♥
“Honey?”
I spun around inside the honey shed and smiled at the new bride. “Hi, Charity, did you need something?” I slid the cooler door closed and wiped off my hands. “I was just putting the cake back in the cooler.”
“I wanted to let you know we’re leaving and to thank you again for all your hard work today.”
I hooked my arm in hers, and we stepped back onto the patio where the fire burned, the music still played on low, and the icicle lights blew softly in the breeze. There was no one else around.
“Where did everyone go? I was only in the shed for five minutes.”
She chuckled, but I noticed it was far less enthusiastic than it had been this afternoon. She was tired. We all were.
“Gulliver and Mathias are loading the car with all the wedding gifts. Everyone was extremely generous. I’m not sure we’ll have room in the one-bedroom apartment for it all.”
“You can store it here if you need to,” I promised, patting her shoulder. “We have plenty of space, though I can’t promise I won’t use Farmer James’s grandmother’s ice cream maker. That’s just aching for some ice and cream.”
She laughed, relaxed and happy even if she was tired. “Can you believe it? I was so touched. That said, you’re not getting near my ice cream maker.”
I snorted and held up my hands. “Got it. Listen, I’ll wrap up the cake tomorrow and freeze your top layer. You can pick it up after you’re back from your honeymoon.”
“Thank you,” she said, squeezing me around the waist. “I appreciate everything you did for us today. We’ll be back Sunday night. We’re just running up the coast to Thunder Bay. I’ve been dying to see the amethyst mine. The real honeymoon will be in Costa Rica this winter. We have some butterflies to hunt.”
“How exciting! It’s a good thing you love butterflies as much as your guy does. You aren’t driving to Canada tonight, are you?”
She shook her head, and I walked with her out to the front of the house. “No, we’re going to a little bed-and-breakfast tonight. We’ll finish the drive in the morning. Laverne has Mojo, so we’re dog-free.”
I patted her back and hugged her tightly again in the driveway. “I’m so happy for both of you. It was a beautiful day to get married.”
I hugged Gulliver next, who promised he’d drive carefully. Mathias put his arm around me, and we waved goodbye until their taillights disappeared down the road.
“Finally, we’re all alone,” he quipped as he walked me to the backyard.
I stood staring at the mess before me and sighed. “Guess we better get to work. We can’t leave all of this up overnight.”
“Well,” he said, dragging me along through the grass to the dance floor, “the garbage has been bagged, and the food has been put away. It’s not going to rain, which means the rest can wait until morning. I hired people to come in and clean up tomorrow. I’d rather dance with you tonight. I never got you on the floor during the reception.”
Because I’d been avoiding him, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.
“Sorry about that. I was constantly running. I’m glad things went smoothly, though,” I added lamely.
He strode to the stereo and switched the music to a song he liked before he picked up my hand and encouraged me to snuggle in for a slow dance. “The wedding went off without a hitch because you ran around like a chicken with your head cut off. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were avoiding the best man.”
Good God but he knew me so well. I was still going to lie through my teeth. “No, not avoiding. I just didn’t want Charity to have to worry about anything. You only get married once. Well, you should only get married once, right?”
He spun me in a slow circle, and I suspected he was exhausted after a long day of entertaining. I certainly was. “That’s what they say. It’s rare these days. Weird that both our parents stayed together, isn’t it?”
I shrugged as we rocked back and forth to the music. “Not really. My parents stay together because they’re too poor to even consider leaving each other. Your parents stay together because they’re soul mates. There’s a difference.”
“I suppose you’re right.” He swayed into the music for a few beats. “Some might even say we’re soul mates.”
“Some might have had too much to drink then.” My words were laced with sarcasm that I couldn’t hold back.
“I am a little tipsy,” he agreed, laughter in his voice.
The singer crooned about love, lace, and loss while we danced wrapped up in each other’s arms. “You were stunning today, and I love this.” He tugged on the lace band around my upper arm. “You’re beautiful in lace.”
I smiled and winked at him. “Charity brought it for me this morning. I was going to use makeup to cover the bruise from the tree, but when she showed it to me, I thought it was perfect. It’s a garter, but it worked in a pinch.”
