AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Courtney sat down next to him and crossed her legs on the sofa. “My family knows the wedding is off.”
Damn, he didn’t like the sound of that.
“Tomorrow, I’ll call the photographer and stuff. Uncle Mark said any weekend works for him. And I’ll need to check with Callie about when we can use Cliff House.”
They were watching the episodes in order, so he scrolled down until he reached the next one they hadn’t seen. Hitting Play, he tossed the remote on the table. While the opening credits played, he put an arm across her shoulders. “Do you need any help?”
“Nah, everyone is used to working with me. I’ll take care of it. You focus on your meeting.”
That was easy to do. Since the call Saturday, the meeting never left his thoughts.
“Do you want me to come with you?” she asked, looking in his direction.
A knot of emotion formed in his throat. She had a hundred things on her plate but was willing to add another. All the women in his past put their wants first. Courtney didn’t—something he’d learned while they were in Hawaii. And it was one of the things he loved about her.
Lowering his head, he brushed his lips across hers. “No.” He kissed her again, this time lingering there a little longer. “You’ve got the wedding stuff to deal with and work.”
He moved in to kiss her again, but she pulled back. “Are you sure? I have this thing called a cell phone. I can use it to make calls on the drive into Boston. And if we were still in Maine, I’d have to do some work tonight since I wouldn’t be in the office tomorrow. Instead of watching television, I can go do it now.”
He tucked some hair behind her ear, then skimmed his finger across her jaw. “No work tonight. I want you here with me.” Josh took possession of her lips before she could protest.
Hanging up the phone, Courtney dropped her face in her hands. They should have eloped the day after she agreed to Josh’s charade. If she could travel back in time, she’d suggest—nope, she’d insist they elope instead of plan a traditional, if small by Sherbrooke standards, wedding. Mom would’ve been disappointed, but an elopement would have been so much easier.
She should’ve known it was going to be a hellish day. All the signs were there this morning. They’d started before she brushed her teeth. While in the shower, she banged her head when she bent to pick up the shampoo she dropped. A headache set in soon after. More focused on answering text messages from relatives regarding the wedding, she burned both her eggs and toast not long after the shower incident. Rather than attempt to make more, she settled on the healthiest-looking cereal in the kitchen. The box claimed it was made with whole grain oats. But since the word frosted was also in the title, she doubted the box’s contents were all that good for you. Still, pouring a bowl of cereal took less time than cooking more eggs. And honestly, it had tasted pretty good. It would have been even better with some fresh blueberries on top.
Bad luck struck a third time when the handle of her coffee mug snapped off, sending the coffee all over the floor and her dress. While Josh cleaned up the mess, she changed. Even with his help in the kitchen, she pulled out of the garage later than usual.
After zipping through her emails and a quick meeting with Deena in marketing—wedding or no wedding, she had work to do—she called her cousin. Before she tried to reschedule the photographer or anyone else, she needed to know when she could use Cliff House. Thankfully, Callie assured her it was available anytime between now and late spring. Callie even offered to call Henri and let him know the wedding was off this weekend. She considered taking her up on the offer, since it’d mean she had one less thing to do, but she hadn’t.
Her conversation with the longtime chef went similar to all the other ones she’d had so far. He, along with probably the entire state, was following the weather forecast and had been since the weekend, so he’d expected she’d push the wedding back.
With the easy calls out of the way, she’d moved down her list. Now she had a slight pain above her right eyebrow and more unpleasant conversations to go.
At the knock on the door, she lifted her head. Please don’t let it be Mom.
She’d run into Marilyn this morning. While her mom hadn’t come right out and said, “I you told a spring wedding would be better,” it’d been implied.
Courtney crossed her fingers. “Come in.” Her shoulders slumped when Addie walked in, a bakery box and beverage carrier in hand.
“Figured you’re going a little crazy rescheduling everything and wouldn’t want to leave the office. So I grabbed us something while I was out.” She set the items down on the desk and sat in the chair opposite Courtney.
“A little crazy? More like a little insane.” She accepted the large paper cup from Ambrosia that Addie handed over to her. “Thanks for thinking of me.”
“That bad?”
“The photographer I hired isn’t available again until the first Saturday in September. The only reason she could do the wedding this weekend was because someone canceled back in December.”
For the sake of convenience, she’d settled on a photographer from the area. Now she didn’t care where they were based or the price tag she needed to pay to get them here.
“And forget about the band. They’re booked solid until July.” Worse case, they skipped hiring a band and went with a DJ. Even if they went that route, she needed to find a DJ and a photographer who were both available in three weeks. Uncovering her drink, Courtney sipped the hot vanilla chai latte.
Across the desk, Addie unzipped her purse and pulled out her phone. “It’s not the same, but I know a DJ. His parents and mine have been friends for a long time. I can call and see if he’s available for… when are you changing the wedding to?”
“Weekend after Leah’s wedding. And I just want music. I don’t care if it’s a live band or not. Heck, I’m tempted to hook my phone up to some speakers and use it to play music.”
While Addie made her call and left her DJ friend a message, Courtney opened the box from Ambrosia. She found two golden brown spinach pies inside. Much like the vanilla chai latte, the pies were something she frequently ordered at the café.
“It might be awhile before Dominic calls me back. He works for a computer company in Jamestown and does the DJ thing on the side.”
