Things We Never Said (Hart's Boardwalk 3)

I snarled at her, and she threw her head back in delighted laughter.

“What’s the plan?” Jess continued. “Do you need us to help keep you two apart?”

“No, I’m not dragging you guys into it. I’ll just avoid him.”

“Well, how are we supposed to act around him?” Emery asked. “Do we like Michael or do we not like Michael?”

I smiled at her loyalty. “Michael’s a good guy. You act any way you want around him.”

“So, blushing and stuttering, then?”

We chuckled at her self-deprecation.

“That reminds me about those man lessons.” Bailey’s eyes filled with excitement. “We need to start those.”

Last year Bailey announced she intended to give Emery lessons in how to talk with men more easily. Both Jess and I could see the idea embarrassed Emery, but when Bailey got something in her head, she was hard to dissuade. Seeing Emery’s panic, I cut in, “You have a wedding to plan. You have no time for man lessons.”

The light dimmed in her eyes. “This wedding is killing me. Everyone has an opinion about it and a request. Being a descendant of the founding family is usually pretty cool. Not so much if you’re planning your wedding.”

“My point exactly. Weddings are stressful in normal situations. Yours will be the biggest event to hit Hartwell in years, so you have no time for extra stuff.”

My friend nodded her head in reluctant agreement, and Emery shot me a grateful smile.

Jess began telling us a funny story about her and Cooper’s dog, Louis, who, despite being almost two years old, was still in the puppy stage. He’d figured out a way to open drawers and was currently fascinated with Cooper’s underwear.

As we were chatting, we heard the tinkle of the bell above the door, but before Emery could get up to check who had come into her bookstore, there was the sound of light footsteps hurtling up the stairs to where we were sitting.

It was Kell Summers. He was small, cute, blond, and a town councilman. He grinned when he saw us. “I heard you ladies had congregated in here. Where was my invite? You know I like a good gossip.”

Bailey grinned up at him. “What brings you to our lady gathering?”

“Winter Carnival.” He clapped his hands together with way too much enthusiasm for a Thursday afternoon.

Not only was Kell a councilman, but he was also the town’s official event planner. That meant as much as we loved him, he drove us (and I had it on good authority, his partner Jake) nuts several times a year. I worked on costumes for the Winter Carnival parade depending on what theme had been chosen for the year. This year it was an homage to Disney for some reason only Kell understood.

While most people rented costumes, Kell liked the participants who rode on the two parade floats to wear original designs. Two locals handy with a sewing machine, Annie and Bryn, had started working on the costumes with me a few months ago. With only two weeks to go until the carnival, however, we got help from a few other people in town, including Kell’s partner, Jake.

Jess’s smile was questioning. “I thought we were all organized for that.”

“Well, we were.” Kell threw me a wide, sheepish grin.

I groaned. “Oh no, what now?”

“You know how hard it was to convince the sheriff to let a few of his deputies take part?”

“Uh-huh.” I did know. Four of his deputies had told me Jeff had almost barred them from volunteering to be on one of the floats representing Hartwell’s civil services. They’d done it anyway and were all now different Disney characters.

“Well, Deputy Rawlins is threatening to pull out unless we let her dress like her fellow deputies.”

Annoyance itched under my skin at Wendy’s demand. “Kell, her fellow deputies are all in different costumes. And I’ve spent weeks working on her Fairy Godmother costume.”

“I know, I know.” He winced. “But all the other deputies are male characters from Disney, like Wreck-It Ralph and Black Panther. Wendy is frustrated that we gave her, and this is a direct quote, ‘a wimpy girly costume.’”

“And she couldn’t have brought this up sooner?”

He rolled his eyes. “Do you not think I asked the same question?”

“Well, who does she want to be?”