Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 93002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Maybe someday, when the memory of the dark barrel of that gun pointed at my forehead had faded some, maybe then I’d feel bad. I wasn’t there yet.
I could have stayed in Oregon for a lot longer than a week. Learning the truth about Forrest’s father had bridged the distance between Forrest and Emily as nothing else could have. Seeing their relationship up close—the open affection, the way she was excited to hear every detail of his work at the inn, and most of all, the smile on her face when her son walked in the room—all of it was a revelation. I hadn’t grown up with love like that. There’d been some love in our house thanks to Darcy and Miss Martha, but not enough. Not like that. Emily delighted in Forrest, and he had an easiness with Jerry that was sweet to see.
And on top of all of that, Emily seemed thrilled that her son and I were together. I’d never really thought about the parents of anyone I’d dated, maybe because I’d never taken my dates all that seriously. But where Emily was concerned, what she thought mattered.
I was in love with Forrest and didn’t plan on being parted from him ever again if I could help it. If I got my way, someday, Emily would be my mother-in-law. I wanted that. I would have claimed Forrest even if his mother had been an evil witch, but I couldn’t deny that I was thrilled she wasn’t. I leaned into every hug, soaking in her maternal affection.
It wasn’t hard to adore Emily. She was fun and loving and wise and weird in the coolest ways. She had full conversations with her goat, which seemed to be two-sided based on his head nods and vocal responses. She made vats of homemade yogurt and always had fresh sourdough bread. After Emmett saved us from Callum, we’d returned to the house, shaken by the scene on the cliffs. When she heard what happened to Brax, Emily pulled me close and rocked me from side to side, rubbing my back, saying, “Oh, you poor, sweet baby. Oh, you poor girl.”
I wasn’t ashamed to say I wept. A lot. I didn’t think I’d ever had an embrace like that. Not since I was a toddler. While a part of me was a little homesick—Parker had been sending me pics of Shadow, who she swore missed me—a part of me wanted to stay, to sink into the rhythm of the little farm, eat sourdough toast and yogurt with fresh berries. To learn to throw pots and collect eggs from the chickens and get Emily’s hugs three times a day. But home wasn’t Oregon, and I had a wedding to plan back in Sawyers Bend. Forrest could handle a lot of his job remotely, but I could tell he was eager to get back to the inn. Emily and Jerry promised to visit Sawyers Bend in the fall for leaf season and the annual craft fair. Jerry was already making phone calls to potters in the area to tour their workshops.
We’d arrived back at Heartstone Manor to find a beautiful arbor in Quinn’s clearing, with flowers and low bushes already planted around it. It was wider than I’d expected, with four sturdy posts and an arching roof of woven peeled branches. And because it was for Quinn, Hawk had added hammock hooks. I wouldn’t be surprised to find Quinn’s double hammock hung there now and then, the two of them cocooned away from the world.
The arbor was done, and Quinn had her ring. As far as Hawk was concerned, it was go time. Thanks to Tenn and Savannah’s wedding, Griffen was ordained and could perform the ceremony. We briefly discussed waiting, given Brax’s unexpected death. His body came home while Forrest and I were still in Oregon, and the rest of the family had a small service without us as soon as I’d assured them I didn’t want to be there. All agreed that we could grieve Brax and still celebrate Quinn and Hawk’s marriage. Everyone was just waiting on me.
Considering it was her wedding at stake, Quinn gave me the week off from work. I spent it grabbing anyone I could—mostly the kids since they had summer off, and Scarlett and Parker because they made their own schedules. Together, we decorated the clearing in a midsummer night’s dream theme, fairy lights in the trees and flowers everywhere. I filled tin buckets with tulips and lined them up to create an aisle, hung lanterns from low branches, and draped swaths of tulle on the arbor.
Avery brought her nice event chairs over from the brewery, and Royal and Tenn connected me with the musicians they used at the inn to play violin for the ceremony and bluegrass for the party afterward. At Quinn and Hawk’s request, Finn planned the barbeque to end all barbeques after the wedding, right in the clearing where we held the ceremony.