“For what it’s worth, the flowers are really pretty,” Doug said. He regretted what he’d said in the shop, especially when he saw his mother’s reaction to the bouquet. “But you have to admit there is some truth in the fact that flowers do not last forever.”
“Nothing lasts forever,” Gabby countered.
His eyebrows shot up. “Says the hopeless romantic!”
She dropped her chin and gave him a pointed look. “You know what I mean. Besides, I’m beginning to feel more hopeless than romantic. Congratulations, you win.”
He stared at her for a moment, hating the hurt that he saw in her eyes. He’d seen it once before, back at their senior prom, when the committee had finished a long day of setting up for the event. Gabby had lingered in the doorway, taking in the transformed gym, a strange sort of sadness taking over her features even though he had thought she was pretty happy with the way it had all turned out.
It wasn’t until he asked if he’d see her later, and she said no, that he understood the root of her sadness. And as he sat home alone, looking through his college course selection book, thinking ahead to his big future, he’d wished that he’d had the nerve to let his guard down for once and ask her to join him.
He wondered now what she would have said if he had. Probably no. Or laughed. Or assumed he was just having a go with her.
Gabby finished her slice of cake and recovered the last of her icing from the plate.
“Here,” he said, sliding his piece over to Gabby. “I can tell you want it more than me.”
Her lips turned into a little smile. “Why, Doug Monroe, that was downright chivalrous of you.”
“Don’t be getting notions that I’m like one of those characters in those romance novels you were reading at the bakery,” he warned, unable to fight off a smile as she accepted it and happily slid her fork through the white, sugary icing.
She laughed. “Oh, believe me, I’m smarter than that, and you have made your feelings about love and romance crystal clear.” She glanced at him, her eyes taking on their light again, her smile full and kind. “But…thank you. For the cake. And…for tonight.”
He grinned, finding it hard to pull his eyes away from her, but there was his mother, making excited expressions in his directions and it was probably best to excuse himself now before he gave his family any more reason to talk about his personal life or give himself any more reason to question it. He stood, slowly, and gathered his wineglass, giving Gabby one last smile.
“My pleasure. Gabrielle,” he was sure to add because when it came to Gabby Conway, he never could resist.
Chapter Six
The highlight of Gabby’s month was always her cousin’s book club meeting. Isabella Clark, more often known as Bella, owned and operated the only bookstore in town, and in addition to hosting poetry readings, writing groups, and story hours for children, Bella’s Books was the gathering place for thought-provoking literary discussion. Or at least that’s what all the ladies who belonged liked to claim.
In truth, it was a social event and one that Gabby desperately needed this weekend as a distraction from all this wedding talk. Romance, she could never tire of, but weddings… Between the endless arrangements, set up, and then attendance, she was already looking forward to wedding season being over.
“But it only just began!” Brooke laughed when Gabby confessed as much on their walk down Main Street. It was Sunday night, and the sidewalks were quiet. While Bella typically held the monthly meeting on Saturday nights, during tourist season (and wedding season!) it had become easier for everyone to attend at the end of the weekend instead.
Gabby closed her shop on Sundays, usually spending the morning at the family’s market at the orchard where she sold bouquets that people liked to buy for their dinner table, followed by lunch at the Carriage House Inn, or lately, to support her sister’s husband Kyle at Harrison’s Pub, a dive bar which was starting to undergo a recent renovation since his brother Ryan had moved back to town. Ryan, she knew, was single, and easy on the eye, too, but he fell under the category of family in her opinion, and with his focus on his business above all else at the moment, he was definitely not marriage material.
And that’s what she wanted, she thought. Marriage. Or at the very least, love.
“It’s all the late nights,” Gabby explained away her complaints, knowing she should be grateful for the business.
“You know what I’m going to tell you…” Brooke raised her eyebrows. “If you would hire a proper assistant rather than ask Mom to pitch in—”
“Mom likes helping out!” But Gabby knew her sister had a point. She’d been too tired and too busy to stop by the town event last weekend, and with the way things were going, she’d probably miss the orchard’s annual Cherry Festival, too. She didn’t know how she was going to set up Candy’s wedding and be a proper guest, too, not that she’d be letting those doubts be voiced. She’d get it done; she always did. And in the end, she was always satisfied with the results. She wasn’t so sure the same could be said if she tossed another person’s ideas into the mix.
“Besides, it’s not just the prep and set up. Not every bride, but many, were sweet enough to extend an invitation to stay for the reception, and I don’t feel like I’m in a position to turn them down.”
“But you don’t have to stay long, just make an appearance.” Brooke paused as they approached the storefront, where a black urn of overflowing Annabelle hydrangea sat beside the paned glass door. “Unless you have a reason to stay?”
Gabby rolled her eyes. “Please. I’m stuck at the singles table every time.” Her mood
