Lost Melody by Lori Copeland

family.”
    “Now, Alice, we haven’t made any decisions about the reception yet.” Nana blinked blue-shadowed eyelids in a display of mild rebuke. “We have enough to handle with planning a decent wedding in exactly a month. And on Christmas, too.”
    “Oh, yes. Quite enough. I don’t know how we’ll manage to pull it all together in time.” Mrs. Montgomery’s eyes gleamed, obviously not the least bit intimidated by the daunting task.
    Obviously, preparations for her own wedding had been plucked out of Jill’s hands. She made one last attempt to wrest control from the tenacious troop of geriatric wedding planners.
    “Nana, Greg and I really don’t want an elaborate ceremony. Just a quiet exchange of vows in front of the Christmas tree. Maybe a few snapshots we can put into a photo album, but nothing extravagant, like a video.”
    “Extravagant? Nonsense.” Mrs. Tolliver set her cup in the saucer with a determined
clink.
“You won’t even know my nephew is in the room. He’s an excellent videographer.” She lifted her eyebrows and spoke to her neighbor on the sofa with obvious pride. “He used to work for a cruise ship doing vacation videos. People paid a lot of money for those videos.”
    Was she kidding? Take a man away from his family on Christmas to record a private wedding ceremony on an apple orchard ninety minutes away? Jill opened her mouth to voiceanother protest, but Nana grabbed her in a firm grip and turned her toward the bedroom.
    “Let’s get you into the dress. We need to get started on the alterations. You’ve a slimmer waist than Lorna when she married, and I’m sure we’ll need to let out the bust.”
    They left the women scurrying for their sewing boxes. Judging by their energetic expressions, the alterations would be finished by the end of the day.
    Her mother’s wedding dress lay across Nana’s bed. Jill stopped when she caught sight of it, and then inched slowly into the room. She’d forgotten how lovely the dress was. Creamy white satin fell in graceful folds from an empire waist, the bodice covered with subtle but elegant beadwork. She reached for the short train and caressed the silky fabric between her fingers. An image arose in her mind of the framed photograph on the dresser in Mom’s room at Centerside. She’d been stunning in this dress, the smile on her youthful face radiant. Happy. So happy.
    Would Jill be that happy on her own wedding day? If she could ever be truly happy again, surely it would be that day.
    “Hurry up, now. Slip off those clothes.” Nana flipped the dress over and began unfastening the pearl-shaped buttons. “Oh, before I forget to tell you, Eloise Cramer’s granddaughter will be here tomorrow at ten, and then Alice’s granddaughter at eleven.”
    Jill paused in the act of lifting her sweater over her shoulders. “Why?”
    Nana blinked. “For their piano lessons.”
    The meaning of Nana’s words sank in. She had two piano students coming in the morning. Anger flickered at the edges of her mind. Nana had arranged it without consulting her.
    Jill let the sweater fall back in place. “Why did you do that?”
    Her grandmother looked up from her work on the dress,surprise widening her eyes. “Alice has been bragging about her granddaughter’s talent for a long time, so I knew she’d jump at the chance for the girl to learn from you.” She scowled. “I don’t know a thing about Eloise’s granddaughter, but she wasn’t about to let Alice get away with saying
her
granddaughter was taking lessons from Jillian King.” Concern replaced the scowl as Nana peered up at her. “You did say you wanted to give lessons, didn’t you?”
    Jill set her teeth together against the battling emotions that raged inside. Yes, she did say that, but there was a giant chasm between saying something and doing it, between making a decision and acting on it. She needed a few months to get used to the idea.
    On the other hand, Jill knew Nana meant well. She