CHAPTER 15

 	Joey stood at the mirror giving the final touches to her make-up.  The past week
had been a whirlwind of excitement, and the day of Mikki’s wedding had finally arrived. 
The groom’s mother and step-father lived in Clay River, where the wedding was to take
place, and Joey and Max had arrived there early the day before.  They had been virtually
swept off their feet ever since.   Joey had taken an instant liking to their hostess, Marina
Clark.  Both of Japanese descent, they shared stories about their family backgrounds
and Joey wished her mother and grandmother could have been with her to meet the
woman.
	And the garden, where the wedding was to take place, was absolutely
breathtaking. All landscaped by the groom himself, it was a beautiful replica of a
Japanese garden, complete with babbling brook and pagoda, where the vows would be
taken.  Marina, Mikki, and Reese’s mother, Emily, had decorated the chairs on the lawn
and the pagoda, and the garden looked positively festive. 
	The three girls had stayed at Marina’s the night before the wedding, while Reese
had reluctantly gone back to his mother’s.  Now, the wedding day had arrived.  Mikki’s
sister Sandy was helping the bride get ready and reminiscing about her own wedding, at
which Mikki had been maid of honour not long ago.   Max had already finished dressing
and had gone to see if Sandy and Mikki needed any help, leaving Joey in front of  the
mirror alone. 	Happily she hummed to herself, the music that had been played at the
rehearsal still dancing around in her head, as she sprayed a touch of hair spray on a
stray strand of hair, then stepped back and smoothed down the fabric of her bride’s
maid dress. 
	There was a light tap on her door, and without even turning around she glanced
quickly at her watch. 
	“Just a minute, I’m almost ready,” she called out.  There was only fifteen minutes
before she was expected to take her place in the wedding party with Luke, Reese’s
step-brother.  She knew she was running late, and she didn’t want to mess up anything
for her friend’s big day. 
	The tap was repeated, and Joey glanced over her shoulder quickly. “Alright,
come in, I’m almost ready,” she called out again, then turned back to her reflection,
adjusting one of the thin, off the shoulder straps of her deep indigo dress. She heard the
door open behind her and looked up into the mirror with a smile to greet the reflection of
the person who entered.  She expected it to be Marina, or Emily, or even Sandy, telling
her it was time for her to join the rest. She knew  Max or Mikki would have just walked in. 
The eyes that met hers however, through the glass of the mirror, were the last she
expected to see at Mikki’s wedding. 
	“Blake!” she whispered, as she watched him step inside and close the door softly
behind himself.  
	He stood looking at her, a strange expression on his face, taking in the slender
fitting blue dress with its off the shoulder style and low front scoop and  the mass of
black curls tumbling around her face.  She looked more beautiful than he had ever seen
her on the ranch, and his heart almost stopped as he stood looking at her.  For a split
second, he thought he was making a big mistake and he should just turn around and
walk back out, but then she turned around to face him directly and he knew he couldn’t
leave.
	“Blake?” she said again, and he smiled at her, a look of obvious appreciation in
his eyes.
	“You look beautiful!” he said.
	She smiled at him, speechlessly.  A million questions were spinning around in her
head, but she couldn’t voice any of them.  While they stood there looking at each other
in silence, she heard the tap on the door she had been expecting earlier.
	“Time to move out to the garden, Joey,” Marina called through the door.
	“I’ll be right there,” Joey called back, suddenly fidgeting nervously under Blake’s
steady gaze.  At last she found her voice to ask him the one question that had pushed
itself to the forefront. 
	“Blake, what are you doing here? How did you find me?” 
	He grinned at her. “It wasn’t easy!” he said, stepping toward her slightly.  “I went
to the Times yesterday, hoping to find you there. A young man named Vince told me you
had taken time off to get ready for your friend’s wedding.  He didn’t know where it was,
though, so he gave me your parents’ address.  Your mother is very charming, by the
way.”  He gave her a smile that melted her knees, and she was glad the dress covered
her shaking legs.  “She told me the wedding was down here in Clay River. I flew down
this morning.”
	“Why were you looking for me? Is it the book? Is there something wrong,
something you want me to re-write?” She was looking at him with a mixture of shock and
confusion, and he was still moving towards her, smiling back at her.
	“No!” he said, shaking his head. “No, there is nothing at all wrong with the book.”
	“Then, what?” she searched his eyes.	
  	“Joey, you’re so beautiful!” He said, as if he hadn’t heard her question at all. He
reached his hand to brush along the side of her cheek and she held her breath.  She
wanted him to take her in his arms and kiss her, but she had a wedding to get to out in
the garden. 
	“Blake, please!” she breathed, and his eyes immediately lowered to her lips.  His
hands slipped around her waist, and she was glad of it, for that gentle hold on her
seemed to be the only thing keeping her from collapsing on the floor in a boneless pool
of jelly.  As she held her breath, he leaned closer and kissed her, ever-so gently, then
lifted his face and searched her eyes with his.
	“It just hasn’t been the same at the ranch without you,” he said, softly.  She
opened her mouth to speak, but he rested a finger against her lips to silence her.  “Joey,
I thought I could let you go, thought that after you were gone my life would just go back
to normal again.  What I didn’t realize was that what I considered normal a few months
ago was far from what I want now.   Harvey and Reggie haven’t let a day go by without
trying to make me see that.“
	She looked at him in confusion, not daring to try to decipher his meaning.  He
tightened his grip on her waist just slightly, and opened his mouth to speak, but just then
the door was tossed open and Max flew into the room. 
	“Joey, hurry up!  It’s time to — oh! Excuse me!”  Max stopped just inside the
doorway and stared at the sight of her friend in the arms of the most handsome man she
had seen in a long time. Then she focused on his face and gasped again.  “Oh!”
	“I’ll be right there, Max,” Joey said, her voice a little shaky.  Max slowly backed
out of the room, babbling on about Mikki waiting for them, then closed the door quietly
behind her. 
	“I guess you should go,”  Blake said softly. 
	“Yes,” Joey agreed, her eyes on his lips now. “I guess so.” 	He let go of her and
stepped back slightly, and Joey moved aside. Then she stopped and looked up at him
and searched his face again.  “Blake, why did you come here?”
	“Because I have something I have to tell you.”
	She looked at him questioningly. “What?” she asked.
	Just then Max pushed the door open a few inches and peeked her head inside.
“Joey! Pardon me for interrupting, but —  in case you have forgotten, we have a
wedding going on out here, remember?”  she said, in desperation, and both Blake and
Joey broke out laughing. 
	“I’m coming, Max,” Joey said, as Blake dropped his arms and she rushed toward
the door where Max was impatiently motioning her to hurry.  “Don’t go away!” she called
back to him as she reached the door. 
	“I won’t, I promise,” Blake said, and she smiled.
	She glanced back at him from the doorway. “Blake, what did you —?”
	“Joey!”  Max grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the room, casting an
exaggerated smile over her shoulder at the man they were leaving behind. “That’s Blake
Winters!” Max whispered as she rushed Joey out of the house and into the garden to
where the wedding was waiting to begin.
	“I think I know that, Max,” Joey reminded her friend.  “I spent enough time on his
ranch to know who he is.”
	“But, what is he doing here?”  Max asked, as they came up behind the rest of the
wedding party. 
	“I don’t know!” Joey whispered back.
	“Shhh!” Sandy turned towards the two girls. “We’re ready to go, what took you so
long?”
	The organist started playing the procession music and Joey slipped her hand into
Luke’s arm, ready to walk towards the pagoda.  As she slowly walked between the rows
of decorated chairs laid out on the lawn, she spotted Blake slipping into a seat at the
back. 
	The wedding was perfect.  Mikki made an absolutely beautiful bride, and Reese
couldn’t take his eyes off her.  When the service was over and the bride and groom
slipped off into the garden for a few moments of privacy, Joey excused herself from
Luke and made her way through he crowd, to where Blake was leaning against a tree. 
	“This is quite the place,” he said, looking around the garden appreciatively.
	Joey smiled. “Reese is a landscaper. He did all this,”  she said, and Blake
nodded as he continued to look around. Then he brought his gaze back to her and
smiled. “You looked beautiful up there.”
	Joey blushed.  “Mikki was beautiful up there,” she said, changing the subject. “It’s
not polite to be more beautiful than the bride.”  She wrinkled up her nose and tried to
make light of his comment.  
	Blake laughed at her. “Well, I still say you look beautiful.”
	She looked up at him, her face more serious now. Something he had said before
the ceremony had stuck in her mind.  “Blake, what did you mean about Harvey and
Reggie?”
	Blake grinned. “Reggie is living on the ranch,” he said, watching her expression
change from surprise to disbelief to excitement. 
	“What happened?” she asked.
	“It’s a long story. I got a call from the police the day you left. Reggie’s brother had
been arrested and Reggie was going to be placed in a foster home.”
	“No!” Joey exclaimed, eyes wide.
	Blake smiled. “That’s exactly what I said.  I told them he was coming to live with
me.”
	She smiled at him. “So how is it working out?”
	“He’s settling in,”  Blake said, nodding.  “I’ve given him Pepper to give him some
responsibility. He’s taken to horse care quite nicely.”
	A reminiscent look flashed across Joey’s face, and she turned away to look at
the crowd of wedding guests. “So that’s what you came here to tell me?”
	“No” Blake shook his head. 
	“Then what ...”
	As she spoke, Blake slid his hands up her arms to her shoulders and pulled her
close to him.  “Reggie’s a pretty smart kind, you know.”
	“Blake?” Joey looked confused. “What are you getting at?”
	Blake drew her even closer, until their lips were only inches apart, and he was
staring down into her eyes.  “The kid knew before I did, you know,” he said, as if he were
thinking out loud instead of intending to speak.  
	“Knew what, Blake?” she wrinkled her brow in frustrated confusion, and he
smiled. 
	“I took a gamble coming here, Joey, I know that. The Silver Star is way out in the
middle of nowhere, hardly a place for a woman like you, but at least I have to let you
know how I feel, and — and give you the opportunity to tell me what you think about my
offer yourself. If you’re not interested, I’ll understand and I’ll go back to the ranch, but at
least I’ll know I tried.”
	“What offer, Blake?” she asked, again a look of confusion on her face. 
	“To come back to the Silver Star with me.  Candita misses you, you know, and 
Reggie and Jill need you there.”
	“Jill!?”  Joey stepped back in the circle of his arms, looking up at him.  “Blake,
you’re confusing me. You said Reggie was living on the ranch with you.”
	He gave her a mischievous grin. “Oh yeah, did I not mention Jill?  Clark Nielson
called me the other day. It seemed Jilly had been living in a trailer park with her aunt and
uncle since her parents died about five years ago. The aunt and uncle had six kids of
their own, plus Jill. I don’t know how they all fit into that trailer! Somebody complained
that the uncle was beating up on his kids.  When the officials came to investigate and
take the kids away, Jill slipped away and got a neighbour to drive her down to the
NCWM office.  She told them she was going on a Charity sponsored week at my ranch
and that her uncle was too drunk to drive her down to the office.  I guess that seemed
like a pretty normal state for the man to be in because the neighbour believed her. 
Once she got there, she sat in the waiting room and drove Nielson crazy.”  There was
laughter in his voice as he retold the story, and Joey could almost picture the frantic look
on Clark Nielson’s face.
	“What did she do?”
	“Nothing,” Blake said flatly. “She just sat there and refused to go away.  Finally
Nielson called me and insisted I do something about her.  I talked to her on the phone
first, then I flew down there to pick her up.  I contacted the proper officials, and I’m in the
process of finalising all the right paperwork so no one can come along and take her
away.”
	“Oh Blake!” she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
	When at last their lips parted again and he looked down at her, he cleared his
throat and spoke in a husky, hesitant voice. “So, what do you say?  Jilly really misses
you. Will you come back to the ranch?”
	“Because the kids need me?” she asked, and Blake’s eyes darkened.
	“No,”  he shook his head and traced her lips with the tip of his finger.  “Not just
because the kids need you.”  His voice was hushed as he spoke to her, holding her
gaze with his.  “Because I need you, Joey.  I love you!”
	“Blake?” she breathed, when he lifted his lips. “Did you just say....”
	“That I love you?” he asked, and when she nodded, he smiled down at her and
nodded too. 
	“Oh, Blake!” she gasped, drawing herself closer to him.  
	“I’ll understand if you don’t want to live on the ranch, Joey. I know it’s not the best
place for a woman to live. You’re used to shops and amenities all being close by, and
being able to visit your friends.”  He looked out over the lawn for a moment as the bride
and groom were making their way back out amongst their guests.  These were people
that meant a lot to Joey. Could he ask her to give it all up for life in the Montana
wilderness?  “If you come with me, I promise to do the best I can to make you happy
there, but if you don’t want to, I won’t pursue things any further. At least I’ll know I’ve told
you how I feel.”
	“Blake, don’t be silly!  I hated to leave when the book was done, but I didn’t think
there was any more reason for me to stay.  I love the ranch!” she tightened her grip on
him.  “I love you!”
	He scooped her in close to his chest and buried his face in his hair.  “I never let
myself hope that you might love me back,” he said, closing his eyes and letting the
magnitude of what she had just said sink in.  
	“Let’s have all the single ladies over here for the throwing of the bouquet.”
someone was calling from the lawn.  Joey pretended not to hear the announcement, but
very shortly afterwards Max appeared next to them.
	“Can I borrow her for a few minutes, Mr. Winters?” Max asked, eyeing Blake like
she still didn’t believe he was there in front of her in person.  She didn’t wait for a
response, however, but pulled Joey out of his arms and over to the gathering crowd of
girls and young women.  The bride was helped up onto a chair, with her back to the
group, and awkwardly tossed a small bouquet over her shoulder.  Blake leaned against
the tree and grinned in amusement and  watched as Joey’s friend dragged her into the
midst of the traditional throng of women waiting to see who would be next to wed.
	Moments later, Max spotted the bouquet hurtling her direction, and lifted her
hands high in the air to try to catch it.  Beside her, another girl was jumping up and down
squealing in excitement.  As the flowers neared them, the two collided and the bouquet
bounced off their hands and fell away to the side.  Startled, Joey realised the flowers
were headed for her head, and lifted her hands to shield herself. Seconds later, she was
standing there in disbelief, with the bouquet in her hands while everyone around her
jumped up and down and cheered.
	“Excuse me.”  The crowd of women parted as Blake made his way towards the
girl with the bouquet. “Excuse me, coming through,” he repeated, then at last he
emerged beside Joey, who stood looking at him sheepishly.  He looked down at the
flowers and smiled. 
	“It looks like this makes it official. You can’t argue with fate,” he said, a boyish grin
on his face as he slipped his arms around her waist.  “Will you marry me, Joey Webber,
and come live with me at the Silver Star?  Will you be my wife, and help me raise Reggie
and Jilly, and make some new ones of our own too?”	
	“Yes!” she whispered, melting into his arms.  As he pulled her into an embrace
and kissed her, the crowd broke into cheers around them.