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She inhaled and let the air out in a slow sigh. Living by herself she barely managed a bagel and her stomach growled in anticipation of the feast she smelled. Sweet heavenly bacon this early hit the sweet spot no matter the hour.
She pushed up from the feather-soft pillows and for a moment reconsidered five more minutes of snuggle time between the sheets that smelled like Marshall.
Better not. Snow white quilts layered on the bed fell to her waist.
Shower then food. And coffee. Lots and lots of survival juice if she were to make it on… she glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Yep, five and a half hours of sleep.
A ding came from her phone and she plucked it off the side table. The damn thing died last night. After plugging it in she’d left it off without another thought before falling like a rock into bed the previous night.
There you are! I was worried. Are you ready to party? Only one more day.
A string of tiny margaritas, eggplants, and bikinis followed her gran’s text message.
Juniper laughed and hit reply.
Good morning, Gran. Phone died while Marshall and I worked. Getting my go-go boots polished as we speak! Tomorrow will be a blast! I have news to share.
She cringed a bit but hit send. Her gran had an uncanny ability to read between the lines and predict outcomes and she had no doubt her cryptic message sent red flags up.
Two seconds later as Juniper predicted her gran came back with:
I’ll have the wine chilled and the girls here.
A second message came through with bows and wedding bells.
Another ping. This time a picture of Gran and Callie’s smiling faces pretending to eat red edible undies filled her screen. Cherry flavored she presumed.
You guys are too much before coffee! Over and out till later. Be good!
A string of hearts followed by a kissing smiley face was the only reply.
She fell back on the bed and melted a little at how the mattress and all the pillows swallowed her. She seriously contemplated never leaving its heavenly softness.
But bacon. Unless she could find a way to get it delivered, she would need to shower and get dressed.
She let out an exasperated sigh.
After breakfast, she had a million phone calls to make. Because Callie needed to know, Juniper had filled her in on the wedding details and the new development of her being Marshall’s new bride. That went down like a box of thumbtacks, but Callie agreed to keep her mouth sealed until Juniper could tell the family.
She needed to call their chef and have Callie give her the meal plan she already had detailed out from her blue binder. She huffed out a laugh. All those times Callie had teased her and now look how it all would turn out. Maybe it was a good thing she had all her lists and details worked out, after all.
More than disheveled and only this side of exhausted by sheer will, Juniper slung her feet over the side of the bed. What would everyone say when she told them it was a fixed marriage? Would they understand? She hated to disappoint them but the good she was doing by agreeing couldn’t be ignored either. Her family had to see that.
Across from the room sat an old bureau with elegantly carved claw feet and a beautifully framed mirror stacked on top that offered a very honest view of what five hours of sleep could do to a person.
“Geeze. Zombies have more color.”
Juniper groaned and pulled at the dark circles under her eyes and the sprigs of hair pulled from a sloppy braid.
She and Marshall had worked through their second solid night until neither of them could stand another stack of paper or staples. Still grainy and sore, she rubbed at her eyes and let the room come back into focus before attempting to stand.
While they ate fried rice and sweet and sour chicken Marshall explained the history of BlackCo and the company they were merging with. Masterson Oil, she recalled. With the lack of funding and higher rolling companies on the rise, they wanted out while their company still had value. Smart move and even smarter of Marshall to see the opportunity.
She’d also learned about Priscilla Masterson by way of Stella when she joined them for dinner.
They hadn’t made the date he offered of cooking her dinner, but she couldn’t complain about takeout Chinese food and good company.
Too tired to argue, she accepted Marshall’s invitation to stay with him.
