Kitty wilted. “Fine. I am sorry. I panicked.”
The bride stepped closer, smiling warmly. “We appreciate all the effort. Is the room situation sorted out?.”
I smiled back because she genuinely seemed kind. “It is. We will take good care of you.”
“Thank you,” the groom said, shifting one of the suitcases to his other hand. “We are just happy to be here.”
After a few more welcoming words, Kitty asked another staff member to help sort the luggage. Then Dex and Braxton followed me and Lucy upstairs to start packing.
Lucy muttered as she unlocked the apartment door. “How does Kitty accept an entire wedding without telling any of us?”
“I know.”
“We should have hidden and let her deal with the whole thing,” she added.
“We would have been found,” I said, though I understood the impulse.
She walked in first and surveyed the small, tidy living room. “I cannot believe we have to give this up.”
My throat tightened. “It’s just a week.”
“A week feels long when the heater doesn’t work.”
I tried to laugh but it came out strained. “We will take blankets.”
“Blankets don't fix frozen pipes.”
She had a point.
“Mom and Dad lived there for years before Grandma Martha and Grandpa Jim sold the inn. We can survive a week,” I tried to be reasonable. Maybe we could buy a space heater.
Braxton and Dex stepped inside after us bringing some boxes and empty containers so we could pack up and we all got to work.
Braxton went to the bookshelf and started gently removing Lucy’s romance novels. He placed each one neatly into an empty box as though they were precious artifacts.
Lucy noticed. “Thank you,” she said quietly.
He nodded without looking up. “Of course.”
I packed my baking books and the small framed photo of all of us from the day we reopened the inn. My hands hesitated on it. That had been such a warm day. Hopeful. Beginning our new chapter. This week felt less like a chapter and more like a pop quiz we had not studied for.
Braxton glanced at me as I wrapped the frame in a sweater for padding. “It’s going to be okay.”
“I will be,” I agreed. “Eventually.”
He held my gaze for a moment. Not long enough to make me uncomfortable. Just long enough that I felt steadier.
Lucy zipped her suitcase dramatically. “Alright. Let’s get this over with.”
We carried the first load down the stairs. The film crew moved in a slow cluster near the hall, filming B-roll of the inn. One of them stepped backward directly into Braxton’s path.
Braxton stopped before colliding, but the man startled anyway. “Sorry. We need more space to get the light right.”
Dex muttered, “Natural light is impossible when you are blocking every exit.”
The crew member didn't hear him.
Outside, cold air wrapped around us as we crossed to the pool house. Frost glittered across the roof. The small porch creaked under our combined weight.
