“Not why, no,” he said. “But I’m superstitious about it. No one else got divorced, and everyone else married under the trellis arch. Owen and Irene, Red’s sister, your Aunt Barbara and Uncle Jacob, Red and Cora, MJ and George—everyone got married under it and had really happy marriages. I believe they were…blessed.”
Cindy’s heart pinched at the unexpected reverence in his voice.
“That’s why I really pushed for this.” He glanced at the wood, making her remember his determination the day he and Cameron muscled this thing out of the old garden and into the back of the UTV.
He looked at her, voice roughened. “I need to marry you underthis, Cin. Not a version of it. Not covered. This trellis, this arch. As it is.”
Tenderness flooded her, quick and fierce. She crossed the few steps to him and rose onto her toes, cupping his cheek. “You’re so sweet.”
“I never want to go through…” He shook his head. “I know this is forever. I know we’re not going to get divorced again. But I want our marriage to be blessed and…I believe in this thing.”
He exhaled, some of the tension easing out of his shoulders. Cindy slid her arms around his waist, and he folded her in, the familiar hold she’d missed for so long settling everything inside her.
“Let me just tell Dominique right now and put this whole issue to bed.” Inching back, she pulled out her phone and tapped the keys quickly, barely thinking about the composition of the note, letting raw honesty speak for itself.
The trellis was part of the Starling Room, end of story.
The response came back instantly and stole Cindy’s breath.
Then we can cancel the whole thing.
“What?” Cindy blinked at the phone, then angled it to show Jack, who instantly looked as gut punched as she felt.
“For real?” he scoffed. “Then…then…” He looked from the phone to Cindy and back to the phone. After a minute, he closed his eyes. “Tell her we can move it.”
“Jack! You just told me why it matters.”
“It’s superstitious and silly,” he said, studying her. “I don’t want to steal this from you. It is an amazing opportunity that’s going to make your life—our lives—better. We’ll just…toast under the trellis after the ceremony.”
She thought about it for a long time, holding the phone, eyes welling. Who should she make happy? Dominique or Jack?
Honestly, there was no question.
“I’m not going to do that,” she said.
He gave her a “get real” look and slid the phone out of her hand. “Yes, you are. I told you, we’ll incorporate the trellissomehow after the ceremony. We’ll get it in pictures. We’ll kiss and be blessed and laugh about this. Okay?”
She just stared at him as he looked at the phone, thumbing a response.
“Okay,” he answered for her.
“Jack…”
He turned and faced her, taking her hand. “I can’t wait to stand here and marry you,” he said.
She smiled and wrapped her arms around him, a little unsettled and uncertain…of the whole Dominique thing. With Jack, it was settled and certain.
And this battle wasn’t over. When Dominique got here, Cindy would do whatever it took to persuade her to keep the trellis. She had to.
As Saturday mornings went, this one was close to perfect. Sir Isaac Newton had one paw draped over Benny’s Mars Rover replica like it was his personal nap mat and not the skeleton of a prized Lego project spread out on the family room floor.
The dog had a talent for locating any surface Benny needed and claiming it as his own.
Benny poked his curly brown ear with the lift arm, currently six connected Legos. “Excuse me, Professor, I need to set up the suspension system of Rover One.”
The Cavapoo yawned and rolled onto his back, paws up, no shame at all. His collar tag jingled as he waited for a belly rub. Of course, Benny obliged. He couldn’t say no to this dog.
He also couldn’t say no to Olivia Hampton, which was why he was in a bit of a predicament, eyeing his great-grandfather, waiting for an opening to drop his little bomb.
