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“I just love teamwork,” Nic added. “And I love Celeste’s plans. Her A-for-Angel plan, which brought Eternity Springs back from the precipice of ruin was a rousing success. So, what do you have in mind this time?”
Celeste picked a piece of pecan off the coffee cake and popped it into her mouth. “Plan B, of course.”
“Plan B for Bride?” Lori asked.
“Almost. I’m thinking plan B for . . .” Celeste paused dramatically, then made a flourishing gesture with her hands toward Molly and spoke triumphantly: “Bridezilla!”
* * *
“What in the world happened to my sweet, laid-back, I-don’t-care-as-long-as-the-people-I-love-are-here, bride-to-be daughter?” Emma asked Jared as they left Ali Timberlake’s restaurant on Christmas Eve after making the final arrangements for the reception meal. “She’s like a different person.”
“She is acting a bit . . . high-strung,” he conceded.
“High-strung? High-strung!” Emma lifted her face toward the sky. “She’s a raving lunatic! Why in the world would she think it’s okay to change the flower arrangements less than a week before the wedding? Maybe if we were in Denver, but we’re not! We’re in Eternity Springs! You know, I adore Lori Reese. I truly do. But why in heaven's name did she think it was a good idea to suggest to our daughter that she needed mistletoe as part of her decorations at this late date?”
“It’s annoying, I’ll agree.”
Emma was still fuming twenty minutes later when Jared pulled his car into one of the remote parking lots at Angel’s Rest. “Where are we going? I didn’t listen to Celeste’s directions while Molly was in the middle of her manicotti meltdown.”
“That way.” He pointed in the direction of a tree-lined path that led toward the mountain rising behind Angel’s Rest.
“Where does it lead?”
“An abandoned mine.”
Emma pursed her lips. “And we are walking toward an abandoned mine why?”
“It’s not exactly abandoned. Celeste says it’s actually a natural cave that miners expanded. She reclaimed it for storage—said she had engineers look it over, so it’s safe. Apparently, she has some Christmas decorations stored there that she decided not to use at Angel’s Rest. Including a whole bunch of mistletoe harvested from the forest.”
“Oh,” Emma replied, relieved. “I was afraid she’d have us tromping through the snow harvesting the stuff ourselves. Do you know why she was so adamant that you and I get the mistletoe instead of somebody else?”
“Nope. I was going to ask you the same question.”
Emma was suspicious of their daughter’s motives, but she wasn’t about to voice it. No way on God’s snowy earth would she bring up the subject of kissing beneath the mistletoe to Jared Stapleton. Not when she was about to walk into a small, dark place with him to retrieve said plants.
Jared grabbed a flashlight from his car and led the way along the path. An inch of new snow had fallen overnight, and as they approached the trail, Emma noted that they were not the first people who had traveled in this direction today. She spied three distinct sets of boot prints. At least she didn’t see any bear tracks. Or mountain lion tracks. Or wolf prints. Were there wolves in this part of the world? She didn’t know.
She walked a little closer to Jared.
They didn’t speak as they hiked up the gently sloping path. The mood between the two of them was comfortable and companionable. When was the last time Emma had felt this at ease with Jared? Not since that horrible night when they’d fought so bitterly. In that instant, Emma decided she was glad that Molly had insisted on this family time before the wedding. A little something inside her was healing.
The aroma of juniper and pine swirled in the gentle breeze. Movement off to her right caught Emma’s attention, and she smiled in delight to see a fox spiriting through the woods.
Jared’s voice broke the stillness of the forest. “Emma, do you think she’s having second thoughts about going through with the wedding?”
The question put a damper on her enjoyment of the hike. She considered the idea, then shook her head. “I don’t think so, but honestly, I don’t know what’s going on in her brain.”
“What will we do if she wants to call it off?”
Emma shrugged. “It’s her life. Her decision to make. But I don’t think that will happen, Jared. She loves Mason.”
His vaporized breath floated on the crisp mountain air with a note of bitterness to it. “Love doesn’t necessarily keep a female from doing something stupid, does it?”
Well.That verbal arrow had come flying out of nowhere, hadn’t it? Her spine went stiff, and she stared straight ahead, not responding to the barbed question. Then Jared surprised her by saying, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that like it sounded.”
Emma acknowledged the rare apology with a nod. “I think we’re witnessing a full-blown case of bridal jitters. Molly will calm down.”
“I sure hope so. Our daughter is driving me crazy.” At that point, he paused and gestured up the trail. “Looks like we’ve arrived.”
