by Lowe, Fiona
On Monday morning, when she and Finn had been cuddled up in the post-dawn chill, they’d heard the helicopter leaving. Finn had mentioned that Bridey was heading back to Chicago for a few days with Hank. Nothing had been mentioned about the wedding being moved forward a year or that the venue had been changed to Whitetail. Surely she’d know if it had?
Why? You’re not family. She bit her lip against the truth. She’d fallen in love with Finn and she adored his family, but she wasn’t part of it. A shot of acid burned her stomach, making her feel ill.
A rogue thought suddenly pinged her. Late on Saturday, Nicole had texted the first of two messages. Messages she’d ignored because she’d either been having fun with Finn or frantically preparing for today. Had the Callahans and Neiquests been in Whitetail on Saturday planning the wedding?
“...pretty big event.” Ty’s Southern drawl brought her back with a jolt.
“Excuse me?”
“This wedding.” He pointed to the shop front of Whitetail Market and Video, which had hearts all over the windows, and Nicole’s salon, which had white tulle with tiny golden hearts filling the display area.
“Ah, yes, the wedding.” She smiled tightly as she pulled into a parking space in front of the imposing town hall. “But today’s all about Long River Electronics. Please come and enjoy a tour of the town and meet some of the business leaders.”
Ty waited for her to alight and then met her on the sidewalk. The plan had been for the aldermen to meet her here, and then together they’d escort Ty and introduce him to the more prominent business owners. The aldermen were there and so was half the town. Relief flooded her. She had no clue what had happened to the banner but it seemed that Whitetail was on track after all.
Mrs. Norell was the first person to notice her. “Anni.” She waved and walked over. “This is marvelous news, isn’t it?”
Annika was aware of Ty standing next to her and as nothing had been decided she carefully said, “We mustn’t get ahead of ourselves. Mr. Dennison hasn’t even seen the town yet.”
Ella beamed at Ty. “It’s wonderful that you’re spending some extra time in our town before the wedding. Which side are you on?”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I’m not part of the wedding.” Ty glanced at Annika with a questioning look.
Annika tried not to grind her teeth and frantically used her eyes to signal everything they’d discussed at the town meeting. “Mrs. Norell, Ty represents Long River Electronics.”
The woman nodded and looked slightly disappointed that Ty wasn’t connected with the wedding. “Pleased to meet you. If you’ll excuse me I have to run. Miss Bridget Callahan wants to have some of her wedding photos taken in my garden and I’ve got my work cut out for me to have it looking perfect for our bride.”
Ella hurried away and Annika hastily called out to John Ackerman who came over beaming. Before she could introduce Ty, John said, “Anni, can you believe it? The Callahan wedding has ordered all their fresh produce through me. The times they are a-changing.”
If it had been possible to shoot daggers through her eyes she would have done it. “That’s great, John. This is Ty Dennison of Long River Electronics and if they choose to expand in Whitetail then your market will prosper as a result.”
John shook Ty’s hand. “Good to meet you, Ty. Are you married?”
Ty looked taken aback. “Ah, no, sir, I’m not, but I’m considering it.”
“Well, you keep us in mind when you pop the question to your girl. You couldn’t choose a better place than Whitetail to tie the knot and we can take care of all your wedding needs. Bridget Callahan has chosen us ahead of all those swanky Chicago hotels because we give our brides the key to the town for their day.”
Annika silently groaned and was about to steer Ty away when Nicole rushed up, gripped her arm and with an accusing tone said, “I thought you’d sorted out your phone problems, Anni? We need an urgent meeting. There’s so much to do in such a short time and the invitations have to go out yesterday.”
Annika stifled her scream of frustration. Had everyone forgotten how important today’s meeting was? That Ty Dennison held the future of Whitetail in his hand with the offer of jobs. Real jobs. She couldn’t believe the town would risk jobs because of a wedding.
She shook off Nicole’s hand. “I’ll call you later when I’ve finished meeting with,” she emphasized the words, “Long River Electronics.”
Nicole’s chin shot up. “Make sure you do.” She extended her hand to Ty. “I’m Nicole Lindquist and my salon’s across the street. However, I’m also the coordinator of Whitetail—Weddings That WOW. Annika probably hasn’t told you but,” she threw her hands out to encompass the town, “we’ve just scored a major wedding and the publicity it’s going to generate will cement Whitetail as ‘the’ place to get married.”
Ty shook Nicole’s hand. “Congratulations, ma’am.”
Annika heard the tightness in his Southern hospitality. If she’d had a flue as a body part, smoke would be pouring out of her. She was fuming with Nicole’s grandstanding and so furious with the town for letting her down that she was ready to spit. She frantically glanced around trying to find someone who would focus on Ty instead of Bridey’s wedding. Someone who would help her rescue what was starting to look like a runaway disaster.
Luke Anderson—bless him—was crossing the street toward them. After college and spending five years working for an agricultural company, Luke had returned to Whitetail and taken over the running of the family dairy farm. He loved the farm and the town in that order and could trace his ancestors back to the first Swedes who settled in the district in 1846.
“Luke, may I introduce you to Ty Dennison of Long River Electronics.”
Luke gripped the Southerner’s hand firmly. “Welcome to Whitetail. We might be small but we’re big on service.”
Ty returned the greeting. “That’s good to hear. I grew up in a small town and my company has small-town values which I won’t compromise on. My staff’s like family.”
“Then you’ll fit right in here.” Luke smiled. He gestured to the town hall. “My forefathers arrived here to make a new life and community has always been a strong part of Whitetail. We’re keen to expand that to encompass new ventures.”
The three of them strolled along the street with Luke calmly and quietly adding important details to Annika’s commentary about Whitetail. This was fortunate because as they passed each shop and she saw yet another wedding window display with a sticker that said Official Supplier to the Callahan-Neiquest Wedding, she was having trouble keeping her mind on selling Whitetail when Whitetail had sold out on her.
It was a relief to finally meet Ellery at the warehouses.
As they stepped through the doorway with the now-finished mural, Ty stopped short and stared at the bridal wonderland.
“I was under the impression the warehouses were empty.”
Annika rushed to reassure him. “Technically they are. This is just a goodwill gesture for Whitetail—Weddings That WOW.”
“The town’s business?”
“I’d hardly call it that. They have a couple of weddings booked is all.”
Ty shot her a look. “It feels more than that, Ms. Jacobson.” He turned to Ellery. “If I choose Whitetail, I’d want the entire space.”
“Absolutely.”
Ellery started talking square footage and Annika went ahead thankful she’d closed the door on her studio, and she headed down the corri
dor to the actual warehouse. She hauled open the heavy door and stopped short. Al Larson’s carriage and limousine were parked inside. Huge metal poles lay on the ground along with a sea of white industrial PVC that she’d swear was a massive marquee.
Ty strode past her, pointedly walking around the marquee frames before zigzagging between the vehicles, and then he kept on walking. The rigid set of his shoulders clearly stated that he wasn’t happy.
Ellery pressed the big, red loading dock switch and, with a clank, the large door started to roll up. A truck was parked in the loading zone, and a deliveryman with a sign machine walked directly to Ty.
“Chairs for the Callahan-Neiquest wedding. Where do you want them?”
“I don’t,” Ty ground out.
The delivery guy looked confused and Annika ran over. “I’ll sign for them.”
Ellery quickly walked Ty down the stairs to show him the other warehouse, pointing out the features of the truck bay and the possibility to extend. She heard their receding voices and stretched her hand out for the signing tablet.
“Miss, I need you to count the chairs as I unload them.”
“What? Can’t I just sign for them?”
“No. Count first, sign last.”
“But I don’t even know how many...”
But the guy had disappeared behind the truck where his buddy had already started unloading.
Inwardly seething, she started counting. Where was Al or anyone else from the town? Seventy-five. Why weren’t they here doing this job? Damn it, but she picked up the slack for everyone in this town. One hundred and twenty. If they were so convinced that this wedding business was Whitetail’s savior then why weren’t they here to accept a delivery?
The men put down the last two stacks of chairs. “Did you get two hundred, Miss?”
“I did.” She quickly signed the liquid display on the machine and ran down the steps. She found Ellery and Ty deep in conversation on the blacktop that stretched between the two warehouses.
Panting, she gasped out, “I’m so sorry about that, Mr. Dennison.”
He merely raised one brow but the action spoke volumes. “Miz Jacobson. If Long River was to establish itself here, what sort of incentives would Whitetail be offering?”
Annika thought about how empty the Whitetail coffers were and chewed on her lip. “What sort of incentives did you have in mind?”
Ty tapped his foot and squinted at the warehouses. “A significant decrease in the rent.”
Annika glanced at Ellery who shook his head. “Mr. Dennison, I’m sorry but the warehouses are privately owned.”
The businessman frowned. “I was under the impression from your correspondence, Miz Jacobson, that the town owned the warehouses outright and that you were in a position to negotiate.”
Annika looked imploringly at Ellery.
“There’s some room to move on the leasing details,” Ellery said, and named a figure.
Ty immediately lowered it.
Ellery shook his head and added a thousand dollars to Ty’s figure.
The CEO of Long River Electronics didn’t even consider the counteroffer. “Then I’ll be saying no thanks and goodbye. I’m just not feeling the love, which is ironic given this town’s fixation on weddings.”
Chapter Seventeen
Annika had driven Ty directly to the airport and the moment his plane had taken off, she’d somehow managed to get her shaking fingers to type out a text on her phone—town meeting now—and had sent it to the entire town. She’d left fury behind a long time ago. Now she was incandescent with rage. She was the acting mayor. They’d asked her to take on that position, and she’d accepted it with the same pledge she’d made all those years ago in 4-H—to better living, for my club, my community, my country, and my world. As Whitetail was pretty much all four to her, she couldn’t believe they’d let her down this way. She’d worked so hard to give them what they needed and she’d only asked them to do one simple thing. Make a fuss of Ty Dennison.
As people filed into the town hall, all she could hear was wedding chatter and it ramped up her anger even more. When the last person took their seat, she slammed the gavel down hard and said, “I call this meeting to order.” But that was as far as her meeting protocol lasted. All her anger poured out in full-flight berating-mother mode.
“I can’t believe what you all did to me today.” She caught sight of Luke and backtracked slightly. “Not Luke or Ellery, but the rest of you—” she pointed accusingly, “—hung me out to dry. I’ve worked my butt off for weeks trying to get an industry for this town, for all of you, and when I finally get someone to actually visit, you blow them off.” Her hands flew up. “Ten jobs. You just blew off ten jobs for what? One wedding.”
People stared at her in shocked silence. There was no scraping of chairs, no shuffling of feet and even the sounds of breathing were muted. Nicole rose slowly and rolled her shoulders back.
“We appreciate that you’ve tried to find us a business, Anni, but you’ve just lost two prospective customers and—”
The unfair criticism fired her brain into action. “The town lost us Long River Electronics today by talking about weddings instead of electronics!”
Nicole waved her hand in a “whatever” action. “The important thing is that while you’ve been trying to find us an industry, we’ve created one. We’ve now signed five brides and our fifth is the one that will change everything.”
A murmur of agreement ran around the room but the agreement was siding with Nicole, not Annika. She could feel a level of animosity radiating off the townsfolk and lapping against her in small waves. It unnerved her and she shifted into conciliatory mode just to get over this hump. “You’re pinning an awful lot on Bridey’s wedding, but let’s be realistic here. It’s still only one wedding.”
Nicole shot her a disbelieving look. “Anni, this wedding will feature in bridal magazines around the country. Bridey’s dress will be examined and discussed, and so will the cake, the amazing view of the lake from the marquee and the menu. Not to mention the rehearsal dinner and the groom’s cake. But most of all they’ll talk about how we threw a lavish wedding and protected Bridey and Hank’s privacy all at the same time. All of that will mean we’ll continue to get bookings.”
Annika gripped the gavel, not at all certain that Nicole was correct.
Nicole continued. “You did a lovely job on the mural and we’re grateful.”
Annika smiled. She knew her town well and all Nicole had needed to do was vent. Given the mural was a totally different picture from what she’d thought would work best, she’d been reasonably pleased with the result. She’d even managed to work a tiny vine of hearts deep in the picture. “I’m glad you like it.”
“We do. And the website you started—”
“Yes, it’s on my to-do list to expand it, but so far it’s looking pretty good.” Annika hadn’t had time to get much more set up than four basic pages but the contacts were all linked to Nicole’s phone and email.
“Actually—” Nicole paused and glanced around at the crowd who nodded at her encouragingly before she turned back. She lifted her chin. “We think the colors are wrong and the photos you’ve used don’t make Whitetail look as romantic as it needs to be.”
Annika breathed in sharply. Wrong? She’d chosen shades of blues and greens for the website to tie in with the lake and the northwoods. It represented the town p
erfectly. Her heart rate picked up as indignation swirled. Colors had been her world up until her art had become too painful to face, and though she had trouble painting now, she didn’t doubt her color abilities. Her calligraphy clients rarely questioned her color suggestions. People in Whitetail never questioned her. Her voice rose. “What do you mean the colors are wrong?”
Nicole’s voice firmed up. “The site should say romance. Right now it looks like a tourism page.”
“Nicole’s right, dear,” Mrs. Norell added her two cents, and more murmurs joined her.
Annika’s fingers curled around the edge of the lectern. She’d created a basic website for them because they’d asked her to and now they were criticizing it? Stay calm. “I’m sorry—”
“No need to apologize, Anni, you did your best,” Al said.
Her jaw was so tight the ache radiated through her teeth and up into her cheeks. “Set up a meeting, Nicole, and we can discuss what it is you want for the website.”
Nicole’s expression became half determined and half pained. “Anni, we know you’re really busy so we’ve spoken to Joshua about the website.”
The name wasn’t familiar to her. “Who?”
Eric, the editor of The Bugle, waved his notepad. “My grandson.”
Melissa added, “Remember, he took the paper online and he’s ready to take your start on the website and really romance it up. Make the site really wow and reflect our slogan of Weddings That WOW.”
Something akin to dread crawled over her simmering anger and rampant indignation. She heard her voice rise. “But you asked me to do it.”
