A Husband for Margaret by Ruth Ann Nordin Read Free Book Online Page A

on that.” Jessica finished with her hair and handed her a
handheld mirror. “There. What do you think?”
    Margaret hardly recognized the person
staring back at her. “The daisies are perfect. I don’t know how you
do it, but you always make everything look better than they
are.”
    Jessica clucked her tongue. “Enough of
that. You are a pretty woman, and it’s about time you admitted
it.”
    Margaret shrugged and put the mirror
down. She peered out the window and saw that Joseph and his sons
were getting assembled. Her heart beat faster at the sight of him.
Looking at him made her weak in the knees. She wondered if she
would ever get over that initial feeling of awe whenever she saw
him.
    Charlotte approached the oldest two
boys—Doug and Bob—and gave them each a basket full of flower
petals. They gagged but didn’t toss the offensive ‘girly’ baskets
to the ground. Margaret chuckled. She didn’t think the boys would
be delighted to scatter the petals on the ground, but Jessica had
insisted it would be pretty to decorate the grass for the
occasion.
    “ I really do hope you have
girls,” she told Jessica who was putting daisies into her own hair.
“I don’t think you’d know what to do with a boy.”
    If Jessica heard her, she chose to
ignore the comment, so Margaret stood up and inspected her
off-white gown. She always thought her mother’s dress was beautiful
and was glad she chose to wear it.
    Someone knocked on the door.
    Since Jessica was busy, Margaret picked
up her bouquet and opened the door. “Hi, Pa.”
    He smiled at her. “Joseph’s going to be
very happy when he sees you. You’ve turned into a lovely young
woman.”
    “ See?” Jessica added, giving
her a pointed look as she slipped another daisy into her
hair.
    It was hard to appreciate a compliment
when her stomach was all twisted in knots. Margaret simply nodded
her thanks and took a deep breath. She hoped she didn’t end up
falling flat on her face out there. So far, everything was turning
out much better than she planned. Right now, the only thing that
could screw it up was her.
    They waited until Jessica was done
before they went to the entrance of the church. She put her arm
through her father’s and waited. Charlotte, Doug and Bob ran over
to them, and Jessica handed the extra bouquet to Charlotte. The
poor boys still looked as if holding the baskets was akin to being
asked to put a bow in their hair. Margaret thought about telling
them that they could put them down, but then the groomsmen headed
their way.
    This was it. In a brief
period of time, she would be Mrs. Joseph Connealy. Margaret Connealy. She
thought that sounded rather pleasant.
    Glancing at the lawn, she saw that the
group of fifty people found their seats as the preacher and Joseph
stood in their positions. Ben and Charles sat with her mother, and
for the moment, they remained good.
    Tom Larson whistled at Jessica. “You’re
even better than the day we got married.”
    She giggled as she took his arm.
“You’re so sweet.” Then she kissed his cheek.
    Joel Larson took Charlotte by the arm
and rolled his eyes. “They act like that all the time. A person
could lose their lunch watching this.”
    Charlotte seemed amused. “Then be glad
we don’t eat until after the wedding.”
    Tom and Jessica led them toward the
assembly of guests who turned to watch. Joel and Charlotte
followed. Doug and Bob dutifully took out handfuls of petals and
threw them into the air as if they couldn’t get rid of them fast
enough.
    One of her father’s friends began
playing a sweet melody on his fiddle once they made it to the place
where she would begin her wedding march. Margaret glanced at her
father who patted her hand. She gave him a shaky smile. She still
couldn’t believe this was really happening—and to her of all
people.
    Tom and Jessica didn’t make it three
paces to the preacher when a woman ran up to Margaret. “Thank
goodness I got here in time!”
    Margaret