Page 42 of The Wedding Planner's Manny
“I guess you're right. He's dealt pretty well with having a dog thrown at him.” But a baby was something else entirely, wasn't it? I tried not to stress about it too much, even though it was hard. If Ethan had a problem with this baby, he wasn't getting me either. We were a package deal.
Something I should have made clear sooner.
“Do you want to go back down?” Nick asked. “There was still some dessert left when you dragged me up here. And Dean's gingerbread cookies.”
“I'm sure the children have taken care of the cookies by now,” I said with a chuckle. “Either them or Griff. But sure, we can go back down.” As I said this, though, a light came on in the yard below, drawing my attention there. Someone must have stepped out of the house. A small person came into view, and then another small person. Conner and Jake. They were both carrying gift bags.
“Oh, that's cute,” Nick said, next to me. “They're giving each other presents.”
“I know. Jake was baking for Conner all day.”
“He's really into that kid, isn't he?”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Eli's mentioned he's going to have a long talk with him soon.”
“I don't envy him that. Jake's thirteen now, isn't he? I wouldn't be mad at my kid if he skipped that age.”
I shrugged. “Teenagers can be fun too.” Conner and Jake seemed to be enjoying themselves, in any case. Jake fished a pile of comic books out of the bag Conner was handing him and his shouts of,
“This is awesome!' were so loud I could hear them where I was standing. I couldn't quite tell what Conner was getting out of his gift bag, but from up here, it almost looked like a phone box made from gingerbread. Surely that couldn't be right?
Conner seemed happy about it, though.
“Ah, young love,” Nick said with a smile before stepping away from the window. “It's fun to watch as long as I don't have to be the one making sure no one does anything stupid. C'mon, let's go. I'm hungry.”
“How can you be hungry after the amounts of food you ate?”
“I have a separate stomach for cookies,” Nick said as if it was the most obvious thing.
“You're impossible,” I told him, but followed anyway. I'd gorged myself on food too—Dean's gravy was amazing—but I could feel my stomach start growling again anyway.
I had to keep in mind that I was eating for two now.
1 5
E T H A N
My whole life, I'd never looked forward to work as much as the day I took the double-wedding party to the dance studio. All because I knew Rhys was going to be there. It had only been a little over a week since we'd kissed on Christmas Eve, but to me, it felt like a lifetime ago. Rhys had been on my mind constantly, no matter what I was doing these past few days. While I was eating, I wondered what he was eating. When I was out with the kids, I thought about how much nicer the day would be if he was there to join us.
This past year, I'd been struggling with connecting to my clients when they acted like love-drunk teenagers. Now I was so smitten with the omega in my employ I was almost disgusted by myself.
Life was good.
And now I was finally back in Oceanport and about to see the man I was falling so hard for. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that I got to the dance studio a full fifteen minutes early. Shane and Kade arrived about ten minutes after me, but of course, Nick and his partner weren't on time and so, neither was Rhys. Still, I tried to contain the nervous excitement pumping through me as I took the opportunity to talk to Shane and Kade in private. Nick told me they liked my ideas, but I rarely got to speak to them one on one.
“Nick told you about the venue I was thinking about?” I asked to open the conversation.
“Yeah,” Kade spoke up, hanging on his partner's arm. “We like the idea of maybe having a small ceremony on top of the light house before the main event. Just us, the officiator and the kids.”
“That sounds lovely.” I liked small ceremonies. There was just something so intimate about them, and I thought it would suit this couple well, after all I'd heard about them. They'd both been married before. Shane had lost his spouse in a tragic accident, and Kade had divorced his Vinist husband. Just like Rhys was about to do...
Maybe someday I would marry Rhys on top of a lighthouse.
Stop dreaming and start focusing. You're at work!
“I wonder if we can take the dog up there,” Shane asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“I'll call and ask,” I promised, getting my phone out to make a note. “What kind of dog do you have?”
