Page 94 of Stirring Up Love
He pressed a kiss to her forehead, comforting as a fleece blanket by the fireside. “You would’ve done just fine on your own.”
She would’ve. She always did. But having him here by her side ... sharing her world with him—her home—felt more right than it ought to have. If she admitted to wanting him, would it amount to needing? To being bound and beholden?
“I can see why you love this place.” One arm still looped around her waist, he rubbed a hand along the gleaming stainless counter. “This restaurant, and Hawksburg too. I’ve only been here a day, and already I feel like I know at least three people who I could put down as an emergency contact.”
Simone laughed, because that summed up the locals perfectly. “You’re either in, or you’re out. And once you’re in ...” She stopped herself, because she’d almost said,You’re a part of the town forever, woven in like the stitches on the Yarn Spinners’ designs.
But that would mean she’d been the one keeping herself on the outs. But she hadn’t imagined the cold shoulders, the canned pleasantries in place of meaningful conversations. Had she?
The back door opened with a gust of cold air, and Alisha and Quentin tumbled in, chased by snow flurries. She pulled away from Finn. The others must have suspected something, but she didn’t need to confirm it.
But Alisha’s brow bunched as she scanned the countertops, not seeming to register their closeness. “Where are you at with prep?”
Rude. “Um, since I’m doing this out of the goodness of my heart, I don’t think I owe you updates.”
“Everything’s pretty much set to go except the salads,” Finn supplied. She shot him a look, but she couldn’t stay mad when she encountered his sheepish expression, shoulder half lifted in a shrug.
No guile. The complement to her surliness. The sweetness to balance her acidity. No denying they complemented one another. Did she want to test their compatibility with a merger when her future hung in the balance?
Across the kitchen, her sister and her fiancé shared a look. Quentin rocked up on his toes, hands jammed in the pockets of his black puffer coat. “So, say ... and this is just hypothetically speaking—but say you had to feed a lot more people. Would that be feasible?”
“More people?” Meat took hours to smoke, although they could fire up the grill. Make grilled cheese for the kids ...
“How many more?” Finn asked.
Quentin rubbed the back of his neck, face twisting in a wince. “Around two hundred.”
“Twohundred?” Simone and Finn jinxed, and Quentin nodded with a grimace, then put up his hands in a quelling gesture.
“But not tonight. We’re all good for the rehearsal dinner. Thanks, by the way,” he said, and he flashed the smile that had no doubt won over her sister. “Our caterer lost power in the storm,” he went on. “Their backup generator failed, and apparently no one knew because they hadn’t been in all week. They lost all their perishable goods, and, well—”
“We’ve got no food,” Alisha said. “For the reception dinner tomorrow.”
No food, and the wedding a day away? The punches just kept on coming.
“So I was thinking, we could smoke some ribs ...” Alisha pulled open the walk-in fridge, voice muffled. “I’m sure there’s some coleslaw prepped—”
“No.”
Simone turned, surprised at the surety in Finn’s voice.
His Adam’s apple dipped in a bob as he swallowed. “Not to shoot down your idea, but you don’t want to be eating ribs in a wedding dress, right?” Alisha shut the refrigerator door, the look on her face answer enough. “What was the original menu?” he asked.
“Chicken and salmon,” Alisha said. “We figured people would’ve had their fill of heavy meat tonight. But really, barbecue is fine. More than fine, when it’s Honey and Hickory.”
A barbecue buffet would be great at a lot of weddings. If her sister and Quentin were saying their vows in a rustic barn, or a fairy-tale reception in the woods, great. But their wedding aesthetic was classy contemporary. Lush, deep colors and an elevated tablescape. They’d planned the downtown wedding of their dreams despite the rural surroundings. Picnic fare wouldn’t do.
A great cake and spectacular food topped Alisha’s wedding must-have list. And as maid of honor, Simone had accompanied the couple to tastings. What their caterer had planned couldn’t be replaced with potato salad and pulled pork. But while she could hold her own in the Honey and Hickory kitchen, she wasn’t a professionally trained chef.
Already thumbing through her mental contact list of suppliers she could pull from to create a worthy meal, she swallowed her pride and turned to Finn.
She didn’t need to say a thing. He’d already rolled up his sleeves.
CHAPTER 33
FINN
Plated dinners were out. Even with his extensive restaurant experience and Simone delegating, they couldn’t pull that off for a wedding reception taking place a mere twenty-four hours from now. A whopping 250 guests, all needing to be fed at the same time? He’d thought Simone had taken on a lot with her plan to cater the rehearsal dinner tonight. But executing a last-minute reception dinner tomorrow? A panic chill swept up his arms at what they’d taken on.
