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A man in jeans and a plaid flannel was leading a horse to the smaller barn as we approached, two beautiful Australian Shepherds at his heels. I pulled the truck up to the house and parked next to the other vehicles in the driveway.
“Ready?” I asked Parker, opening my door.
He nodded and laughed a little. “Ready.”
We climbed out of the truck and headed side-by-side to the smaller barn, where we’d seen the man enter.
I cleared my throat and called out. “Hello?”
“Just a sec!” A moment later, the man stepped out of a horse’s stall. “Can I help you?”
“We’re, um, Travis Weston and Parker Lowe. We had an appointment to do some wedding stuff?”
The man brushed his hands off on his jeans and nodded. “That’s right, you two are the happy couple Mel told me so much about. Sorry she couldn’t join us today. I’m Lyle and this is my farm. If you’ll follow me, we’ll head into the event barn. Right this way.”
We trailed Lyle, the two dogs still only a step behind him, and entered the event barn. My breath caught in my throat. It was beautiful. The ceilings soared above us and with the door open at the far end, the barn was spacious and open, not at all the enclosed, claustrophobic feeling I’d expected. There were tables scattered throughout the space and a dance floor near where we stood.
“We can set this up however you’d like. Our last event preferred a sweetheart table for the brides, but we can do whatever,” Lyle said. He gestured toward a table near the dance floor. “Please, have a seat. We’ve got a menu all planned out for you.”
I glanced at Parker, whose eyebrows were raised. “A menu?”
Lyle nodded. “You wanted to see the whole package, right? Mel said you were thinking of doing the all-inclusive option. The chef is here today, and he’s preparing tastings of our most popular dishes. The baker also left cake samples for you to try.”
“Wow,” I murmured. “This place is incredible.”
Lyle grinned. “We appreciate the compliment. I’ll just go let the chef know you’re here.”
We sat at the nearest table, which was set with silverware and glasses of water, while Lyle hurried off. Once I was sure he was gone, I turned to Parker. “We can’t afford all this.”
He reached out and took my hand in his. “I told you, if we’re going to do this thing, we’re doing it right. What’s the point of getting married if nobody gets to have any fun?”
“Parker, this is going to cost an arm and a leg. I don’t want you to waste all your money.”
Parker shrugged again, infuriatingly calm and at ease with the situation. “Iwantto.”
It was stupid to spend thousands of dollars on a wedding that wasn’treal. No matter how much fun we were having and no matter how much it pained me to think it, Parker wasn’t in love with me. Before I could speak, though, Lyle was back, a guy in a chef’s jacket standing next to him.
“Gentlemen, this is Chef Jonah Stone, the head chef here at Meadowlands Farm.”
Jonah took a step forward. “I’m so glad to meet you two. I’ve prepared a few sample dishes that I hope you’ll enjoy.”
They both turned and left the barn, each returning with a large cart loaded with covered dishes, bottles of wine, and various other items. They placed a single dish in front of us and raised the cover. On the plate were four items, two of each kind.
“First, we have the herb and honey goat cheese stuffed figs, if you don’t mind,” Jonah said, gesturing to the first item on the plate.
We each scooped up a fig and bit into it. Flavor exploded on my tongue. The fig was sweet and the goat cheese was rich and creamy. Parker let out a soft little moan that went straight to my groin, my cock twitching in response. I shifted in my seat a little and picked up my glass to wash the fig down with a sip of water.
“Yeah, we’re going to need this on the menu,” Parker said, gesturing with what remained of his fig.
Chef Jonah smiled and nodded. “Next is a cranberry compote crostini with cheese and herbs.”
The crostini was equally impressive, as were the bruschetta bites, the onion, cheese, and caramelized mushrooms on puff pastry, the Bloody Mary shooters, and the blueberry-basil balsamic mozzarella crisps. Once we moved on to main dishes, we enjoyed empanadas, pulled pork sliders, roasted Brussels sprouts, and even mini chicken pot pies, all accompanied by a variety of wines to taste. By the time we’d finished tasting everything, I didn’t think I could eat another bite.
“Now, are we ready for cake?” Lyle asked, rubbing his hands together and smiling widely.
I groaned a little. “I’m not sure if I can.”
“You’re welcome to take a little break if you’d like. There are some lovely trails in the woods behind the property and we can reconvene in, say, a half hour?”
