“All of it.”
“I—” Nat shook her head. “How did you pull this together?” she asked in awe, but she had no idea why she’d even posed the question. Ofcourse,they’d pulled it together—she was dealing with Mac, the mayor, Will, Havenbrook’s event coordinator, and Rory, an interior designer.
June stood next to Nat’s momma, who held Owen, a grin splitting the little girl’s face as she waved to Nat and Asher. “I did the flowers, Uncle Asher! All by myself!” She jumped and pointed to the petal-strewn path that led to an ivy-covered arch where Edna, Gran’s best friend and Havenbrook’s mail carrier and general troublemaker, stood, a grin across her mouth.
“What the hell is Edna doin’ standin’ there like she’s a minister? Are we dreamin’?” she whispered, squeezing Asher’s hand, if for nothing else than to ground herself.
“Feels like we might be.”
“Well, don’t just stand here,” Rory said, giving Nat a little push. “Get a move on.”
“Wait,” Nat said, shaking her head. “Get a move on forwhat?”
“Now, don’t be mad, sweetheart,” her momma said. “After all this time with y’all as best friends, we just didn’t think it was right that you were gonna go and have a quick wedding at the courthouse without any of your family there.”
Guilt punctured Nat’s stomach, and she slid a glance to Asher out of the corner of her eye, his look mirroring hers.
“Oh, don’t look at him like that,” Momma said. “We just wanted to do something nice for y’all.”
“But…” Nat stalled, trying to come up with a plausible reason they couldn’t have their very fake marriage come from this very real wedding. “We have an appointment at the courthouse.”
“I took care of that,” Mac said, waving a hand through the air.
Nat breathed out a laugh. Of course she did. So, she’d kill her sister later, then. “Um, okay, well, we also don’t have anyone here to marry us.”
“I beg your pardon,” Edna said with a sniff. “I got myself ordained on the interwebs last year. Now, if you don’t mind, kids, I’d like to get this show on the road. I was promised there’d be food and booze as payment.”
“The fewer questions, the better,” Rory said as she strolled toward the empty seat next to Nash, who glanced back at them with raised eyebrows and a slight shrug as if to say,might as well go with it.
“What do you say?” Asher squeezed her hand and met her gaze. “You ready to get married?”
When Asher had suggested this whole thing, he certainly hadn’t anticipated an actual wedding. He’d figured there’d be something detached…something transactional about saying their I do’s at the courthouse where they’d accounted for their share of trouble. Instead, he’d held her hands and looked into her eyes, the only family he had left surrounding them, as he took her as his wife.
Hiswife.
Thankfully, Edna’s performance brought some levity to the situation, especially when it had been sprinkled with curse words—shit, I forgot the rings—and orders to keep things clean when it was time to kiss—remember, you’re not auditionin’ for a porno, kids. And then there was the noisemaker when she pronounced Asher and Nat husband and wife.
The ceremony, it seemed, hadn’t been the only trick up the Havens’ sleeves, because as soon as that was over, Rory ushered them farther back on the property where huge tents had been erected and half of Havenbrook milled about for what, apparently, was going to be one hell of a party.
Nat stopped dead in her tracks, her hand gripped tight in his and a fake smile that looked more like a grimace plastered across her face. “What the hell is this?” she asked as her family flanked them on either side.
“A reception,” Mac said. “You know, for yourwedding?”
“For my wedding?” she said through clenched teeth, her smile forced. “Right. Right…a wedding that we wanted to take place at the courthouse. You know a little something about that, don’t you, Mac?”
“Oh shit,” Finn said under his breath, while at the same time, Will tried to pull Nat farther into the party, no doubt in an effort to keep the youngest Haven from spilling all the secrets.
Mac glared at her, and Asher, along with everyone else excepting Richard, Caroline, and Gran, found somewhere else to look.
“Shut up, Natalie,” Mac bit out through gritted teeth.
Asher cringed, knowing Nat’s sister using her full name was only going to stoke the beast more than it already was. Nat didn’t like being blindsided, and they’d managed to do it twice in one day. The gloves were most definitely coming off.
“What’s Nat talkin’ about?” Caroline asked, her brows furrowed as she swayed with Owen in her arms.
“You got me, Momma,” Mac said with a shrug. “Who knows with this one.”
“Oh,Mackennais just tryin’ not to be a bother,” Nat said with a bright smile. “But it’s really a good thing y’all threw together this reception. What, since it can be not only for me and Asher, but for Mac and Hudson, as well.”
