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Chapter Five
The next morning Juniper straightened her borrowed cotton pajama shorts and slipped her feet into matching slippers.
Sunshine peeked through the curtains and the divine smell of coffee carried her to the kitchen, which she found empty.
“Thank goodness for programmable coffee pots.”
A night’s sleep and coffee the next morning did nothing to help calm her nerves. Instead of heading home, she’d taken Ivy up on the offer to sleep over. It would make it easier to prepare the last details for the party.
Marshall had sent a message last night that the funds would be wired to her account tomorrow morning in plenty of time to pay off the bank. She appreciated the gesture of him paying early.
She warmed her fingers with her mug and stared out over the back deck. Beyond the kitchen window, glittering shimmers of light played across the calm Pacific waters in the distance.
What if her feelings for Marshall were tied to what he was doing for her? It wasn’t unheard of to fall for the knight just because he saved her. How many romances had she read where the heroine fell for the hero after he swooped in and saved the day?
Yeah, she never pictured that to be her, but she couldn’t deny how he made her feel either.
On the other side of that coin, while her family didn’t judge, what would her clients say? How would they find out? Marshall was high society. His life ended up in the New York Times as easily as the rag mags. Any variations of the truth were bound to surface. One was bound to land on something that hit close to the truth of their marriage being a sham.
She would have to wait and see on that front. If anyone had a beef with her, she’d deal with it as they came. Right now, she didn’t need to borrow trouble.
Had she misspoken last night when sharing her feelings for Marshall with her family? She couldn’t feel love for a man she barely knew. Love didn’t work that way. She was a wedding planner, after all. Love took time like weddings did. Right?
Shotgun weddings always failed so overnight love would never last either.
Juniper walked out of the kitchen and through an arched doorway with elegant stained glass with a doomed peak. The design featured various scenes of California in every season that made Ivy’s place feel like a home.
That’s what she wanted. A home to share, a family of her own. Maybe she was rushing it and measured everything too much. Maybe her family was right.
The tinkling sound of bells followed her to the front foyer where another arched doorway divided the small entryway from the rest of the house. The same stained-glass door with a domed peak stood wide open, welcoming guests to the bed and breakfast. These doors featured flowers, palm trees, swimming turtles and whales all among the waves.
When the sunlight followed people through the front door, multicolored light beams would spray the entire house with every cheerful color of the rainbow.
Like today. So why was she so down with such a beautiful morning?
Walking out of the front door, beautifully bloomed gardens were to the left and to the right patiently waiting for tonight's party.
Speaking of, the sound of a motor caught her attention and she turned to see Callie pulling up with a couple of vans following suit.
“Hey lady, I see you’re finally awake. I went back to town for some more supplies.”
“You should have woken me up so I could help.”
Callie clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Nope. You needed some downtime. Besides, you pay me, remember?”
Over several hours guests arrived to a whirlwind of hugs, greetings, and countless blue Hawaiians and fresh mango salsa. Late afternoon sunshine warmed the festivities and she was grateful the odd rain from yesterday had vanished from their area.
Everyone donned floral dress and shirts and all the leis lent a botanical scent that blended well with the fresh pineapples being cut up to serve with the piping hot laulau. And she couldn’t forget the Hulu dancing going on down at the beach just beyond a line of palm trees.
In another hour the tiki torches and lights would blaze to life just as the sun set and for here that was when real magic happened.
Juniper and her team worked steadily to set up the final preparations and a few strings of lights to go around a few palms. Aspen delivered two baby palms to hold down the entrance to welcome guests with fresh leis hanging from the branches.
She watched her gran stole a kiss from her man. He’d been out of town picking up his family for the event and looked so happy with everyone here to celebrate Gran’s birthday. They made a wonderful couple. She missed her grandfather and she knew her gran did too, but this new chapter was exciting.
Juniper took a turn around the kitchen and checked over the kalua pork and the fresh batch of pineapple salsa. Everything together transported her to the tropical island.
Almost perfect. Juniper bobbed and weaved around guests and searched out a quiet bedroom just as the living room filled with her gran’s friends. Soft ukulele music carried over the sound system Ivy had installed and someone slipped her a fresh blue Hawaiian as they passed. Everyone looked happy. Dancing, celebrating, and enjoying life.
