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Jo’s eyes widened. “You own the Wish and Roast café?”
Her lips curved up as she nodded. “Yep. I was running a catering business in Phoenix and came home for a visit about six months ago. Mrs. Shephard wanted to sell the café and retire. It sort of just fell into place, and here I am.”
“That’s fantastic. I’m so happy for you.” Happy and a little jealous. Even in high school, Lucy was brilliant with pastries and coming up with new coffee concoctions. That she had a catering business didn’t surprise Jo at all, and now she had her very own café. At least one of them made their dream come true.
“How long are you staying? You said you were writing an article?”
Nodding, Jo started to reply when the bell above the door jangled, and Serenity and four other women walked inside.
“JO!” She called and immediately approached and hugged Jo.
Jo returned it.
She looked from Jo to Lucy.
Then it hit her that she needed to make some introductions. “Oh, Serenity this is?—”
“Serenity Harper?” Lucy squeaked. “The Serenity Harper?”
“That’s me,” she said and shook Lucy’s hand.
“Is this who you’re writing about?” asked Lucy as she looked at Jo.
“Yeah,” Jo replied.
Lucy’s mouth dropped open. “Oh my gosh, that’s amazing.” She shook her head. “I’d heard something about someone famous having wedding…”
“Serenity,” Jo said, “this is my best friend from high school, Lucy Bennett. She owns this café.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” Serenity smiled. “These are my closest and dearest friends. Well, minus one. My maid of honor will be arriving late.” She then introduced each woman to Jo and Lucy. The only one of her friends that seemed even remotely standoffish, Madison, struck Jo as not necessarily unfriendly as introverted. Jo commiserated. Lucy was the outgoing one in high school. How she and Jo had struck up a friendship was still a mystery.
The tallest of the group, Emily, excitedly shook Jo’s hand. “I was so happy when Serenity said you were writing the article. I’ve been reading your stuff since you started with Eternal Vows.”
Jo’s cheeks warmed. “Oh, wow. Uh, thank you.”
Emily turned to the other girls in the party. “She is so sweet. It’s like you’re reading about a friend. There isn’t an article she writes that I’m not a half-box deep in tissues by the time I’m done. It’s almost like reading a romance novel with the way she portrays the bride and groom and the whole affair.”
The woman the same height as Serenity, June, smiled. “Serenity has talked about you non-stop. I almost wonder if she said yes, just so she could meet you.”
The group laughed as Serenity rolled her eyes. “I’m starving,” she said.
During the interview with her, Jo learned that the starlet wanted to use as many local businesses as possible. With that in mind, she motioned to Lucy. “You know, Lucy owned her own catering business in Arizona.”
Serenity perked up. “A caterer? That’s fantastic. My hope was to use businesses located in Wishing Well. You all have been so kind to me. Could we maybe set up a time to meet in the next week to discuss it?”
“Um, sure. I’d love to.”
“Great!”
Lucy waved for them to follow. “Let me take you to a table so that you can have lunch.”
“Thank you,” Serenity said with a giggle.
Once seated, Lucy passed out menus, told them about the specials, and then, after a few more pleasantries, wandered off to check on her other guests.
Jo did her best to stay in the background. She’d learned early on that the less noticeable she was, the better her article. Watching Serenity with her friends was no different than any other bride. The excitement, the hope, the gushing about her guy.
After lunch and a few signed autographs from Serenity, they went to the dress shop. Jo braced for Mrs. Sharpe to realize she was in town. The woman was one of her grandma’s closest friends. The last time Jo visited Wishing Well, she’d been on the coast of South Carolina visiting her grandchildren, so it’d been a while since they’d seen each other.
