Amy ducked her head again, and he could hear her quickly tapping out a message. Once done, she crossed her arms, tucking the phone against her side.
“So the rest of your party is arriving tomorrow?” Lance asked.
“Yes,” the bride replied. “Our parents are staying here with me and my sisters, but everyone else has rooms at the hotel with Jim.”
“Rehearsal will be at four as you requested, and reservations have been made at the restaurant you wanted for six. Hopefully, that will give you enough time.”
“Sounds perfect,” the groom said. “We tried to keep it small and simple, but it’s still gotten a bit bigger than we anticipated.”
“Yeah, I remember that from my wedding. All that planning and then having things tend to take on a life of their own,” Lance said with a laugh.
After the couple had thanked them, Lance walked them to the front door.
“Are you involved in planning for this wedding?” Will asked.
Amy glanced up from her phone. “Uh. No, not the planning. I will be helping Violet and Laurel with decorating tonight. I guess Jessa likes to have the decorations up before the rehearsal so the bride can approve it. She broughteverything with her and gave some instructions on what she wanted.”
“Sounds like...fun,” Will said. That was one area he’d left to Delia and her mom, and they’d outdone themselves. At least it had seemed that way from his male perspective.
Amy smiled, her eyes lighting up. “Weddings are always fun. Usually I just attend them, so it will be fun to help prepare for this one. I remember helping Cami decorate here for her wedding,too.”
“The chapel has been put to good use since then.”
“I’m not surprised. I hope whoever I marry doesn’t mind a destination wedding,because I’d love to get married in the chapel here.”
Will wondered if the guy she had her sights on would agree to that. “The combination of the manor being a bed & breakfast and having the chapel was a great idea. It’s just too bad that Jessa is down for the count at the moment. I know she enjoys this part, too.”
Her phone chirped again, and she looked down at it. Her brow furrowed, and she gave a slight shake of her head as she typed out a response.
“Trouble?” Will asked when she tucked the phone back under her arm.
Amy shook her head. “Just my best friend giving me some advice. I love Sammi to death, but when she gets her teeth into something she’s a bit relentless.”
“Friends are usually that way,” Will commented, realizing as she said the name that SamSam from the text message was a girl. “Out of the best of intentions most the time.”
“Oh yes, I know she means well. She just doesn’t see things quite the same way I do.”
“Hope it doesn’t cause problems for you two.”
“Not a chance.” Amy grinned. “Neither of us can get rid of the other that easily.”
A racket from the front of the house drew Will’s attention. He turned on his stool to see his nieces and nephews spill into the kitchen from the hallway. Their cheeks were rosy from their afternoon at the pool. He spotted Isabella and watched as her gaze searched for—and found—Amy.
“You should’ve come,” Isabella told her after giving her a hug. “We had so much fun.”
“I’m sure you did.” Amy ran a hand over the little girl’s hair. “Hey, look who’s here.”
Isabella glanced in the direction Amy gestured. “Hi, Daddy.”
Before he could return the greeting, she turned back to Amy, her expression open and full of excitement. “I went down the slide a thousand times.”
“A thousand times? That’s pretty impressive,” Amy said as she glanced his way.
Isabella’s dismissal of him stung, but he knew he had no one to blame but himself. He couldn’t deny that she was never as animated or excited to share things with him as she was with Amy right then. And Amy appeared to soak it all up like she’d never heard anything so exciting in her whole life. How could this woman who had known his daughter for just a week love her like that? And strangely enough, he didn’t doubt she really did love Isabella. He didn’t think Amy could fake the affection she showed to Isabella. And what was it she’d said the first day they’d met?She’s a child. What’s not to love?
Matt, along with Laurel and Violet, had joined them in the kitchen.
“Dean not coming?” Will asked.
