Page 75 of Moonshine and Magnolias
He gave Brandi a nudge. “Show her your email.”
“No. It’s not going to matter. She had me convicted faster than a cat lapping chain lightning.”
Wendy’s muscles tensed and a deep pit of darkness filled her belly. Sebastien had always been Brandi’s staunchest supporter, even when she was so obviously in the wrong, but there was something different in his tone this time.
“You guys say the weirdest things sometimes,” Jordan said in the silence that followed.
“What email?” Wendy asked.
When Brandi didn’t move, Sebastien nipped her phone out of her back pocket, avoiding her slapping hands. After he swiped the screen a couple of times, he handed it to Wendy. “What don’t you see?”
The emails were dated from the past three days. “What am I supposed to be looking at?”
Sebastien poked Brandi with his elbow. “Tell her.”
“Whatever.” Her cousin rolled her eyes. “There’s no email from you telling me which flowers to avoid.”
That was her flimsy excuse for her monumental screw up? “Check your spam.” She handed back the phone. Rob put his hand in the center of her back. His physical presence gave her a comfort she didn’t know she had missed.
“I did. It’s not there.” Brandi turned to Sebastien. “Told you she wouldn’tbelieve me.”
“Maybe you accidentally deleted it.”
“Maybe you never sent it.”
Impossible. Wendy fished her own phone out of her pocket and brought up her mail. “Look, it’s right…. It’s… it should be here.” She clicked the number next to her draft folder. Inside, was the message about Pearl’s allergies she had meant to send to Brandi.
Two days ago. She had written the email and Rob had interrupted her. They had sat cozied up on her bed, chatting and laughing all morning and the email was never sent. “Oh, God. This was my fault.”
“Damn right it is,” Brandi muttered.
“This whole disaster was my fault. I don’t know what happened. I’m so sorry.”
She swallowed against the thickness of her throat. Was it worth it? Was the contentment she felt that day worth the risk of causing the bride a severe illness? She could have stopped everything that happened today if she hadn’t been distracted.
She took it all in. Rob’s hand lending her his gentle strength. The vindication in Brandi’s eyes. Her friends’ nervous glances as they waited for her reaction. Even Pearl with her red, puffy eyes, but so happy despite of everything that happened.
Yes. It was completely worth it all.
***
Wendy slid the phone next to the Hall’s ledger so their edges were perfectly parallel to the indent on the library’s coffee table. One word sang a refrain in her mind. One word that should have been easy to say. One stupid word.
Stay.
Wendy stared at the light perspiration covering her palms, trying to comprehend its meaning. Her hands never got sweaty. Not even during a game. She glanced at Rob, intent on his research at the Queen Anne desk in the library.He didn’t notice anything amiss.
Maybe she should throw a please in there somewhere. After all, that would be the polite thing to do. Two words shouldn’t be that hard. It was right. It felt good. It was something she wanted. She had only to ask.
She wiped her hands on one of the couch pillows, making a mental note to put it in the wash later. Last night, she had left him snoring in her bed and snuck into her cousin’s room to tell her and make sure it was okay. Saying it out loud to Brandi—and Brandi’s exuberant reaction—had solidified Wendy’s resolve.
But it wouldn’t happen if she couldn’t get the words out of her mouth.
The poor pillow was going to get soaked. She had faced situations across the boardroom far more detrimental than this and never needed a towel. She shook her head and opened the ledger.
Rob and Hal had been tucked away in the library since breakfast, conferring in quiet voices. They were getting close to finding the origin and cure of his client’s curse. Hal had left a while ago to talk to Anita, his source at the O’Hara County Historical Society, but not before commenting that they were behind schedule since Rob had been spending time helping around the Hall. With the emphasis Hal had put on the word helping, it was clear he didn’t mean picking peaches or hosting camp tours.
Previously, the remarks on their private moments would have annoyed her. Today, she didn’t care one bit. She wanted everyone to know that she was with this man.
