“The other one,” Willow replied without even having to think. “Juliet loves Ian above all else, and if my people reading skills are still on point, it’s clear that Ian feels the same about her.”
“Exactly. And after that? What’s the next most important thing to either one of them?”
“You mean like, a secondary real most important thing?”
Harry laughed lightly as she tossed his words back at him. “Okay, sure, just like that.”
As Willow thought it over, her blue eyes focused beyond the horizon, Harry stole the moment to study her. The sweet curve of her lips, the way the light and wind played in her hair. She turned and caught him staring, smiling as she dropped her eyes and bit her lip. “Family,” she finally said. “They both cherish family.”
“Right. So, here’s what I’m thinking. Do you really believe they would enjoy spending an evening separated from each other, supposedly celebrating their last single days by getting drunk with a bunch of friends and stuffing dollar bills in a stripper’s G-string or eating penis cake and drinking cocktails through penis shaped straws?”
Willow widened her eyes and choked back a laugh. “Penis cake?”
“Don’t think I don’t know what goes on at those bachelorette parties. You girls are crazy!”
Willow shook her head, her eyes dancing with merriment. “Fucking penis cake,” she muttered. “What a visual.”
“Anyway,” Harry said, drawing out the word, pleased to have made her laugh and smile. “Knowing Ian and Juliet and the things that are most important to them, don’t you think it would be better to throw them a joint party and invite our whole family? Really give them a chance to celebrate their love…with the people they love?”
“I think that sounds beautiful. I really do. And it’s not just because I didn’t have the first clue as to how I was going to throw a decent bachelorette party.”
The two spent the next couple hours brainstorming the details of the event. Harry had no problem closing the restaurant for the evening, even on such short notice, so the venue was set. The staff who were already scheduled to work that night would still come in; they’d just end up catering to the needs of the party rather than a stream of random customers.
“So that takes care of the food, the venue…” Willow held up fingers, counting off the things they would need. She held up a third and gave him a questioning look. “Drinks?”
“Yep. I’ll have the bar open.”
“Dang. Nice. What’s that leave me? Music?”
“Music would be good.”
“Oh! I know just where to start! They have this whole Top Gun thing going, don’t they?”
Harry rolled his eyes. “Do they ever.”
“I’ll make a playlist for the evening and include as many of those songs as I can.” Willow smiled. “Think they’d go for a little Prokofiev?”
Harry grinned. “I doubt it. But I bet you could get away with one song. Just for us. We are throwing the party, after all.”
“Well, you’re throwing the party. I’m making a playlist. Doesn’t seem like an even distribution of work to me.”
“Oh, no. That’s not the only job you’ll be getting, young lady. We need to come up with a menu. And hors d'oeuvres. And drinks. Those are all you.” Now Harry was the one holding up fingers, counting off jobs. “Oh, shit. And we both have speeches to write.”
“Wow. That’s a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it.”
“Good thing we’re thinking ahead.”
“If you call, umm, trying to pull this thing together a day before we have to actually have the party thinking ahead…” Willow leaned against the railing and arched an eyebrow.
“They can’t know we waited this long. We’ll just have to pull in our combined attention to detail and discipline and they’ll be none the wiser.”
They spent the next few hours hammering out a guestlist and menu and by the time Harry took Willow home, the whole thing didn’t seem so insurmountable after all. In fact, it seemed totally doable and like it might end up being the best gift they could actually give Juliet and Ian. Which, in Harry’s mind seemed appropriate because it was Juliet and Ian getting married that brought Willow into his life.
And at that moment?
She was the best gift he had ever received.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Willow
Willow drove back to Juliet’s in Harry’s Jeep, trying desperately to concentrate as he ran his hand up and down her leg, sometimes dipping his fingers into her shorts and tracing the line of her panties against her inner thigh. When she pulled into the driveway, instead of getting out and saying goodbye, she honked the horn wildly until Juliet and Ian came running out of the house with Lulu hot on their heels.
“What the holy hell?” asked Juliet as she noticed Willow behind the wheel.
“Harry taught me to drive today!” Willow bounced up and down like an excited little girl.
Juliet swooped up Lulu and hit Harry with a look that meant trouble. “Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?”
Harry made a face that said he thought Juliet was overreacting. “Given her access to a basic human right?”
“No.” Juliet shook her head knowingly and glanced at Willow. “You’ve given her a new skill to master. Do you have any idea how she handles having new skills that she hasn’t mastered?”
Harry studied Willow and grinned. “I can only imagine she attacks them with exuberance and diligently goes above and beyond until she considers herself an expert.”
Willow saw something dirty flash through Harry’s mind and she almost read the thought as he had it. She tilted her head in question only for him to give a little nod and she could definitely read his response:
Later, he was trying to say to her. I’ll tell you later.
Juliet caught the exchange. “I’m not even sure I want to know what else you guys did today.”
