Chapter 1 Those Sweet Words #2
“True enough. Speaking of, I want to swing by the house to see my other half before I head into work for the night.” She rose and came around to hug Pru herself. “Mom would love that you’re doing this for Ari.”
“I know. And it helps a little bit. She feels kind of like a last piece of Mom.”
“Are you gonna call Maggie and Athena to tell them the news?”
“They’ll be here in two days for wedding festivities. I’ll tell them in person. Go forth and squeeze in whatever canoodling you can manage.”
Kennedy rolled her eyes. “Canoodling. You sound like Ari.”
“Fitting since she’s going to be mine.” Pru felt another flutter in her belly. That would stop being scary at some point, right?
“Touché. Love you, Pru.”
“Love you back.”
When she was gone, Pru took their tea—now cold—and dumped it out.
She popped her own into the microwave, then carried the mug back to her room.
Formerly her mother’s room. She’d moved in formally after she and her sisters had converted the old Victorian into a bed and breakfast to save the family estate.
It was a long way from profitable yet, but they’d had steady bookings since they opened Memorial Day weekend and plenty more that stretched out well into the fall.
Sinking down into the overstuffed chair, she tugged open the drawer and pulled out the photo album with “My Kids” embossed across the front. She’d found it in the course of cleaning out. This book contained photos of every single child her mother had fostered over the years. There were so many.
Had her mother felt this bone deep panic at the beginning?
Wondering whether she could do this? Whether she’d irrevocably mess these kids up?
Or had she always been the unflappable, down-to-earth woman Pru remembered?
With the weight of the decision she’d just made pressing down, she needed her mother’s comfort.
So, tea in hand, she opened the cover and slid into memory.
“What’s the status update on the wedding?”
“For God’s sake, Maggie, we’ve been here all of five minutes. Can’t you wait to try to run things until we’ve had some time to breathe?” Athena complained.
Maggie shot her a cool look. “The wedding is in five days. There’s no time to relax.”
And my sisters are officially home, Pru thought.
“We hired a wedding planner. And Pru’s here. Shit’s being handled. Right?” Athena looked to Pru for confirmation.
Her lips twitched. “Shit is, indeed, being handled.” That her sisters trusted her to do exactly that was both flattering and maddening.
“See there? Now relax, woman.” Athena flopped down on the overstuffed sofa.
“Might I remind you that there are little ears present, so perhaps tone things down from the language you use in your restaurant kitchen?” Pru suggested.
Ari and Athena both rolled their eyes.
“Gordon Ramsey is worse,” Ari said. When Pru arched a brow, she just shrugged. “What? I really like Kitchen Nightmares.”
There was no need to ask who got her hooked on that.
“Oh, did you see that episode with that poser in Ohio?” Athena asked.
“‘I can cook, Joe,’” Ari said, in a passable parody of the celebrity chef.
“That was brutal,” Athena agreed.
“Well deserved,” Ari pronounced.
Deciding she was just grateful the two were bonding, Pru turned her attention to Maggie.
“To answer your question, everything is going fine. Our bridesmaid dresses are ready and waiting. You and Athena have your final fitting tomorrow. The photographer is lined up, and Mrs. Lowrey, from church, is making the cake.”
“You’re not doing the cake?” Ari asked Athena.
“I’m a chef, not a baker. I can bake. I choose not to.”
“Plus, Mrs. Lowrey makes the best red velvet cake in the state,” Kennedy announced, sailing into the room with a tray of drinks from the kitchen. “She has a blue ribbon from the state fair that says so.”
“What about music?” Maggie asked.
“My friend, Flynn, will be playing.”
“Oh, did you finally talk to him about it?” Pru had heard plenty about the Irish musician Kennedy had toured with for a while, during her time abroad. He’d been one of the first to book a room after they opened the inn.
“No. He’s playing his way down the East coast. Not quite sure where he is just now, and his cell phone doesn’t work in the States. But he’ll be here in a couple of days. It’s not like he’s going to say no. It’s my wedding.”
Maggie pinched the bridge of her nose and moved her mouth in something that might have been a silent prayer or a curse. “Okay, so what’s left?”
“Just decorating the barn for the ceremony and getting tables set up for the reception. And we’ll have help with that. Everybody who’s got a room booked from tomorrow through the weekend is one of Mom’s former fosters. And there are more coming in day of,” Pru told her.
Maggie’s shoulders relaxed a little. Kennedy swung an arm around them. “Did you think you were going to have to wade in and sort out chaos?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time. But I should have known better. I can always rely on Pru to have my back.” She flashed a grateful smile.
Pru just shrugged. “It’s what I do.”
“Is there anything else I need to know about?”
From the sofa, Ari began to bounce.
“You got ants in your pants, kid?” Athena asked.
Ari looked at Pru, and it was impossible to hold back the smile.
“She’s excited because she’s finally going to be a Reynolds. I’m adopting her.”
“Whoa.” Athena hooked Ari around the neck and pulled her into a headlock. “Welcome to the family, kid.”
Maggie smiled at the giggling teen, who was digging her fingers into Athena’s sides in a vain effort to tickle her. “That’s wonderful.”
“There are still some steps to go through, but that’s the plan,” Pru said.
The doorbell rang.
“Are we expecting more guests?” Kennedy asked. “I didn’t think we had anybody else booked for tonight.”
“Not guests. Your surprise,” Pru said. “Ari, you want to go get the door?”
“’Kay!” Red-faced and gasping, she rolled off the sofa and raced out of the room. Moments later, she came back, a smiling blonde in tow.
“Hail, hail, the gang’s all here,” the blonde called. “Welcome home, y’all.”
“Abbey Whittaker! I had no idea you were back in the Ridge.” Maggie crossed the room to give her a hug.
“Only been back a couple of weeks. Grandaddy Whittaker isn’t doing so great. His dementia is getting worse, so I came back to help out, while the family figures out what to do about it.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that. But I’m definitely glad to see you. Weren’t you off in Atlanta?”
“That’s where I headed when Pru and I finished school, but I wound up moving to Mississippi last year. I’ve got kin in Wishful—Granddaddy’s brother and his branch of the family are there. I’ve been working at a swank spa in Wishful.”
“Which is why she’s here tonight,” Pru said. “She’s giving all of us spa treatments.”
“All natural and guaranteed to rejuvenate and relax.”
Athena jerked a thumb at Maggie. “This one definitely needs to relax.”
Abbey laughed. “And what about the bride to be?”
“Pretty sure she’s the most laid back one here,” Pru said.
“She’s in luuuuuurve,” Ari sang.
“It shows. Hard to duplicate that kind of glow with even the best products. You look great.”
Kennedy beamed. “Thanks. Being happy agrees with me.”
“The regular nookie doesn’t hurt,” Athena added.
Pru clapped her hands over Ari’s ears. “Athena!”
“What? It’s true.”
Ari tugged the hands away. “Joan already had the talk with me. Great sex between mature, committed individuals is good for your mental health.”
Pru’s mouth fell open, but nothing came out. Her face felt frozen somewhere between horror and laughter.
“Well, she’s not wrong,” Kennedy admitted.
Maybe that’s what’s wrong with me. No great sex in…. Have I ever had truly great sex? When was the last time I had even mediocre sex? Oh, dear God, why am I thinking about this now?
Cheeks burning, Pru looked at Abbey, who was valiantly trying not to snicker.
“Our mom was really big on female empowerment. But for you, young lady, that can wait until you’re twenty-five.
” She grabbed Ari by the shoulders and marched her toward the kitchen, laughter in their wake as everyone trailed behind.
Abbey unloaded the bags she’d brought and began mixing ingredients, while Kennedy rounded up a bunch of towels.
As she created multiple bowls of fragrant glop, Abbey scanned them all.
“So, other than the bride, who else is tripping down the relationship highway? Or dating? Or anything involving the prospect of a significant other? Because I most definitely am not, and I need to live vicariously through somebody.”
“Those Mississippi boys not doing it for you?” Athena asked.
“There’s one very serious problem with them—it seems all the good ones are taken.”
“It’s a definite problem in small towns,” Pru agreed. “I can’t remember the last time I had a date.”
“Didn’t you go out with Gavin Harkness around Christmas?” Maggie asked.
“I went to dinner with him. For what I thought was just a meal between joint committee members for that Angel Tree fundraiser. I didn’t realize he thought it was a date until he tried to kiss me when he brought me home.
I turned my face at the last second and he hit my cheek.
Then he just kind of froze there for several seconds, until I managed to twist the doorknob and escape. It was…awkward.”
“Well, it’s not like the city is any better for prospects,” Maggie said.
“In L.A., everybody meets people with an eye for how they can be used to further their career. There’s no such thing as a simple girl meets guy on an elevator and gets asked to dinner, for a night of conversation about mutual interests.
Instead, he’s asking enough questions during the salad course, you feel like you’re in the middle of a job interview. ”
Abbey grimaced. “That sounds awful. Please tell me you skipped dessert.”