“Mom?”
She squeezed my arm tighter and didn’t answer.
“What’s this about?”
“You’ll see.” Mom flashed me a cryptic smile.
I didn’t like surprises, especially any that involved my ex-boyfriend. But Mom knew that already. What was she up to?
As we rounded the corner into the back garden, I noticed the white crepe paper ribbons that streamed down from atop the gazebo roof. Directly in front of our path was an eight-foot tall arch made of pink balloons, the exact shade as the Queen Elizabeth roses that surrounded the gazebo.
I turned to Mom, alarmed. “Is somebody getting married?”
“Shhh.” She pressed a finger to her mouth and pulled me closer to her just as a harp strummed a most familiar tune. The melody was beautiful and haunting, all at the same time.
I shifted my gaze to the stage and was surprised to see Lacey Ratcliffe onstage. I hadn’t known she played any musical instrument, let alone a harp.
After a few false starts she settled into a rhythm. It was a song I knew well.
Here comes the bride,
Here comes the bride,
Suddenly, the song stopped as if someone had cut the power.
“Mom! What’s going on?” I noticed people, about two dozen of them, who were formally dressed and staring at us. My voice was louder than I intended, sounding harsh against the soft harp melody. I felt everyone’s eyes on me and realized I was the only one dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt. My whole body flushed with embarrassment. It was obviously a formal event, and I was completely underdressed. I felt as if I were naked and wanted to crawl under the gazebo.
Judging by the rows of seating that flanked the pink balloon archway, I was at a pop-up wedding.
Seeing Brayden at the front only confirmed my fears. He wore the same dark suit he had bought for our wedding. Our relationship hadn’t worked out, but the suit sure had come in handy. Brayden wore it to every wedding, funeral, and formal occasion. As mayor, he often officiated weddings. Clearly this was one.
We had no guests at the Inn, and I wasn’t aware of anyone in town tying the knot. I certainly hadn’t received a wedding invitation lately, so who was getting married?
I gulped.
It couldn’t be.
No.
Surely it was not my wedding. I hadn’t agreed to marry anyone. Tyler and I had talked about marriage one day but only in general terms. He and I both wanted something simple, nothing like this fancy setup.
Shotgun weddings were a vestige of the distant past, and Tyler was far too progressive for that.
Besides, we weren’t even engaged yet!
I turned to Mom to get some answers, but she was no longer by my side. I searched the crowd, but with people milling about it was hard to get a clear view of the entire garden. Where had she gone and why had she abandoned me here? And why hadn’t she filled me in on the dress code to avoid all this embarrassment? A sense of dread grew in the pit of my stomach.
Why was I the only one unaware of the wedding about to take place?
I was looking for a way to escape without notice when my eyes locked on Brayden’s. He smiled and winked.
Aunt Pearl suddenly materialized by my side. “Cendrine! It’s about time you got here. I hope you weren’t wasting time writing at that stupid newspaper of yours. Everybody already knows what happened to Richard, so there’s no point reporting about it.”
“I wasn’t—” I stopped myself. I didn’t want to start an argument. “Is this…a shotgun wedding?”
Her eyes narrowed. “A shotgun wedding? What are you talking about?”
“I heard that wedding song so I thought—”
Aunt Pearl scoffed. “Oh, that. No, that’s because Lacey’s just learning the harp, and she only knows a couple of songs. You took forever to get here, and she had to entertain everybody while we waited for you.”
“That’s a relief! I saw Brayden, and when I heard the harp music I—”
“What’s wrong with harp music?” Aunt Pearl cut me off. “It was good enough for Marie Antionette, and it’s good enough for you. It’s always got to be about you, doesn’t it, Cen?’
“I didn’t mean to say it wasn’t—”
“Lacey’s been practicing for weeks.” Aunt Pearl shouted so loud my ears rang. “Lacey! Play that song!”
Lacey’s rendition of Greensleeves seemed to float on the breeze. I was captivated by the beautiful music but still didn’t have a clue about what was going on.
I wanted to ask Aunt Pearl more questions, but I was fearful of the answers. Instead, I decided to enjoy the moment.
Just then Tyler appeared at my side in khakis and a golf shirt. Thankfully, he was dressed as casually as I was.
Aunt Pearl grabbed my elbow a little harder than necessary and steered me over to the side of the gazebo where Mom now stood. Tyler followed behind us.
“Ahem.” Aunt Pearl released my arm and turned to face me, her expression solemn. “It’s a good thing I invested so much time teaching you everything I know, even if you don’t absorb much. It seemed like a wasted effort for a long time, but it’s finally, finally…paid off.”
“Information overload,” I said, not knowing where she was going with this.
“Well, keep trying, Cen. Maybe if you apply yourself better you can be as accomplished as me someday. Miracles can happen.”
“Thanks, Aunt Pearl, that’s quite a compliment.” I meant to sound sarcastic, but it didn’t come out that way.
I was glad it didn’t because what happened next surprised me.
“Ahem…um…” Aunt Pearl cleared her throat and quickly turned away.
But not before I saw tears fill her eyes. She hummed for a minute, then took several deep breaths before clearing her throat again.
“Ahem!
She blinked back tears.
“Congratulations, Cendrine West! You’ve been promoted to Senior Witch.” Aunt Pearl extracted a roll of parchment paper neatly from her jacket pocket. It was tied with a gold ribbon. “I planned to give this to you later, but now is as good a time as any, I
