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to her Christmas list. She took a deep breath, and her gaze automatically landed on the pearl ring. “If you aren’t psychic then, I need to ask you about the ring—”
    “What did you want to know, dear?”
    “Did you wear the ring and dream about Grandpa the night before your wedding?”
    Grammy Rose’s soft laughter echoed over the line. “Lordy, did I? Honey, it was X-rated. I woke up in such a sweat I had to go out and buy new bloomers.”
    Heat climbed Hannah’s neck. Her father had definitely inherited his outrageousness from Gram—maybe senility and eccentricity ran in the same gene pool. “Really?”
    “It’s the truth or my name ain’t Rose Hartwell.” Her grandmother paused, lowering her voice as if inviting Hannah to share her confidence. “Did you dream about somebody, Hannah?”
    Hannah’s throat clogged. “Uh…yes.”
    “The man in your dream wasn’t Seth, right?”
    “How did you know?”
    “Destiny.”
    Destiny? “I don’t think so. He’s totally wrong for me.”
    A shriek of laughter burst through the phone. “Heavens, honey, you can’t fight it. Now tell me about this man. How did you two meet?”
    Hannah relayed the episode at the hospital, describing Jake’s injury and her fainting spell. Her grandmother listened, occasionally mumbling, “Mmm-hmm.”
    “Actually I think I must have seen him at the car lot before, but we weren’t introduced. His face must have gotten stuck in my mind and he suddenly appeared in my dream.”
    “Love at first sight.”
    “No,” Hannah said emphatically. “ If I saw him, I barely even noticed him.”
    “When do I get to meet your new young man?” Grammy asked as if she hadn’t heard Hannah’s protests.
    Hannah rolled her eyes at her grandmother’s enthusiastic tone. “He’s not my new young man. He’s a used-car salesman who works for Dad. And he’s all wrong for me.” But Grammy Rose continued to ask her questions, and Hannah continued to deny her attraction to Jake. A half hour later, Grammy Rose hung up, sounding as smug and satisfied as if she’d just played matchmaker. Hannah stared at the ring, more confused than ever. She must be losing her mind—her grandmother’s exuberance had almost swayed her into believing the legend might be true.
    Ridiculous.
    She tugged off the ring and laid it on the table, the diamonds glittering beneath the light. Silly folktales didn’t come true. And she wouldn’t allow it to affect her rational judgment any more than it already had.
    She should wear the ring, she thought, with a twinge of nerves gnawing at her. She’d never been a defiant person, but she’d defy the legend.
    Determination filling her, she picked up the ring and slid it back on her left hand. There. The room didn’t spin, dishes didn’t start flying off the shelves, no genies suddenly appeared from any bottles.
    Feeling relieved, she decided she must be having some kind of temporary meltdown. She’d heard residents, especially ER physicians, suffered from stress. The doorbell rang, and Hannah jumped, confirming her diagnosis.
    Mimi rushed in. “Dad’s on his way. I just thought I’d warn you.”
    Hannah gripped the door. “Thanks. Was he upset?”
    “Not upset, really. Just worried about you, sis. Are you okay?”
    “Yes, I think so.” Hannah’s mind reeled with all the miscellaneous wedding details she’d left for her father to straighten out. How could she have been so irresponsible? Not that she thought she’d made the wrong decision in calling off her wedding, but why couldn’t she have seen the truth sooner? “What…what did Dad do about all the food, the cake…”
    “You know Dad,” Mimi said with a light laugh. “He invited all the guests to have refreshments anyway.”
    “Oh, God. What did Seth’s parents do?”
    “They left in a huff,” Mimi said. “Dad said he planned to take the rest of the cake and punch to the car dealership for a commercial, then serve it to his customers. The