Morning came way too early, but the excitement of the day was all the stimulant Marigold needed to wake up and get moving. Okay, maybe a little coffee wouldn’t hurt, but the bottom line was…
Pandora was getting married today.
And because of that glorious, wonderful, overwhelming news, Marigold thrummed with nervous energy. Sure, she should have been dragging because of the late night and intense workload. But Wyatt had done the heavy lifting.
Wyatt.
She stopped halfway to the kitchen. She’d almost forgotten he was here. In her house. How could that have slipped her mind? Maybe because she’d been so tired she barely remembered getting home last night. But it all came back to her now. They’d stumbled in with the singular goal of getting to bed.
Separate beds, obviously. He was in the guest room.
She should probably wake him, even though she hated to do it. They’d worked so hard, and she knew using all that magic had worn him out. He hadn’t complained once. Hadn’t said word one about how taxing it was to focus that much power, but she knew better. After all, she’d been in his place once upon a time, and while she might not be a witch anymore, she remembered how demanding the learning process had been.
Poor Wyatt. He’d skipped the basics and gone right to practical application.
She glanced toward the guest room. Maybe she’d let him sleep until after she’d taken her shower. He’d earned it. And men didn’t need as much time getting ready anyway.
With that in mind, she got a pot of coffee brewing, then went back to shower. The hot water was amazing and helped wake her up even more. She spent a few extra minutes under the spray thinking about all the work that still had to be done. The flowers had to be transported to Cole and Pandora’s, everything had to be put in place, the swags had to go on the arbor, then everything had to be given a final magical touch to perfect it all.
She’d probably have to shower again. There was no way she could do all that work outside in August in Georgia and not get a little…damp.
Thankfully, Cole and Pandora had some really good shade trees in their backyard and plenty of tents for the reception. They were even setting up some big breezy fans to keep the air moving. It would be warm for sure, but not unbearable, and as the evening wore on and the sun went down, it would be beautiful. Especially with all the fairy lights and strings of Edison bulbs set in the trees and the candles that would be everywhere.
The whole event would be absolutely magical, in every way possible.
Marigold turned the water off and got out, squeezing her hair with a towel. Her plan was to get everything done, then get herself and Saffron ready for bridesmaid duties. After that, she could take care of getting the boutonnieres on the men, the corsages on the women, and the bouquets in the right hands.
It was going to be a lot of work, but it would get done, and the end result would be beautiful. Having Wyatt there to help was a huge bonus.
She threw on her big terrycloth robe and went to check on him. She hated to wake him, but they didn’t have a lot of time to spare this morning. She opened her bedroom door and was greeted with the delicious aroma of breakfast.
How was that possible?
She padded into the kitchen and found the table set for two and Wyatt at the stove making eggs. That wasn’t something she’d ever seen in her house. A man preparing food. She shook her head in amazement. “And he cooks, too.”
He looked over his shoulder as the toaster popped out two slices of browned bread. “Morning. I hope you like scrambled. My skills in the kitchen are decent but limited.”
“Scrambled is great.” She hadn’t expected to eat breakfast this morning. She hadn’t planned on taking the time, really. “I don’t mean to rush you, but—”
He turned with plates in his hands. “Breakfast is served.” He gave her a little smile. “I’m sure there are a thousand things on your to-do list today, but you have to eat or you will run out of energy.”
He wasn’t wrong. She took the plate. “This was really kind of you.”
He grabbed a mug from near the stove. “You made coffee.”
She went to the table. “But breakfast is a little more work.”
“Not that much. Eggs and toast is about as basic as it gets.”
They sat and ate. It was good. Simple, like he’d said, but it would get them through the morning.
He spread jam on his toast. “What needs to be done first?”
“We need to go to the shop and load the van with the big pieces, then get everything over to Cole and Pandora’s and start setup. I’ll do a second run for the smaller things. Boutonnieres, corsages, bouquets, all of that. They need to stay refrigerated for as long as possible anyway.”
He squinted at her. “Aren’t you also a bridesmaid? And Saffie is a junior bridesmaid?”
“Yes to both of those.”
“Well, I’m just a guest. B list, at best. I can make the second run. You’ll have enough to do with all that wedding party stuff.”
She thought about his very generous offer for three seconds before a small wave of panic hit her. “But you don’t know what to bring.”
“You can show me this morning. And how am I going to learn if you don’t let me help?”
“True, but—”
He took her hand. “I know it’s your sister’s wedding. I promise I won’t screw up. Not only do I want her day to be perfect, but I don’t want to add to your stress by getting something wrong.”
She nodded as she chewed, still thoughtful. “It’s hard to give up control.”
“Now you’re preaching to the choir.” He winked at her, and somehow that small gesture smoothed out a little of the panic. “I’m not asking you to give up anything. Just delegate.”
“I know. I get that. Still hard to do. But I’ll try.” She sighed and picked up her toast. “Without Leah, what choice do I have?”
“True. And I’d like to add you should also be able to enjoy today, not spend it working yourself ragged.”
“Stop making so much sense.” She scooped the last bite of eggs onto her fork.
He shrugged, using the remaining triangle of his toast to punctuate his words. “It’s a blessing and a curse.”
She glanced at the time on the microwave. “We should really get moving. How much time do you need to be out the door?”
“I’m assuming we’re starting this early so we have time to change and get ready for the wedding after all the grunt work is done?”
“Exactly.”
“Then I can be ready to leave in five.”
“Wow, okay, I better get moving. I need a few more minutes than that.” She pushed back from the table. “Just leave the dishes, I’ll clean up tonight.”
“Go,” he said. “I’ve got this.”
“Thanks.” She hustled back to her bedroom. Was Wyatt always this helpful? Or was this just what having a good partner was like? Either way, it was incredibly nice. She got herself together, and they were out the door in less than fifteen minutes.
Wyatt drove, which gave her a chance to text her mom and check in on Saffie. All was well. Saffie hadn’t accidentally cast any spells that needed undoing, so that was good. Marigold had been a little afraid Saffie would want to show off her budding skills in front of her mimi.
“Everything okay?” Wyatt asked.
“Yep.” Marigold finished texting her reply to Corette. “Saffie’s been up since six, which isn’t that big of a deal since my mom is an early riser, but apparently she’s had her bridesmaid dress on since then too.”
Wyatt laughed. “That’s kind of adorable.”
Marigold glanced at him. “It is, isn’t it? Man, that kid loves weddings. I’m almost afraid of how much actually being in one is going to affect her. She’s been planning the day she and Charlie Merrow walk down the aisle since about five seconds after she met him. I mean, that’s crazy, right?”
“Not so much.” He gave her a quick, sly look. “When you know, you know.”
Her insides went all fluttery. Was he implying what it seemed like he was implying? She couldn’t think about that right now, or she’d melt down into a happy but weirded-out puddle of goo.
Creeping myrtle, she liked him a lot.
Fortunately, they were pulling into the shop’s parking lot, giving her a valid reason not to respond to his statement. She was almost out of the SUV before it stopped. “I’ll get the shop unlocked.”
He got out of the vehicle a couple seconds later. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
She cranked the key and pushed the door open. “I know. You didn’t. Just…there’s no space in my head to think about more than the wedding right now.”
“Totally get it. Let’s get to work. What can I do?”
“Back the van up to this door? Then we can get loading.” And she could take a second to process what he’d said.
He took the keys off the hook inside. “On it.”
While he did that, she flipped the lights on and took care of Frank’s food and water, then got her checklist out. She stared at the sheet in front of her, not really seeing it. Did Wyatt really mean he thought she was the one? The thought that he might be ready to commit to a future with her made her head spin. In a good way. Her heart beat a little faster. Then she shook herself. She couldn’t think about that right now or nothing was going to get done.
She put that unbelievable thought from her head and focused on the checklist again. As long as he had this for the second trip, everything should be fine. He was a very capable guy. And he was right. If she didn’t delegate, she’d never get to enjoy today.
He strolled back in, stooping to give Frank a scratch on the head. “Van’s moved, doors are open, and I’m ready to work.”
“Good.” She could do a future with him. Also, so much for not thinking about what he’d said. She blinked, trying to clear her head of all the giddiness going on up there. “Because we have a lot of it to do.”
Nearly forty-five minutes later, the van was loaded and they were ready to head to Cole and Pandora’s. Marigold drove the van with Wyatt following behind in his rental. All of their wedding clothes were in his car, along with her toiletries and makeup bag.
The drive to her sister’s took a little longer than usual, but then, she’d never driven to Pandora’s house with a van full of flowers before. She backed into the drive while Wyatt parked on the street.
Cole walked out onto the front porch as they were getting out of the vehicles. “Pandora sent me out to help.”
“Perfect.” Marigold gestured toward the van. “You and Wyatt can start carrying the swags to the backyard while I take our wedding clothes into the house.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He headed for the van, giving Wyatt a nod.
The clothes could have waited, but she really wanted to see Pandora. She took both garment bags, the toiletries, and her makeup bag and headed in.
She found her sister at the kitchen table, leisurely sipping a cup of coffee and scrolling through her phone.
Marigold stared at her in shock. “What are you doing?”
Pandora put her phone down. “Having coffee and dealing with email. You know, like civilized people do.”
“You should be upstairs, squirreled away where Cole can’t see you. It’s tradition, you know.”
Pandora shook her head. “You sound like Gertrude.”
“Well, for a ghost, she’s very astute. Isn’t Mom here yet? She can’t be, or she’d have you locked upstairs too.”
Pandora gave her sister a slightly patronizing look. “He won’t see me in my dress until I walk down the aisle, I promise. And that’s like eight hours away, so…”
“Still.” Marigold sighed, overwhelmed suddenly by the day in front of them. “I can’t believe you’re getting married.”
“I know.” Pandora grinned. “It’s been a long time coming, huh?” She got to her feet. “You want to hang that stuff in one of the guest rooms? Then you can have your own space to get ready in when all the flowers are taken care of.”
“That would be great.”
“Come on, I’ll show you.” Pandora picked up her coffee and headed for the second story.
Marigold followed her up the steps. Not a creak from any of them. The house, an old Victorian and one of the largest on the block, had been completely renovated and now looked like a showplace. “Are you nervous?”
“No. Just excited and ready and literally so happy that I almost can’t stand it.” She opened one of the doors and led Marigold into the guest room. “Speaking of happy, how’re things with the detective?”
Marigold smiled, unable to do anything else. “He’s…amazing.”
“So you’ll be next, then?”
“Pandy, stop that. You’ll jinx things.” Marigold hung the garment bags in the closet.
Pandora shrugged. “He’s got your magic. You should marry him. You know, just to keep it in the family.”
“Today is not the day for that conversation.” She gave her sister a quick hug. “I’m so happy for you. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Now I better get downstairs and make sure the flowers are perfect.”
Pandora squinted. “You’re freaking out a little.”
“Just a little. But everything’s going to be fine, you’ll see.” Marigold meant it, too. There was no way anything was going to ruin her sister’s day.