DREW HELD THE passenger door open for Silver.
“It’s just a party,” he said as he got in on his side. “Aside from food and drinks, what is there to plan?”
“Only everything. Is there a theme? What time of day? Is it lunch? Dinner? Afternoon? Will there be a band?” She glanced at him. “This isn’t just a party—it’s part wedding shower, part reception. For Bethany and Cade, this is the closest they’re going to get to a regular wedding-type event in Happily Inc. The actual wedding and reception will be defined by protocol and El Baharian tradition.”
“I stand corrected,” he said as he drove to Weddings Out of the Box. There was a meeting for all the vendors as Cade and Bethany discussed what they wanted. As Silver’s new business partner, Drew had been invited along to help with the brainstorming. Not that he had any idea of what they expected from him.
“What do you brainstorm?” he asked. “We’re just bartenders so you do drinks and that’s it?”
“I should slap you,” she said with a laugh. “Technically that is the service we provide, but at this point in the process, all ideas are usually welcome. There is the occasional bride who has been planning her wedding since she was ten and doesn’t want anyone else’s input, but most want to know what we think. We’ve done a lot of weddings and can often speak to the pitfalls. Some flowers are beautiful, but if they have a scent, they can overwhelm an event. Nothing makes food taste bad faster than stinky flowers.”
There was more to what Silver did than he’d first realized. As a guy, he’d known that, for the most part, weddings mattered a lot more to the bride than the groom. Ashley Lauren had been obsessed with the details and less concerned about their relationship.
They arrived at Weddings Out of the Box and parked. Silver collected her tote bag and walked next to him.
“We didn’t bring any samples,” he said.
“Until we know what they’re looking for, there’s no point. Once we pick a theme and colors, we’ll get together about the specifics. From what Pallas said, we have a really tight time frame, so nothing custom unless it can be done on a rush basis.”
“I suspect the king of El Bahar can pull a few strings.”
“I’m sure he can.”
Silver led the way to a conference room. Pallas was already there, along with Renee, Bethany and Cade.
Drew looked around. “I thought there would be more people.”
“I did, too.” Silver frowned. “The caterer at least and maybe a florist. Are we conferencing them in?”
“This is everyone,” Pallas confirmed. “Let’s take our seats and get started.”
Bethany sat next to Cade. Drew took a seat on his right. Silver, Pallas and Renee were on the other side of the table.
“To answer your question about the caterer,” Bethany said with a sigh, “my father wants me to use one from Los Angeles. Once we decide what the party is going to be, Cade and I will go see them and do our tasting there.”
Cade took her hand and squeezed her fingers. “We’re going to make this our party,” he told her.
“I want to believe you but my father is getting in the way.” She made a face. “He loves to take charge. It’s very annoying.”
Renee sighed. “Kings. What are you going to do?”
There was a moment of silence, then everyone laughed.
Pallas activated her tablet before looking at Bethany. “Even if the caterer is coming from LA, you still get a say in what you’re going to be eating. This party is for you and Cade, and we’re going to make it amazing.”
“There isn’t much time,” Bethany said, sounding doubtful. “We took so long arguing about what event was happening where and then picking a date, we aren’t going to be able to do anything really fun.” She looked at Cade. “I don’t want this to be some big royal event. All our friends will be there—I want them to have a good time. I want the party to be about us and how we are as a couple. What we like and how we see ourselves.”
“It will be,” he told her. “Have a little faith.”
Pallas leaned toward her. “Bethany, I know you’re overwhelmed. I promise to do everything in my power to make sure you love your party. Give us a chance to make you happy, okay?”
Bethany nodded. “Sorry. I’m being whiny. It’s just if you saw what was happening back in El Bahar, you’d run screaming into the night.”
Drew glanced at Silver. “Does she know it’s the middle of the day?” he asked in a stage whisper.
Bethany grinned. “It’s a figure of speech.” She drew in a breath. “Okay, let’s make this work.”
Drew didn’t consider himself overly intuitive when it came to women but even he could see that she was upset.
Renee picked up her pen. “Every good party needs a theme. If this were a traditional shower, it would be easier, but I’m not sure any of those ideas would work with the crowd we’re expecting.”
“Why not?” Cade asked.
Pallas and Renee exchanged a look. “Themes can range from spa day to lingerie. I’m not too sure we want to go there.”
“No hats,” Silver said with a smile. “So a Mad Hatter party is out. Let’s see. You two own a ranch and work with horses. What about a backyard barbecue?” Her eyes widened. “Oh, I know. Let’s do the I Do BBQ theme.”
Renee began writing furiously. “Yes, that would totally work. I’ve seen it done with weddings and showers. There are a million ideas on Pinterest. We dress as cowboys and cowgirls, the food is a combination of picnic, barbecue and down-home cooking.” She looked at Bethany. “What do you think?”
“I think I like it.” She turned to Cade. “Honey, are you good with that?”
He nodded. “It’s not scary. Or too pink. Men in suits will look out of place, but that was going to happen anyway.”
“Dark suits?” Pallas asked.
Bethany nodded. “Security for sure. My dad, the president.”
“Great, so we’ll do black, white and red as the colors. The bride and groom can be in plaid shirts. Jeans for Cade and a little white leather skirt with fringe for Bethany, or a white denim skirt.”
Bethany began to relax. “I like that.”
“Don’t forget the white cowboy hat with a veil,” Silver added. “This is going to be great. All your friends can wear red Bride’s Posse T-shirts.”
The ideas were flowing fast and Drew wasn’t sure what he was supposed to add. Telling everyone he couldn’t wait to see Silver in a tight T-shirt didn’t seem helpful.
“We’ll make this easy,” Renee said. “We can get ceramic cowboy boot vases for the centerpieces. We’ll go red and white with the flowers, but have table accents in black. Burlap table runners are neutral. We can have plaid everywhere.”
“Cow balloons,” Silver said. “Big bouquets of them.”
Bethany grinned. “I like that. This is fun.”
“It gets better,” Renee said. “We can put most of the tables inside because there’s no ceremony. A few will be outside, but we can use a portion of the lawn for games. Croquet, horseshoes, even a beanbag toss.”
“We can do spiked lemonade, margaritas and beer for the drinks.” Silver made some notes. “What about food?”
“I want a cake pop stand,” Bethany said. “In the shape of a tiered wedding cake.”
“Done,” Renee said. “How about fair food? Pulled pork, beef and chicken sandwiches. All kinds of salads, a taco bar, maybe some sliders. For dessert, in addition to the cake pops we can do s’mores.” She looked at Pallas. “We can set up a grill where people can roast their own marshmallows.”
Bethany leaned against Cade. “We have the best friends ever.”
Drew sat back and listened to the ideas flow. In less than an hour, the party was planned. They had a preliminary menu, the list of drinks, a theme and decoration ideas. Renee set up a time to go with Cade and Bethany to LA and do a tasting. Pallas promised to have the decorating samples in-house in less than a week and they’d agreed on three kinds of margaritas for the party. That tasting would be in a couple of days.
He hadn’t offered a single idea, mostly because he’d been unable to think of any. Silver, Pallas and Renee had moved too fast. He knew they did this sort of thing all the time but he’d had no idea they were so creative. He’d figured being a part of her business was going to be easy. After all, he had a degree and worked in business. He hadn’t realized how wrong he could be.
* * *
SILVER’S HEAD WAS spinning with ideas. She had a lot of things she wanted to look up when she got home. There were some decorations she’d seen on Pinterest that she wanted to share with Renee. If they could make them work, Bethany would be thrilled.
“That was a good meeting,” she said as Drew parked in front of her storefront.
“Is it always like that? So fast and creative?”
“Mostly. Sometimes the bride has an idea that we just can’t make work. Those meetings can be a slog, but we always keep going until we find something she loves. Bethany is easy. She’s totally open. Her big dream is to have fun party. That’s a lot easier to work with than a sea horse ball.”
“You’ve done a sea horse ball?”
She laughed. “Technically an under-the-sea wedding, but you get my idea.”
They got out of his car. “You were impressive,” he told her.
“I appreciate the compliment but Renee’s the real creative one. She just keeps coming up with different ideas until the bride is happy. And then she goes to town on all the details. I have to admit, when Pallas first hired her, I wasn’t sure I liked her, but I’m becoming a fan.”
“I couldn’t keep up,” he admitted.
“It takes practice to get good at brainstorming. Plus, you need to have ideas.”
“How can I learn about weddings and decorations and themes?”
“If you’re serious, get a couple of books on wedding planning. Read some bridal magazines, and then spend quality time on Pinterest. There are a million ideas and they’re all so good. I could spend hours browsing table decorations and drink ideas.”
“I’ll do that. I want to be a real partner.”
“Not just a pretty face?” she teased.
“I don’t mind being that.”
He stood close enough that her body was intensely aware of him. She thought about offering him a quickie upstairs, but he had to be at the bank and she had work to do. There was also the looming issue of telling him about Autumn. She had to do it. Honestly, she was going to pick a date and time and invite him over. She knew why she was putting it off, but wasn’t proud of herself or her actions.
“Drew? What are you doing out here? Why aren’t you at the bank?”
They both turned as a middle-aged woman approached. She was beautifully dressed, with dark hair and eyes and enough of Drew’s features for Silver to be able to guess who exactly this was.
Silver had never met Irene before—she and her husband had left Happily Inc shortly after Silver had moved to town. When Silver and Drew had been dating, his parents had been off somewhere in Europe—Silver could never remember exactly where.
“Hello, Mom,” Drew said, his tone more dutiful than pleased. “I’m surprised to see you in town.”
“I could say the same thing. You didn’t answer my question. Why aren’t you at work?”
“Mom, this is Silver Tesdal. Silver, my mother.”
Silver smiled. “Hello, Mrs. Lovato.”
“Yes, hello.” Irene positioned herself so her back was to Silver. “Drew, I’ve heard that the royal party is going to be planned very soon. I want you to find out as much as you can for me. I want to be prepared.”
Drew looked both resigned and uncomfortable. Silver lightly touched his arm, then smiled at Irene.
“You’re going to love it, Mrs. Lovato. Bethany and Cade picked a cowboy theme. I Do BBQ. She’s going to be in a white cowboy hat and they’ll wear matching plaid shirts. The food is all down-home barbecue inspired. Oh, and there will be a s’mores station. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?”
Irene turned to Silver, her expression icy. “Excuse me, but this is a private conversation.”
“I’m pretty sure I was here first.”
“Who are you?”
“Silver Tesdal. Drew already told you.” She pretended confusion. “Oh, you mean who am I? I own a traveling bar called AlcoHaul.” She gestured to the storefront bearing her company logo. “I’ll be one of the vendors at the party. And a guest. Hmm, that’s going to be complicated. All of Bethany’s girlfriends are wearing matching T-shirts, including me.”
Silver watched Irene battle with conflicting emotions. She would guess that while Drew’s mother wanted to crush her like a bug, she would be too worried about offending a princess’s friend.
“You know Bethany?”
“Uh-huh. I would have worked her wedding regardless, but now it’s more fun.”
Irene swung her attention back to her son. “And why are you here?”
Silver honestly expected Drew to deny their relationship. In that nanosecond before he spoke, she told herself she would be fine with it. Really. It was okay. Then he totally shocked her by putting his arm around her.
“Mom, Silver and I are in business together. We’re business partners. We just bought two more trailers together. AlcoHaul is expanding.”
Irene went completely white. “What? What! Drew, are you telling me you own a bar?”
“Technically he only owns part of a bar,” Silver clarified. “A traveling bar. We do mostly weddings, but parties, as well. A lot of theme stuff. It’s fun.”
Irene glared at her son. “No. You can’t possibly be telling me the truth. Why would you do this? Why would you want to have anything to do with this ridiculous town? You have opportunities that most people can only dream about. Do you know who you can be?”
She turned her attention to Silver. “If you think you’re going to trap him, you can forget it. He’s smarter than that.”
Silver shrugged free of Drew. “I already had my chance to trap him, Mrs. Lovato, and I didn’t take it. There are a lot of things you can worry about but my relationship with Drew isn’t one of them. Now if you’ll excuse me...”
She gave them both a brief wave, then let herself into her retail space. As the door closed behind her, she heard Irene shrieking something about Drew ruining his future. Rather than listen, Silver hurried upstairs. She might be overthinking the situation but she had a feeling Irene wasn’t going to be thrilled at the thought of being a grandmother.
* * *
DREW MANAGED TO extricate himself from the conversation with his mother, pleading an important meeting back at the bank. On the quick drive there, he tried to figure out what he was going to say to Silver. Irene had been rude, and her fixation with Cade and Bethany’s party wasn’t exactly normal.
He parked at the bank and walked inside. Libby was waiting for him and practically pounced when she saw him.
“You have a package,” his aunt told him. “I put it in your office.”
Since when did Libby do something as low-level as deliver the mail? “Thank you,” he said, not sure of her point.
“It was left in the night deposit.” Her smile turned sly. “It’s not what you think and there’s a note.”
Drew was fairly confident Libby wouldn’t allow anything dangerous in her precious bank, so he wasn’t all that concerned until he saw the large cardboard box on his desk. A box with airholes and a big arrow showing which way was up. As he got closer, he saw the note taped to the top of the box.
Mr. Lovato, this is my rabbit, Mr. Whiskers. I can’t keep him anymore and I cried a lot when Mommy told me. Mommy and Daddy trust you with our money, so I’m trusting you with Mr. Whiskers. Aaron at the pet store can tell you how to take care of him.
Your friend, Emily.
The box moved. No, what was inside of the box moved.
“It appears to be a rabbit,” Libby told him from the doorway to his office.
He lifted the top on the box and found himself eye to eye with a gray rabbit. Mr. Whiskers lunged and Drew quickly closed the box top. Rabbits weren’t vicious, were they?
“He can’t stay here,” Libby pointed out. “You’ll have to take that thing home and deal with it.” She sounded positively gleeful.
“First I’m going to find out what’s going on and then I’ll deal with—” he glanced at the note “—Mr. Whiskers.”
“Lucky you,” Libby said with a smile.
Drew waited until she was gone to call Melissa. His client stunned him by bursting into tears.
“I thought we’d lost him,” Melissa said. “I’m sorry to be such a mess. It’s just everything is so hard right now. Jacob has a rash and the pediatrician thinks he might be allergic to the rabbit. Emily already isn’t convinced she wants a baby brother and now we’re going to have to get rid of her pet. She loves him so much. We’re doing more testing, but until we’re sure...” She made a choking-sob sound. “I’m sorry, Drew. This isn’t your problem.”
Drew glanced at the box. It was a rabbit. How hard could it be for him to take care of it for a few days?
“Tell you what. I’ll deal with Mr. Whiskers until you figure out what’s going on with Jacob. If it turns out he’s allergic, then you can make arrangements for Mr. Whiskers to find a permanent home. If it’s something else, Mr. Whiskers can come back and resume his happy bunny life. Either way, Emily will know her pet is being taken care of.”
“I couldn’t possibly ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t. I offered. It’s fine. I’m good with animals.”
In truth, he had no idea how he was with pets of any kind. As a kid, he’d never had one. But he was game.
“I’ll swing by and pick up some supplies, then take him home.” He would also visit Aaron at the pet store to get the scoop on rabbit care.
“I can’t thank you enough.” Melissa sniffed. “We’re so happy to have a baby, but it’s a much-bigger adjustment than we’d realized.”
“You can take Mr. Whiskers off your worry-about list. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Oh, just one other question. Do rabbits bite?”
* * *
JASPER ROLLED ONTO his side and watched Wynn walk to the bathroom, his attention captured by the sway of her hips. She was naked and unselfconscious about her body. He liked that about her. She was slightly pear-shaped with an ass a man could hold on to. He liked that, too.
It was nearly noon. Wynn had arrived less than thirty minutes ago. After very little conversation, they’d taken things into the bedroom. That was their routine—she left work and came to his place. They made love. Sometimes she stayed and they had lunch, sometimes she didn’t.
She returned to the bedroom, pulling her shirt over her head. She had long, dark curly hair and dark eyes. Based on her high cheekbones and her dark olive skin, he would guess she was of mixed race—but it wasn’t anything he’d ever asked about. He didn’t know about her family, where she was from or why, of all the places in the world, she’d chosen to move to Happily Inc. Not because he hadn’t asked—he had. But with Wynn, conversation was kept superficial.
He stood and stretched. “Are you staying?”
She smiled. “I thought I’d make us an omelet before I head back to work.”
“Maybe the boss would let you take off an extra hour or two.” Humor, because she owned the company.
“That bitch?” Wynn laughed. “You know she’s going to insist I hurry back as quick as I can. But I have time for lunch.”
She left the bedroom. Jasper washed up and got dressed. He found her chopping vegetables. The eggs were already whisked together in a bowl and the pan was heating.
He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She snuggled in close, pressing her butt against his groin.
“This is nice,” she said. “A little sugar in the middle of my day.”
“Maybe we could go to dinner sometime.”
She didn’t look up from her chopping. “You and I go to tournament night nearly every Monday. If you want to buy me a burger along with a drink, I won’t say no.”
He released her and started a fresh pot of coffee, then dropped bread into the toaster. While she cooked the vegetables, he set the table.
Their routine was familiar. Comfortable. This was what it was and he liked that. So why did he feel an uncomfortable need to push for more? He thought of his recent text from Hunter and had a feeling that was a big part of it.
“How’s work?” he asked as she dumped the cooked vegetables onto a plate, then wiped the pan clean before pouring in the egg mixture.
“Busy.”
“You never said how you came to buy the printing business. That’s all it was at first, right? You added the graphic design part?”
She kept her attention on the pan, carefully swirling the egg mixture until it was even. She collected a bag of shredded cheese from the refrigerator, then returned to the stove.
“Why all the questions?” she asked.
“It was two.”
She checked the omelet. After adding the vegetables back to one side of the pan, she sprinkled everything with cheese, then carefully flipped the other half of the cooked eggs over. Using the spatula, she cut the omelet in half and slid a piece onto each plate.
They sat across from each other at his kitchen table. She sipped her coffee, then looked at him.
“Don’t be curious about me, Jasper. I’m not going to tell you more than I have.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. You need to respect that.”
“I’ve known you a long time now. More than two years. Don’t you trust me?”
Her dark gaze gave nothing away. “It’s not about trust.”
“Sure it is. Don’t you want more than what we have?”
She smiled. “You mean like a commitment and a ring. Do you?”
A question he hadn’t been expecting. Did he want more?
Before he could decide, she laughed. “Uh-huh. That’s what I thought. This is good for both of us. I like things exactly as they are and you do, too. Every now and then you get a bug up your butt about wanting more, but it passes.”
“I don’t understand you.”
“How many women do you understand?”
He chuckled. “You make an excellent point and an equally great breakfast.”
“Thank you.”
“How’s Hunter?”
Her good mood faded. “Jasper, I swear, you don’t give up. Maybe it’s a writer thing. You know what I said about Hunter.”
“I never get in touch with him, Wynn. You know that.” He didn’t have to. Hunter always found him.
He supposed by not telling her that, he was being an asshole, but some part of him was willing to risk it. Partially because he liked hanging out with the kid, and partially to see what would happen when it all hit the fan. Because one day it would. Happily Inc was too small for it to end otherwise.
Was he hoping she would relent? That she would tell him what they had was worth saving? Or was the more likely scenario that she would simply turn and walk away? And if he believed that and hung out with Hunter anyway, what did that say about what he thought of their relationship?
“I do know,” she told him. “Now eat your eggs before they get cold. Then you can tell me all about your trip to New York and how great your editor thinks you are.”
“She does think I’m pretty great.”
“Of course she does.” Wynn’s smile faded. “Jasper, I like you a lot. I like this, but don’t be fooled. If you cross me, it’s over.”
“I know.”
“When we started, you said this was enough. Is that still true?”
He nodded. “I’m not looking for more.”
“Good.”
Her smile returned and they both started eating.
Later, as he walked her to her car, he wondered if he’d been telling the truth about not wanting more. He was pushing things with Wynn; he was restless in ways he couldn’t explain. What did that mean? She drove away and he retreated to the house.
Maybe it didn’t have to mean anything, he thought. After all, more than one VA therapist had warned him his experiences had left him emotionally shattered. He’d been warned he might never be whole. So what he had with Wynn should be perfect. A beautiful woman, great sex and nothing more. Only he found himself in the uncomfortable position of having to admit that some days, it wasn’t enough.