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kitchen shades of orange and pink.
    He’d kissed her. That was what was running through her mind over and over, even more than the impending marriage. It was her first kiss, such as it was, though of course he couldn’t know that. His lips were soft but firm, and she tasted a bit of sweetness like he’d been eating a peppermint.
    She had stopped breathing for a moment afterward, dumbstruck by not only the kiss, but the idea that she would be married in one week’s time.
    Married!
    Aside from changing the course of her life irrevocably, the agreement meant Hannah would be leaving the boardinghouse and Granny. That didn’t sit too well with her. It was a dark cloud on what could be a bright horizon. She couldn’t leave her grandmother alone to run the boardinghouse, which left her two choices. One, they must hire someone to cook and clean, which they couldn’t afford. Two, Granny must close the boardinghouse, which would leave her with no income. Either option would be tough.
    She sipped the bitter brew and thought about how selfish she had been not to have considered how her leaving would affect Granny. For the last ten years, Hannah had been the one running the boardinghouse. Her grandmother socialized with the boarders, kept them happy and collected their rent. Hannah did everything else.
    As the reality of her decision hit her, Hannah knew she’d made the wrong choice. No matter how handsome or appealing Matthew was, he was not more important than Granny. She would have to tell him she couldn’t marry him. The thought made her heart pinch, but it had to be done.
    “Don’t you think about changing your mind, child.” Granny’s voice made her jump a country mile.
    “How did you—” She stared at her grandmother, amazed by the woman’s perceptiveness.
    “Now that you’ve had time to think about it, you remembered the boardinghouse.” Granny pointed at her with one bony finger. “Don’t you dare be giving up this chance for a husband and family because of it.”
    Hannah opened her mouth to refute the accusation, but closed it, knowing Granny was absolutely right. This was her chance and obviously she was meant to have it, but that didn’t make it any easier to contemplate Granny’s fate. She refused to put her own happiness in front of her grandmother’s entirely.
    “What will you do?”
    Granny shrugged. “I’m too old to run this place anyway. Have been for some time. You been running it, child. It’s high time I sell it and live out my days watching sunsets and sunrises. Been thinking about doing that for a while now but I didn’t know what you would do. Now God saw fit to solve both problems.”
    Hannah had never considered that her grandmother wanted to sell the boardinghouse. What a strange twist of fate to have Matthew Graham need a wife named Hannah, and Hannah needing a way to fulfill her fondest wish for a family of her own.
    “Then I guess I’m getting married.”
    Granny grinned and pulled her into a robust hug. “Then we’d best get busy selling this house and making you a weddin’ dress.”
    Hannah was scared to death.

C HAPTER F OUR
     
    T he day of the wedding dawned full of clouds with a misty rain in the air. The steel gray of the sky loomed overhead as Hannah and her grandmother walked toward the church. She wore Granny’s old shoes, the ones she’d worn at her own wedding fifty years earlier. They were old, dusty, and a little too small, but they were better than clumpy boots, the only footwear Hannah had.
    Hannah had thought she wouldn’t be nervous, but she was. With each footstep, her stomach twisted tighter. She was about to be married! For the last few years, that had seemed like an impossible dream. The unreality of the situation was not lost on her.
    She felt like a different person, and she wore a pretty dress for the occasion. It was light blue, made from Granny’s own wedding dress as well. Fitting because it was borrowed, old, and blue, if they were to follow