“Sorry. Did a little too much celebrating, I guess. Had a good time with my friends.” He took a long sip of coffee and squared his shoulders. “What can I do to help?”
“Elise is napping, so why don’t you ask the men if they need a hand with anything?” She was sure Emerson and the others could keep Ward in line. She just wished they didn’t have to. She hesitated before adding, “Ward, I have some news. Big news.”
He immediately turned wary. “What is it?”
She took a breath. “Emerson asked me to marry him this morning. I said yes.”
For a moment, Ward seemed too stunned to say anything, and Wye braced for the worst, but then a smile spread over his face. “That’s wonderful! Wye, that’s perfect. You’ll have someone to help you—and Emerson’s a good guy. He’s not one to leave a woman in the lurch.”
“Of course not.” Wye was too surprised to say much else. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected. Sulking? Barbed comments about not expecting her marriage to last?
Rather than resenting her good news, Ward seemed… relieved.
“When’s the big day? I hope you’re not going to make him wait a year, like Mindy did me. All that fuss.”
“He’ll hardly have to wait at all, actually.” She steeled herself again. “We’re marrying on New Year’s Eve—right here. If we can pull it together.” Cass had begun to jot down a list of to-dos as they’d prepared dinner together. They needed to find an officiant, send out invitations… Things were going to get busy in a hurry in the morning, but for now they’d both agreed to enjoy every minute of the holiday.
“I’m really happy for you.” Ward hugged her, surprising Wye all over again. “You two will be great together.”
Just how much had he had to drink? Wye was still trying to take in his reaction as she watched him wander into the living room to find Emerson and shake his hand.
“That went better than expected,” Cass said, opening the oven to check on the turkey and side dishes.
“A bit too well,” Wye said slowly. Had she misjudged Ward, or was that the alcohol talking? Would he wake up tomorrow in a foul mood and tell her what he really thought?
“Don’t borrow trouble. Hey, can you mash the potatoes?”
After that, they were too busy for Wye to worry about Ward.
Wye woke up the following morning bursting with excitement. This was better than Christmas; she got to start planning her wedding today. As she’d expected, Ward had been happy to leave Elise with her overnight and had gone home with a vague plan to return today to pick her up. Wye didn’t expect to see him until the afternoon, so she slid out of bed without waking Emerson and went to fetch the baby before she woke up and roused everyone.
Not that anyone slept in around here, Wye thought in amusement as a half hour later the kitchen was full of hungry men and women preparing for a day of chores. Emerson kissed her on the cheek before heading out with the rest of the men, who’d decided to put a morning’s work in one of the trailers after their chores were done.
“Sure you don’t want to stick around and plan the wedding?” she teased him.
“I’ll just get in the way. Text me any questions you have, and I’ll try to be decisive,” he told her with a kiss.
“Sounds good.”
When they’d cleaned up from the meal, Cass set Elise on the kitchen floor with a number of Tupperware containers and wooden spoons. Elise settled down to banging on them happily, while Cass drew out a notebook.
“I’ve got notes from all our previous weddings,” she began but cut off when Wye laughed. “What? I can’t help it that I’m organized!”
“Your mother would be proud.” Wye had seen the big binder Amelia had left Cass that was full of tips and tricks for keeping Two Willows running.
“I hope so.” Cass flipped through the pages. Each section contained a checklist and laminated pages of information. “We start at the top and work our way through.”
“Sounds fantastic. Thank you—for everything.”
“Are you kidding? Thank you! I was afraid no one else would get married and I wouldn’t get to use this again.”
The day passed so swiftly, Wye didn’t even notice Ward hadn’t shown up until it began to get dark outside. She went to text him, but he’d already sent her a message.
Be there soon.
He arrived at the same time he would have if it was a workday, and the following morning he dropped Elise off right on time, too, never asking if Wye needed a break since she was planning her wedding. Of course, now the radio station was open, so he was going to work, but Wye couldn’t help wondering how hard it would have been for him to take a few days off.
By midweek she was starting to panic. They’d found an officiant, made their guest list and issued invitations. The wedding was to be a small affair, and Cass had taken charge of the dinner plans. The men were putting together a “mix tape,” as Connor insisted on calling it, of dance music for the reception. Sadie was going to provide flowers and greenery from her greenhouse, but there were still rental tables, chairs and tablecloths to order, since the company had been closed extra days around Christmas; bouquets and table arrangements to be made; food to be purchased and prepared… and she hadn’t even thought about her wedding dress.
“I need to go to Ellie’s Bridals,” she announced after breakfast toward the end of the week. Then men had already left the table, intent on performing some ranch chore Wye couldn’t comprehend but that
