“And that’s the picture of the future,” Sugar said with a lilt in her voice. “I’m taking this album and going home.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Jolene said.

“Not necessary. You stay up here and stare at that baby bed. Maybe it’ll put ideas in your head.” Sugar left Jolene speechless.

Tucker waited until Sugar had left before he went up to the attic. “It’s cold up here. Why didn’t you come down with Sugar?”

“Because she shocked the hell out of me, and I’m trying to get my bearings,” Jolene answered. “She’s talking about babies, and the girls are already getting ready to babysit, and I don’t even know where we are in this relationship, but it’s sure not to the point where we discuss babies.” She stopped to catch her breath.

He sat down beside her. “I’d ask you to marry me and have my children. But if it’s too soon, I can ask later on. And babies sound pretty good to me.”

“We’ve only known each other . . . ,” she started.

He scooted over closer to her and took her hand in his. “I’m not in a hurry. Like I said, I can do this another time. This is not the most romantic place in the world, is it?”

Past.

Present.

Future.

The three words raced through her mind. They were sitting in the attic with the past all around them. They were living in the present and talking about the future.

“Why come back another time? We’re right here, right now.”

“Okay then.” He moved around until he was on one knee. “Jolene Broussard, I don’t even have a ring, and I can’t say I loved you from the time we met. But I can say that I intend to love you until we are both old and gray and lots of babies have used that crib over there. So will you marry me?”

“Yes!” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Want to go start one of those babies right now?”

“Now that sounds like a plan.” He took her by the hand and led her down to the bedroom.

Epilogue

Eighteen months later

Jolene dressed in a pretty, lacy dress. She swept her hair up into a bundle of curls and tucked some baby’s breath in the side. Aunt Sugar and Uncle Jasper were repeating their vows that day in the wedding/dining room of the Magnolia. Jolene had the urge to pinch herself just to see if this was all real or if she was dreaming. Her life had changed so much, and all of it was for the better.

Tucker knocked on the door of what they’d dubbed the rose room and poked his head inside. “Well, hello, gorgeous.”

“Hello, sexy cowboy.” She crossed the room, slipped her arms under his suit coat, and laid her head on his chest. After more than a year, that steady heartbeat still calmed her soul.

He’d been wrong when he said he wasn’t romantic, but then, their definition of the word wasn’t the same as other folks’. Bringing in the first daffodil of the spring meant more than a dozen red roses on Valentine’s Day. Sneaking out of bed early in the morning to have the coffee ready or, better yet, giving her a whole hour with no interruptions for a long, hot bath after she’d had a rough night. What were those things, if not romantic?

“This is a milestone that goes on the calendar,” she said.

He tipped her chin up with his thumbs and kissed her. “The day I bought half ownership in this place changed my life for the better.”

“Oh, yeah.” She pressed closer to him and tiptoed for another kiss.

“Hey, now.” Sugar came from the bathroom.

Jolene stepped away from Tucker. “You and Uncle Jasper repeating your wedding vows is so special, and I’m glad you’re doing it here rather than at the church.”

“Seems like the perfect place, since we got married in the Magnolia. But, honey, I feel like Miss Piggy in a corset. I can’t wait to get this show on the road and the whole thing over with, so I can come out of this. I never should have let you talk me into such a slim-fitting dress,” Sugar fussed, but she turned this way and that to catch all the angles in the floor-length mirror. “You two should’ve gotten married here instead of going to the courthouse.”

“You told me that you always wished you and Uncle Jasper had had a big wedding—well, here it is. Now bend down just a little so I can get this circlet of flowers on your hair, which looks amazing today,” Jolene said. “Five minutes until the music starts. We’ve got to put on our shoes and then we’re ready to go. Are you nervous?”

“Not as much as I was the first time I went down those steps on my father’s arm.” She smiled.

Tucker backed out of the room. “I’m going back across the hall. Jasper and I’ll meet y’all at the front of the wedding room. Every chair is filled.”

Jolene raised the hem of Sugar’s pale-blue lace dress and helped her aunt with her shoes before she slipped her feet into her own. “I’ll be glad to get out of all this and back into my jeans and T-shirt, but it is kind of fun to get all dressed up. And thank you for asking me to be your matron of honor.”

“It’s my way of apologizing for throwing that fit over y’all going to the courthouse. I always wanted to give you a big wedding,” Sugar said.

Tucker and Jasper came out of the groom’s room with Jasper in the lead. As if he could feel her watching him, Tucker turned around at the top of the stairs and blew her a kiss. She stuck her hand out the door, pretended to grab it, and held her hand to her heart.