A Wedding to Remember in Charleston, South Carolina

by Annalisa Daughety

  Ashley stood up from her desk and walked over to lean against Summer’s file cabinet. “I know you’ve been through a lot and all that, but do you really think spending time with another man is a good idea?”

  “You make it sound like I’m sneaking around and doing something I shouldn’t.” Summer’s normally calm face flamed with anger.

  Ashley raised her eyebrows. “I want you to recognize that the path you’re on could be dangerous. I’ve seen it happen toomany times. It starts out innocently, but soon you’re confiding in someone who isn’t your spouse.” She met Summer’s narrowed eyes. “That’s what happened in my marriage. Brian told me later that he’d never intended on being unfaithful. That he’d run into an old friend and they’d caught up. And then that turned into them talking about their problems. And eventually it turned into something more.” She sighed. She knew she was jumping to conclusions, but Summer wasn’t in a good place right now.

  “I’m sorry that happened to you, but just because it happened to you doesn’t mean that’s what is going on in my life.”

  Ashley nodded. “There was something odd about the way Jefferson sauntered in here looking for you. I get the feeling that he sees you as some kind of prize. I think you should keep your guard up.”

  Summer didn’t say anything. Finally, she stood. “You’re entitled to your opinion. But there’s nothing to worry about. In fact, I’m meeting Luke this afternoon at the counselor’s office.” She slung her bag over her shoulder. “See you tomorrow.”

  Ashley watched her walk out. Were they good enough friends that they could be totally honest with each other and it not have a negative impact?

  Only time would tell.

  Chapter 32

  Luke carried his bag and guitar into Justin’s apartment.

  “Thanks for letting me stay here. I was going stir crazy on the boat.”

  “What, it’s not a luxury liner?” Justin asked.

  Luke set his things down in the living room. “It’s nice, but it was starting to get a little cramped. I honestly thought the walls were going to close in sometimes.”

  “I can’t imagine. That’s the kind of thing that probably sounds like fun until you actually do it.”

  Luke nodded. “So when is Colton going to be moving in?” He’d been surprised when Justin had filled him in on what was going on with Samantha. Talk about a lifestyle change. Going from being a single guy to a full-time guardian would be an adjustment.

  “Actually, next week. I’m trying to get the spare room turned into some kind of kid’s room,” Justin said. “My mom has a big plan to paint the walls with pictures of animals playing sports.” He chuckled. “I have no idea how that’s going to turn out, but I told her to do whatever she wanted.”

  Luke had to admire his friend for his willingness to step in and do what needed to be done for Colton. “Is Colton excited?”

  Justin shrugged. “I’m not sure that he even understands what’s going on. I suspect I’m going to be in for a difficult time at first. I’m not the only one whose world is about to change, you know?”

  Luke nodded. “Kids are resilient though. He’ll probably adjust just fine.”

  “I hope so.”

  Luke tapped his watch. “We’d better go.”

  “I think we’re getting better, don’t you?” Justin asked. “Last week I actually thought we sounded as good as some groups on the radio.”

  Luke nodded. “Yeah.”

  They walked out the door and got into Luke’s truck.

  “You given any more thought to that songwriting contest I mentioned awhile back?”

  Luke bristled. He had given it thought, but it wasn’t going to be the answer Justin was hoping for. “I’m not interested. I have too much other stuff going on in my life right now.” He merged onto the James Island Connector. “Honestly, I’m starting to regret even signing on to play at the Sand and Suds on a regular basis.” He shot a quick glance at Justin to gauge his reaction.

  “Fine by me. I was just along for the ride anyway. And now that I’ll have Colton, that means either finding a babysitter every Friday night or depending on my parents to keep him. And honestly, if I’m going to have to do that, I’d much rather it be because I’m going out with Ashley.”

  Luke sighed with relief. He’d been afraid Justin might be upset. Now if Jimmy and Will felt the same, he could tell

  Charlie to find a replacement. “How are things with Ashley, anyway?”

  “We seem to have hit a brick wall. I’m not sure what happened. One minute I thought we were on this really good track, and the next we veered totally off course.” Justin sighed. “It’s so frustrating.”

  Luke was all too familiar with veering off course. When he saw Summer and Jefferson together earlier in the week, he’d felt like someone punched him. And even though Gram tried to assure him that nothing was going on, he’d still been so upset that he’d called and canceled their counseling session. Summer had acted as if she understood, but he had his doubts.

  His plan to win her back had already been set into motion though. All he could do now was wait.

  Summer walked into the office on Monday resolving to make it a good day. She and Ashley had talked things out on Friday, and there were no hard feelings. Granted, Ashley’s accusation that Summer might be getting too close to Jefferson had stung, but she knew her friend’s concern was coming from a genuine place.

  Still though, the conversation had played heavy on her mind all weekend. Jefferson did have a habit of popping up out of nowhere and saying the right thing. Ashley thought his moves were more calculated than spontaneous.

  But Summer couldn’t imagine him being that vindictive.

  Even so, she’d decided that it might be best to curb their friendship. Because if Ashley thought it was suspicious, others might as well. And Summer never wanted to give anyone the wrong impression.

  “Morning.” Ashley walked into the office wearing a frown.

  Summer held up her coffee cup. “Surely it’s nothing a little coffee can’t cure.”

  Ashley flung herself into the chair across from Summer’s desk. “I had a date this weekend. And it was awful.”

  “What happened?”

  “You know how I said Justin was way too young? Well, this friend of mine from church called me last week and asked if I was dating anyone. When I said no, she said she had someone she wanted me to meet.” She shook her head. “I should’ve said no. But I thought maybe this would be the guy to make me forget all about Justin.”

  “But he wasn’t Mr. Right?”

  “That’s an understatement. He wasn’t even Mr. Someone I’d Be Friends With.”

  Summer couldn’t help but smile at Ashley’s dramatics. “That bad?”

  “He’s forty. Which I thought was great at first. But that means his children are almost grown, and he made it very clear that he has no interest in having more. And then he proceeded to explain his fitness regimen in detail and ask me how I planned to stay in shape as I age.”

  “Wow.”

  Ashley nodded. “I know. The whole night made me sad.”

  “Because it was such a bad date?”

  “No. Because it reinforced how strong my feelings are for Justin.” Ashley leaned forward and put her head in her hands.

  “I still think you should be totally honest with him. You might end up pleasantly surprised.”

  Ashley shrugged. “Maybe you’re right.” She got up and walked to her desk. “But I do have some good news at least.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “We got our first client through the new website.” She smiled broadly. “Cool, huh?”

  Summer nodded. “Very. What’s the deal?”

  “You’re not going to like it, but I think we can pull it off.”

  “Why does the sound of that make me nervous?”

  Ashley giggled. “It’s a pretty quick turnaround.”

  “How quick?” Summer raised an eyebrow. She liked to have as much tim
e as possible. In fact, she preferred six months to a year.

  “Two weeks from Saturday.”

  Summer stopped what she was doing and looked up. “You have got to be kidding me.”

  Ashley shook her head. “Nope. But the place where they want to have the ceremony is available. You know that resort over in Mt. Pleasant? The same place the Jennings wedding was earlier in the spring?”

  Summer nodded. “That’s a nice place.”

  “Well, it just so happens that it’s available,” Ashley said. “And get this—the couple who wants it is giving us free rein to plan the details. As long as we come in within their budget, they don’t want any input. Their generous budget.”

  Summer’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

  Ashley nodded. “They say they’ve looked at some of the weddings we’ve done and can tell we have great taste. So since they’re from out of town, they want us to take care of all the details.” She grinned. “Can you imagine? All the details. So we get to pick out the flowers, the colors, the food, the cake…the whole nine yards.”

  “Cool.”

  Ashley stood and brought the information sheet over to Summer. “And I think you should be the one to do it. Since you and Luke tied the knot at city hall, this will be like your chance to put your dream wedding together.”

  Summer took the sheet of paper from her. At least it would take her mind off of things. Like why her husband had really skipped out on their counseling session. And how it was possible that he’d been on the boat for four weeks yet she still missed him as much today as she had on the first day.

  Chapter 33

  Luke finished his explanation of Civil War artillery pieces and hung around to take questions.

  “Thanks for your time,” an older man said to him. “That was a great talk. Do you have any idea what time I have to be back on the boat? I think they announced it, but I didn’t hear.”

  “Enjoy the rest of your visit here. You still have fifteen more minutes until the boat departs.” The only way to get to Fort Sumter was by boat and they were very strict about departure times.

  “Luke,” Mr. Young called. “Can you come over here for a second?”

  Luke made his way over to where his boss stood. “Yes sir?”

  “I wondered if you’d thought about the position we talked about.”

  He’d been thinking about it a lot. He nodded. “I’d like to accept the responsibility. I think it’s something I’m really going to enjoy.”

  Mr. Young nodded. “I’m very glad to hear that. I know you’re going to do a great job.”

  “Thanks.”

  Mr. Young walked toward the museum with a wave.

  Luke wondered what Summer would say about his new responsibilities when she found out about them. These days he wondered what she’d think about a lot of stuff. She was the one big piece missing from his life now.

  Even after Rose and Dave had come back from Disney, Luke had continued to visit Daddy. He’d even had a moment of clarity the other morning and had known Luke was there. It seemed like many of the pieces of his life were starting to fall into place. But the missing piece was Summer.

  He’d finally started talking to God again. At first he’d mainly apologized for being such an idiot. But soon he’d started praying specifically for things in his life. And then he’d started to thank God for his blessings and to praise His name.

  And even though he didn’t expect life to be perfect, Luke knew that he had the tools to deal with the disappointments and the failures that were inevitable parts of life.

  He couldn’t wait to share the changes in his life with Summer.

  And he hoped and prayed that she’d give him the chance.

  “Have you seen the weather?” Summer asked as soon as Ashley walked in the door.

  Ashley nodded. “Yes. But according to my e-mail, the wedding is still a go in spite of the hurricane watch.”

  Summer’s stomach churned. “Do they realize that our ability to pull off this wedding totally hinges on the weather? Because if this thing hits, we won’t be able to have a catereddinner and flowers brought in from a flower shop. We’ll be lucky to keep a roof over our heads and maintain electricity.”

  Ashley shrugged. “It was all very clear on the site, and they sent me an e-mail last night that stated everything was a go.”

  “Okay.” Summer tapped her pencil against her desk. She flipped through her planner and penciled in a couple more items on her to-do list. “You know what? This wedding is the same day as my anniversary.” She frowned.

  “Do y’all have plans?”

  Summer shook her head. “Not exactly. Luke came over yesterday to mow the yard. We ended up talking for a while. I came super close to asking him to move back in the house.” She sighed. “But I’m a little scared. I’m afraid if he moves in, we’ll never actually deal with any of the problems. I don’t want to sweep them under the rug. I want to face them together and then move on.”

  Ashley smiled. “I think you’ll get there.”

  “I hope so.” Summer lifted her hair off her neck. It was so miserably hot outside today. “He moved off the boat and moved in with Justin. And Colton.”

  “Whoa. I’ll bet that’s an interesting household.”

  Summer chuckled. “Luke said Justin and Colton are like two peas in a pod. He says that considering Colton isn’t Justin’s biological child, it’s uncanny how alike they are.”

  “I hope the situation is working out.”

  “Seems to be.” Summer glanced over at Ashley. “Except that Justin is still really sad. I ran into him at the grocery store a couple of days ago. I can tell he’s happy to have Colton with him, but he asked about you right off.”

  “He did?” Ashley asked. “I figured I’d sabotaged any chance I had because I was so scared.”

  Summer shrugged. “You’ll never know until you try.”

  Chapter 34

  Friday afternoon, Summer looked out the window from her room at the resort. The clouds were rolling so fast they looked like they were from a time-lapse video. If the TV weather guys were right, things didn’t bode well for tomorrow’s wedding.

  “You worried?” Ashley asked. She was perched on the sofa, tapping away on the keys of her laptop.

  She let out a breath. “A little bit. It’s not a good sign when the Weather Channel has someone stationed at your hotel, is it?”

  “I guess not. But they probably have people stationed all over the coast. Just because we’re in the cone of uncertainty doesn’t mean we’re going to get hit.”

  “My whole life is a cone of uncertainty.” Summer managed a smile at Ashley’s amused expression. “What? It is.”

  Ashley rolled her eyes. “Haven’t you figured it out yet? Life is uncertain. Thankfully we can be certain of what comes after that.”

  “Has anyone ever told you that you have a good perspective on things?”

  “A time or two.” Ashley twisted her mouth into a smile.

  “Or maybe it’s that wisdom comes with age.”

  “Speaking of age…I meant to tell you that Justin’s birthday is coming up in August. His thirtieth birthday.” Summer raised her eyebrows. “Does that push him over your mysterious threshold and make it appropriate for you guys to see each other again?”

  Ashley sighed. “I don’t know.”

  “If it’s honestly that you don’t see the possibility of a future with him, that’s one thing. But if it’s because you’re scared of taking a chance, that’s another.”

  “I never thought I’d be in this position, you know?” Ashley tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “Starting over with someone new. Trusting that this time love will work out for me.” She sighed. “It’s a lot harder than I expected it to be. So yes, I’m scared.”

  “I wish I could give you a guarantee,” Summer said. She sat down on the plush king-sized bed and toyed with her wedding ring. “But obviously I can’t. I will say that some things are worth the risk. Worth the hurt.�
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  Ashley nodded. “I know. And I believe that, too. I have to find that courage to take a leap of faith.”

  Summer smiled. “I used to have trouble with that. You know what a perfectionist I am.”

  “You, a perfectionist?” Ashley giggled. “No way.”

  “I’m serious.” Summer sighed. “It’s hard for me to do things that I might fail at. Whether it’s planting a garden or expanding the business. But a few years ago, I realized that in the end I’d rather regret something I did than something I didn’t do.” She shrugged. “It’s that simple. I don’t want tolook back and have to wish I’d taken a chance or wish I’d told someone how I felt. So I started living that way.”

  “That’s actually really good advice.” Ashley looked up from her laptop with wide eyes.

  Summer grinned. “Sometimes I do have good ideas.”

  Ashley closed her laptop and looked seriously at Summer. “Okay then. In light of that, I have something I’ve wanted to talk to you about for a few months.” She took a deep breath.

  Ashley willed the words to come out of her mouth. She tried to remember all the points she’d planned to make if she ever got the nerve to make this little speech. But for the most part, they eluded her. “I’ve put in a lot of hours over the past six months,” she said finally.

  Summer nodded. “And I’m so appreciative.”

  “And with the new website launch, we’re only going to get busier. I even have some ideas on ways we can expand from weddings to parties and general events.” Ashley met Summer’s curious gaze. “You know I’m a good employee. I’m dependable and responsible, and I get along well with our clients.”

  “I know. Finding you has been such a blessing to me and the business.”

  “Well, I’ve been thinking lately that I’d like to play a bigger role in the business side of things.” Her heart beat faster, but she plunged ahead. “I’d like for you to consider making me a full partner.”

  Summer’s eyes widened. “I guess that should have occurred to me already, huh?” She shook her head. “I’ll need to talk to my accountant and to Luke, but I don’t see any reason why we can’t make that happen.”