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“Not sure I met her in all the excitement.” From her wide eyes, I figured she was one of the famous people in the wedding circus.
“You don’t know who Maple is?”
“Should I?”
Jenny’s eyebrows lifted. “She’s only on the cover of every magazine and fashion website.”
Was she the one who had stirred up the trouble around Helena?
Jenny rolled her eyes at me. “Probably not your thing. I can’t believe she’s Ransom’s sister.”
I definitely had missed a lot of what had gone down. Before getting Helena out of there, I’d been focused on Clay’s surprise for Rachel.
“Anyway, after Ransom decked that rich guy from New York City, the whole place went nuts. Holy cats, it was exciting in here for awhile. I had to get the First Aid kit to clean him up.”
“I’m sure it was a hardship.”
She flushed. “Anyway, I can’t believe you took off with Miss Danbury on Storm. That was the most exciting thing I’ve ever seen. And we’ve had rockstars get married here, for goodness sakes!” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Romantic too. Miss Danbury is super pretty, isn’t she?”
I cleared my throat. Not quite sure what to say to that one. “I was only trying to help.”
“Oh, come on. That was more than helping.” Her eyes sparkled as she twisted the ends of her ponytail. “That’s like romance novel action.”
“Anyone would have done it.” But it hadn’t been just anyone. It had been me, and now I couldn’t get her off my mind no matter how I tried.
Knowing she might still be here on the property—mere yards away—was driving me crazy.
Jenny sighed. “You would say that.”
A flash of Helena’s blond hair whipping around her head as she ran my way had my voice coming out rougher than I intended. “You said the Honeycrisp?”
“Yes. She’s hiding from the wedding party that arrived earlier. They’re here for a whole week.”
“Thanks.” I hurried off before Jenny could talk my ear off some more.
My boots were quiet on the thick, subtly geometric carpeting. The lobby smelled heavily of flowers and the apple melters Laverne always had going to remind people they were still in an orchard. But the banquet rooms were the jewels of this building.
We had a few smaller business centers for conferences, but the larger wedding venues were where we’d sunk most of our money. I passed the ancient apple tree we’d built The Lodge around. It didn’t bear edible fruit anymore, but the branches were impressively wide and made quite the statement in the atrium. I’d been reticent to mix stained glass with skylights, but as usual Laverne had been right. Not only was it stunning, but it had become an attraction for weddings because of the unique photos that could be taken.
Laverne’s voice rose over the familiar sound of the floor buffer. I hung a left toward the Honeycrisp and found her directing the workers in her usual no-nonsense way. Somehow she got all of us to jump and do whatever she wanted.
It was probably the snow white cap of hair that floated around her quietly pretty face. She’d swapped out her contacts for her old glasses, which perpetually fell down her nose. The lenses took up half her face, but she refused to replace them.
She caught sight of me and waved the cleaning crew back inside and closed the door. “There you are. I was wondering how long it would take you to show your face.”
“The orchard won’t run itself, Aunt Laverne.”
“You run off with a pretty girl on the back of your horse and think I’m not going to ask questions, Beckett Samuel?”
I winced. “C’mon, Aunt Laverne, did you have to go for the middle name?”
“Then I hear you and Kain were scrapping? What has gotten into you?”
I slipped my arm into hers. “I guess we both need to fill each other in. Got any pie in the back?”
She poked me in the ribs. “No, but I’m sure we can find something.”
I hissed out a breath. “Easy there.”
