Page 31 of Sweet Beginnings

“Oh no.” His mom stepped back. “I’m going to fix every favorite thing for you, and you’re going to tell me every single detail of the wedding.” She turned to Sarah. “Of course, we’ll have your dad over to celebrate.” A deep frown suddenly made itself at home above his mom’s brow. “Does he know?”

Sarah Sue shook her head. “We came here first. Dad won’t be home for a few hours and I wanted to tell him in person.”

“Of course you do.” His mom looped her arm with Sarah Sue and began walking toward the house with Brady dancing around them.

Preston couldn’t say who was happier over the news, his mother or Brady. Maybe the world really had turned on its head.

“We’ll have a nice lunch, and you can tell me all about the wedding.” She craned her neck to look at Preston following beside them. “I’ll forgive you for not inviting me, but,” she looked up at her other two children, “anyone else pull a stunt like this and I’ll tan your hides.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Rachel and Carson echoed.

On the porch, his mom finally released her hold on Sarah Sue and still grinning wider than he’d ever seen, she hurried into the house.

As he passed his sister, she shrugged at him while Carson mouthed, “That went better than I expected.”

Exactly the same thing Preston had been thinking. Remembering he had a part to play, he quickly took hold of Sarah’s hand and together they followed his siblings into the house.

Standing at the sink, hugging a bowl against her midriff and stirring the ingredients together, his mom shook her head before waving a cream slathered spoon. “What I don’t understand is why elope? Why couldn’t we have had a regular wedding?” Suddenly, Alice Sweet’s eyes rounded wider than before. “Unless….”

“No.” Preston knew exactly where her mind had gone. He suspected a lot of folks in town would think the same thing. “Sarah is not pregnant.”

To his surprise, that made his mom sigh before the smile returned. “As much as I would love having a little one to love on, I’m glad to hear y’all simply came to your senses.”

That much he still wasn’t sure about.

An entire year of this just might kill her. Despite Alice Sweet’s insistence that she didn’t need help, Sarah Sue pushed to her feet and turned to Preston. “Would you like something to drink?”

“I can get it.”

“No.” She smiled. “I’m up.”

“Is it too early for a beer?” he teased.

Instinctively, she leaned over and kissed his temple. “I’m sure it’s five o’clock somewhere.” When she turned toward the fridge, she spotted Alice grinning at them. With every step, all she could think wasa whole year.

“So,” Alice poured the mixture into a pie tin, “what now?”

“Now?” Preston fiddled with a napkin on the table.

“Is there going to be a honeymoon? Where are you going to live? How long do I have to wait to be a grandmother?”

“Mom.” Preston sounded like a mortified teen. “No time for a real honeymoon. There’s too much work to be done here.”

“We can manage without you for a little while.”

“You might, but my office won’t take kindly to my disappearing on them.”

Sarah knew Preston hadn’t told his mother that his bosses weren’t overjoyed with his new schedule. Taking time off for a pretend honeymoon was out of the question. One interesting twist to the awkward honeymoon night had been the conversation between movies. Something about sharing a bed and a bag of popcorn made sharing fears and dreams easier. Though she’d refrained from mentioning just how scared she was that walking away a year from now was not going to be as easy as she’d expected.

“Okay,” his mom nodded, “no honeymoon.” She slid the pie tins into the oven and closed the door. “Did you find an apartment?”

Preston glanced at Sarah. “Uh, not exactly.”

Returning to the countertop where his mother appeared to be making every dessert that Preston had ever loved, Alice Sweet leaned against the counter. “What exactly?”

“Until we find someplace else,” he reached over and grabbed Sarah’s hand again, “which may be a while, we thought Sarah would move into my old room with me.”

“Are you nuts?” His mother pushed away from the sink, shaking her head. “That room looks the same as it did when you were in college. I mean, I love all your trophies, but that’s no place to bring home a bride.”

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