“Let’s eat,” Beau said. “Good news always makes me hungry.” He and Grant made their way outside and before Tina could follow, Evangeline placed a cool hand on Tina’s arm.

“We’ve been waiting for this day a long time. This is an especially happy day for Grant’s daddy – you know Grant is our only boy, and, well, he wanted to see the Rutledge family line continue – anyway, I want you to know just how much it means to us. Both of us.”

Tina beamed. “Thank you Mrs. Rutledge. It means everything to me to hear you say that.” Recognizing how girlish and immature she sounded, Tina tried again. “Er, what I mean is, I know it’s important to Grant and it’s just as important to me that we can get along.”

“Please, call me Evangeline. And don’t worry my dear. You and I are going to get along fine.” She took Tina’s arm and led her out into the sunshine. Grant held out Tina’s chair and the four of them took their seats. The maid that had let them in reappeared as if on cue to uncover the serving dishes and brought with her a pitcher of some kind of delicious fruity drink. Beau insisted that they raise their glasses to the happy couple, and when it was over Evangeline immediately started talking about wedding plans.

She asked Tina her ideas on the type of dress she wanted, how many bridesmaids she was thinking about, and a bunch of other questions Tina that tried to give real answers to, even though she hadn’t given any thought to them. When Evangeline brought up Tina’s family and asked how many of them she expected to be attending, Grant came to Tina’s rescue.

“Mama, stop bombarding her with questions. There’s plenty of time for all of that.” Grant was seated next to Tina and took her hand. Tina smiled at him and sent him a silent “thank you” with her eyes. Grant winked.

“There is not plenty of time, young man. If you intend to get married this summer we only have a few weeks.” Evangeline looked at Grant reprovingly and turned her gaze back to Tina. “The wedding is going to be here in North Carolina, isn’t it? You hadn’t planned on anything else?”