Fool for You (Southern Bride 7)

“I know, they really are.”

“Are you going to use them in your bouquet?” I walked over and picked up a red one. “What if you mixed the white and the red anemones in with your white roses? And then on the tables, we can do some sort of display with the white and red ones. That sorta seems Christmas-like to me.”

Emmerson and I had decided we were going to have our wedding ceremony on the fake ceremony date she had blurted out: December 21. I also knew that she’d always dreamed of a winter wedding, and that simply eloping in a courthouse would never be good enough for her.

The way my new bride’s eyes lit up made my chest warm. “Landon! I love that idea.”

An older man with slightly graying hair made his way over to us. “It sounds like we have some flowers picked out.”

Emmerson swung around and faced him. “John, yes! Now, the wedding is going to be small and simple, so I really want the flowers to reflect that. We’re going to have the ceremony on our parents’ ranch and the reception in the main barn.”

John immediately started typing away on the iPad he was carrying around with him. “And for the bridesmaids?” he asked with a serious look on his face as he waited for her instructions.

“There will only be one. Let’s make Hailey’s bouquet all red anemones.”

John nodded as he typed. “And for the groom and groomsman’s boutonnieres?”

“White roses,” Emmerson and I said in unison, then we both laughed.

“I’ll put a note to use red ribbon,” John stated.

Emmerson smiled. “Once we get closer to the date, John, I’ll let you know how many tables. But we’ll only have one bridesmaid and one groomsman.”

With a nod, John looked at her. “It’s funny, you’d think the wedding planner would want a huge wedding celebration.”

Emmerson gave me a wink before turning back to John. “I’m a simple girl, who simply wants to spend the rest of my life with the man of my dreams.”

John laughed. “I suppose that you of all people know how much planning and money goes into a wedding. And in a blink of an eye, it’s done. Poof. Just like that.”

Emmerson and I both laughed, and then she leaned up and gave John a quick kiss on the cheek. “So very true, John. So very true.”

I stood back and inspected the restored nineteen fifty-five Chevy Sedan and smiled. With the blue and white two-tone colors, it looked fucking sharp. The paint job was perfect, even after the owner had decided he wanted a different shade of blue.

Walking around it, I gave it a close once-over before Hal, the owner of the car, was due to arrive and do his own final inspection.

The door to the office area opened and I glanced over my shoulder to see if it was Hal. If it was, he was early.

To my surprise, it was my beautiful wife.

In between work, planning the wedding, and moving in together, the last three months had flown by. We had of course confirmed the wedding to our close friends when it had leaked, and then Emmerson had posted about it on her blog and Instagram. We’d told people that we didn’t want to wait for the big show, we simply wanted to be together.

Emmerson had rented out her house and moved in with me. I’d told her to decorate or do whatever she wanted with our house, but the only room she’d touched was one of the bedrooms upstairs, which she’d turned into her office. She had no idea I was having a separate building constructed right outside of the main house as her office. It would hold a small meeting room as well, so that she could meet with potential and current clients.

“Hey,” I said, wiping my hands on a towel and then heading her way. “I thought you were meeting Abby and Kurt in Austin to look at venues?”

She shook her head. “Abby decided she wanted to get married at her father’s friend’s house on Lake Travis. She sent me pictures, and I told her I thought it was a beautiful place to have a wedding.”

“Ah, so are you free the rest of the day?” I asked, finally making my way up the steps that led to the main office. You could look out over the two bays from this vantage point.

A wide smile grew over her face. “I’m free for the rest of the day. What about you?” Her eyes darted down to the blue and white Chevy.

“The owner should be here in about—” I glanced down at my watch—“thirty minutes.”

“Where is everyone?”

“Gone for the day. I usually like to let everyone cut out early on Fridays.”

Emmerson lifted her brows. “So, what you’re saying is, we’re alone right now.”

I nodded. “You have a wicked look in those eyes, Mrs. Lewis.”