Chapter 14
TESSA
The next day, Tessa sat in Willow’s office at the bakery. She had filled Willow in on all that had happened the day before, not that she had to. Once the mayor had made his pronouncement, it was all over town in no time.
“I cannot believe how this has snowballed,” Tessa shook her head. “Hayes and I are about to be paraded over town all summer, and my mother will be here in a few weeks for our ‘reception’ and, if she gets her way, another wedding!”
“I’m sorry,” Willow consoled her. “I know this is not what you had in mind, but everything will be okay.”
“That’s what Hayes keeps saying, but I don’t know if I believe it,” Tessa muttered.
“I don’t believe it either. This is a real mess,” Willow said.
“Willow!” Tessa laughed. “Why did you say everything would be okay?”
Willow shrugged. “I thought that was what you wanted to hear. And now you’re laughing, so things must be a little better.”
“I still don’t know what Nana was thinking. I know I probably have a case to contest her letter, but I just can’t do that. It just feels like it would be too messy,” Tessa sighed. “I just thought Hayes and I could get married and fly under the radar for a little while.”
“Why in the world did you think that? Haven’t you lived in this town your whole life?”
“I know, I know, false hope,” Tess rolled her shoulders. “I was just desperate. And Hayes offered a solution.”
“Well, what’s done is done, and if you don’t want to cause an even bigger stink, you will have to do your best to convince everyone y’all are the perfect newlyweds and the reigning royalty of Hickory Falls,” Willow said the last part with an exaggerated Southern drawl.
Tessa laughed again. “Thank you, Willow. I feel much better.”
“You’re so welcome,” Willow curtsied to her. “Anytime, your highness.”
“Oh boy,” Tessa rolled her eyes. “You are going to have too much fun with this.”
“You bet I am,” Willow laughed. “So where is your king?”
“At the ball field. Summer workouts started today,” Tessa replied, standing. “Speaking of work, I’d better get back to The Hickory. There is a wedding this weekend, and I need to make sure everything is ready to go.”
“Yes, I should probably help Cassidy out front,” Willow said. “I’ll see you tomorrow night at the Fourth of July planning meeting?”
“Of course, especially now that I apparently rule Hickory Falls,” Tessa joked.
Tessa pulled her Jeep into the resort and decided to head by her house to change clothes before she went to the office. As she pulled into her driveway, she noticed an extra car in her driveway. Hayes was still at practice, so whose car was that?
As she got closer, she recognized the car, “Mom?”
She quickly parked and shut off the ignition. She hustled up the porch steps into her house. “Mom? Are you here?” she called.
Her mother appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Tessa! Surprise!”
Her mother crossed the room to hug her.
“This is a surprise!” Tessa stated. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m sorry to visit unannounced, but I just couldn’t wait a few weeks before I saw you,” her mother explained. “I can’t believe you and Hayes are married!”
“Well, it kind of surprised us as well,” Tessa tried to explain. “Once we admitted our feelings for each other, we just kind of went with it. It was a little crazy. I’m sorry.”
“Oh, Tessa! Don’t worry about that! I am just glad you are happy,” her mother said with a smile.
“However, one of the reasons I came up here earlier than planned was to help you plan a wedding reception. I know you have a lot going on around here, so I thought I would start getting things in order. You know we will have to invite practically the whole town.”
Tessa sat down abruptly on the couch. “Oh, I, . . .” she stammered.
“Don’t worry,” her mother said, sitting next to her and patting her knee, “that is exactly why I am here. To take the burden off of you.”
At that moment, Hayes came through the front door, “Hey, Tessa, whose car is that in the driveway?”
“Hayes!” Tessa called. “My mother is here!”
Hayes rounded the corner and entered the living room. “Your mother? Oh, hello, Mrs. Sinclair.”
“Now, Hayes, no more Mrs. Sinclair. We are family now!” Tessa’s mother said, hugging Hayes. “You call me Mary Kate or even Mom!”
“Oh, okay, Mrs. – Mary Kate,” Hayes looked over Mary Kate Sinclair’s head at Tessa with a slightly panicked look on his face.
“Okay, Mom,” Tessa said, taking charge of the situation. “Let’s not overwhelm Hayes right now.”
“You are right,” Mary Kate replied. “Actually, I will probably go ahead and head down to the B & B in town.”
“You’re not staying here?” Tessa questioned.
“Oh no, I wouldn’t want to disturb the newlyweds!” Mary Kate said teasingly.
“Mom, we have a whole resort here,” Tessa replied dryly.
“No, I have a lot to plan, and it will be easier in town,” Mary Kate said. “And it will be fun to catch up with Melanie.” Melanie Smith was the owner of the Hickory Falls Bed and Breakfast and Mary Kate’s best friend from high school.
Mary Kate gave them both another hug. “I am so happy for you two. I always had a hunch you might have a thing for each other,” she said. “How about we have dinner together in town? Are you available tonight?”
“Sure, Mom, that sounds great,” Tessa agreed. “We’ll come down to the B & B around 6. Does that work?”
“Sounds great!” Mary Kate said. “Oh, you two are so cute! I am so happy!”
Mary Kate gathered her things and made her way out of the house. “See you newlyweds at dinner!” she called joyfully.
Tessa watched her mother drive down the driveway and then plopped back down on the couch. “Well, the surprises just keep coming, don’t they?”
Hayes plopped down next to her. For the first time since he proposed, he seemed unsure. “So, she didn’t tell you she was coming?”
“No,” Tessa answered. “I got in from town, and here she was. I guess I can’t really blame her. I did kind of drop a bomb on her.”
“Yes, I guess so,” Hayes rubbed the back of his head. “So what’s the plan now?”
“I guess the same as before,” Tessa said. “We just embrace all this newlywed nonsense until after my birthday, then recoup. Are you okay with that still?”
“Yes,” Hayes smiled. “I am all good.”
“Oh, my mother is going to start planning our wedding reception and other wedding-related events,” Tessa smiled sweetly at Hayes. “You still in?”
“Yes,” Hayes smiled nervously. “I am in.”
HAYES
Hayes was in his new bedroom at Tessa’s house getting ready to join her mother, his mother-in-law, for dinner. He pulled his polo shirt over his head, checked the mirror briefly, and walked into the hallway.
As he entered the hallway, he almost ran right into Tessa, who was texting someone on her phone. “Whoa,” he said as he grabbed her arms to steady her as they lightly collided.
“Oh, sorry, Hayes,” Tessa smiled. “I’m not used to sharing the house anymore.”
They walked down the stairs side by side. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Hayes turned to look at Tessa. She was dressed in a bright blue sundress, and her hair was down and lightly curled. “Wow, you look very pretty,” Hayes said.
“Don’t sound so shocked,” Tessa laughed.
“I’m not shocked. You are always pretty,” Hayes said.
“Oh, thank you,” Tessa blushed. “You look nice, too.”
“Well, I have to impress the mother-in-law,” Hayes joked.
“Yeah, sorry about that,” Tessa said. “I didn’t think she would come up here so early.”
“Well, her only daughter did get married.”
“Yes,” Tessa sighed. “Does this complicate matters?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Hayes reassured her. “I think we just have to be ‘on’ at all times. We are married, so we have to act married everywhere all the time except when we are here alone.”
“Yes, you are right,” Tessa said. “Again, I’m sorry, I didn’t think how complicated this was going to be.”
“If you remember, I am the one who asked you to marry me – twice,” Hayes smiled.
“Yes, but because of my little situation,” Tessa reminded him.
“Well, I still asked, you said yes, so here we are,” Hayes said.
“We are both adults with sound minds, and we agreed to this together. So, let’s decide now that that is it on who asked whom to do what and why.
Now we have to concentrate on seeming like we’re really married.
The epitome of Mr. & Mrs. Hickory Falls.
” Hayes arched an eyebrow as he said the last part.
Tessa laughed. “Okay, okay. Agreed. We are in this together. No more doubts or questions. How about we table the discussion of the who, what, why, when, et cetera until January. After my birthday, we will discuss all of that, but until then, we are all in.”
Hayes stuck out his hand for Tessa to shake, “Deal.”
TESSA
Tessa took the hand Hayes’s offered into hers. After they shook on their deal, Hayes took Tessa’s hand and placed it in the crook of his arm. “Shall we go to dinner?”
“We shall,” Tessa answered.
She tried to ignore the butterflies she was feeling as she gripped Hayes’s arm on the way to the truck. And she definitely was ignoring the feelings she was having about acting like Hayes’s wife for the next seven months.
“That was delicious,” Mary Kate said as she pushed her plate away. “Other than going to Italy, I believe that is the best Italian food you can get.”
“It is my favorite,” Tessa replied.
“How about some dessert?” Hayes asked.
“Aren’t you full?” Tessa laughed.
“I always leave room for dessert,” Hayes said as he took Tessa’s hand.
“Yes! This is a celebratory dinner. We definitely need dessert!” Mary Kate said. “Now, back to our earlier discussion. You said you were thinking of fall for a wedding reception?”
“Yes,” Tessa said. “Especially, since Mayor Jenkins has dubbed us Mr. & Mrs. Hickory Falls, we will have so much on our plate this summer.”
“But what if we coordinate the wedding with all of the festivities? So many people would already be in town, and I am here to help you. It would be perfect!” Mary Kate said, delighted.
Tessa was not as delighted. Her mom tended to get carried away with her party planning. Tessa would have been wary of her mother’s plans even if this were real.
“Mom, please don’t go overboard,” Tessa pleaded.
“I won’t, dear,” Mary Kate assured her. “But, I want to celebrate you two. Y’all are just adorable. Even if you ran off and got married without any of your family present.”
Point taken, Tessa thought. “I understand, Mom, but please, we just want something low-key.”
“I know, Tessa. I promise I will plan according to your tastes and not mine,” Mary Kate assured her daughter. “You know all the final decisions are yours. I am just here to help.”
“Okay, thank you, Mom. I will check the resort’s schedule, and Hayes and I will pick a date,” Tessa assured her.
“Wonderful!” Mary Kate yawned. “Well, I should be getting back to the B & B. I will see you sometime tomorrow. Tessa, we will have to go to the bridal shop later this week. Let me know when you are free so I can make an appointment for dress shopping.”
Tessa almost argued that she would just wear something she already had, but she figured it was time to pick her battles, and she and Hayes had just agreed to go all in and act like everything was real.
She assumed that meant she should be throwing herself wholeheartedly into the wedding reception planning.
“Sounds good. I’ll send you a text.” Tessa hugged her mother. “See you tomorrow.”