Automatically, he glanced back at Mabel, but this time she was no longer standing by herself. Was that the great and noble doctor by her side? Geez, was there anyone in this county who hadn’t been invited to this wedding? And the way she was smiling at the guy? He knew what she’d said about not feeling for the doctor what she felt for him, but ouch. Seeing that exchange between them hurt like nothing else. Dallin Conforth was everything Zane wasn’t: highly educated,professional, and confident. Plus, he made a ton of money and drove a BMW.
“You know, I actually think I can come.” The jealousy did something funny to his resolve. Rebuilding his friendship with Mabel was a good first step. Being the man she deserved meant stepping up and out of his comfort zone sometimes, and he could attend an event as the fire chief, even if he’d rather not.
Liza beamed and gave him the date, time, and location.
Weston and Ruby walking by was like an ice-cold glass of water in the desert. “Nice to see you folks!” Zane excused himself and rushed to catch up with his friends.
“Well, Hannah and August actually pulled it off,” Weston said with a low chuckle. He whistled softly as he looked around at the twinkling lights everywhere in the garden, a series of walkways meandering around trees, shrubbery, and vines. The flora of the Bailey estate was beginning to show bursts of fall colors.
“No wonder they were engaged for so long. All this doesn’t happen overnight.” Ruby moved to look more closely at a purple flower. “Oh, I think these are asters.”
Tory joined them, a bit out of breath. Which could have been because she was pregnant and wearing heels. “Bill Murray is right over there,” she whispered, her eyes wide. “I kid you not. It’s totally him. I heard him say something to August’s dad and it was like I was watchingGroundhog Day.” She squealed and clapped her hands.
“We could try to ask him to quote the movie for you if you want,” Zane teased.
“I would say yes, totally, but…I can’t. It’s just too much. You know that everyone was warned to leave the guests alone, and they weren’t talking about Fran from the grocery store.”
Ruby nodded. “I saw a bunch of people who look like they’re probably from movies I vaguely remember, but it’s hard to tell.”
“Well, Victoria hasn’t acted in a while, so that would make sense.” Tory interrupted herself. “Oh! I remembered why I was coming over here. We need to decorate Hannah and August’s truck. We didn’t get to do that for Anjali and Parker since it was a destination wedding, and I’m still a little bitter about that.”
“What time are we all meeting at his truck?” Weston asked. “If we can even find it. If he were smart, he would have hidden it.”
“Mack might know. Let’s meet in fifteen so we can do our damage before they wrap everything up. Andshhh.” Her finger came to her mouth, her lips clamped down. She placed a hand under her belly and hurried away.
They’d smashed the last Oreos on the back windows of August’s Tacoma when Zane finally got the courage to talk to Mabel.
“So.” Zane nudged Mabel’s shoulder. “Is he your friend-date for the wedding? I thought it would just be all of us hanging as a group.”
Mabel smirked. “It is. We are. I mean, we’re all hanging as a group.” She shrugged her shoulders and ran her hands down her dress. “Dallin’s mom is on a medical board and apparently works with Victoria on some charity stuff. He said he came with her.”
“His dad couldn’t come? I’m guessing Dallin had another motive for showing up than being a good son.”
Something primal and totally uncalled for boiled up inside of Zane.
He was trying to hang out with Mabelagain, guaranteed.
She cocked her head to one side. “I don’t know if his dad’s around.” Her eyes were seething. She was not wanting this conversation now.
That’s good. Maybe the two of them aren’t close enough to talk about their family lives.
As Zane probably deserved for being such a lame-o, Mabel turned to someone else and started talking with them.
Liam joined them with his mom and her new husband, police officer Corwin Danes, in tow.
“And congrats to you, as well!” Mabel gave Liam’s mom, Leah, a hug and patted Corwin’s shoulder. “Wow, I was so happy to hear of your wedding. Are Landon and Whitney here too?”
“No. They couldn’t make it this time. Whitney is pregnant with twins, and she can’t travel much.”
“I heard they were having twins! And with Liam and Tory’s baby, that means you’ll be getting three little grandbabies.”
Leah nodded, smiling. “Their due dates are only a month apart, and with it being twins, the doctor thinks she’ll go early. It’s going to be quite the blessed time.” She glanced at Corwin and gently tugged him closer to her side. “Who would have thought that Landon’s failed attempt at finding love on a reality TV show would have ended up so great?”
The reception wound down, and soon Hannah and August came to their group of friends to say their goodbyes. August’s parents’ friends had dispersed, probably because they had a long drive ahead of them to their hotels. Silver Plum didn’t even have a hotel, one of its so-called charms.
A small gathering of family members and the KNO friends waited at the gate near the front entrance to the house.
“We’re so grateful to all of you for being here. It was a magical day.” Hannah had tears in her eyes as she hugged her friends, parents, andsiblings one by one. August, as a severe introvert, was plain worn out, but there was a look of contentment plastered all over his weary face.
