Hux takes up my hand and my mouth falls open at the sweet gesture.
“Huxley? You haven’t held my hand since I was three,” I say as we come upon Main Street with the crowds as thick as a den of thieves.
It seems as if all of Cider Cove has turned out for the festivities. A huge banner is draped from one side of the street to the other and it reads Welcome to the Cider Cove Beautification Reveal!
He shrugs. “Yeah, well. I figure I’d better hold it one last time before Jasper takes you away from us.” There’s a genuine touch of sadness in his eyes as if he actually believed it.
“That will never happen, Hux. You’re stuck with me forever.”
“Good.” He gives a slow blink. “I love you, Biz.” He takes a deep breath. “And if you’re wondering where your sister is, she said to tell you that she’s at Georgie’s reveal with someone by the name of Alex Fox. She said you’d know what it meant if you heard his name.”
“Alex Fox?” I stop dead in my tracks.
A rush of adrenaline runs through me like never before.
Does that mean Pancake and Waffles are here? Fish twitches her head every which way inspecting the crowd.
And then I see them standing right in front of Georgie’s veiled mural.
Lottie Lemon stands holding her gorgeous Himalayan cats, Pancake and Waffles, while flanked with her husband, Judge Everett Baxter, on one side, and her boyfriend, Detective Noah Fox, on the other side. Their love life is sort of a long and sordid story. Standing next to them is Lottie’s biological mother, Carlotta, holding tight to Georgie, while the two of them sport matching pink kaftans. And smooching off to the side are Macy and her long-distance part-time lover, Noah’s brother, Alex Fox.
“Lottie Lemon!” I scream as I lunge at her and pull her into an aggressive hug that only true friendship can sponsor.
“Bizzy Baker.” She laughs as she pulls away. Lottie has caramel-colored curls and hazel eyes with a mischievous gleam in them. She happens to share my transmundane status, but her gift is referred to as supersensual—as in, she can see the dead. “You didn’t think we’d miss your big day, did you?”
“If it isn’t the bippity boppity brood.” Carlotta leans in—an exact duplicate of Lottie, adding about twenty years. “Can’t wait to see you dance your way down that aisle.”
“Thanks, Carlotta,” I say. “And thank you all so much for coming!”
I glance up at Everett and Noah. Both have dark hair, but Noah’s is red around the tips. Everett has caustic blue eyes and a sharp level of handsome that puts all the women on high alert. Noah has dimples and green eyes, and Macy is counting her lucky stars that he has a look-alike brother who just so happens to be available.
Noah nods my way. “So where’s Jasper?”
“Right here,” a deep voice strums from behind as he lands a warm kiss just under my ear. “And I promise you, it’s good luck to see your groom before and after your wedding.”
“It had better be,” I say as I wrap an arm around the handsome man by my side.
Sherlock barks and nips playfully at Pancake and Waffles. It’s about time you guys showed up. Jasper was having a hard time keeping this from Bizzy!
My mouth falls open as I look to my gorgeous fiancé.
“You knew?”
He shrugs “What can I say? A lifetime with me will be full of surprises. In fact, I’ve got another one for you.” He steps back, exposing a man who looks every bit his doppelgänger, with the exception he has a couple of decades on him.
My mouth falls open. “Your father?”
“Call me Dad.” The sweet man holds open his arms, and I hug him before we formally have a chance to meet.
“Bizzy”—Jasper holds a hand out his way—“this is Bertram Wilder, my—our father.”
We share a round of laughter as someone blows a horn from behind.
Mayor Woods steps up to the podium set up at the end of the street and thanks the vendors, the people of Cider Cove, and Georgie Conner for creating a work of mosaic art that spans an entire city block. The curtain falls and Georgie’s mosaic sea glass project that depicts scenes from all around Cider Cove is revealed for all to see.
Georgie waddles over to the podium and pumps a fist into the air. “Ask not what your small town can do for you, but what you can do for your small town!” The crowd breaks out into a raucous applause despite the fact she loosely lifted her speech. “But in all seriousness, I want to thank the city council for allowing me to do a little something for this great place I get to call home. And I wanted to do something for my good friend, Bizzy Baker, who just so happens to be getting hitched in just a few hours.” She steps off the podium, taking the microphone with her. “And now, Bizzy and Jasper, Fish and Sherlock, I’d like to give you an early wedding present.” She walks over to a patch of the mosaic art-scape and points to a gazebo depicted to the left of the inn, just the way it is in real life.
“In there you’ll find a bride and groom, a bacon hungry dog, and a cool cat. And that’s the very scene about to play out this afternoon.” She nods my way. “And I hope each time you and Jasper look at this wall, you’ll remember how much I love you both.”
The crowd breaks out into another applause as I embrace the wild and zany gray-haired woman I love more than family.
Dad leans in and presses a kiss to my ear. “I left a surprise for you back at your cottage. I’ll see you at the bluff, kiddo. You’re going to make a beautiful bride.”
The crowd begins to dissipate as they take in the rest of the beautification projects at hand, and Lottie pulls
