“Oh, nonsense, honey. I didn’t. I may be old fashioned, but I’ve got my favorite restaurants here in town on speed dial. I ordered a chicken casserole from the diner down on Main Street. It came with all the fixins, including a berry cobbler for dessert. I had your dad pick me up, and he brought along the muscles.” She points to the guys filing in the door. “To carry it all in the house.”
Ryan enters the room, and his eyes find Lanie’s in an instant. “Hope you don’t mind. I brought some help to finish decorations.”
Lanie’s vibrant smile lights up the room. “The more the merrier.”
Ryan closes the distance between them and kisses her quickly before settling beside her.
Jax takes the seat beside Sloane, and I go back to focusing on folding and cutting the flower in my hand. I’ve just about got it right where I need it when I feel the hairs on the back of my neck tingle.
I look up to find Finn beside me, and my heart races. When his lips spread into a handsome smile, and he leans in to kiss me, it feels as natural as breathing.
“Hey,” he says when he pulls back. “Need any help?”
Raising a brow, I challenge, “Any good at making paper roses?”
A low chuckle that only I can hear escapes. “Not even kinda. But if you tell me what to do, I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”
“I’ll make you a deal; you hot glue, while I fold. It’s a total pain in the rear, but it might go faster with your help.”
“Put me to work; it’s what I’m here for.”
Oddly enough, Finn and I work remarkably well together. We fold, cut, and assemble the paper rose with ease, and before we know it, the entire vase is complete, and we’re moving on to another one.
Eventually, Mable insists we eat before our food gets cold. Finn and I keep working until everyone has had a chance to dish up. When he reaches the counter before me, he effortlessly grabs a plate for each of us and dishes food onto my plate as we walk through the line. Then as if we are a real couple, he sets his plate next to mine at the kitchen table, kisses me on the cheek as if it’ssomething he does every day, and wordlessly walks back to the fridge to grab each of us a Pepsi.
This man most certainly deserves an Oscar for acting the dutiful boyfriend.
As soon as we finish eating, Raven and I manage to knock out these paper roses to finish off the decorations. It takes me a bit to get the hang of it, but as soon as we completed our first one, she led me through the process step by step, so we assembled two at a time.
“So, how did you get roped into this?” Raven asks diligently, folding the paper in front of her.
“Jax and I were hanging out at my new place when your dad called to see if he was coming to dinner. Once your dad found out where Jax was, he invited me to tag along.”
“Who knew you’d be so good at this? Is there anything you can’t do?” Jax interrupts. “Maybe Sloane and I can enlist your help with our wedding. I’m two left thumbs when it comes to crafting, and God only knows what this woman will come up with.”
“Hey now,” Raven turns to her sister and Jax, “Sloane will come up with something brilliant… But seriously, if you’re using paper roses, we’re recycling these. I don’t even care if your favorite author isn’t Charlotte Ann. I love you to the ends of the earth, Sloaney, but once is enough for assembling these.”
“No kidding,” Lizzy chimes in. “Do you even have a date set, Jax? Or are you just prepping us for the free labor?”
I don’t miss the way Jax looks to Sloane for confirmation before speaking. “We don’t want to take away from Lanie and Ryan, but we’ve got something in the works.”
“This is Sloane we’re talking about,” her father breaks in. “Of course, she’s got a plan.” Pointedly, he looks to his daughter. “Care to fill us in?”
“I truly don’t want to take any light away from the two of you.” She looks pleadingly at her sister and Ryan. “But with Ruby Frax going back on tour later this year, we’d like to be married sooner than later. Contrary to popular belief,” she pauses and looks around the room, “I don’t want a big wedding, and neither does Jax.”
The reaction of her family is quite comical. Her dad stares wordlessly, and each of her sisters have a different version of their mouths hanging open in shock. Raven starts to speak, then stops herself and just stares at Sloane as if she’s grown three heads.
“Oh, close your mouths,” Mable admonishes. “Sloane knows what she wants andhopefully,she’ll fill us in on it as soon as she’s ready to let us know.”
“Who are you and what have you done with Aunt Mable?” Raven asks. I have no idea if she’s joking or not, but she’s got the room’s attention now.
“Thanks, Mable,” Sloane says, holding onto Jax tighter. Looking to Lanie, she says, “We really don’t want to disappoint you. Honest. We have no intention of taking attention away from your big day. But I won’t to lie about it to you either.”
I feel Raven tense beside me, and the sudden tension can be cut with a knife as Sloane takes a long look at each of her other sisters, then her dad, before returning to Lanie. “Jax and I have been talking about this a lot… and with everyonealready in town… and Jax’s family living here… we’ve thought about a small beach ceremony with only immediate family and close friends. Please don’t get me wrong… I’ve absolutely loved helping you plan your wedding, but all I need at mine is Jax and our family. The paparazzi’s attention is already insane with Jax and his new band. So…ifwe were to plan anything, it could turn into utter chaos.”
Jax stuns us all when he says, “We don’t want a big ceremony or to interfere with anything. In fact, we’d prefer none of this even gets out publicly until after it’s over. So, to answer your question, we’d like to get married a few days after yours before you leave for your honeymoon.” Pointing to the ocean behind us, he adds, “We just want a simple ceremony out there on the beach.”
Looking to Lanie, Sloane pleads with tears in her eyes. “Are you mad at me?”
