Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
O n the day before the wedding, Scott came into the newspaper office with trepidation. Amy would either like their new assignment or hate it. He knew she was busy working on both the wedding article and the next edition of the newspaper. “Mrs. Brantley would like you and me to go out to Cherry and Levi’s place to scope it out and make sure everything for the wedding is in order. She’s going to meet us there.”
Amy stared at her computer screen for a moment, then said, “I hope it’s all good. I’ve been dreading the moment when everything has to come together for their big day. There are so many things that could go wrong.”
“But what if it’s all good?”
She grinned. “I love an optimist. Let’s do this.”
Scott went toward his truck, and Amy followed him and climbed inside. When she didn’t question who should drive, he knew she was distracted by something big. “Has your part in the wedding become overwhelming?”
“So much! That and . . . everything else going on in my life right now.”
He knew she meant her business as part of that, but maybe it included their kiss and what that potentially meant for them. When she didn’t offer more, he changed subjects to their upcoming farm visit. “Mrs. Brantley had one piece of advice for me.”
Amy turned toward him with a slight smile. He could tell she was making an effort to be cheerful. “Just one?”
“Well, she worded it as having one, then gave me more.” He chuckled. “She said that everything was fixable. Other than the portable bathrooms, we can make almost anything okay.”
She sighed. “I know that’s true, but I still had trouble falling asleep last night.” After a couple of minutes of silence, she asked, “Have you talked to your boss since you’ve been gone?”
Her question surprised him since she’d never said anything about his job. Work was the last thing he wanted to think about right now. “I don’t need to call. He would have called in a crisis. I do know I’ll have a huge stack of work waiting when I get back.” Then he knew why she’d asked. She wanted to know if he was returning to his old life. Since he didn’t have an answer for her, he didn’t say more.
They reached the farm and pulled up near the barn. Since he’d been here for the proposal photo, the flowers had come to life. Summer flowers were in full bloom. Mrs. Brantley was waiting outside the barn when they stepped out of his truck.
As soon as they got out, she approached them with her clipboard in hand. “Let’s divide and conquer. Scott, if you wouldn’t mind, please go to the portable bathrooms, flush every toilet, and test the faucets. Check to make sure there’s plenty of toilet paper and paper towels.”
That would be his least favorite job, but someone had to do it.
Mrs. Brantley directed Amy to go through the barn to make sure everything looked right. “We want it to be as clean as a barn can possibly be. The tables should be set up with the linens stacked on them, ready to be put out in the morning. There has to be a place for Simone’s cupcakes and a staging area for Nick to set up his appetizers.”
They went their separate directions. As he went in and out of the various stalls, Scott noticed Mrs. Brantley walking around the outside of the barn. He wasn’t sure what she was doing, but he knew there must be something she needed to check off on that clipboard. After a few minutes of flushing and running, he was glad to have that job done and to be able to report back to her that all was well.
Mrs. Brantley glanced at the barn where Amy still worked on her assignment. He had a feeling Mrs. Brantley was about to say something she deemed important.
“You know Greg will be moving into Cassie’s house immediately after the wedding.”
“I do know that.” He wasn’t sure why she was telling him this.
“Have you been in Greg’s apartment over the garage?”
“Yes, ma’am. It’s nice.” And he meant that. Greg’s parents had fixed up the apartment for Greg’s sister before she’d married, and they’d thought it out well. Then Greg had lived there since he returned to Two Hearts.
“It will be a shame not to have anybody living in it.”
“I’m sure you won’t have a problem finding a renter.”
She turned to face him. “It’s on my property, so I see it as different than a normal rental unit. James and I have bought a couple of those, and CJ is fixing them up as we speak.” She turned back to face the barn. “No. I want someone I know living there. It’s only been family thus far. I think I would need to feel as if the renter was family.”
He still wasn’t sure of the point of this conversation, but she seemed to have one. “Do you want me to help you find someone?” he asked tentatively.
“My goodness, for someone as smart as you are, you can be a little slow sometimes.”
Scott took a step back. He’d clearly just been insulted. “I apologize?”
Mrs. Brantley patted him on the shoulder. “Scott, I’m saying that if you wanted to live there, I’d be open to that option.”
Amy came out of the barn, stopped, and turned back toward it as though she was trying to sort something out.
Mrs. Brantley continued. “Amy’s a great girl. Are you going to run away from here and go back to the life you had? Or are you going to embrace the possibilities of an amazing future?” Then she walked away from him and toward the barn, leaving him standing there dumbfounded.
He had avoided thinking about staying in Two Hearts. He had a life in Chicago. One he loved. He had a great job with excellent coworkers. He had his family all within an hour’s drive, probably less if he took the time to add it up. He’d finally gotten his house fixed up how he liked it. He’d even been thinking about adopting a pet because that seemed to be what one did when they were settled.
And Mrs. Brantley had blown that up by making a future life in Two Hearts even more real.
Scott watched Amy move her hands in an animated way as she spoke to Mrs. Brantley. He liked her fire, her joy in simple things, and the way she cared about others. He loved everything about her. It wasn’t the first time he’d entertained thoughts like that, though. The kiss they had shared had been special. He’d been trying to maneuver them together so that could happen again. She seemed to have stopped running too.
The two women walked toward Scott.
Mrs. Brantley ran her finger down the list on her clipboard. “Looks like everything is in good shape. Cassie’s mother and father should be arriving in town any minute. Are you and your friends still taking Cassie out for a pampering day in the city?” she asked Amy.
“We are.”
She checked her watch. “Oh my, I need to get back right away. I need to be ready to greet guests.” Mrs. Brantley hurried to her vehicle. Before she stepped in, she turned back to them. “You understand what I meant earlier, right, Scott?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He was coming to realize that Amy was the best thing that had ever happened to him. Now, he needed to figure out what to do about it.
Amy looked at her watch every few minutes as they drove back to town.
After more than a dozen time checks, Scott asked, “Am I missing something? Are you ready to get away from me?” He said it with a smile, but she thought he might actually mean it.
“It’s what Mrs. Brantley mentioned. The girls’ day in the city. I really do need to get back to town for that.” Her phone rang with a call from Bella.
“I’m on my way to Cassie’s house. You can pick us both up there.”
This surprised Amy because she had to stop and get Paige and Simone on Main Street. Bella would be an easy addition.
Bella added, “I’ve noticed some visitors in town. It may be a busy couple of days in Two Hearts with the wedding this weekend.”
Oh! Bella had seen some of the guests.
“I saw a car go by that held what must be guests of honor.”
Amy tried to process that. Guests of honor would be . . . Cassie’s parents! She turned toward Scott. “Can you get this going any faster—legally?”
He edged the truck forward.
“I’ll make a stop on Main Street. Then we’ll meet you at Cassie’s house.”
Bella giggled. “All this stuff makes me laugh. I’ll see you there.”
Scott eased off the gas when they arrived at the town limits. He pulled up in front of the newspaper office. “Is this all to get Cassie out of town?” When she looked up at him, he added, “I couldn’t help but overhear the call.”
She unbuckled her seatbelt and reached for the door handle. “We don’t want Cassie to see wedding guests by accident. There is no reason for a college friend to be here, and her parents definitely wouldn’t come without contacting her first.”
“It’s almost over, and you’ve all done a great job.”
She hoped so. As she stepped out, she realized that Team Wedding needed him tomorrow. “Could you pick up Greg in the morning? I’ll get Cassie. We can meet at city hall for the marriage license.”
“That’s already worked out. Greg is going to city hall by himself. I’m supposed to be out at the reception site working on anything that needs to be done.”
A pang of disappointment went through her. She wouldn’t be seeing Scott in the morning. But then she wouldn’t be seeing him ever again once he left town.
Amy whipped out of her parking space on the street in front of the newspaper and around to Main Street, where she found Paige waiting at the curb. She hopped in the car and said, “I just got a text from Simone. She’s too busy decorating the cupcakes to go with us today.”
Amy drove past Simone’s bakery and took a left toward Cassie’s place. “That’s too bad. I’d wanted her to come along, but I know there are a lot of cupcakes.”
“I’m glad I don’t have any prep work like that. And Bella has everything done by now.” They pulled into Cassie’s driveway and went around to the back. Bella and Cassie were outside, sitting in the garden.
Cassie helped Bella up from her chair. “We wanted to be ready. It looks like we might be cutting it close for our appointments?”
Amy checked her watch again. They had plenty of time to get to the spa—extra since she’d sped up—but they could be in trouble if they came upon a traffic stoppage.
When they were in the car, Bella said, “Let’s go out the other side of town. I think it’s a little shorter, and you may not know this way over to the highway yet, Amy.” She gave a slow wink.
Amy played along. “I didn’t realize there was another way out of town.” That much was true. “Let’s go.” And there they were, hurtling away from Two Hearts at the maximum speed Amy felt comfortable with and that the law agreed upon.
“Anything interesting with you guys?”
Bella put her hand on her belly. “She’s been kicking up a storm. Very active.”
“She!” Cassie shouted.
“Yes.” Bella grinned. “We’re having the baby’s room painted a soft pink. I found the cutest fabric with tiny pink roses on it for the curtain. And I can tell you that there’s only one baby. There won’t be any twin surprises.” Amy knew the reason for the pattern on the fabric, but Bella still hadn’t shared the baby’s name with everyone else. Amy was glad she’d shared it with her chauffeur.
Cassie seemed relaxed as they drove down the country lane. If only she knew what awaited her tomorrow. “We actually have twins in my family. My mother has twin brothers, and two first cousins have had twin babies.”
“Have you mentioned this to Greg at any point?” Bella asked with humor in her voice.
Cassie chuckled. “I thought it best not to say a word. Maybe when having a family gets closer to reality.” She sighed. “I really want to marry Greg. I keep hoping that one day I’ll be ready to plan the wedding.”
They drove the back roads, with Bella pointing out the turns to take. Even GPS would have no idea where they were. Amy wasn’t sure she could recreate this if she needed to. They pulled onto the highway and, after a short time, passed the seedy-looking motel on the right.
“Bella asked not too long ago if I’d like to have the wedding planned and just show up.”
Amy held her breath, waiting for whatever else Cassie might add. She just hoped it wasn’t, I’ve been thinking about that, and I hate the idea .
“Every time I think about that, I fall more in love with the idea. I’m just letting you guys know that if you want to take the reins on this, I would be thrilled. I just want a pretty wedding. I want to be beautiful for Greg. And I’d like to give my guests good food to eat. Other than that, I’m not caught up in all the hows and whys . I’ve planned so many weddings and attended so many others that I’ve seen it all. Simple would be great for my own.”
Amy looked at Bella in the rearview mirror. Had they done a simple wedding? Maybe. Cupcakes instead of a big cake felt a little simpler. Henri had come through and knew Cassie wanted something like wildflowers.
“Everything you asked me the other day for the article, Amy, made me think more about my own wedding.”
Amy wasn’t sure what to say, but she felt she needed to say something.
Fortunately, Paige stepped in. “I haven’t seen everyone’s selections from the article, but I heard that Simone made cupcakes Amy and Cassie got to try. What flavor?”
Cassie licked her lips. “They were so good. Raspberry, lemon, and chocolate.”
Paige grimaced. “Together?”
Cassie laughed. “No. Four different flavor combinations. And they were all good.”
Bella nodded. “I agree. I stopped by Cassie’s house for tea and got to try them. Delicious.”
They finished the drive into the city talking about baked goods. By the time they arrived, Amy wanted to stop at the nearest bakery. Fortunately for her waistline, they had massages scheduled. They were brought right into rooms, and the relaxation began.
Bella had thought of this as a way to get Cassie out of town, and it was pure genius. Right now, for the first time in weeks, Amy let go of all her troubles and confusion. Thoughts about this wedding, Scott, the house with the rabbit, and business faded away. By the end of the hour, she felt calm. They went from the massage to a sauna and then a facial.
Just as she wondered how everybody was doing, she was back in a waiting area, and her friends were there.
Bella said, “This was fabulous. I need to have another day like this before the baby comes.”
Cassie stared at her. “You said this was the last time you could get in before the baby was born. That’s why we all made room in our schedules. Not that I’m complaining because it was fabulous.”
Bella’s eyes widened as she realized she’d said the wrong thing. “My schedule is pretty tight for the next month or so. I thought this was my last chance. But I feel so relaxed that I may be able to sleep. For that, I could squeeze in another massage.”
Paige grinned. “I’d love a return visit. I’ll drive.”
After getting back into their street clothes, they headed for Amy’s car. Then a discussion about where to eat their late lunch ensued. Amy suggested the Indian restaurant owned by a renowned Indian chef who was often on TV. Nashville had become a foodie center in the last few years, which gave them many options, some quite surprising like this one. After a wonderful lunch there, they went back to Two Hearts. Amy’s tension increased with every mile. Had they succeeded in keeping Cassie away from wedding guests?
Greg would have pizza for Cassie at his apartment, one of the few places they knew she wouldn’t see wedding guests. They were doing all they could to keep her from mingling with the people in town tonight. She may have said she wanted a surprise wedding, but that didn’t mean they should tell her now. They’d leave the surprise for tomorrow when she couldn’t as easily get cold feet.