Ethan thought about it but all it did was make him regret how he’d questioned Mari about being Noah’s father. “I’m having dinner with them tonight after I take him to kick the ball with Jake and Cory. I’ll, ah, have to listen for it and see if I agree.”
The tractor drove down the laneway between the house and the packing shed. His father slowed and pulled on the brake. “Ethan.”
“Dad.”
“What are you doing here? Thought you were working today.”
“I was. Even I need time off every now and then.”
His father grunted. “Work never killed anyone.”
“Jeff, let it alone. Ethan’s put in a good day’s work already. Did you want coffee, now you’ve stopped?” Pearl put her seedlings in the ground and pressed the soil around them. “You’ll stop for one too, won’t you Ethan? Mari sent me home with cake. That sister of hers can cook up a storm, I tell you.”
“No thanks, Mom. I need to get going. Promised Jake I’d kick the ball with them.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek, nodded at his father and climbed in his truck.
Jeff climbed down and headed up the path to the kitchen. “Hmm. I don’t suppose it will kill me to take a break. Cake you say?”
Pearl stood up and brushed the dirt from her hands. “You have a good time, Ethan, and I’ll see you later.”
Chapter Twelve
“Behave, Noah. I’ll be over after my Skype meeting to watch you guys, okay?”
“Don’t fuss. He’ll be fine. It’s going to be a great afternoon of guys kicking a ball and letting our hair down. You deal with your bridezilla and leave Noah in my capable hands. It’ll be nice to have some bonding time with my boy.” Ethan gave her shoulder a quick squeeze. “You concentrate on your meeting, and good luck. Not that you’ll need it. We’ll see you when you’re finished.”
“Thank you.” They walked away leaving her a bundle of anxiety, nerves, and anticipation. It’d been almost a year since she’d taken on a wedding. A year filled with making the decision to move, another with packing and leaving, saying goodbye to her old life, and taking on the Lake Hotel. And the thing that scared her the most? Meeting up with Jeff Benson. Even watching her son walk off with his father didn’t scare her like Jeff did.
Keith ambled down the hallway. “Just going to go and turn the taps over and bleed the lines. I’ll be down in the cellar if you need me.”
“Thanks, Keith. I’ll be in the office. Things should stay pretty quiet for another couple of hours at least. I’ll be going over to the park later but I’ll be back before we open for dinner.”
“Righto.”
She checked her watch and hurried upstairs to grab a coffee to take to the office. There wasn’t anything to do but wait for the Skype call to come in. The paperwork had been sent through to the bride-to-be, Natasha. She had all the brochures from April and Bella as well as the images Mari had taken of the little stone church overlooking the lake, its picturesque gardens perfect for photos.
The bridal suite had been finished last month along with the small reception rooms she’d earmarked for the bride’s day. All that remained was the ballroom and that was turning out to be more of an issue than she expected but it would all come together. It had to.
By the time she was sitting in the office in front of her computer, nerves had settled and her business skills rose to the fore. Notebook on hand, her file ready, she pushed the accept button as the Skype call beeped on her laptop.
“Natasha, how lovely to see you.”
“Mari, it’s been ages.” The bubbly blonde had grown up a lot in the three years since she’d been a bridesmaid at the wedding Mari had organized for her big sister.
“And look at you. All grown up and so very much in love. Congratulations again. I’m so thrilled for you.” The joy Mari felt at dealing with her brides all flowed back in. It was as though she’d never had time off to move. Her mind kicked into gear and she went through the list, ticking off the boxes as the bride gave her version of what she wanted for her big day.
“I can’t believe we have Bella Moore making our wedding cake. It’s just…so fab.”
“Which cake did you decide on?” Mari had shipped cupcake testers to the bride-to-be of the different flavors Bella had on offer as samples to try since she wasn’t local. A clever and stress-free approach when someone was having a destination wedding and couldn’t be on hand for every decision. It was all in the planning—something she prided herself on.
“I liked the rose cake best of all. Robert wants chocolate, but I don’t know. I want something different. What do you think?” Natasha leaned her chin on her hands and stared through the lens at Mari, waiting for her to give her opinion.
“I loved the rose cake too. We had it for dessert last week and it’s divine, isn’t it?” She paused. “Did you see the gift boxes Bella does up from the bride and groom? If you decided to go that route, you could have the rose cake for your wedding cake and use the chocolate for the favors. The chocolate is a more fudgy consistency and will last longer where the rose cake is so light and fluffy, you’d want to eat that on the day, I think. It’s not as sweet either so it won’t clash with the desserts on offer. The last thing you want is people passing on your wedding cake because they’ve overeaten on the dessert side.”
Natasha’s face lit up with a smile. “Oh, you’re so right. Lizzie was delighted with
