Page 42 of A Winter's Wedding

“When are you gonna ask her?” Cam said.

“Ask who what?” Alfonso chimed in.

“Thandie,” Leo said and grabbed Alfonso’s shoulders. “He’s in love with Thandie.”

As the news clicked, Alfonso’s eyes widened. “Grant and Thandie, from work? Alfonso not see this coming.”

“Because you’re always in thecucina,” Paul said and slapped him over the back. “What about you, Pa?” Cam asked. “Got your eye on anyone special?”

“You know I’m too old for all this love stuff,” Pa said and kept his eyes trained forward on the dark gravel road. The carriage was outfitted with one single headlight that only lit twenty feet or so in front of Bingo. “And I don’t think I’m the dating type.”

“But the marrying type maybe?” Leo said, already knowing the answer.

Pa shrugged. “I’ll never tell,” he said like a peevish child, and urged Bingo forward.

Leo chuckled in his throat. Even though he was more tired than he knew was possible, he was glad to have these men in his life. As to what they were up to, he was putting the pieces together. The carriage crested the road, he knew all too well, that led to The Foundry. With all the resort guests having checked out earlier in the day, the place was way too quiet, but the large crystal chandelier hanging inside the renovated barn, shined through the two-story windows and lit the parking area.

The Harbour House was still one of his favorite places to be. America had taken on much of the design, and he hoped their home would be just as nice and peaceful when that renovation was eventually finished.

Pa pulled the carriage to a stop in front of the building. He hopped down and tied off Bingo’s lines.

“Well, men, shall the party commence?” Cam said and jumped down to the ground without spilling a drop of beer from his stein.

The wordcommencefrightened Leo more than it should have, and he chalked it up to how tired he was. “Let’s do… whatever this is.”

Chapter24

“I thought you weren’t coming in until tomorrow,” America said. Rubbing sleepiness from her eyes, she pulled out a wood spindle chair, that definitely needed replacing, from the kitchen table.

Poppy waved it off, indicating she wasn’t going to sit. “I know that’s what I told you, but I had to come now. I brought something you might need.”

“Curious,” America said as the front door squeaked open. “I don’t know what Leo is up to. It’s freezing out there.”

Though America was unable to see down the hallway from her spot at the table, Poppy leaned her head around the kitchen doorway. “That’s not Leo.”

“Who is it then?” America stood and mimicked Poppy’s stance.

The front door opened, and America’s mom was coming through, backside first. “Can I get some help with this door?” she called to them.

America and Poppy ran up to the front of the house. America held the door open while Poppy helped carry whatever was in her mom’s hands.

“Careful,” Vivian said and turned around holding a beautiful white cake.

“Mom, did you make this?”

She laughed. “Are you kidding? You’ve had my cakes before, and I don’t think you want me to serve one to a hundred guests. You have Poppy to thank for bringing this.”

America looked at the square box base and saw the logo from her favorite bakery from back in the city. “How did you know?”

Poppy and Vivian walked the two-tier cake back to the kitchen while America looked out into the front lawn for any sign of Leo. She followed them down the hall and inspected the round layers. Tiny pink and red flowers glittered like morning dew around the base of each layer and small green pearls dotted the surface like little leaves. It was nearly as pretty as the one she and Leo had originally picked out and a miracle that Poppy had gotten one on such short notice.

“Your mom called me yesterday and told me what happened at the local bakery, so I headed over to The Frankery in your old neighborhood and begged Frank for a rush order for his favorite customer,” Poppy said and embraced America. “He always did like you.”

“I’ll have to thank him in person next time I’m in town.,” America said and hugged her mom too. “Thank you for doing this.”

“You can’t have a wedding without cake,” Vivian said and winked. “Oh, I forgot to tell you, Leo is out with your father.”

“I wondered where he had run off to. Poppy showed up and it was like he disappeared. What are they doing?”

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