reached the front door, it suddenly swung inward and Marley was there, smiling and welcoming them inside.

“Meredith, I’m Marley. I have tried to picture you in my mind as this fierce warrior within the publishing world, and yet you stand before me, this elegant, fashionable New Yorker. So, I assume you use all this feminine elegance to your advantage in negotiations, when in reality your backbone is pure steel, and your tongue can as easily become a sword?”

Meredith blinked. Looked first at Trey and smiled, and then looked back at Marley.

“One look and she read me like a book,” Meredith said. “And me, trying to picture this tiny you, dragging this great, big man to safety. I am in something of a state of shock. However, you made it happen, and I am forever grateful you saved him. He is my favorite client, but we don’t tell people that. I hope we are going to be friends.”

“Of course we are,” Marley said. “Trey is going to take you to your room. You make yourself at home here and come find me when you’re settled. I’ll be in the kitchen.” Then she shifted focus to Trey. “Honey, the room key is on the desk. Would you please do the honors and take her up?”

***

That was yesterday, and today was their wedding.

The florist had come and gone.

The wedding cake was on a sideboard, along with serving plates and silverware.

The threads of silver in Meredith’s blue dress flashed beneath the lights, calling attention to the lovely blond highlights in her dark hair. Her jewelry sparkled, but not as brightly as her eyes. She and Wanda had hit it off and were in quiet conversation as they waited for the guests to begin arriving, and when they did, they came in their finest, some of which they’d pulled out of mothballs, and some of which were styles from days gone by.

They came carrying their gifts, some wrapped and some in little gift bags. But they were all as shiny as new pennies, and Meredith was introduced to them all in a sort of receiving line.

Mr. Doolittle and Alvin Smith.

Craig, the woodcutter.

Gert and Mabel Jukes.

Arnie Fitzsimmons.

Patsy and Charlie Barrett.

Shirley Lowrey and Lawrence Atwood.

And Keith Murphy.

It was hard to say who was more impressed—Meredith in the midst of them, or them meeting Trey’s famous agent from New York City.

And then a car pulled up out in the parking lot and skidded to a stop. Jack got out, grabbed his passenger, and came flying in the front door with the pastor in tow.

Wanda rolled her eyes. “Better late than never,” she muttered, and went back to knock on the door and tell Trey the pastor had arrived, then hurried back as everybody took a seat wherever they were most comfortable.

The pastor took his place beneath the chandelier in the lobby.

Benny, the photographer, who took Santa Claus pictures, was set up nearby to capture it all.

And once the “Wedding March” filled the air, Jack hurried back to sit down beside his wife.

Moments later, Trey and Marley appeared at the far end of the hall and began walking toward the light and the man standing beneath it.

We are with you always.

Marley heard the words and knew her truth.

Trey tightened his grip.

He felt like he was floating, and one thought kept rolling through his mind.

I am a blessed man. Once I had nothing…until her.