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He watched as Talulah’s dad came down the aisle and leaned over to whisper to Carolyn, who quickly handed off little Abby and followed him back out of the chapel.
The level of ambient noise rose as the congregation whispered among themselves. Everyone was obviously wondering about the holdup. Brant could almost hear them asking each other:Has the runaway bride taken off again?
He wanted to know what was wrong himself. Was Talulah okay? Having second thoughts?
She didn’t have to go through with this if she didn’t want to. He’d just marry her in Vegas one day. He loved her enough to wait, if that was what he had to do.
He was about to follow her parents to make sure she understood that when Talulah and her father appeared at the entrance, and “Here Comes the Bride” swelled so loudly he could hardly hear himself think. The organist was playing such an enthusiastic rendition that Brant got the impression she was afraid Talulah would bolt if she didn’t get down the aisle fast enough.
Talulah looked stunning—gorgeous enough to take Brant’s breath away. She’d shown up, after all. For him.
But he could tell that something was still off when people in the audience started to laugh as she passed by. The chuckling grew so loud it could almost compete with the music.
It wasn’t until Talulah’s father grinned as he put her hand in Brant’s and said,“Finally,”that Brant started laughing, too.
“What’s going on?” he whispered to Talulah.
“I had a little wardrobe malfunction,” she explained and turned to show him what their guests had already seen. The zipper on the back of her dress had broken, and her mother had used pins and even some duct tape—to make sure everyone knew what had been going on—and to hold it closed long enough for her to get married.
“Would you rather go back and fix it?” he asked with a halt gesture to the pastor to give her time to make the decision. “You’ve put so much work into this wedding. I want it to be exactly as you envisioned it.”
“Seeing you in that tux is exactly how I envisioned it,” she said. “I’m not walking out of here until I’m your wife.”
Impulsively, he kissed her, even though it wasn’t time for that, and everyone started to clap.
Epilogue
“Come on out and take a look at this,” Brant said.
Talulah had been so busy cleaning the kitchen of her new dessert diner, so she could be at the register once she opened the doors for the first time, that she hadn’t been in front for thirty minutes or more.
“What’s going on?” she called back, too determined to finish the dishes to allow herself to be interrupted. They were due to open in just a few minutes.
“I think this is something you need to see for yourself.”
The tone of his voice made her wonder if she’d missed some small detail she’d need to remedy before they could welcome any customers. Leaving what remained of the dishes, she wiped her hands and hurried into the front of the restaurant. “What’s wrong?”
Brant grinned as he gestured outside.
A line was forming, and Ellen, Jane and Averil were at the front. Brant’s brothers were right behind them. “Aw, look at my friends and your brothers,” she said, waving as they made funny faces at her through the glass. “They’re so good to us.”
In the six months she and Brant had been married, she’d grown closest to Ellen. Since Ellen lived next door, she came over often, and she had a knack for decorating unlike anyone Talulah had ever met. She could make something look fantastic for pennies. Together, they’d fixed up Phoebe’s house on a tight budget, since she and Brant had decided to put off any major remodeling—other than the few improvements he could manage in his spare time—to save money for the next iteration of Talulah’s Dessert Diner.
She gazed at the logo they’d had painted on the window. She and Brant had brainstormed changing the name and/or the logo, since Paul wouldn’t relinquish either. But in the end, Talulah had decided to keep everything the same. She didn’t care if there was another Talulah’s Dessert Diner in the world. Paul’s location was far enough away that it wouldn’t impact her. At least they’d come to an agreement on the financial end of things. She’d forced him to negotiate with her by threatening to call the police on him for throwing the rock that’d cut her arm.
He’d been difficult to deal with even though they had the evidence to prove it was him. Talulah had given him almost everything he’d demanded in the dissolution of their partnership just to get out of it as quickly and cleanly as possible. She’d get only forty percent of net profits for the next three years. But she had Brant. And he meant more to her than anything or anyone else. She’d made the right decision when she left Seattle, even though it’d meant walking away from her first restaurant. Now, other than receiving a monthly check from Paul, she was free of him.
“It’s not just friends and family coming to support you, Lu.” Brant took her by the elbow and tugged her closer to the window. “Look at that line! It goes three blocks down Center Street.”
Talulah felt her jaw drop. Half the town had to be waiting on the sidewalk. She and Brant had done a lot of work to advertise the grand opening. They’d stressed the success and rave reviews of the Seattle location as though Coyote Canyon was getting its own version of the diner everyone loved in the big city, and the citizens of her hometown were responding as if they were excited about it. “This is unbelievable,” she mumbled, overwhelmed.
“I’m sure you’ll have every bit as much business here as you did in Seattle,” he said. “There’s a lot less competition, and no one bakes as well as you.”
She didn’t dare comment. The dream of having another successful restaurant was important enough to her that she was growing emotional. Slipping her arms around his lean waist, she rested her head against his chest.
“You okay?” he said, smoothing her hair.
“I’m just happy,” she said when she was able to speak around the lump in her throat.
“I’m glad.” He leaned back so he could look into her face. “I’ve been afraid that if this flops you’ll regret your decision to marry me.”
“Never,” she said. “Even if these people weren’t here, or they don’t come back after today, I would still be happy. Marrying you was the best thing I’ve ever done.”
Pulling her even closer, he pecked her lips. “I’m glad. Because I feel exactly the same way.”
A surge of excitement went through Talulah. “Let’s open the doors!” she said, and with a final glance at the many cakes and pies she’d baked this morning and displayed in their new glass case, she grabbed the keys.
