by Molly Harper
“Well, lately I’ve learned that labels have power,” she said, giving him a squeeze . . . and thinking of Hazel.
Stan wiped at his cheeks and Margot retreated for her sweet tea. “So where are you thinking about having this elopement? Most people around here go to Corinth, Mississippi, when they want a quickie justice-of-the-peace thing. I’m not really sure how it got started, but about half of the couples in our church got married there.”
“We—as in you, me, Kyle, and the girls—are going to Florida next month. The girls are pushing for a side trip to Disney. But we’re still trying to figure out whether that would be too much for me in this condition. I’m hoping that Uncle Bob and Frankie might be persuaded to take over your tasks while you’re out. I looked it up: you haven’t taken a vacation in twenty-two years. I think you’re due.”
“You want to see all this in Bermuda shorts, huh?” he said, gesturing to his thin legs.
She cackled. “It’s going to be great. We never really did a family vacation. We can make up for lost time.”
A quick knock sounded on the door, and suddenly, Frankie’s newly dyed purple head was poking through. “Hey, just so you know, I heard everything through the vents to the embalming room and I support you in this elopement thing. I will help wrangle my mom when she inevitably melts down over this. I know how she can be and I just want you to be happy, cuz.”
“What?” Margot glanced around the floor and spotted yet another air-conditioning vent, leading down to Frankie’s break area, beside the morgue—standing wide open.
Margot gasped. “How many vents are in my office?”
WEEKS WENT BY AND KYLE and Margot sat at the familiar booth at the Rise and Shine, holding hands. The elopement plans were set, and so far, Leslie’s and Tootie’s responses had been muted. There were a few passive-aggressive comments about how watching the wedding on the Internet wasn’t the same as being there, but for the most part, they told her to take lots of pictures and prepare for a big party when she got home. Aunt Donna, on the other hand, thanked Margot for not making her dress up.
Margot didn’t know whether it was because they knew there was a reception to plan when she and Kyle returned home or because Frankie had struck some sort of Faustian bargain with Leslie regarding her own wedding, but she was grateful for the peace and quiet. With Kyle and the girls out of school and the bags packed, there was only one more thing to do before leaving town. Kyle’s parents had elected not to join them on the trip, but asked that Kyle bring Margot and the girls up north for a visit around Thanksgiving.
“You sure about this?” Kyle asked as Margot dug into a slice of pecan pie. Ike had recently begun carrying Lucy’s offerings from Gimme Some Sugar on his dessert menu, and they were extremely popular with the locals. But Margot was loyal to her precious pecan pie because it was the food that had carried her through the morning sickness.
“I think we need to talk to Maggie’s parents,” Margot said around a mouthful of pie. “I think that leaving it unresolved until after we’re married is a mistake.”
“But the way Rosie spoke to you last time . . .” Kyle said, frowning.
Margot took his hand in hers. “She’s scared. She’s scared for her grandchildren. And she’s afraid of losing touch. I understand that. And I don’t want to punish her for being afraid. I mean, if she continues to be rude and aggressive, then we’ll talk, but up until the other day she’s tried to keep her distance and be polite, which I have appreciated. I think we should at least update her on our plans.”
“You’re a good woman. I don’t care what anybody else says.”
Margot snickered against his lips as he kissed her.
“That will always be funny. I regret nothing.”
Rosie and Hal entered the diner and joined them at the table, their postures rigid and their faces grave. Margot noted that several people at other tables were “not watching,” trying not to be caught letting their eyes linger too long on the brewing situation between the Kellers and the Archers.
Hal attempted to break the ice with a hearty handshake and a “Hi, there, Kyle, Margot. Where are the girls tonight?”
“They’re at Marianne and Carl’s place, hanging out with their boys and Lucy Bowman’s son, Sam.”
“I hear Duffy has been spending a lot of time with Lucy lately,” Hal said. “Nice to see them together again.”
Margot nodded as Rosie sat there, awkwardly fidgeting with the paper-wrapped silverware. “Everybody seems very happy with that, especially Duffy and Lucy.”
After a long pause, Rosie asked in a far more timid tone than Margot expected, “So, why did you call us here tonight?”
Kyle squeezed Margot’s hand under the table. “Margot and I are going to get married next week. We’re going to take the girls to the beach in Florida and have a really small ceremony with a justice of the peace and then take a family vacation. We’ve set all the details. We just wanted to let you know ahead of time, so you didn’t hear it secondhand.”
“That’s probably for the best,” Hal said, nodding. “Honestly, we don’t begrudge y’all your happiness. But I don’t know if we could watch you get married or listen to other people talk about watching you get married. It’s nothing personal. It’s just hard.”
“And I’m so sorry for what I said,” Rosie added. “I’ve seen you with the girls over the last few months and I know you’re not going to mistreat them. I think I panicked. It’s hard, watching another woman mother your grandchildren. This just isn’t how I thought our golden years would turn out.”
“I know,” Margot said. “I’m trying to keep your feelings in mind. I’m not ever going to try to replace Maggie, because I know I can’t. I just want to love the girls and make their lives as happy as possible.”
After another long moment, Rosie nodded. “That’s all I can ask.”
Kyle put his arm around Margot’s shoulders. “Well, we were thinking that after we get back from the trip, the girls could come stay with you for a few days. You could have some time with them and we could have the house to ourselves to recuperate.”
Rosie smiled. “I think that would be nice.”
“Are you two hungry?” Hal asked, his relief palpable as he sagged against the seat. “I could use a slice of pie.”
“I can always use another slice of pie,” Margot told him, pointing at her now empty plate.
Rosie reached across the table and tentatively patted her hand. “Well, you’re eating for two. You get a second slice whenever you want.”
9
WHEN MARGOT WAS growing up in Chicago, her mother once told her that she took Margot out of Georgia to keep Margot from being “barefoot and pregnant” before she was a teenager. And here she was, barefoot and pregnant, walking down the beach on her father’s arm, toward the man she loved—and she’d never been happier.
The Wednesday morning had dawned over Amelia Island sunny and bright, perfect for a wedding party consisting of the bride, the groom, the couple’s children, the bride’s father, the hotel’s photographer, the justice of the peace, and the justice of the peace’s husband, who had agreed to hold the laptop to broadcast their vows back to Lake Sackett. Marrying on a weekday meant the beach wasn’t too crowded with tourists, and holding the ceremony in the morning kept it from being so hot that Margot was miserable. And her white sundress from the bridal store was perfect for the ceremony they ended up with—casual, low-key, and blissfully quiet.
Planning a vacation turned out to be much more fun than planning a wedding. Margot had managed to arrange a girls’ day at the hotel spa involving manis and pedis for her, Hazel, and June the day before, while Kyle and Stan made a very manly visit to a gator farm on the mainland.
The girls looked downright adorable in their little rainbow dresses. They couldn’t stand to wait for Margot at the improvised flower-covered arbor with their dad, and rushed up to her to shower her with petals from their little baskets.
“You look just beautiful, Swee
t Tea. Thank you for bringing me along for the adventure,” Stan whispered as they approached the arbor and Kyle. “It means a lot to me.”
“Thanks for being here with me,” Margot whispered back. “It means more.”
A table to the right of the arbor caught Margot’s attention. They had plans for a wedding brunch back at the hotel later. She hadn’t planned on any food on the beach, because she figured the sand and wind would make it a pretty miserable meal. But there was a white-covered table, with what appeared to be three small stacked tiers of . . . pie?
Stan kissed her cheek as he “delivered” her to her groom, and the photographer got a shot of all three of them being pelted with white rose petals by their enthusiastic flower girls.
“What did you do?” she asked Kyle, laughing as he took her hands.
“It took some very careful and expensive overnight shipping, but Lucy sent the pecan pies down this morning,” Kyle told her. “After your experience with the wedding cake, I thought you might like something different.”
“You are correct. Thank you,” she whispered, and kissed Kyle.
“Don’t thank me, thank Lucy,” Kyle said, nodding to where the witness stood with the laptop. On the screen, she could see her family, as well as Lucy and Sam, crowded around Frankie’s living room, watching the screen of her laptop.
Margot waved and blew a kiss to the laptop. “Thank you, Lucy!”
“No problem!” Lucy called back from under Duffy’s arm. “Congratulations!”
“You look just beautiful, honey!” Leslie yelled.
“Definitely better than the nightmare country-western dress,” Marianne said.
“We love you, Margot,” E.J.J. said. “And we can’t wait to see the pictures when you get back.”
“Thanks, everybody,” Margot said, wiping at the mysterious moisture that seemed to be developing on her cheeks.
“Well, are you gonna get this show on the road, or are you going to stand there blubbering all day?” Donna demanded.
Margot laughed, turning to Kyle. He jerked his head toward the justice of the peace, who was waiting patiently. “Are you ready?”
“Definitely.”
More from this Series
Gimme Some Sugar
Book 6
Sweet Tea and Sympathy
Book 1
Save a Truck, Ride a…
Book 2
Peachy Flippin' Keen
Book 3
More from the Author
Accidental Sire
Where the Wild Things…
About the Author
MOLLY HARPER is the author of the Southern Eclectic series of contemporary romances, as well as two popular series of paranormal romances, the Half-Moon Hollow vampire novels and the Naked Werewolf shifter trilogy. A former humor columnist and newspaper reporter, she lives in Michigan with her family. Visit her on the web at mollyharper.com.
FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR:
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Molly-Harper
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SimonandSchuster.com
BOOKS BY MOLLY HARPER
THE SOUTHERN ECLECTIC SERIES
A Few Pecans Short of a Pie
Ain’t She a Peach
Peachy Flippin’ Keen
Save a Truck, Ride a Redneck
Sweet Tea and Sympathy
THE HALF-MOON HOLLOW SERIES
Accidental Sire
Where the Wild Things Bite
Big Vamp on Campus
Fangs for the Memories
The Single Undead Moms Club
The Dangers of Dating a Rebound Vampire
I’m Dreaming of an Undead Christmas
A Witch’s Handbook of Kisses and Curses
“Undead Sublet” in The Undead in My Bed
The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires
Driving Mr. Dead
Nice Girls Don’t Bite Their Neighbors
Nice Girls Don’t Live Forever
Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men
Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs
THE NAKED WEREWOLF SERIES
How to Run with a Naked Werewolf
The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf
How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf
THE BLUEGRASS SERIES
Snow Falling on Bluegrass
Rhythm and Bluegrass
My Bluegrass Baby
ALSO
Better Homes and Hauntings
And One Last Thing . . .
We hope you enjoyed reading this Simon & Schuster ebook.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2019 by Molly Harper White
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First Gallery Books ebook edition February 2019
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ISBN 978-1-5011-7899-3
