Chapter One

“Somebody must have mixed us up at birth,” Clara Delaney whispered as she looked into the mirror above the antique dresser in her old bedroom and saw the blond-haired, blue-eyed woman staring back at her. “I’m nothing like Sophia and yet we’re twins.”

She turned around, threw open the double doors that led out to the balcony, and walked out to inhale the fresh spring air. She figured that she and Sophia had so much to do that they would be working from dawn to dusk for the next ten days. They would both be too tired to even enjoy their honeymoons.

She glanced down at all the dogwood trees just starting to bloom. She would be married right there at the far end of the courtyard, where she would promise to love and cherish Trevor Richmond for the rest of her life. She had always wanted her engagement and wedding to be a special time just for her. But oh no! her twin sister Sophia, the social queen of Palestine, Texas, had announced her engagement the day before Clara announced hers, and then Mama Lizzy decided they would have a double ceremony during the Dogwood Festival. Once again, Clara would be standing in the shadow of her sister, just like she did when Sophia was homecoming queen their senior year and when she was chosen prom queen—not to mention all the other accolades.

“Trevor and I could take a little trip to Las Vegas and end all this,” she whispered as she turned back into her room. The Dogwood Inn, the second oldest hotel in the area, wasn’t actually in Palestine, where the three-week festival was held, but a few miles north in Dogwood, Texas, a little community that consisted of a bar, a hotel, and a couple of antique stores.

The loud ringing of the black, corded phone on the nightstand startled that idea right out of Clara’s mind. She grabbed the receiver on the third ring and started across the room to the rocking chair with it in her hand. When she reached the end of the cord the base fell off onto the hardwood floor with a loud thump.

“Hello,” she answered as she picked up the heavy thing and set it back on the nightstand.

“What was that noise? Did you think you had a cell phone in your hand?” Mama Lizzy asked.

“Guess I did,” Clara answered. “Why don’t you put cordless phones in the rooms?”

“This is a vintage hotel, darlin’,” her grandmother answered, “and the stipulation when I sell it is that it will stay that way.”

“You had air-conditioning installed,” Clara countered.

“That didn’t change the appearance,” Mama Lizzy told her. “Breakfast is ready in five minutes. I can’t rouse your sister, so beat on her door on your way down the stairs.”

“If she can’t hear this noisy phone, she must have her earplugs in,” Clara said.

“Oh, here she is now,” Mama Lizzy said. “See you in a minute.”

Clara replaced the receiver and fell backward on the four-poster bed. She had loved the dogwood wallpaper when she was a child, but today she felt as if it might creep off the walls and smother her. She sat up so fast that the room did a couple of spins before she got her balance and was able to stand. Just a few fast and furious days and then she could move out to the ranch with Trevor, and only see her sister on holidays and the occasional weekend trip she might make to Central Texas. She could endure that, she assured herself as she left the room and headed down the broad staircase.

“And if the going gets too tough, Trevor is willing to fly to Vegas, and Sophia can be the only star in a single wedding during dogwood season,” she whispered.

You know very well that you are whistling in the wind, a voice inside her head whispered. You would never disappoint your grandmother, not after all she’s done for you.

She crossed the lobby, which was set up with four different conversation groups. The desk was located at the back of the large room and still had a sign-in book on a swivel. Way back in the first pages, there were signatures from congressmen, senators, and even a vice president.

“I wonder if the new owners really will keep the whole place vintage, or if there’s nothing in the contract about that and they will raze it in a year or two and build an apartment complex or a chain hotel on the ground where it stood,” Clara whispered as she made her way through the dining area. White linen cloths covered a dozen tables, and if the hotel was open, a fresh flower arrangement would have graced the center of each of them. For the next little while, only Sophia and Clara would have rooms because Mama Lizzy said they needed the whole time to prepare for the wedding, and the rooms for the guests the day before the event.

Clara went through the swinging doors into the kitchen, where her grandmother was putting her famous banana nut muffins, scrambled eggs and bacon, and thick slices of homemade bread on the table. Sophia was carrying a tray with a coffeepot and three fancy cups across the room.

“Well, well—” Clara’s tone was more than a little snarky—“look who is up and around this early.”

“Good mornin’,” their grandmother said. “You can lose your attitude. Your sister beat you down here by a few minutes. Have a seat, and let’s talk about the wedding cake while we eat.”

Sophia whipped aside the tail of her long silk robe, which covered a fancy little matching nightgown. Clara felt like a bag lady in her buffalo-plaid flannel robe and faded pajama pants with Betty Boop printed on them.

At least the top and bottom match, the voice in her head said.

“My idea is to have a simple, three-layered traditional cake with dogwoods on top,” Clara said.

“Oh, no! If that’s what Clara wants, then we’ll have to have two separate tables,” Sophia argued. “I want a satellite cake with a bride and groom on the top and little crystal figurines of the wedding party scattered on each of the smaller cakes. And each of the satellites should be a different flavor—chocolate and red velvet on the side with the groomsmen and banana, coconut, and pineapple on the brides’ side. The wedding cake itself will be vanilla with a touch of almond.”

Lizzy sat down at the end of the table. “We’re having one table for the cakes—that’s the brides’ and the grooms’ cakes both. If you can’t agree by the time our bakery lady gets here, I’ll pick out something myself.”

“Mama Lizzy,” Sophia said in her best whine, “we might be twins, but we have never been alike. We don’t even look like sisters. We’ve agreed to have a double wedding here in the courtyard, but you should let us decide a few individual things.”

“I don’t care about the cake,” Clara said. She was used to giving in to whatever her dark-haired and brown eyed sister wanted. “I don’t even care about the wedding. I just want to be married to Trevor.”

“You girls don’t look a thing alike,” Lizzy said. “Trouble is that you don’t act like you are even related, much less twins. You never have, not from the time you were sharing a crib, but there’s going to be a time coming one of these days when all you will have to depend on is each other. This wedding is going to teach you a little about that.”

“I have a good job and credit cards,” Sophia said. “I can buy my own cake and pay for my own wedding.”

Lizzy stuck her finger close to Sophia’s nose. “Little girl,” she growled, “I’ve taken care of your raisin’ since you were born. That was the deal I made with your mama when she told me she was pregnant and didn’t want to have a baby and didn’t even know who the father was. I’ve never kept a thing about her from you, so I’m just repeating what I told you when you asked me why your mama didn’t live with us like other little kids’ mothers did.” She stopped to take a breath and drop her finger before she went on. “I didn’t abide any sassing when you were little and I won’t put up with any now. I’m still the boss until you girls put me six feet down or put my ashes in the ground. I told you both at Christmas when you came home with engagement rings that I was going to pay for your weddings, and I will.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Sophia said in a whisper.

“That’s better,” Lizzy said, but she didn’t even show a hint of a smile.

It was not the first time that a smidgen of smugness had washed over Clara when Sophia got in trouble. That had happened way back when she was about three years old, and it was her first memory. Sophia had gotten sassy with Mama Lizzy and had to sit on the time-out chair. Clara had had the same feeling of self-righteousness back then, followed by the same load of guilt as she had that morning. Today she wasn’t a little girl, but a full-grown woman who was looking thirty right in the eyes.

“Now, let’s talk about a cake,” Lizzy said. “Something as big as Sophia wants is absurd, but we don’t want one so small that there’s not enough for your guests to all have a slice. So, we’re going to compromise. Jill made all your birthday cakes when you were still at home,” she said with a smile, “and she will be here in an hour for y’all to taste several kinds of sample cakes. All three of us will write down our top three choices. The one that we all agree on will be your cake. Now, let’s talk dresses.”

“Please, don’t tell me that we have to dress alike,” Sophia groaned. “I put the down payment on mine a month ago and will finish paying for it when I pick it up.”

“Of course you do not have to dress just alike,” Lizzy answered. “A bride should have her own dress, and I’ve already gone down to the bridal shop and paid the remainder of what you owe. I will reimburse you for the money you paid them already. I told you that I would pay for this wedding and I dang sure intend to keep my word.”

“Mine is ready. Trevor’s granny will bring it down with her when they come for the rehearsal dinner,” Clara said. “I’d planned to have the wedding at the ranch out in the roping arena, so it’s just a simple cotton dress. I chose a pair of white lace boots and a cowboy hat with a short veil attached to the back.”

Sophia started shaking her head before Clara had even finished the sentence. “You couldn’t wear a white dress in a dirty old arena, and with your curves, I figured you’d have chosen a Cinderella gown.”

“Trevor’s granny made my dress for me and used some of the lace from his mother’s dress for the ruffle around the bottom, and . . .” she raised an eyebrow toward her sister, “it only comes to the top of my boots.”

“Well, if that’s what you want,” Sophia said with one of her superior looks down her perfect nose. “I’ll pick my dress up a couple of days before the wedding.”

“What does it look like?” Lizzy asked. “Got a picture?”

Sophia pulled her phone from the pocket of her robe, scrolled through the photos, and then handed it to Lizzy. “Isn’t it gorgeous?”

Clara leaned over to look at the screen and wasn’t a bit surprised at what she saw. With her height and figure, Sophia would look like a runway model in the mermaid dress with its long train. The short veil attached to a tiara would sparkle in her dark hair. And as always, Clara would be walking in the shadow of her gorgeous, exotic-looking sister.

At least she throws a big one, the voice in her head said with a chuckle, and look on the bright side, you won’t get all sweaty if the day turns out to be muggy. Lord knows, she had better apply extra deodorant with those long sleeves.

“That’s not funny,” Clara muttered.

“What? That I chose a real wedding dress and you decided to wear something that you can reuse for church on Sunday?” Sophia snapped.

“I was fighting with the voices in my head,” Clara explained. “Your dress is lovely, and you will look like royalty in it.”

* * *

“Thank you,” Sophia said with a smile. She didn’t get many compliments from her sister, who had always been so practical and yet looked like she could land a part in a movie just on her looks and ability to show every emotion on her face.

She glanced over at Clara’s vintage ring, which had been handed down from Trevor’s fraternal grandmother. Two small diamonds sat on each side of a larger one. They sparkled when the sunlight from the kitchen window caught them, but there was no way that ring could compare to the two-carat, pear-shaped solitaire set in platinum on Sophia’s ring finger. It was proof positive again that she and her sister were twins, but that they were nothing alike.

Lizzy handed the phone back to Sophia. “The dress is exactly what I would have expected you to pick out, and so is yours, Clara. Now, eat your breakfast. Jill will be here with the wedding cake samples pretty soon.”

“I’ll have some bacon and eggs but no toast or muffins,” she said. “I have to watch the carbs. I can’t gain a pound before the wedding or my dress won’t zip, and I’ve got a suitcase full of brand-new clothes, including a few bikinis for the beach, that I sure want to fit perfectly. After the wedding, Hunter is taking me to the French Riviera for a week. Where is Trevor taking you, Clara?”

“His folks signed forty acres and the house he’s been living in over to him, so we’re just going home after the ceremony,” Clara answered.

“Won’t that just be old hat, so to speak?” Sophia asked.

“Not to me,” Clara answered. “I’ve never spent the night in the house.”

Sophia almost choked on a bite of bacon. “Good lord! Are you still a virgin?”

Clara shook her head. “No, and the rest is none of your business.”

Sophia took a sip of coffee, and an image of their mother, Maria, flashed through her mind. The only photograph they had left no doubt that Sophia looked just like her, with her dark hair and eyes. Other than the day they were born, neither of the twins had ever seen their mother. She was eighteen that summer, and from the bits and pieces Sophia had put together from what Mama Lizzy had told them, Maria had been as wild as the old, proverbial March hare. She was on her way to have an abortion when Mama Lizzy found out that she was pregnant.

Their grandmother had talked her out of terminating the pregnancy by offering her a deal. If she would have the baby, Mama Lizzy would raise it, and Maria could go on to the college of her choice and build whatever life she wanted.

Lizzy had sat the girls down when they were eight years old and explained the whole story to them. “You need to know the truth from me, not from some big-mouth gossip,” she had said, and then she told them that she still loved their mother. “I miss her every single day, but she hated Texas, and this hotel, and everything about this whole area. She burned her bridges and never looked back. But in my heart, I know that she wanted you girls to have a better life than she could ever give you, so I got to keep you and raise you. I’ve never regretted a day of my choice, or hers.”

Lizzy snapped her fingers. “Sophia, are you sleeping with your eyes open?”

“No, ma’am,” she said. “I was thinking about Mother. Both mine and Hunter’s mama have both passed away. It’s kind of sad that neither of them will get to see us on our special day.”

“Mama Lizzy will be there,” Clara scolded, “and for all intents and purposes, she’s been our mother.”

Sophia blushed. “I’m sorry. It’s just that . . . well . . .” she stammered.

“I’ve always been your grandmother and mother all rolled up in one person,” Lizzy said. “And I’ll be the one walking you both down the aisle at the same time. Thank goodness neither of you has chosen a dress with one of those huge hoop skirts.”

“Why’s that?” Sophia asked.

“Because I would have gotten lost in the middle of all that foo-foo,” Lizzy answered.

“That’s the truth,” Clara agreed.

Lizzy was about the same height as Clara—which was only a couple of inches over five feet—and she had been a blonde before her hair turned gray. Her green eyes still sparkled, and for someone seventy years old, she had very few wrinkles.

Sophia figured that when her sister was that age she would have the same beautiful skin as their grandmother. And even when they were both past seventy years old she would still feel like a big old weed beside a perfect little rosebud when they were standing next to each other.

Lizzy polished off her bacon and eggs and slathered a muffin with butter. “I suggest you finish up your breakfast and then go get dressed in something other than pajama pants. Take the time to clean up your place and put your dirty dishes in the dishwasher.”

Just looking at those muffins made Sophia’s mouth water. Willpower! That’s what she repeated to herself time after time until she polished off the last of her bacon and eggs. She was determined not to gain a single pound between now and her wedding day. She might feel overdressed, but, by golly, her beautiful gown would fit her perfectly.

* * *

“Here she is,” Lizzy said when the door into the lobby of the hotel opened. “Sophia, you will taste the samples. There’s no way a few bites will put weight on you.”

Clara giggled, and Sophia shot her a dirty look and air slapped her sister on the arm. “It’s not funny.”

“It is a little bit,” Clara declared.

Lizzy waved across the lobby and motioned for Jill to bring her little wagon over to a table she’d set up in the corner. “We’ve got coffee and sweet tea for our tasting fun.”

Fun,Clara thought. This whole thing is . . .

Before she could finish the thought, Lizzy stood up and headed over to a round table she had brought in from the dining area. “I couldn’t be a part of Maria’s wedding. She got married somewhere back East, and I didn’t even know about it until after she had passed away. Getting to be a part of all this planning is exciting.”

“We owe her more than just this,” Clara whispered to her sister.

“Okay, but I really wanted a big event in a fancy venue,” Sophia said in a low voice. “After all, I’m marrying a Gamble, and that’s a big name in Houston. The Gamble family founded Big Red Oil Company and are like Houston royalty. Hunter’s dad is the CEO of the company, and I can’t imagine how they’re going to feel about coming up here to an old hotel in what’s practically a ghost town like Dogwood. I’ll feel like a country bumpkin while they’re here.”

“Well, I wanted a ranch wedding, with a reception in the barn. Someday, when we have daughters, we’ll help plan their big day, but let’s act excited about this one for Mama Lizzy’s sake.”

“I’ll try,” Sophia said with a long sigh.

Clara stood up and walked across the lobby to the table. “These all look too good to eat. You didn’t have to decorate them so beautifully.”

Sophia followed her, feeling her waistline growing just from looking at the little cakes and cupcakes. “Did you bring pictures of some of your work so we can pick out what we want?”

Jill picked up a thick book from her cart and laid it on the table. “The new trend is to have a small, traditional, three-tiered cake, and then have two-to-four cupcake stands with a different flavor on each one. That’s just one idea. I have crystal cupcake stands as well as white, milk glass ones. Most brides match the stands with whatever punch bowl they choose to use. On the grooms’ table, there would be a two-tiered chocolate cake, and the cupcakes would be some variation of chocolate—chocolate almond, German chocolate, red velvet, etc. That’s just an idea. You are welcome to look through the book and decide what you like best while you sample the cakes. Here’s a sheet for each of you to check off your favorite five.” She laid three pieces of paper on the table, poured herself a cup of coffee, and sat down.

Clara cut a sliver of the white cake first, put it on a paper plate, and then added a tiny piece of several cupcakes. She had always loved cake of any kind—even those little chocolate and orange cupcakes that were sold in packs of two in convenience stores. When she had marked her favorites from that round she pushed the plate aside and started on the chocolate ones.

“This is going to be a tough decision,” she said. “I love all things chocolate.”

“You love all things sweet,” Sophia grumbled.

“You got that right,” Clara agreed with a smile. “What do you think of the cupcake idea, Mama Lizzy?”

“I think it’s fabulous,” Lizzy answered. “That way, Sophia gets her different flavors and you get your small, three-tiered wedding cake. Have you picked out something from the book?”

“I wanted a crystal bride and groom on the top of my cake and Clara wanted flowers, so how do we compromise on that, Mama Lizzy?” Sophia flipped through a few pages in the book.

“That one,” Lizzy pointed. “But I want dogwood blossoms made of sugar, like you did the roses on the anniversary cake for Dillard’s, and then that crystal thing I saw two pages back set down in the middle of them.”

Sophia flipped back a couple of pages. “Like this?”

“Yep,” Lizzy answered. “What do you think, Clara?”

Clara looked down at a picture of a crystal piece that was etched with “Happy Ever After” on top of a cake. “I love it. Are you okay with that idea, Sophia?”

“I can live with it,” she said as she ate the last bite of orange cake and made her choices on the sheet. “What about on the grooms’ cake? How can we make it represent two very different men?”

“How about putting chocolate-covered strawberries decorated like tuxedos around the bottom and the edge of the top?” Jill suggested.

Lizzy beamed. “I love it. And now, to finish tasting and choosing what we want on the cupcake stands. In my mind, I see crystal stands for the brides’ table and the white milk glass ones for the grooms’. And the chocolate cheesecake cupcakes should be on the grooms’ side.”

“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Clara whispered to Sophia.

“It will do, and it is prettier than I thought it would be. I like the sugar dogwood flowers. I was afraid we’d just have a branch with blossoms on it stuck down in the top of the cake,” Sophia answered.

“Give me a little more credit than that,” Lizzy fussed. “What do you think of the cakes?”

“They are delicious, so the guests will love them,” Sophia answered.

Lizzy turned her head to look at Clara. “And you?”

“I love all of it,” Clara answered.

Jill pulled out a notebook and a pen. “Okay, now let’s talk about how many guests, so I will know how much cake to make.”

“Each sister got to invite one hundred, and I sent out fifty,” Lizzy answered. “We have RSVPs from two hundred. That will fill the courtyard, and we will have extra tables set up in the lobby for the dinner after the wedding.”

Jill wrote that down, and which cupcake stands were to go on each table. “Do you want the cupcakes in gold or silver foil?”

“Silver for the brides’ table,” Lizzy answered. “Gold for the grooms’. See, I told you girls that we didn’t need six months to a year to plan a wedding. We’ll get it done, and the courtyard will be beautiful with all the dogwoods in bloom.”

“But Mama Lizzy—” Sophia started.

Lizzy held up a palm. “The shorter the planning period, the better. That gives you less time to bicker. You got to pick out your dresses. I decided to have the wedding in the courtyard while the dogwoods are in bloom. That cuts down on the amount we spend on flowers. We can house everyone comfortably right here in the inn. That way guests can come as early as they want and stay as long as they can. I’ve closed the hotel until after the wedding and hired Luther, my chef, to come back that day to cook for us. That way we’ll be ready for the rehearsal dinner and breakfast the next morning. Y’all got to compromise on the cakes. Seems fair enough to me.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Clara agreed.

“I really do like his shrimp alfredo,” Sophia said with a smile.

“Okay, ladies,” Jill said, “Have you made your decisions about flavors?”

The only flavor for the wedding cake that they all had on their list was the plain old vanilla with a touch of almond, which was Clara’s all-time favorite. She might look really plain beside her gorgeous sister at the ceremony, but she would get the cake she wanted, so that was a win in an otherwise difficult situation.