It was an ordinary scene, simple and uncomplicated, full of promise.

Duncan met her in the hall, taking her bags and the paper cone of flowers. "I'd have bought them for you," he said.

"I know." She followed him into the kitchen. "But I wanted to buy them myself. Kit stayed with Dad at the bakery. Where are Toby and the dogs?"

"I've fed Toby lunch and sent them outside again. They're like dervishes in the house today. Spring fever. Shall I get a vase, or do you want-" He stopped, looking puzzled. "What is it? Did I miss a spot shaving? Egg on my face?"

Gemma found that her hands were trembling. She took a breath, hoping her voice wouldn't squeak. "No. It's just…I was wondering…I was wondering if we might invite Winnie and Jack up for a weekend. Sometime this summer. And Hazel. And your family, of course."

He frowned. "What-"

"I was wondering if Winnie could, you know, officiate. In a parish that wasn't her patch. At a…wedding."

"A wedding?" He stared at her, the tulips tilting dangerously in his grasp, forgotten. In his eyes she saw a flare of delight, and herself reflected, infinitely, like an image in a hall of mirrors.

"A wedding. If you wanted…That is…"

"I think," he said slowly, setting the flowers on the table, "that something of the sort could be arranged."

About the Author

DEBORAH CROMBIE was born and educated in Texas and has lived in both England and Scotland. Her Kincaid and James novels have received Edgar^®, Agatha, and Macavity Award nominations, and her fifth novel, Dreaming of the Bones, was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and selected as one of the 100 Best Crime Novels of the Century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers of America. She is a bestselling author in Germany, and her novels are also published in Japan, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, France, the Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom. Crombie travels to England several times a year and has been a featured speaker at St. Hilda’s College, Oxford. She lives in a small North Texas town, sharing a turn-of-the-century house with her husband, three cats, and a German shepherd.