Page 15 of The Gingerbread Bakery (Dream Harbor #5)

Chapter Fourteen

Now

A nnie should have been relaxed. This was after all the most relaxing part of her day, mani-pedis with the bride.

And even though her feet were in the tub, bubbles at full tilt, and the massage chair she was sitting in was doing its best to work out the tension in her neck, Annie was not relaxed in the slightest. Mainly because her attention was still back in the parking lot with Mac.

She’d felt like a complete idiot when she realized her appointment was right there at the inn and she'd had to get back out of his car and storm into the spa with Mac calling after her. He’d texted several times asking if she needed a ride home which she’d diligently ignored.

But here she was now, doing her best to be in the present moment, when all she could really think about was the devastated look on Mac’s face when they talked and the way he felt pressed against her and, most concerningly, how badly she wanted him there.

She shook her head. She was supposed to be celebrating with some of her most favorite people in the world and she was not going to let Mac ruin that for her.

‘So, Haze,’ she said, turning to her friend beside her. ‘Do you regret skipping all of this before your big day?’

Hazel smiled, taking another sip of champagne. ‘I’m having a great time,’ she said. ‘But my wedding was exactly what I wanted.’

‘Well, in that case I guess I forgive you for ditching us.’

‘I didn’t ditch you. We were being spontaneous.’ And that was honestly why Annie hadn’t been more upset about missing her friend’s wedding. Hazel being happy and spontaneous was worth it.

‘Tell us about it,’ Kira piped up from where she was having her fingernails painted.

Next to her was Jeanie, who looked much more relaxed than she’d sounded when Annie had been hiding in the closet.

But Annie wasn’t thinking about the closet incident, either.

And she was certainly not thinking about how it had felt to rest her cheek over Mac’s rapidly beating heart.

Nope. She was focused on the lovely bride, decked out in her white, pre-wedding, sweat suit. A gift from the book club, it had Bride bedazzled across the back of it.

‘It was really romantic,’ Hazel said, getting all dreamy-eyed like she always did when she talked about her wedding day.

‘We were on vacation in Aruba, and Noah had just asked me to marry him the day before. He had it all planned out, with an officiant and everything. We went into town, and I picked out a white sundress that we found at one of the little shops. The front desk arranged for flowers to wear in my hair and Noah looked so gorgeous in his linen button-down with his hair all windswept and his cheeks freckled and sunburnt. Then it was just us on the beach at sunset telling each other how much we loved each other.’

Every woman in the room, including the nail technicians, sighed at Hazel’s story. Annie had heard it before, but she had to admit it got her every time.

‘That sounds perfect,’ Kira said.

‘And then they spent the rest of the week holed up in their hotel room sealing the deal,’ Annie chimed in, and Hazel’s cheeks flushed pink.

‘And that was perfect, too,’ she said.

‘Yeah, I bet it was!’ Kira said and all the ladies laughed.

‘And what about you? When do you plan to make an honest man out of my brother?’ Jeanie asked, turning with a raised eyebrow to Kira.

‘Wouldn’t he have to ask her first?’ Iris asked from the seat beside Annie.

Jeanie had insisted that Iris came, even though she wasn’t in the wedding party.

She’d also invited her mother, several cousins, her employee, Crystal, and Lyndsay and Alex from the bookstore.

They’d taken over the entire spa for the afternoon.

Maybe Dot and Estelle were off in a sauna or massage room somewhere?

Annie should probably check on that before she left.

‘Well, technically—’ Kira started before Jeanie chimed in.

‘He’s asked her multiple times,’ she said.

‘He has?!’ Annie nearly jumped up out of her seat. How did she not know this?

Kira shrugged. ‘Yes, technically he has asked. He has a weird habit of saying marry me, peaches, whenever we’re just having a really great day or something.’

Kira’s impression of Bennett’s deep voice had everyone giggling again.

‘But I don’t think he means it.’

‘He means it.’ Jeanie was adamant.

‘I’m not even sure I want to get married!’ Kira insisted.

Iris ran a hand over her belly. ‘I don’t think it’s necessary. If you two are happy together, that’s all that matters.’

‘Right,’ Kira said with a nod and then she gave a little shrug. ‘Maybe one day I’ll say yes and see what he does then.’

Annie shook her head with a laugh. ‘Poor Bennett.’

Kira waved a hand, careful not to mess up her nails. ‘Oh please, that man is fine.’

‘Well, married or not, he’d go to the ends of the Earth for you,’ Jeanie said.

Kira smiled. ‘Yeah, I know. He’s a keeper.’

‘Okay, I want to hear more about this wedding,’ Iris said. ‘Obviously, I know all about the food. Archer’s been talking about it for months. But what else have you guys planned? Everyone's dying to see the barn all done up, Kira! It already looked amazing at the rehearsal dinner.’

‘I know! I can’t wait to see it tomorrow!’ Jeanie jumped in.

Kira smiled, but Annie could see the nerves on her face.

She knew how hard her friend had worked over the past six months to get this plan up and running.

Ever since she and Bennett had found a stash of secret treasure on the farm, they’d put all their effort into transforming the barn into an event space.

And now the wedding of the season was her first real event.

Annie knew how important it was to her to pull it off.

But she would. Annie didn’t doubt it.

‘It’s going to look gorgeous,’ she said. ‘The barn is so much bigger than I originally thought, and Kira did an amazing job overseeing the remodel. We have all white linens, white candles, white lights. It’s a winter wonderland with pops of red flowers… What were those flowers you picked, Jeanie?’

‘White anemones and red peonies. And then Daisy is going to add pine boughs to the tables as well.’

‘Right,’ Annie said. ‘The vision is completely on point.’

Kira smiled at her in thanks. ‘Yeah, it’s going to be perfect.’

Iris leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. ‘That sounds beautiful.’

‘And the dress,’ Hazel added. ‘How did the last fitting go?’

‘It went really well. My mom was able to come, and we only cried a little.’

‘You sure about that?’

‘Okay, we cried a lot, but it was everything I’d dreamed of!’

Jeanie handed her phone to Iris so she could see pictures of the dress.

Annie had been with her when she found it, a gorgeous frothy confection that made her look like a winter princess with a fitted top and a deep V in the front.

Lace vines and flowers ran down the bodice and onto the skirt, as well as down the long sleeves.

Logan was going to absolutely lose his mind.

‘Damn, Jeanie, you’re going to look amazing in this,’ Iris said, and Annie agreed.

‘She does.’ Annie could already feel herself getting choked up. Hazel reached over and gave her hand a squeeze.

‘You can't start crying yet.’

Annie shook her head. ‘I've been crying for weeks.’

‘Are you bringing a date?’ Francine, the woman currently working on her toes asked, bringing everyone’s attention back to Annie. ‘Because my nephew?—’

‘I'm going to stop you right there, Fran. I'm not looking for a date.’

Four heads turned to stare at Annie as Jeanie, Hazel, Kira and Iris looked at her in disbelief.

‘What?’

‘You're going to show up to an event without a date and Mac will also be without a date,’ Jeanie pointed out.

‘I don't see why that’s relevant.’ Annie refused to engage in this line of questioning or to think about Mac charging across the parking lot to get to her. Or how it would feel to see him in the sexy suit she was sure he’d be wearing.

Jeanie gave a little shrug like she wasn't going to push the matter, but then she went ahead and pushed it. ‘I'm just saying it’s rare that you're both unattached at these things. Seems like it might be a good opportunity…’

‘A good opportunity for what, Jean Marie?’

Jeanie wrinkled her nose at the use of her full name. ‘I don't know. A good opportunity to bury the hatchet.’

‘There is no hatchet. We don't need to bury anything, and we certainly don’t need to be near each other any more than is strictly necessary. Like I promised you, I've been on my best behavior, but that’s all I can promise.’

‘Okay, okay.’ Jeanie put up her hands with her newly painted nails in surrender. ‘I appreciate it.’

Jeanie let it drop, and the girls turned their attention back to more pressing matters, like was it really bad luck to see the bride before the wedding because Jeanie had no intention of sleeping away from her groom tonight.

‘I don’t think it matters,’ Iris weighed in, and Kira agreed.

‘As long as he doesn’t see you in your dress,’ Hazel added.

‘Says the woman who shopped for her dress with her groom,’ Jeanie said with a laugh.

Hazel shrugged. ‘He helped pick it out, but he didn’t see me in it until we were on the beach together. It’s nice to have it be a surprise, don’t you think?’

‘I do think that’s romantic. To have his first look of you in the dress as you walk down the aisle,’ Kira said, blowing on her fingernails.

‘Logan is going to cry so much,’ Annie said.

Iris looked at her in surprise. ‘You think so?’

‘That guy is all gooey inside. He’s for sure going to cry.’

‘Did Noah cry?’ Iris turned back to Hazel.

‘There were tears,’ she confirmed, and everyone sighed again. What was it about making grown men cry that was so damn satisfying?

‘Okay, so we’re all agreed. I can sleep with Logan tonight, but he can’t see me in the dress.’

‘That’s right,’ Kira said. ‘That feels like a good compromise.’