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I couldn’t even imagine having a sibling to protect me, look after me, or just share in the burden of the loss when Dad left. Because I didn’t just lose Dad that day; I lost the mother I knew, too.
Harrison unfurled his arms and strode toward me. Leaning down slightly as if he was going to kiss me, he asked, “I need to get to Lily’s farm to set up. Will I see you in a bit?”
“Yes,” I said, sounding a little breathless as he kissed me.
It was brief, but the contact never failed to slide me off center. My lips tingled when he pulled away, and my skin heated.
His kisses were familiar and comfortable but teased at something more enticing. What would happen if I tangled my fingers in his hair and held him to me? I wanted to explore his mouth and feel his hard body pressed against mine.
Every morning was the same. I woke with him wrapped around me. It was something I looked forward to as much as I worried about what it meant.
“Drive safe.” He grabbed the keys from the hook by the door, shoved his feet into his boots, and left.
I didn’t let out the breath I’d been holding until the rumble of his truck sounded. When I agreed to move in with him, I stupidly thought Wren would be a sufficient buffer. I neglected to remember she was rarely here.
Most of the time, it was just us. We’d fallen into a good rhythm of taking turns showering with him making breakfast. Then I went to work when he settled into his home office.
In the evenings, I cooked dinner and then worked on new designs for my invitations while he watched TV.
I finished breakfast, started the dishwasher, and wrapped the framed invitation before I followed. Lily inherited the farm from her grandmother a year or so ago and recently began renting it out for weddings. It was always through Gia’s wedding planning service, Happily Ever Afters, since we were partners.
I was one of the newer hires. I’d shown my designs to Lily, thinking she could advertise them in her shop, and she passed them on to Gia. Gia immediately called me and had me come in to meet the group of wedding planners and other vendors.
I only acted as a wedding planner on rare occasions when Gia couldn’t be on-site. I rarely got to see Harrison in action. But this morning, he was busy getting the arch positioned where the wedding ceremony would take place. It had rained the night before, so none of the usual preparations had been done.
“Do you need help with anything?” I asked him.
“Can you set up the chairs? This arch the bride wanted isn’t standing how I need it to.”
“Of course.” I wore a dress with flats so I could easily pitch in if necessary. I arranged the chairs in rows and helped Lily tie the flowers to the ones lining the aisle.
“This is gorgeous,” I said to Lily.
“The farm or the flowers?” she asked with a smile.
“Both.” The flowers were gorgeous, as always, and the property was the perfect location for a wedding, with the arch overlooking the pond, the rustic barn where the reception took place, and the large wraparound porch on the main house that was used for the cocktail reception after the ceremony.
“It’s all coming together better than I imagined.”
“You didn’t own a flower shop before you moved here, right?” I hadn’t gotten much of a chance to talk to her one-on-one.
“That’s right. When my grandmother died, she left me a note, telling me to live my dreams.”
“And that was the shop?”
“Yeah, but then I realized the potential for the farm property. I wanted to rent it out for others to enjoy. My grandparents were so in love.”
I’d seen the photographs in the barn and the gold GTO that her grandfather kept as a memory of the first time he’d met his wife.
Lily straightened from where she was tying the bouquet to the chair and stretched her back. “I hoped that their love would be an inspiration for the other couples getting married here. A confirmation that true love really does exist.”
I was surrounded by couples and weddings but… “I’m not sure I believe in all of that.”
Lily’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”
I knew that Lily had recently fallen in love with Jake, her mechanic. She’d met him when her VW delivery van kept breaking down, and he’d helped her restore her grandfather’s GTO. He was a common fixture at the farm, having moved in sometime in the spring.
I sighed. “My dad left my mom when I was a kid. I’ve never forgiven him for it.”
