“Oh my God, that is Mom’s.” She lay back down in my arms and, regrettably, pulled up the covers. At least I could reach her again. “How did you pull that off?”
“Like I said, she packed it and put it in Jules’s car before you knew she was there. Ellie’s husband retrieved it from Jules when she dropped you off.”
“Dropped me off? Shit. Jules. I completely forgot about her.” Mae went to reach for her phone but I pulled her back.
“She’s long gone.”
Mae’s face was all screwed up in confusion as the pieces slowly clicked together.
“That’s why she was acting weird about parking.”
“While you went in and talked to Ellie, her husband got the bag and walked right past the two of you and brought it up here.”
“Get out of here?”
“Absolutely not. I’ve waited too long for this.”
“But… so Jules is gone?”
“Yep.”
“You got both of my parents, Jules and Ellie and her husband all in on this?”
“Impressed?”
“Yes, very.”
“Good.” I leaned down to kiss her. Mae tasted like sunshine and hope. A heady combination.
“I have to text everybody,” she said. “Do the guys know?”
“They do. You think I’m smart enough to come up with this whole thing myself? Parker and Mason helped iron out the details.”
Mae’s brows raised.
“Okay, maybe with some help,” I admitted. “I had the idea to do it here and Pia was the one who said I should call Ellie.”
Mae actually looked slightly disappointed at that.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s just… there is no rehearsal brunch, I guess?”
“There is,” I was happy to tell her. “When I called, Ellie was delighted to help out. Actually said she’d wanted to call you about the brunch anyway. We were a little worried you might not drive up to have the meeting, or put it off to another day, but we had a contingency plan for that.”
“And the tea room?”
I shook my head. “That one was fabricated. Ellie wasn’t sure how else to get you up here.”
Mae’s head shook slowly back and forth. “Beck, the romantic. Who’d have thought?”
“Not me,” I admitted. “But you really do bring out the best man in me, Mae. I’ll spend a lifetime proving it to you.”
“No need,” she said. “I already know it’s true.”
I kissed her on the nose. “My little business owner. What do you say we get dressed… I can’t believe I said that,” I muttered. “And head into town for some food. You can tell me all about your plans.”
“I am hungry,” she admitted.
