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“Right back atcha, Little Rhodes.”
CHAPTER29
Hadthis been anyone else’s wedding, Ginny would have protested loudly and often. But Milo and Frankie deserved the best day ever. Plus, it helped that Milo had started planning the wedding a month ago, sending her texts and emails, ideas and Pinterest boards filled with things he thought Frankie would like. Milo was her best client to date, because he wasn’t pushy and demanding. He was understanding and asked a million questions so he would get everything right and it would be perfect.
Since she’d already been to the Winters’ residence for Milo’s younger sister’s wedding a few months ago, Ginny knew exactly what they could do and how to set the whole place up. Her plan was to spend all of Thursday and the first half of Friday setting up the backyard, so when everyone arrived, everything would be ready. And because Ginny was damn good at her job, she pulled it off without breaking a sweat. Even if she did spend the whole time sad that she wouldn’t see Gavin until the next day.
Milo had picked fall colors—unheard of for a spring wedding—but it all came together so wonderfully. The set up was also different from what she was used to, with long tables forming an open square, with a bunch of chairs in the center. A small platform was set at an angle, with a makeshift walkway created that led from the back porch all the way to where the ceremony would happen. The best part, in her opinion, was that she only had to worry about getting the backyard set up. Milo handled talking to Clementine about the wedding pie and discussed flowers with Daisy, taking a big chunk of the planning out of her hands.
With all the chaos going on at the shelter, Ginny understood why Gavin wouldn’t be joining her early like she hoped. It was so strange how quickly she’d become dependent on him. Maybedependentwasn’t the right word, but how much she needed him to be around her as much as possible. She’d joked with Spencer a while ago about hanging up her slut boots and that was weeks before she ran into Gavin at the Christmas party. Because as much fun as it was to hook up with random strangers and sneak out in the middle of the night, not exchanging phone numbers or real names, Ginny was enjoying being a one man woman even more.
For so long, she’d convinced herself that monogamy meant boring, vanilla sex every single night. She’d brushed it all off as ‘not fun’. And her parents’ divorce didn’t really help matters. But Gavin changed that. Sure, the sex was incredible and explosive. It was more than that. They could spend hours talking, doing mundane things like cleaning her house or cooking together or even taking Cedar for a walk. She’d never done that with anyone before, had never beeninclinedto do it either. Ginny realized that as much as she thought she’d miss the nameless, faceless people in cold beds, she’d definitely miss Gavin more if he was no longer in her life.
The next day brought with it a whole bunch more work. Clementine and Daisy arrived, bringing truckloads of things with them. Maeve—one of Milo’s twin sisters, who also happened to be a chef—helped Clem and the rest of the caterers set up in the large kitchen. Daisy and her staff unloaded the buckets of flowers and started assigning tasks. Even though the Winters’ backyard looked like chaos, there was a sense of organization to it. Ginny knew what everyone was doing, where everyone needed to go and what was still pending as they went through the motions. Nothing beat the rush she felt while putting together an event that was bound to be an absolute success.
When lunchtime rolled around, Maeve and some of the catering staff brought stacked sandwiches out into the backyard that everyone inhaled within minutes. The Winters’ family trickled out during lunch and ate with everyone else, reminding Ginny of just how amazing they really were. For a brief moment, she wondered how her mother was doing and if her new beau was treating her well. After everything Elsa Thomas had been through, she deserved someone good. Someone who would look at her the way she always deserved.
With lunch done and everything put away, everyone stood up to help Daisy with flowers when her phone buzzed in the pocket of her leggings.Mom calling. Seriously. This telepathy was incredible and a little too much. When she started to apologize for taking the call, Milo’s family jumped to attention and offered to help. Most families she worked with wanted to just sit back and watch everything happen. Not the Winters’. Maeve was already in the kitchen, but her twin sister, Mabel and husband—with their six-month-old baby strapped to his chest—father and grandparents accepted instructions and got to work.
“Hey Amma, I’m in the middle of wedding prep,” Ginny said into her phone, eyes on the helping hands as she moved around the side of the house.
“You’re always so busy, chakkare. When will you have time for me?”
Sighing at the guilt trip, Ginny closed her eyes and leaned against the house. “That’s not fair. You know how demanding this job is.”
“Maybe you should have taken a less demanding job, then.”
“Amma.” Ginny gritted her teeth to stop herself from saying anything else. “Is everything okay?”
After a long pause, her mother released a dramatic sigh. “I just wanted to hear the voice of my youngest child. But you’re clearly too busy for me, so I’ll let you go.”
“I’ll call you next week.”
“Okay, ponne. Good luck with the wedding.” The dial tone as her mother hung up echoed through her head for the rest of the day, irritating Ginny as she tried her best to focus on the work.
Hours later as Ginny sat in the fully decorated backyard with Clementine and Daisy, nursing lukewarm mugs of coffee, loud cheering echoed from inside the house. Looking over her shoulder, Ginny smiled when Frankie and Milo stepped onto the back porch and then got to her feet to greet them. “I’m glad that it’s too dark for you to see everything.”
Milo laughed and shook his head, eyes darting across the dimly lit space. “Whatever I can see, looks great. Thank you, Ginny.”
“It was trulymypleasure. Most fun I’ve had in a while.” She hugged the bride and groom quickly and then stepped back, her eyes meeting Gavin’s briefly. “Since you’re all finally here, dinner is at eight, so get settled into your rooms, put on your fancy clothes and we’ll meet back here.”
Everyone responded in the affirmative and Ginny smiled, gathering her things as Frankie stopped beside her. “You’re done for the day, Gin. We want you to join us for dinner.”
Ginny looked between the couple doubtfully as Milo nodded. “I didn’t ask you to help me so that you would be working the whole weekend. So please, join us for dinner.”
“All right, all right, you don’t have to beg,” she teased and they laughed as they walked back to the house. Gavin stepped up beside her with a grin. “So, where’s my surprise?”
“So impatient.” He squeezed her hip, voice low as he stared into her eyes.
Ginny poked him in the stomach. “Room 24 at the Best Nest Motel, don’t be late.”
* * *
Ginny had just finished putting on her makeup when there was a knock on the door. She tightened the fluffy robe around her waist and let Gavin in. He was already dressed in dark jeans, light gray shirt and a dark gray sports coat.
“Is that my surprise?” Ginny asked, gesturing to the gift bag in his hand.
Gavin nodded at her robe as he stepped into the room and closed the door. “Are you naked under there?”
