Page 100 of Unexpected Entanglement

Chris relented and said, “She made it clear to me this is temporary.”

“Temporary?” Rae echoed the word.

Chris shrugged. It was the truth.

“So that’s all it is for you?” Her lips flattened into a line.

Chris straightened his spine and met her gaze directly. “Rae, I know you’ve just embraced Rowan as your sister, but it doesn’t give you the right to stick your nose in her personal business or mine.”

Rae didn’t flinch at his reprimand. “I know that.”

She got up, went to him, and rested a hand on his shoulder. “But I care about you both. I don’t want either of you hurt.”

“We’ll be fine, Rae.”

“If you say so. I remember saying something similar to myself when I should’ve talked to Dean about how I felt.”

“This is different,” Chris said.

“Is it, though?” Rae said with a smile before she left him with that thought.

thirty-two

Two days to the wedding

Rowan rapped her pen on the clipboard, her eyes on the long driveway, waiting for the shuttle carrying the first batch of guests who arrived on the noon ferry. In her head, she ticked off the tasks listed on the clipboard once more.

Rooms, ready. Cottages, ready. Refreshments, ready. Staff, ready. Me, I’m not ready.

In a few minutes, a bunch of her relatives would roll in. The older cousins had beautiful memories of Bright Head, and the younger ones had expectations of making beautiful memories of their own. Rowan hoped she could deliver for them.

“Relax,” Chris whispered into her ear from behind her. He stroked her arm with one hand while the other took the pen and clipboard from her and handed them over to Walt, who then walked away, leaving them alone on the porch.

“I’ve been working for over two months for this weekend. And everything that could go wrong happened. So, no, I won’t relax,” Rowan said. “I can’t.”

“You can’t let your guests see you nervous,” Chris said gently, now rubbing both her arms. “You look beautiful, by the way.”

Rowan had put on a cotton summer dress for once. And instead of sneakers or work boots, she wore a pair of leather sandals. She even put up her hair in an artful twist with Rae’shelp and finished the look with a pair of earrings and light makeup.

Chris dropped a light kiss on her exposed neck, sending involuntary shivers down her spine. “And you smell incredible. You think we have time for a quicky?”

Rowan couldn’t help but laugh. “How are you so calm?”

In a pair of dark jeans and a white linen shirt, Chris looked relaxed. But his casual attire didn’t detract from the confidence oozing out of him. He looked like a man who had opened many businesses and greeted thousands of guests at his establishments.

“Because we have prepared ourselves to the best of our abilities,” he answered. “Even if we hit glitches, we’ll figure it out. It’s part of the business. Just remember, service and comfort are the top priorities in hospitality. If anything fails, we always go back to those two things.”

Rowan fretted with her empty hands as she turned her gaze back to the driveway. “I’m more nervous about the non-hospitality matters. This weekend is supposed to be about Meredith and Sam.”

As if he read her mind, Chris took one of her hands to soothe her fidgeting and said, “Like we agreed, we’ll keep it simple. We don’t need to say anything about the engagement unless it’s necessary.”

“How about Rae?” Rowan said. “One look at her, people could see the resemblance between us.”

“You’re overestimating people’s attention to details. They probably won’t even notice Rae if you don’t bring attention to her.”

“You don’t think anyone will recognize her?” Rowan asked.

“Rae has a vast audience, but not even her fan base recognizes her often on the street,” Chris said. “But again, we’ve discussed all this. If anyone notices, she’s here to write about Bright Head. It’s close to the truth.”

---