“You’re just avoiding the question, aren’t you?”
I shook my head and headed toward the house with my box. I was getting soaked from the rain and wished we had chosen a better time to unload the boxes. “I’m not avoiding the subject. I’m thinking.”
I hurried into the house, but it was no use. I was soaked.
Alec hurried with two more boxes behind me. “Well, what are you thinking? Can’t you think out loud so I know what’s going through that beautiful red head of yours?”
I shook my head and laughed. “No, I can’t think out loud. But I’m thinking about the wedding. We don’t need anything fancy, but what about my mom? And my brother and sister? They’re going to have to travel from Alabama.”
“Okay, then set a date, and they can travel. Why is this so difficult?”
I set my box down with the others.
“It’s not hard. I just don’t know what I want to do.”
He set his boxes down, glanced around the ballroom, and turned to me. “Why don’t we do it here?”
I stopped. “Here?” I glanced around the room. It was lovely. We could rent some chairs and do the wedding and the reception here. It was a great idea. I smiled at him. “All right, then. Let’s do it here.”
He nodded and grinned. “It’s a plan then. When?”
I stopped. “I’ll have to check with Sarah, and my mom, and Jake and Shelby.” A wedding meant wedding plans. It wasn’t like we could drop everything and just have a wedding.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re trying to put me off again, aren’t you?”
I shook my head. “No, of course not. But if there’s any chance they can all make it here, then I want to pick a date that’s convenient for them.”
“Why don’t you just pick a date and tell him that’s when it is. You know they’re going to do everything they can to get here. And then if for some reason somebody genuinely can’t make it on that date, we can change it.”
He had a point. Otherwise, I would have to call each of them in turn, trying to sort out everyone’s schedule. “Okay then. Next month.”
He shook his head. “Next weekend.”
I stared at him. “Next weekend? You’re out of your mind. How about two weeks from now?” It was out of my mouth before I had time to think about it. Two weeks? Could I put a wedding together in two weeks?
He nodded. “Deal. We’re getting married in two weeks.”
I opened my mouth. “Oh, wait a minute. That’s too soon. We can’t do it in two weeks.”
He laughed. “You know what? We’re going to do it in two weeks.”
And that was how I got roped in to getting married without enough time to prepare for my wedding.
Chapter Two
“Allie? Allie?”
“I’m in here, Mama,” I called from the kitchen. I was working on the four-tier wedding cake that I had baked late last night. When you’re only given two weeks to prepare for your wedding, things tend to fall apart. So the wedding cake was baked late last night, a layer of buttercream frosting was put on it, and I was making it pretty with the final frosting touches. I would have preferred to use marzipan for its clean elegance, but there was no time to make it and get it put on the cake. The quickest and easiest frosting to use was buttercream. At the last minute I decided that I had to have pretty icing flowers, but like with everything else, there was no time. So I’d called the local bakery and asked them to make them for me. They were pale lilac pansies with light yellow accents. They turned out lovely, and I was glad I didn’t have to make them all myself.
“Allie, what are you doing?” Mama asked, standing in the kitchen doorway now.
I turned and looked at her. “Mama, the cake has got to be finished.”
She clucked and shook her head. “Girl, that wedding cake is fine. Leave it alone and go get dressed. Your guests will see you in your bathrobe if you don’t get a move on.”
I sighed and glanced at the cake. She was right, but I couldn’t help myself. I was a perfectionist, and I wanted to add some more last-minute touches to it.
“Allie? What are you doing?” My best friend Lucy Gray asked me, standing behind Mama.
I shook my head. “The cake. I’m finishing the cake.”
Her eyes went to the cake. “It’s beautiful. Now get upstairs and get dressed. You don’t want everyone waiting on you, do you?”
I sighed again and took one last, longing look at the cake. I had used some frosting to put some scalloped ribbons around it, and I wanted to put at least one more around all four tiers. This morning when my daughter Jennifer had picked up the royal icing flowers to decorate with, she had wisely asked them for a tub of white buttercream frosting. She knew me, and she knew I wasn’t going to be satisfied with what I had done with the cake. Thanks to her, I didn’t have to stop and make more buttercream frosting.
“All right, I’m going,” I said, laying the spatula down and following my mother and Lucy up the stairs and into the master bedroom. I could hardly believe that Alec and I were actually going to be married
