Page 32 of Breaking Emily's Rules
“Good, because it could be confusing. For someone.”
Molly knew exactly who that someone was. She looked at her baby longingly one more time. “Can I hold her? For just a minute?”
“That’s not a good idea.”
Sierra had lost interest in Molly and now fingered Dylan’s shirt collar. Molly considered grabbing her out of Dylan’s arms. He didn’t have the right to keep her away from Sierra, even if she had abandoned them. But she didn’t want to make her daughter cry. After all, it was obvious she didn’t remember Molly. She might as well be a stranger.
“Right. You know best.” Tears flooding her eyes, Molly turned and walked away. This time Dylan didn’t call after her.
Emily
After the weeklyPink Ladies’meeting, I stood in front of the gift shop red barn with bride-to-be Ashley Hawker. Against Dad’s objections and Grammy’s doubts, I had recently made the decision to add weddings to our events. We needed the extra income when events dried up during the fall and winter months. People got married all year long. The fools. Dad was coming home on Tuesday, and I would need to deal with him. I had to make this work.
As usual, he didn’t appreciate and acknowledge all I did around what was left of the ranch to keep the family business running smoothly and in the black. It wasn’t easy with Dad’s penchant for buying cattle and all the upkeep required on the cattle ranch he’d bought in Texas. Not to mention all the flying back and forth he did. Last month I’d taken a good look at our ledgers, and if we didn’t do something to increase Parker Inc.’s net worth, my father might have to lose some land in Texas. Maybe even some cows.
Besides, if I could handle weddings after my own almost-disaster, then so could everyone else.
“Is this it, then?” Ashley checked out the barn. “It’s a gift shop.”
“We turned it into a gift shop a few years ago. We have two ponies left, and we moved them to the pen on the back side of the house. So now we can sell the work of local artists. Anything that’s in some shape or form related to the town, or a Western theme.”
As it so happened, that was a lot.
While Ashley inspected the outside of the barn, I studied Ashley’s arms. I’d never read someone’s arm before, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the future bride’s full sleeve tattoos. It wasn’t polite to stare, which gave me limited time to read. Most of the tats were drawings of roses, butterflies and a woman’s face, but there were words, too, and I was dying to read them.
I’d always wanted a tattoo, a small butterfly on my shoulder. Or maybe a flower. But my father was against body art, and when I’d suggested it to Greg, he implied only loose women had tattoos. Now that I was a wild woman, sooner or later I’d get that dang tattoo. In fact, maybe I could ask Ashley where she got hers done.
“So what will you do with all this stuff?” Ashley asked.
“We’ll move it in time for the wedding and put it back later. Unless you’d like to at least see the gazebo out back. It hasn’t been used since my father built it for my sister’s wedding.”
“No. No gazebos. This is perfect. We’re going for spooky. I love being scared.”
I stared at Ashley’s purple painted lips. She was a striking girl, with jet black hair and alabaster ivory skin. Her dramatic black eyeliner would have commanded attention at a nightclub, let alone in the bright light of the day. “You want spooky?”
“I wanted to get married on Halloween, actually, but my mom insisted that wasn’t going to happen. Delilah doesn’t think it’s a good idea, either. We had to scramble to get another date. As long as Billy and I get married, I don’t really care about the date that much.” Ashley might not look like any other bride I had ever seen, but funny how her eyes lit up when she said Billy’s name.
I hadn’t heard the car drive up until I heard a door slam. Turning, I saw whom I assumed would be the wedding planner/minister walking toward them.
I had only spoken with Delilah over the phone when I’d committed to the dates. The deposit had cleared, and as far as I was concerned, that meant a wedding would take place. The wedding planner didn’t look like anything I would have imagined. She wore a colorful caftan and some kind of square hat on her head.
Ashley and Delilah exchanged a hug, and Delilah introduced herself. She walked into the barn and studied the rafters. “This will do fine. Thank you for working with us, Emily. I realize this isn’t the norm for you, and it’s short notice.”
“We’re expanding.” I hadn’t pictured the barn as the best venue, but now that I appraised it with new eyes, it could work. Amazing I hadn’t thought of it earlier.
“You were so right, Delilah. This is a sick, classic red barn. And if we do this at night, with only candles, it will be scary. Like,Wrong Turnscary.” Ashley rubbed her arms like she’d just scared herself.
Why someone would want to be scared on her wedding day was another story, but I didn’t want to ask.
Delilah pointed to a notebook she carried. “I’ve done the numerology charts, and now that we’ve got the right date, this is important: the wedding rehearsal must take place the day before the wedding at precisely six.”
Ashley nodded like that made all the sense in the world. “You got it. I don’t want to start this marriage off on the wrong number.”
“The wrong number?” I dared to ask.
Delilah nodded. “It’s how we picked the wedding day. Will that be a problem?”
I took out my tablet and made a note. “No problem at all.”
