A Ring For Christmas: A Bride by Christmas / Christmas Lullaby / Mistletoe Manoeuvres. Margaret Allison

that her two failed marriages had nothing to do with a jinx. But then again…

      “Excuse me,” the seamstress said, coming back into the room.

      “Yes?” Maggie said, relieved to be pulled from her jumbled thoughts.

      “Time is passing and that wedding you’re coordinating will be here before you know it,” the woman said. “Are you going to look at our selection of exquisite wedding dresses today?”

      “No, not today,” Maggie said, an achy sensation gripping her throat as she got to her feet. “I’m suddenly exhausted, so very tired.”

      “I understand,” the seamstress said. “But you will pick the bride’s dress soon, won’t you?”

      “Yes,” Maggie said softly. “I’ll do it…soon, I promise. I’ll have my Cinderella moment, then take the dress off and…and just be me again.”

      Just Maggie, she thought. Counting down the days until she said goodbye to Luke and was simply Maggie Jenkins. Alone and lonely.

      Chapter Ten

      During the next month Maggie came to feel as though there were two different people existing in her own body.

      One was carefree, happy and deeply in love with Luke, enjoying every moment they spent together.

      They ate out often, went to the movies, flew a kite in a grassy field, enjoyed a picnic and canoe ride at Encanto Park, shopped at various malls and attended several interesting lectures at Arizona State University. They cooked together—which was a hilarious disaster—tended to details for Precious and Clyde’s wedding. And they made sweet, wonderful love.

      The other Maggie was consumed by a breath-stopping chill each time she looked at the calendar and saw the time flying by. Summer had turned into fall, school had started again and Phoenix was buzzing with the success of the ASU football team.

      They’d celebrated with a special dinner out when they’d finally reserved the honeymoon suite at the very hotel where the reception was to be held. It was perfect, they’d decided. It was decorated in good taste, had a marvelous view of the city lights, a hot tub in the bedroom area and a fireplace in the living room.

      Maggie had told Luke that it would be impossible for Precious and Clyde not to like it, while her heart had ached because the honeymoon suite would not welcome Mr. and Mrs. Luke St. John.

      Her life, Maggie thought at one point, gave a whole new meaning to the old phrase of laughing on the outside and crying on the inside.

      The seamstress at the bridal shop left message after message on Maggie’s answering machine, saying she must choose the wedding dress. Maggie created endless excuses why she couldn’t get to the shop, as she was terrified she would weep the entire time. The mere thought of selecting that gown, trying it on while knowing it really wasn’t hers, was just more than she could bear.

      Ginger and Robert returned with glowing reports of their honeymoon in Greece, and the four of them often enjoyed a night on the town. The newlyweds literally shone with happiness, and Maggie had no choice but to sigh and admit to herself that she was green with envy whenever she saw them together.

      When Luke announced that it was bad luck to set an empty rocking chair in motion, Maggie dragged him to a furniture store and gave each rocking chair a gentle push to get it going. They dissolved in laughter, apologized to the frowning saleswoman and beat a hasty retreat.

      When October marched in and Halloween costumes were featured in every store, Maggie told Luke—again—that the invitations to Precious and Clyde’s wedding had to be selected now so they could be printed, addressed and mailed.

      “Luke,” Maggie said one night as they watched a video in her tiny living room, “you keep saying you’ll contact Precious and Clyde about the wording on the invitations, but you don’t do it.”

      “I will,” he said, his attention on the television.

      “When?” she said. She really had no right to nag him because she still hadn’t chosen the wedding dress. But, of course, Luke didn’t know that. “Those invitations have to be mailed so the RSVP cards can be returned and I can coordinate the amount of food and drink for the reception.” She paused. “Are you listening to me?”

      “What?” he said, glancing over at her, then back at the screen. “Sure, I hear you. I’ll take care of it. I’ll call Precious and Clyde tomorrow…or the next day.”

      “Promise?” Maggie said.

      “Hey, would you look at that car. James Bond has the greatest wheels, I swear. No matter how many times I see these movies, I go nuts for the vehicles. Whoa. That baby can really go.”

      “Mmm,” Maggie said, narrowing her eyes.

      “If Detroit ever produced one of those, I’d be the first in line to buy it,” Luke went on.

      “Luke,” Maggie said quietly, “I’m beginning to have doubts about the validity of the Jenkins Jinx.”

      “Yeah, okay. I’d order my car painted in-your-face-red with chrome so shiny that…” Luke stopped speaking, stiffened, then snapped his head around to look at Maggie. “What? What did you say?”

      “Nothing,” she said, waving one hand in the air. “I didn’t mean to speak aloud. It’s just on my mind so much that it popped out before I realized that—”

      Luke grabbed the remote, turned off the television, then gripped Maggie’s shoulders.

      “Say it again,” he said. “Please, Maggie, say it again. You’re having doubts about…Say the words so I can hear them loud and clear. Maggie, you have no idea how much I need to hear you say those words.”

      “It has become so confusing,” she said, meeting his intense gaze. “Whenever I try to think clearly about the jinx, I feel like a hamster running around in one of those wheels and not getting anywhere.”

      “Go on,” he said, not releasing his hold on her.

      “My mother told us about the jinx after my father left us,” Maggie said, her voice not quite steady. “I grew up believing in it, especially after we researched our family tree and…But I was talking to Janet about her marriages and for the first time in all these years she said she’s not totally convinced there is a jinx.

      “Maybe, she said, it’s just a whole slew of Jenkinses with poor judgment. Or maybe there is a jinx that forces us to make bad choices, or…Oh, I don’t know anymore. Janet feels that all it will take to prove there is no such thing as the Jenkins Jinx is for one of us to fall in love—real love, honest, true and for always love—and live happily ever after.”

      “Yes, yes. She’s right. That’s good. Great thinking,” Luke said in a rush of words. “You have a very smart sister there.”

      “She said maybe it would be one of her kids that proved the jinx to be nonsense or perhaps it might be…might be…”

      “Might be?” Luke prompted.

      “Me,” Maggie whispered.

      “Maggie, yes, it’s you,” Luke said, his heart soaring. “Maggie Jenkins, I love you so damn much. I am totally, absolutely and forever in love with you. I want to marry you, have babies with you, wake up every morning and have you be the first thing I see. My wife.”

      “Ohhh,” Maggie said, then sniffled as her eyes filled with tears.

      “Maggie, do you love me? Do you?”

      “Yes. Yes, Luke, I do, so very much. I didn’t want to fall in love with you, didn’t mean to, but I did. I’m still worried about the jinx because it’s been drummed into my head since I was a little girl. One minute I think I don’t believe in it anymore, but then I get so frightened and…I’m such a mess.

      “But, Luke, do you know what I hang on to