AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She bursts out laughing.
“It’s not funny. I hurt him, and I damaged Willa’s inn. I’m so embarrassed.”
“Is that why you blushed from head to toe when we ran into the guys?” she asks.
“Yes.”
Her eyes cut from the road ahead to me. “Are you sure?”
“Why else would I have blushed?” I ask.
“I don’t know. Even with only one good eye, Bran is a hottie,” she says.
“He sure is,” Willa agrees.
I turn and narrow my eyes at her.
She raises her hands in the air. “I’m just saying. I might be a taken woman, but I have eyes.”
“Same,” Norah seconds.
“I haven’t noticed his looks. All I see when I look at him is the pain I inflicted,” I assure them firmly.
“All right, if you say so,” Norah says, and I don’t miss the look she and Willa exchange in the rearview mirror.
I decide to change the subject. “Fill me in on this event space you were telling me about yesterday, Willa,” I prompt.
“I’ll do better than that. After we drop these off at the school, I’ll show you.”
We go by the school, and Donna introduces us to the kids in her class. Norah takes a few moments to show them how to carefully wrap the evergreen branches around the wire frames to create a wreath before we leave them to it and make our way back to the inn.
Alice and Hal have lunch ready, so we sit in the kitchen and eat before Norah has to head back to the flower shop, and then Willa leads me outside to the inn’s veranda and backyard area.
“Here we are,” she says as we walk about the space.
It’s a gorgeous spot, tucked between the inn and the owner’s cottage, with arched arbors, stained-glass birdbaths, a couple of stone benches, and a marble fountain. Winter perennial blooms are scattered about between towering evergreen tree varieties and bright holly bushes.
“It’s lovely,” I say.
“This is Grammy’s garden. She loved to tool around out here. Her goal was to have her very own English rose garden right here in Lake Mistletoe.”
“She did a good job,” I praise.
“I was thinking of taking the space, enclosing it with black steel frame and glass with retractable panels that could be opened in the warm weather months, and converting it into a garden atrium in the late fall. That way, the roses could bloom all year. Guests could sit outside with a warm beverage and watch the snow fall all around them, stargaze on clear nights, or enjoy the garden even if there was six inches on the ground,” she explains.
“And it could be used for an event space,” I guess.
She nods.
“Inspired by The Glass Garden, where Sammy and Norah got married in Vegas. We could host weddings, all types of parties, dances, and showers year-round.”
I close my eyes and try to envision the garden as she described.
“What do you think?” she asks.
I open my eyes and start ticking off all the possibilities. “I think it’s a great idea. You have enough space here to seat close to a hundred guests, give or take. The fountain would make a unique backdrop for ceremonies, and you could clear a path from the veranda to make the aisle. I could see seating on each side with white folding chairs draped in beautiful silk covers or wrapped with pale pink ribbon and bows. I’d leave all the trees that have the blanketing branches to string twinkling lights on for evening events and to provide shade for daylight. You should remove the birdbaths and relocate them to the sides or the front of the inn because you don’t want birds being attracted here, where they could relieve themselves on the heads of your bride or groom or guests. I know that is supposed to be good luck, but I doubt they would think so in the moment. You’d also want to have it wired for music. I’d add some outdoor speakers. And I’d invest in removable flooring. Then, you could create a dance floor for parties and receptions.”
“Yes, and I was considering having a gazebo built to the left of the fountain. Inn guests could use it to sit out here and enjoy the gardens, and a band or DJ could use it during events,” Willa explains.
