rayson. So far he was being well behaved, quietly coloring with three-year-old Mallory, who would serve as flower girl, while the groom’s three slightly older nephews sat cross-legged on the deck nearby engrossed in some sort of card game. Eva had made it clear in the wedding invitations that young children were not encouraged to attend the wedding festivities, so these five were the only ones present at the moment, and they were causing no trouble. Still, Kinley intended to check on Grayson periodically during the evening. Just in case.
She supposed she couldn’t blame Dan—exactly—when the subject of the ghostly bride of the mountain popped up just as she was about to start herding the wedding party into place for the rehearsal. Dan was chatting with Maxine Thompson, the groom’s great-aunt, listening politely as she boasted of the many charms of the Blue Ridge Highlands where she had lived for almost eighty years. “You know we’re considered the true home of country music,” she bragged. “And Blacksburg has been named one of the best towns in the U.S. in which to raise children. Do you have children, Mr. Phelan?”
“No, ma’am,” he answered, obviously taken by the garrulous senior. “I’m not married.”
She shook a crooked finger at him. “About time you were settling down, isn’t it? What are you, about thirty-five?”
“Close enough.”
Sipping a lavender cosmo from a glass someone had pressed into her hand, Kinley eavesdropped shamelessly on the amusing interrogation, glad someone else was the focus of disconcerting questions for a change.
“Past time you started looking for a wife,” Maxine assured him. “There are quite a few nice, single young ladies around here, some in this very wedding party. And who knows,” she added with a surprisingly girlish giggle, “maybe you’ll even see the ghost bride. If you do, you’ll know you’ve found the right girl.”
Kinley set down her glass and hastily and looked pointedly at her watch as she turned to Eva. “Shouldn’t we—?”
“Ghost bride?” Dan asked Maxine with a disingenuous curiosity that made Kinley want to pinch him. Hard.
Maxine nodded energetically. “It’s an old legend. You don’t hear much about it anymore ‘cause the kids don’t really know it. Guess they don’t have time for local folktales what with their tweeter and facepages and all that stuff.”
Dan made a funny choking sound, but merely nodded encouragingly. “I’ve always enjoyed hearing old legends.”
Kinley shot a hard look at him but he studiously avoided her gaze. She knew darned well that he was aware of her glaring at him.
“There’s an old story about the bride of the mountain,” Maxine began avidly while nearly everyone within hearing turned to listen. “Some say as how she found the love of her life here in ol’ Virginny. They overcame a lot of obstacles to be together, but he was finally able to pop the question. She was blissfully happy as she planned a sunset wedding here on the mountainside in the spring, just about this time of year. Then, sadly, the night before her wedding, she died. The details are a little fuzzy about that—some say it was in a tragic fall, others say something burst in her head during a spirited spinning dance with her love. Apoplexy, they called it then.”
“That’s a terrible story, Aunt Maxine,” mother-of-the-groom Nancy Thompson said with a shake of her head, her hand at her throat. “So sad.”
Relishing the limelight, the older woman nodded. “Ever since, it’s been said the bride visits the mountain whenever true love is present. She never got to have a life with her one true love, so she blesses those who have found theirs. It’s been claimed that when a couple sees the bride, they’ll share a lifetime of happiness together until death itself parts them.”
“Did you ever know anyone who saw the bride?” Dan asked Maxine in fascination.
“I did.” Maxine shot a rather smug look at Kinley. “Their great-niece is standing right there in front of you. Helen and Leo saw the bride the night Leo proposed here in the rose garden. Not many folks knew that. They considered it too intimate a detail to share with all but their closest friends. My late husband and Leo were quite the best of friends back in the day, and Leo let it slip one afternoon when they were out squirrel hunting. I declare, Helen could sure cook up a fine pot of squirrel and dumplings.”
Having been drawn into the tale despite herself, Kinley shook off her momentary paralysis when attention turned to her. Maxine must have liberally embellished that story; there were several parts of it Kinley had never heard before. Not a surprise, really, because there were so many versions of the old legend and, as Maxine had said, not many people talked about it these days. The only real consistency was that bit about couples who saw the bride living happily ever after, the part that had so captivated Bonnie for all these years.
“Eva, we should probably start the rehearsal now,” she murmured with a tap of her watch. “Dinner will be served at eight.”
Eva nodded, distractedly. “Serena saw something when we were here for one of the planning meetings, didn’t you, darling? Maybe it was the ghost bride you saw, blessing your union with dear Chris.”
Kinley had to swallow a sigh. Of course Eva would be competitive even in this.
Serena was just as exasperated, though more openly. “I saw deer, Mom. A plain old white-tailed doe and her fawn. Jeez.”
Unabashed, Eva shrugged. “Well, perhaps you’ll see the bride this evening. You and Chris should keep a lookout. Now, everyone in the wedding party, let’s take our places, shall we? Kinley is going to make sure everyone’s in the right position and then she’ll give the signal for when you’re supposed to perform your parts. She’ll do the same thing during the ceremony tomorrow.”
“Wait, what?” Kinley blinked a few times at the mother of the bride. “I’m serving as the director?”
“Well, of course, dear. You’ve been organizing everything for us, after all.”
“I, um—”
“I’m so sorry, Kinley. I thought she was going to ask my aunt to give the signals,” Serena murmured apologetically. “We still can, if you’d prefer us to do so.”
“No, this is fine.” Sighing inwardly, Kinley rushed to organize everyone. “You and your bridesmaids go into the inn with your dad and the ring bearer and flower girl,” she instructed Serena, briskly taking charge. “You’ll be making your appearance from there. I’ll, um, text Bonnie when to start sending you out,” she said, hastily improvising.
After making a quick, confirming call to her sister, she turned to the groom and his groomsmen, the officiate and musicians, making shooing motions with her hands to get them into position. She was aware that Dan was standing off to one side, watching her improvisations with a broad grin, but she didn’t have time to deal with him just then. She would definitely talk with him later, she vowed.
* * *