"This weekend? Chloe, that's four days away."
"I know." She grinned, wild and beautiful. "Valentine's Day was last week, and we missed it. We were too busy fighting for our lives. So let's celebrate it now. Late Valentine's Day, engagement party, wedding, all rolled into one." She stood,pulling him up with her. "Come on. Let's go tell Twyla. She's going to lose her mind."
They found Twyla behind the counter at the Griddle & Grind, restocking the pastry case with heart-shaped cookies she'd clearly made days ago and never gotten to use.
"Twyla." Chloe held up her left hand, the emerald catching the café's warm light. "We're getting married this weekend."
Twyla dropped a cookie.
"This weekend?" Her wheat-colored hair was escaping its bun, her light brown eyes wide. "As in, four days from now this weekend?"
"Surprise?"
"Surprise." Twyla set down the tray, her expression shifting from shock to calculation to absolute delight in the span of three seconds. "Four days. Okay. I can work with four days. Diana owes me a favor, and Freya's been stockpiling flowers since the crisis ended, and the decorations from the Valentine's tea are still in my back room..."
"We don't need anything fancy," Corin said. "Just something simple."
"Simple." Twyla waved a dismissive hand. "You saved this town. Both of you. You think I'm going to let you get married in a simple ceremony?" She was already pulling out her phone, typing furiously. "Freya. Diana. Maeve, she can handle drinks. Emmett's wife can do the invitations, she's got beautiful handwriting..."
"Twyla."
"The orchard," Twyla continued, ignoring him completely. "We'll do it at the orchard. Where the bees are. It's poetic. Romantic. Perfect."
"It's February."
"We'll set up heaters. Blankets. Hot cider." She looked up, her eyes sparkling. "Trust me. By Saturday, you're going to have the most beautiful wedding Hollow Oak has ever seen."
Chloe looked at Corin, her lips twitching. "I think we lost control of this."
"I think we never had control in the first place."
"You're both right, and you're both welcome." Twyla shooed them toward the door. "Go. Tell your families. I've got a wedding to plan."
They stepped out into the afternoon sun, the door swinging shut behind them. Chloe leaned against his side, her hand finding his, the ring warm against his palm.
"She's going to go overboard," Chloe said.
"Absolutely."
"The whole town's going to show up."
"Probably."
"Are you okay with that?"
He thought about it. A few months ago, the idea of being the center of attention would have made him break out in hives. He preferred the edges, the quiet corners, the work that could be done without anyone watching. But that was before Chloe. Before he'd learned that stepping into the light wasn't so bad when you had someone to stand beside.
"Yeah," he said. "I'm okay with that."
She smiled up at him, her green eyes bright with love and mischief and the promise of forever.
"Then let's get married."
37
CHLOE
Four days turned out to be plenty of time when you had Twyla Honeytree on your side.
