Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
AVA
On Friday, I pick up Layla from the ranch in my Range Rover and drive us to Luna’s Bakery.
“Have you thought about what you might want?” she asks, looking at me from where she sits in the passenger seat.
She’s wearing white linen shorts and a black-and-white-striped shirt with a pair of black leather sandals.
I’m intrigued by her simple-yet-sophisticated style, much more in line with my colleagues at the law firm than what I’d expect to see here at home.
Although, I remember her mother, Lynette, always showing off the money she married into. Maybe Layla gets it from her.
“For cake?” I ask.
She nods.
“Something simple. Vanilla, maybe.”
She looks offended. “Not even marble? Or red velvet?”
I shake my head. “I think it’s best to keep all of this as easy as possible.” I do not need to be out here caring about wedding details. “What?” I ask when Layla’s brow furrows.
“You’re allowed to still have some fun with this, you know.”
I sigh. “I’m not sure Kasey would agree.”
The last couple of days have been . . . confusing.
I’m still frustrated with myself for letting my nausea get as bad as it did during our appointment with Pastor Brown, but Kasey handled it much more graciously than I expected.
It made me feel like he still cares—at least more than he lets on.
And then letting me tag along to pick up his nephew from school launched a riot of emotions in me, seeing the way he managed the situation and advocated for Liam.
It felt . . . good to be included in something like that. Like maybe, at the very least, we can keep a real friendship alive during this marriage. And who knows, I might actually let myself enjoy being integrated into moments with his family and not have to keep such a guard up.
But then he asked me to go riding with him, and things went downhill pretty damn quick.
“Even if he doesn’t agree,” Layla says, pulling me back to the present. “To hell with it.”
I laugh. “You know, that’s actually a motto I can get behind.”
We pull into the lot in front of the bakery and make our way inside.
There’s a handful of people in line already, so Layla and I trudge to the back and wait our turn.
When we make it to the counter, Luna is thrilled to see us, her hazel eyes rounding wide.
“Ava! And Layla! What a power duo the two of you make. I love to see it.”
I give her my best smile. “You know me, always looking for new ways to harness a little bad-bitch energy.”
Luna chuckles. “What can I get you girls?”
“Actually,” I say, hesitating a little, knowing things are about to become really real. “We were hoping you might have availability to book a wedding cake? For just over a week from now?”
It looks like Luna stops breathing altogether. Her gaze moves to Layla. “You and Wells?” she asks quietly.
Layla shakes her head and looks back at me. “No actually—”
Layla doesn’t get the chance to finish her sentence because Luna’s already screaming.
“Oh my god, Ava, areyoufreakingkiddingme? You and Kasey?! You’re lying!
Is this some kind of joke!” She clutches at her chest, her breaths coming in short sputters.
The near-dozen or so other people scattered throughout the bakery eye us with open fascination.
“Kasey and I are getting married,” I declare, loud enough for the whole room to hear.
There’s a collective gasp around the bakery, and then silence. Luna’s eyes fill with tears. “My girl,” she says, obviously dazed. “My precious girl! I knew you two would end up together. I just knew it!”
“Yeah.” I force a wide smile. “I guess it was just written in the stars!”
Layla, to her credit, doesn’t skip a beat. “They’re so grossly enamored with each other that they’re insisting on a ceremony the week after next, so we’re hoping you can help?”
“Oh!” Luna exclaims. “Nothing would make me happier than to be a part of sweet Ava’s big day.”
The love in her eyes is so genuine it knocks the wind out of me. “Thank you, Luna,” I say, and my heart squeezes. Of all the people in this town, she’s the one I already deeply regret lying to.
“What kind of cake are you looking for? I can do two-tiered or three-tiered, maybe a chocolate mirror glaze?”
“Um,” I say with a sweeping gaze along the pastry case, as if I might conveniently find a whole wedding cake to point to and claim. “I was thinking something easy—”
“What about something decadent,” Layla chimes in, “like dark chocolate with raspberry filling?”
I glare at her. “Oh, that’s too much—”
“I could do that,” Luna puts in. “But you know, Ava’s always been more of a vanilla-and-sugar girl. Maybe we do something with vanilla bean and cookie butter?”
Okay, fine, I’ll admit it: my mouth waters.
“Ohhhh.” Layla is a lost cause too, apparently. “That sounds really good. We’d definitely want two tiers of that.”
“What about a cake-topper?” Luna asks, her attention fully on Layla now.
I open my mouth to speak, but Layla beats me to it. “Do you have any men in cowboy hats?”
She shoots Layla a cocky smile, her face flushed from all the commotion. “I’ve got just about any kind of man you need,” she says, winking.
“What about women who look like . . . lawyers?”
Luna and Layla turn to eye me up and down. It’s almost comical, the way they analyze my silk black shirt beneath a gray blazer, paired with a pair of dark jeans. I blow out a breath.
“I’ve got one that looks pretty corporate,” Luna says.
“That could work,” Layla adds.
“I was thinking of something simpler,” I interject. “Maybe just a sheet cake?”
Luna physically recoils. “A sheet cake? For a wedding?”
“Isn’t that more of a birthday party thing?” Layla asks.
“I made one recently for Maeve’s granddaughter,” Luna says, nodding. “It had sparkle sprinkles and rainbow icing.”
“That would be perfect!” I say. “I want exactly what she had.”
Luna stares at me for a long moment. “You want sparkles and rainbows? On your wedding cake?”
“Yep,” I confirm, nodding.
“Are you sure?” Layla asks.
I throw her a hard look, one that begs her to be on my side.
I understand how ridiculous this sounds, especially after declaring on the ride over here that Kasey wasn’t likely to agree to anything overly frivolous.
But the truth is, I woke up this morning anxious as hell.
I knew what I was doing when I pitched the idea of this marriage, but I didn’t realize what it might feel like to go through the actual motions of it.
There was a time when I wholeheartedly dreamed of what it might be like to marry Kasey Bennett. And now . . . Now it just hurts.
I try not to think of the expression on his face two days ago as he watched me climb into the saddle of an old Thoroughbred he’d pulled out from the barn.
It’d been a slip into the past, when warm summer nights balmed over our frenzied love and left us filled to the brim with a contentment I’d never known before and haven’t felt since.
He looked at me with a reverence I’ve often wondered was even real, like I might have somehow fabricated it all on my own, turned the memory of his looks into something else entirely. But there it was, plain as day, on a face that might be ten years older but somehow still none the wiser.
“What?” I’d asked him, crashing through the moment like a wrecking ball.
His face wiped clean, brow arching. “What do you mean what?”
When I didn’t respond, he cut loose a long exhale before turning to stalk back into the barn.
He’d returned with a beautiful paint horse, careful not to look at me as he adjusted her saddle before he took hold of the horn and lifted himself up into it.
He steered her out toward the wide-open pasture without a word—it was a good thing my horse knew to follow.
We rode like that, in silence, for over an hour.
“Right, yeah,” Layla says, seeming to understand that I need this win, even if it’s shaped like a seven-year-old girl’s birthday cake. “You know, I bet Kasey would love the sparkles.” She shoots me a conspiratorial wink.
“Okay,” Luna agrees with clear hesitance. “I can make that happen. When do you need it?”
“Still figuring out details for the reception,” I tell her. “The ceremony is the Friday after next at Magnolia Community Church though, so I imagine the reception wouldn’t be long after.”
“In the church?” Luna asks. “I’m surprised.”
“Why?” I ask, feigning ignorance.
Her next words come out quieter, but I have every confidence the people in this bakery can still hear. “I didn’t think the Bennetts were . . . spiritual people.”
Layla snorts.
“They’re spiritual,” I counter. “They just aren’t particularly religious.”
“Hard to be when the people in that church every Sunday want to crucify them for breathing wrong,” Layla adds stoically.
I’ve gotta hand it to her—she has balls.
Luna waves a hand. “You just let me know when you need it, and I’ll make sure it’s done!”
“Thank you, Luna,” I say, reaching to give her a hug. Her arms wrap around me and squeeze tight. “Means a lot.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t miss an opportunity like this for the world, sweetheart.”
Emotion clutches my throat all the way back to the car, where I have to work not to look too close to the sun for fear of tears falling.
“That went well!” Layla quips as she leans against the hood of my SUV.
I hurry to put my sunglasses on, eyeing the florist next door with a frown. “What do you say we hit up Eleanor for flowers some other time?”
She tilts her head. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I answer breezily. “Just ready to get out of dodge. I haven’t been to a mall in years.
” Part of today’s excursions include looking for a dress for the wedding.
I’ve convinced myself it’s not that big of a deal—I’ll just find something that loosely resembles a wedding dress while not actually being one.
Layla smiles, checking her watch. “Olivia is off in a half hour. Let’s grab a soda at June’s while we wait.”