It was a brisk September morning and to say that Hannah Swensen was excited would be the understatement of the year. Not even the specter of her upcoming trial for vehicular homicide, which had been postponed again last week, could dampen her spirits.

“Don’t worry, Moishe,” Hannah told the orange and white cat who was staring at her from the top of her dresser. “I’m only going to be gone for three days and Norman should be here to pick you up any minute now. You’re going to stay with Norman and Cuddles while I’m gone.”

“Rrrrow!”

Hannah smiled as she slipped off her robe and dressed in her stylish, new, forest green pantsuit. Some people claimed that cats didn’t understand when you spoke to them, but Moishe always reacted with an excited yowl whenever she said Cuddles. Norman’s cat was Moishe’s favorite friend. Hannah admitted that she might be anthropomorphizing, but she was convinced that Moishe loved Cuddles every bit as much as her mother loved Doc Knight.

Hannah slipped on her shoes and walked to the foot of the bed. Her suitcase was open on top of the bedspread and she checked the contents again. Claire Rodgers Knudson, the owner of Beau Monde Fashions, the upscale dress shop right next to The Cookie Jar on Main Street, had chosen what she called a mini trousseau for each of the three Swensen sisters. It was a gift from Doc Knight, their mother’s groom-to-be. Of course, Delores had her own, much larger bridal trousseau, which was currently stashed in the trunk of one of Cyril Murphy’s Shamrock Limousines, waiting for the wedding surprise that Doc and Delores’s daughters had planned for her.

At first, all three Swensen sisters had been reluctant to accept Doc’s lovely and expensive gifts. Such largesse was highly unusual in Lake Eden, Minnesota. There were a couple of rich families in town, but most people worked hard for their money and didn’t have any excess to spend on luxuries. Hannah, Andrea, and Michelle fell into that latter group.

It had taken Doc a week, but he had convinced them to accept his generous gifts. He’d reminded them that presents for members of the wedding party were traditional, and with the exception of Doc’s best man, Hannah, Andrea, and Michelle comprised the whole wedding party. He’d also stated that the lovely mini trousseaus were doubling as thank you gifts for helping him implement his wedding surprise for their mother. With that said, Doc had led them into Claire’s shop and turned them over to her.

The Swensen sisters didn’t shop in Claire’s designer boutique very often. All three were on a budget. Hannah’s bakery and coffee shop made enough money for her to live a comfortable life, but designer clothing was low on her list of priorities. Andrea, the middle Swensen sister, loved to wear designer things, but most of her commissions as a part-time real estate agent went into a college fund for her two daughters. Andrea’s husband also worked. Bill was the Winnetka County sheriff, but most of his salary went toward the family’s living expenses. Michelle, the youngest Swensen sister, was in college at Macalester and everything she earned from working part- time was spent on tuition, books, and living expenses.

Hannah reached out to touch the gorgeous sapphire blue dress that she would wear to her mother’s wedding. Andrea and Michelle had identically styled dresses, but they were in gradiated shades of blue. Hannah’s was the most vivid and the sapphire blue looked wonderful with her red hair. Michelle’s dress was a lighter shade that brought out the red and gold highlights in her brown hair. Andrea’s dress was the palest, an ice blue that was worthy of a winter princess. With her light blond hair worn up in a twist and secured with a rhinestone-studded comb, she looked positively regal.

Tonight, Delores would marry Doc Knight in the Little Chapel of the Orchids in Las Vegas with only Doc’s best man and Delores’s three daughters in attendance. The bride-to-be had no idea that Doc had planned a surprise elopement when he’d invited her to a special board member breakfast at the hospital. The breakfast had been Andrea’s idea to make certain that Delores wouldn’t wear her Rainbow Lady volunteer jacket and slacks.

When Delores arrived at the hospital, Doc would whisk her away in a waiting limousine that would take them to the airport. Doc had hired a second limousine to take Michelle, Andrea, and Hannah to the airport, and once they’d arrived, they would be escorted to the plane where Doc had somehow arranged for all five of them to be served a champagne breakfast.

Delores had no idea that any of this was going to happen. Hannah knew that Doc had surprised Delores several times in the past with impromptu dinner parties and gifts she hadn’t expected. So far, Delores had loved his surprises. But this surprise was the biggest one of all!

Hannah readily admitted that she was a bit nervous about the whole scenario that would play out today. When her mother discovered that Doc and all three of her daughters were co-conspirators in this elopement, one of two things would happen. Either Delores would be so angry at all of them that she’d refuse to marry Doc or she’d be delighted with Doc’s romantic spontaneity and grateful that they’d all helped him with her surprise.

Hannah was betting on the latter for several reasons. The most important was that Delores loved Doc totally and irrevocably. If he wanted to sweep her off her feet and elope with her, she would not hesitate. The odds in Hannah’s mind tallied at ninety to ten, perhaps even steeper than that. But there was the slim chance that Hannah’s mother would balk at the way that Doc had chosen to take the planning of their wedding away from her.

“That’s not going to happen!” Hannah said aloud, as if by voicing that opinion, she could assure its validity. She was almost positive that Delores would go with Doc to the ends of the earth. Seeing the two of them together made Hannah long for the same kind of total consuming love. In retrospect, she knew it was the reason she hadn’t accepted either Norman’s or Mike’s proposal. She loved both of them, but it wasn’t the heart-pounding, can’t- live-without-you kind of love she craved. Just once in her life she wanted to be swept off her feet by the perfect man on the perfect night with perfect love. Did she want too much? Was there such a thing as perfect love? By refusing to settle for something less was she depriving herself of a fulfilling life?

A knock on her door pulled Hannah from her contemplative mood. She shut her suitcase, hurried from the bedroom with Moishe at her heels, and arrived at the door slightly breathless.