Page 98 of Stirring Up Love
When she pulled out the straw, a drop of water remained on Alisha’s lower lip, and she dabbed it with her knuckle so the crimson lipstick would stay perfect. “Now, are you doing this?”
“I’m doing it.” Alisha lunged forward and wrapped her in a hug as fierce as it was brief, then leaped up and accepted her bouquet from a relieved-looking Meg. An orange lily drooped low, and Simone jabbed it back in between a deep-blue gerbera daisy and a plum-hued rose.
The other members of the bridal party were milling around the foyer. At a nod from Simone, the first pair lined up. Ivy, one of Alisha’s bakery staff who’d become her good friend, held out her arm to the groomsman she’d been assigned—one of Quentin’s cousins, who’d arrived at the church with two minutes to spare and was still tucking the tail of his shirt into his pants. Ivy shot a grimace toward Simone, and she made a sympathetic face.
Meg and Quentin’s best friend, Tre, were next, already in their positions, ready to go. Meg chuckled at something he said in an undertone; then they strode off down the aisle.
That left her and the best man. Hector’s twin daughters peered into the crowded sanctuary, poppy-orange flowers tucked into their dark hair, chattering away. At a nod from Simone, he beckoned his daughters over, then knelt down in front of them. “I’ve gotta go in before you, so just listen to what Tía Alisha says. She’ll tell you when it’s time to start walking. And remember, it’s okay to drop all the flowers in your basket, just not all at once, got it?”
At their nods, he stood with a smile and held out his elbow to Simone. Alisha moved up next to them, arm in arm with Pops. Gran stood by her other side, white-blonde hair teased to fullness. Her big sister shooed Simone and Hector with her free hand. “Hurry up and get on down the aisle so I can marry my man.”
For once, she obeyed with no sass, taking Hector’s arm and heading for the open sanctuary doors. Demons vanquished, Simone understood Alisha’s urgency, even as she herself wished for time to slow down. To suspend them in this moment where Finn and Honey and Hickory and her dreams all coexisted in harmony.
But it was a precarious fantasy, and with each step down the carpeted aisle, she felt herself tipping the balance. One false move, and it would all come crashing down, just like a teetering stack of Jenga blocks.
“Brent, we’re running low on shrimp, and Mr.Snyder’s headed over.” He’d cut out red meat since his stroke last year. Another reason she wanted to expand Honey and Hickory’s menu, so they could serve every member of the community.
“On it.” The cook hurried away, and Simone checked the rest of the stations to make sure they had enough to see them through. Everyone had come up at least once, and dinner seemed to be winding down. At the end of the buffet, Finn was stationed at the electric grill, chatting with all the guests who came through the line.
Tonight his easy smiles for everyone else were getting under her skin, like they had in the summer. Things had been strained ever since their stay in the bed-and-breakfast, but between orchestrating this dinner and their rendezvous in the hall earlier, she thought they might have been rounding the bend.
But now she wondered, yet again, if their connection was real, or a ploy to get her to take the investment. She couldn’t afford a $200,000 mistake.
“You two pulled off the upset with this one, didn’t ya?” Mr.Snyder made it to the table, his eyes on Finn at the grill. “Who would’ve thought, after seeing you just about kill each other on TV.” He laughed, but she didn’t.
He popped a cheese cube in his mouth. “I’m going to go give my regards to the chef for an excellent meal. What are you standing back here for, anyway? Your partner has this under control—you ought to be out there dancing with the other gals.”
“As opposed to here, overseeing the meal I planned?”
“No need to get so prickly.” He frowned and then snatched another piece of cheese, not bothering with the tongs. “Just wanted to make sure you enjoyed your sister’s wedding.” With a shake of his head, he moved down the line.
One day of this pseudopartnership, and already she’d hit a boiling point. Could she stand a whole career of people insinuating she was less than Finn?
She glanced down the row to see Mr.Snyder chatting with Finn, his belly bouncing with laughter. It should’ve warmed her heart to see people embracing someone she’d come to care about.
Instead, all she could think about were all the ways Finn’s presence invalidated hers. She could share Hawksburg. Share her family and friends. But sharing Honey and Hickory meant handing over her part in it, one piece at a time. Admitting she’d never been the right choice.
Admitting she was replaceable.
With a last glance down the line to assure herself everything was set in case any more stragglers came along, she took off her plastic gloves. Finn had everything handled, and this was her sister’s wedding. Time to quit wallowing and start partying.
Simone stepped off the dance floor as a love ballad came on, sweaty and smiling and feeling about a million times better than she had after Mr.Snyder’s remarks. She glanced toward the banquet tables, ready to rope Finn into a slow dance, but he’d disappeared. Probably cleaning up.
Possibly avoiding her.
He’d been on edge ever since they’d arrived in town, and as much as she wanted to reassure him, she was in need of reassurance too. Tonight’s celebration marked the last barrier between them and the deal. Tomorrow they’d have no more reason to delay talking throughit, and she was no closer to coming up with a way to save both their dreams.
Hand in hand, Quentin and Alisha took the floor, and couples parted for them, pulling them in for hugs as they passed until there was only the bride and groom, spinning slowly on the parquet floor.
Quentin hadn’t stopped smiling at his wife all day. First through a sheen of tears from the altar, and later around a million kisses they shared in response to glasses clinking and their own effusive love bubble.
And Alisha never stopped touching her groom. Holding his hand as they wound through the tables, resting her cheek against his shoulder when they sat at the head table. All the PDA would’ve been sickening if it hadn’t been so supremely pure.
Teeth flashing in a grin, Quentin bent his head to whisper something in Alisha’s ear, and she laughed, then ducked her forehead to his chest when he followed his words up with a kiss to her temple.
The unhurried kisses and besotted glances left Simone feeling bereft. She might not have been able to give a part of Honey and Hickory to Finn, but she’d already given him a piece of her heart, and no matter how the deal shook out, she didn’t regret it.
She turned, bumped into one of the satin-covered chairs, and scooted around a tableful of guests finishing up their cake with cups of coffee or glasses of wine. With barely any time to prep, she and Finn had pulled off a wedding-reception dinner and saved Alisha and Quentin’s big day. In the morning they could figure things out, but for now, time to find him and celebrate.
