AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He glanced down at his plate to find that he hadn’t done much more than move the food around. “I’m not that hungry.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing. The pancakes practically melt in your mouth. The omelet is light and fluffy. Plus, if we’re going to win our challenge today, I need my partner well-fed.”
Had he heard her correctly? “You want to win today?”
“Of course, I do.” She sent him a smile that made her eyes twinkle.
How was he supposed to deny her a chance at winning? He took a bite of the omelet. She was right. It was good. Suddenly, his appetite was coming back to him.
She was smiling again.
How could she not? Carter had done everything to make her happy that day.
After breakfast, they’d been led out to the veranda. Everyone had been given pen and paper. They’d been instructed to write down their plans for the next week. She already knew what Carter would write down—work. He was planning to work right up until the wedding.
The fact that he’d called off Friday and now Monday was a total surprise to her. It meant a lot to her that he had prioritized their relationship over his law career.
But there was still their honeymoon—or rather, their lack of a honeymoon because he wanted to be a part of an important case that was coming up. He’d promised her that they’d take a honeymoon later. She wasn’t sure whenlaterwould be. From what she’d witnessed so far, his job was always going to keep him busy.
She hesitated about what to write on the slip of paper. Did she writeget married? Or did she writecancel her weddingplans?
The pen hovered over the paper. She glanced over at Carter. His pen moved rapidly over the paper. She wondered what he was writing. As though he sensed her looking at him, he glanced up. Their gazes connected and held. Her heart fluttered in her chest the way it used to when they’d first gotten engaged.
She wrote downget married.
Her heart beat faster. She stared at the words and thought of them getting married. As all of the hurdles between them and sayingI dorushed to mind, but she pushed them away. The Perky Pink Wedding Planner had promised to fix things. Angela had to believe that if she and Carter were meant to be, there would be a way.
She listed out all of the steps needed to make it down the aisle. When she completed the list, they were instructed to write next to each activity if it would erode, build, or have no effect on their relationship.
She marked each item as build. Because to complete all of those things would bring them closer together until they were husband and wife.
A little while later, the papers were collected. She wondered what they did with these lists they had them do, but she didn’t ask. Even if the papers went into the trash, they’d done their job because each time she had to make a list, it got her to think about Carter and their relationship in a different way—a way that made her feel like she was bridging the void between them.
Before they moved onto their next activity, Angela needed a breath of fresh air. The sunshine was calling to her. She stood and started for the door.
“Oh, dear,” someone said behind her. “Angela?”
She paused, hoping it wasn’t someone wanting another adjective to describe Carter. When she turned around, she found the older woman in their group, Grace, smiling at her as she held out Angela’s bag to her. How could she have forgotten her bag? It held her most important items from her temporarily useless phone to her wallet to her wedding planner.
She rushed over to the woman with the friendly smile and accepted the bag. “Thank you so much. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost this.”
“It sure is heavy,” Grace said. “You must have everything except the kitchen sink in there.”
“Close. It’s actually my wedding planner that weighs so much.”
“A wedding planner? How exciting.” Grace’s blue eyes lit up. “When’s the wedding?”
Angela hesitated. “It’s supposed to be next weekend.”
Grace’s penciled brows rose. “And yet, you’re here.”
“It’s a really long story.” She didn’t feel like dredging up all of the problems that had derailed her wedding or how she was here to figure out if she could trust Carter with her heart.
The woman seemed to understand. Sympathy shone in her eyes. Instead, she asked, “May I see your planner? I just love weddings.”
Angela didn’t see a problem with that. She was really proud of the planner that she and her mother had pored hours over, carefully creating each page that would all come together to create the perfect wedding. It was her last tangible link to her mother.
They sat back down and started to go through the planner. Angela took comfort in talking about her mother and their ideas for each part of the wedding. She’d always thought Carter understood how important it was for her to fulfill these plans. He’d let her have free rein over the planning of the wedding—well, her and the Perky Pink Wedding Planner. But was it all for naught now?
