Page 42 of The Vineyard Bride

Just before the pastor arrived to start the rehearsal, a car crept up the driveway to Grange Hall and parked in the back lot.Lola hadn’t recognized the vehicle and stood, poised at the back pew, watching as Jenny and a handsome stranger, presumably her boyfriend, stepped up the staircase and entered.Lola’s heart lifted at the sight of Jenny, her previous family, and a woman she’d thought might slightly detest her, especially after the strange meeting up in Boston.

But Jenny had never been resentful.Lola wrapped her arms around her lovingly and closed her eyes as she whispered, “Thank you for being here today.I only wish that Valerie would make the trip here from, ha, Oak Bluffs.”

Jenny leaned back, her smile crooked and sad.“She’s so close, yet so far.”

Lola shrugged.“All that matters is that you’re here.”

“I don’t know.I think it matters that we’re together again.Especially to celebrate such a big event in your life,” Jenny offered.

Lola’s heart thumped strangely as she stepped back from the hug.The pastor had arrived and was instructing everyone to set up in their set locations: Audrey, Susan, Amanda, and Christine in the back of the church, along with two of Tommy’s dear friends.Grandpa Wes barrelled back into the foyer as well, prepared to take his youngest daughter down the aisle.

“You’re reading the poem I sent you?”Lola asked Jenny distractedly as she headed back to the foyer.

“I have it right here,” Jenny affirmed, tapping her purse.

“Thank you.Thank you so much.”

Lola rushed back to the foyer, where she found her sisters, her niece, her daughter, her father, and Tommy’s dearest friends, all in bubbly conversation about who would win the Round-the-Island Sailing Race that year.

“Tommy’s always a shoo-in,” Amanda said pointedly.

“Yeah, but that Cole Steel ain’t half-bad,” Grandpa Wes returned.

“He did look fantastic last year,” Susan stated.“But I still think Tommy’s got it.Especially this year, hot off the heels of his wedding.”She elbowed Lola and smiled.

“Is everyone ready?”The pastor waved a hand from the front of Grange Hall, his eyes alight.“We’re going to get the music started in five, four, three, two...”

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