Page 11 of Poppy Kisses (Return to Coal Haven #3)

I should’ve panicked more telling Mom and Dad I was getting married to a guy they hadn’t known I was dating.

But at this point, after Lily, Violet, and Alder, they probably took it in stride.

Besides, they loved love. They’d been married for almost four decades, and they wanted everyone as happy as them.

Then there were my happily wed siblings.

Why wouldn’t Mom and Dad think that Jensen and I would be living the dream?

Linda was harder to read. Darren as well. There were no emotions worn on their sleeves. No warm and fuzzy. Just distance and silent appraisal.

“Hey, guys,” I said after Jensen was done shaking their hands. “Thanks for coming on such short notice.”

Linda folded her hands in front of her. “Short-notice weddings seem to be par for the course.”

Tension rode down my body. Jensen slid an arm around me again. This time, I leaned into him. My warm compress for the stiffness.

“I told him we had some time yet,” I said, holding back my wince at the way my voice pitched up. “But he said why delay what was meant to be?”

A snort came from Lily. Everyone turned toward her, but Eliot had already blocked her. Violet shot me a knowing look.

“Doing okay, Lily pad?” Eliot gently patted her back. “Swallow a bug?”

There were no bugs out yet, the nights got too cold, but I appreciated Eliot’s efforts to hide his wife’s laughter.

“That’s sweet.” Linda’s expression was unreadable. “And when is the wedding?”

“Oh, yes.” Mom clapped her hands together. “We were just asking that when you arrived.”

Darren folded his arms across his barrel chest. “I was telling Linda that it’s probably another drive-through wedding.”

She chuffed. “I was beginning to think that you’ve all snatched people off the street to meet the demands of the trust.”

A squeak left me. Just my luck. I’d be the one busted after my other siblings got away with it.

Lily’s cough rang out, but it sounded suspiciously like a laugh. She buried her head in Eliot’s chest. He kept his back to us, but his shoulders were shaking as Lily “coughed.”

“I’ll get you some water,” Alder said. The responsible oldest brother. But when he turned toward me, mischief danced in his eyes. “Does your random man want a drink too?”

I glared at him. What an obnoxious prick. But he schooled his features like the frustrating older brother he was.

Another snort sounded, but Violet covered her mouth. “Oh my goodness,” she said, muffled. “It’s like the cotton’s already been released.”

Jensen had all of two cottonwood trees on his property and they were across the drive and behind the house.

“No, it won’t be a quickie wedding,” I blurted out. Jensen whipped his head toward me. “Not that quick,” I finished weakly.

He stared at me for a moment while everyone’s eyes were on us. Laughter from the kids rose around us. Was he letting me take the lead? I didn’t know where to go with it!

“It’s whatever she wants,” he said carefully. “Naturally, I’d like to get started on the house to get her office up and running, but if we’ve gotta wait, it’s no big deal.”

It would actually be a big deal. I wouldn’t feel like I was accomplishing anything while working in his upstairs bedroom. I’d be under his roof, with his ring on my finger, for longer than planned. Longer to keep the ruse. More time to fumble the plan.

Linda waved his words away. “If you’re doing work there, I’m sure you can get in just fine. It’s only if you want to live there that you have to be married.” She paused and took in the property, her gaze swiveling to the big, white farmhouse, then the shop. “Are you selling?”

This time, it was Jensen going rigid. This was the house he’d grown up in. All his memories of his dad were in this house. We hadn’t talked about what we would tell people. I’d stay here until our year was up. Even pretending to sell must be stopping his heart.

“No,” I said quickly. “No immediate plans to move.” Not until after the year was up when I’d move into my own place. The Perez house.

“Oh.” Again, Linda’s expression was unclear. “So…when?” She shook her head. “Sorry, don’t feel obligated to invite me. I just want to calculate when the year requirement will be fulfilled.”

“No, of course you’re invited.” My invite wasn’t to put on a show. I liked my aunt and uncle. She was hard to get to know, but I didn’t want her feeling left out. “We’ll have it at the Perez house even.”

Jensen’s gaze was on me. What was I saying?

I was coming up with a wedding plan on the fly. I looked to Jensen. If he minded, he didn’t show it.

He gave me an encouraging nod. “I like that idea.”

Emboldened, I let the floodgates down. “The backyard is really pretty. We can do it at sunset and have a cozy reception in the house.”

Aunt Linda’s face lit up. “That will be beautiful. A summer sunset in that yard is one of the things I miss.”

I’d almost forgotten the house used to be her home.

“Then we have time to go dress shopping,” Lily suggested.

Delight warmed my insides. I hadn’t been able to do any wedding shopping with my sisters, and Clover wasn’t engaged. Even when Daisy and Alder married the first time, it was a simple wedding. Daisy hadn’t needed or asked for much help. “That would be fun.”

I snuck a peek at Jensen and found him staring at me, curious.

“What do you want me in?” he asked.

Running shorts and nothing else. “A tux would be too fancy for a backyard sunset wedding.” I nibbled the inside of my cheek. “What do you want?”

“I’ve been through this before. It’s what you want.”

He said it like he wanted to reassure me, but a part of my growing enthusiasm deflated like a week-old balloon.

He’d done it all before. He’d had his dream wedding with his dream bride.

This wedding would be mine, and any excitement I got out of it would be for me alone.

Jensen would go through the motions. Would he be fending off nostalgia the whole time?

The wistfulness and the what-ifs? He’d be remembering when he’d gotten everything he’d wanted.

“Slacks are fine,” I said woodenly, and his gaze flickered. A slight divot formed between his brows as if he heard the tone change but couldn’t figure it out. “I don’t want a fancy dress. We can even do snacks and refreshments.”

“Both Rattler’s and the Purple Petal cater,” Alder said. “Let me take care of the food. Our gift to you two.”

Daisy nodded.

“Lily and I can handle the decorations,” Violet said. “And Clover will tell us what she’s going to do when she’s in town next.”

I missed Clover. I was close to my sisters, more so since they’d settled in Coal Haven and it was easier to gather us all in one place.

But Clover and I were Irish twins, and we’d acted like twins growing up.

Our curfews had been the same, our clothing styles, our personalities.

Clover and I were the middle kids of middle kids.

I could talk to her about Jensen’s comment. It wasn’t his rodeo, and he’d been left by his rodeo queen.