Everyone started applauding again, so Holt finished with “Thanks, everybody. Please, enjoy yourselves tonight. I know we will. Now go eat one of Carla’s amazing danishes and wash it down with Pete’s signature sangria.”
He turned off the mic and exhaled. “I think that wasn’t the worst.”
“I think it was the greatest ever. Dance included.” Wiley smiled. “You did it.”
“We did it.”
“We’re married. For real.” Wiley’s eyes glittered with happiness and desire when he smiled.
Holt set the mic on a table and led Wiley away from the party to the darkened end of the patio. “We are.” He kissed Wiley and reveled in them being married, for real, and that Wiley was his forever, no faking.
Kit’s voice floated to them. “As soon as the couple can tear themselves away from each other, they’re going to mingle. In the meantime, finish off those hand pies, have a cupcake or three, and remember, donations to the couple’s favorite charities in lieu of gifts. Information is on the guestbook table.”
Wiley lifted his head. “That wasn’t in an email you neglected to read.”
“I trust Kit to choose a charity or two I support.”
“I’m sure Carla told him mine.”
Holt nodded but got distracted with kissing everywhere the soft lantern light touched on Wiley’s face, and since he was a thorough worker, it took a while. He stopped at Wiley’s bow tie and stepped back, too tempted to undo it and Wiley’s collar and shirt buttons.
“I suppose we should tear ourselves away to go mingle. Shall we?”
“No” was all Wiley said, and pulled Holt to him for another kiss.
OH, I Do!
Kittens, Holsters, Coyfriends, gather ’round. I’m overjoyed and aflutter for our boys.
Settling in to watch the wedding in my dress pajamas with toast points and Kit-approved rose-gold champagne flute, I didn’t expect to cry. But omg, OID family, I bawled. When Holt said his quiet I DO, all deep and without a doubt and his absolute concentration on Wiley, and Wiley just glowing, and then their dance and Holt being the clumsy one and Wiley so confident… I was sent. Well past orbit. I’m talking deep space here.
(I have downloaded that song and it’s on heavy rotation as I sing along, and the cats are like, please, have mercy, but there will be none.)
What a splendid dreamy affair it was! Our open thread was hopping and everyone’s outfits and cocktail shares made the night so much better. We brought the memes and merriment and snark and devotion—and made the wedding trend on social, worldwide. Boo. Yah.
Also brought? Flowers and decorations and an outpouring of support when word got out the venue was raided—the night before the wedding. What kind of monster, I ask.
The monsters Chief Wilkins already has in custody, that’s what.
And, to no one here’s surprise, they are no superfans of the show, no sir. (Those would be the outpourers, see above.) Apparently, some punks not from around dear lil Odalia thought filming would provide cover, went on their crime spree, but forgot to cover their faces when they dumped the last of their ill-gotten spoils behind a convenience store not ten miles from town.
Did I just see you perk up? They went to all that criming trouble just to dump everything? Yes, that’s right. Chief Wilkins explained they were disgusted to find they hadn’t stolen anything of value they could fence. Boxes of flowers and candles and linens—a whole damn cake gone to waste, and that’s probably a felony at a wedding? Who could have guessed.
Perhaps calling them monsters is an overstatement. They’re like… something slimy and single-celled.
There is a silver lining that makes my heart pitter-pat. It seems Holt’s incredibly careful packing of Wiley’s village to get them from Wiley’s house to the mansion meant they survived the thievery, the rudeness, the dumping. So his cherished grandma’s cherished village was safe and safely returned to him.
Let me pause as I go in search of a tissue to get this dust out of my eyes.
I’ll update as it proceeds through court. But for now, big yay to Holt for saving the village and the fans who flocked to Odalia and saved the show!
SO. They’re married. And Holt is retired. And Kit is moving on.
And we? Are not going anywhere.
Hand to god as the teaser for Kit’s new show—Marry Me, Kit!—started after the wedding livestream ended I was creating a page and board for it. Kittens, our very own show, with our very own Kit, planning destination weddings in unexpected places that need a little love. Making pop-up stores to sell what the couples get to choose from a permanent feature during filming? Boosting local businesses and economies, all while pulling together the most wonderful weddings ever to be seen?
We don’t deserve him. (We do. We really, really do.)
But let’s back up to that whole Holt retiring thing. Here’s a bit of goss about that, and you know I have the inside scoop lowdown. (Okay, for all this, my source? Our OID attended the wedding as Kit’s plus-one contest winner—yes, represent! I knew we could do it. Also, hate you with seething jealousy forever, kiss kiss!) Seems he’s in talks with the network to have a show on their streaming platform. Way less formal, way less flash. He and Ben (omg cutie Ben!… omg we’re going to need a nickname for cutie Ben) are doing an instructive, pared-down DIY show as they fix up the hardware store. Which, given how Kit talked about it, could take years.
After that? Holt and Ben and Wiley will set up shop. An actual for-real hardware store with Wiley’s design studio in the loft. Something about illustrated cards and posters and, pray goodness, T-shirts. If he doesn’t design an every-holiday village line, there’s no justice in this world. (There is justice in this world, see above.) Something tells me Carla and her cakes will be icing on the whole thing—at least in Ben’s heart.
Hmmmmm.
So yes, OID fabs and friends, they might have gotten hitched, said their goodbyes, and taken off for their honeymoon in the actual hills and/or the proverbial hills. But. It’s only the beginning for us.
Oh. Yes.
ELLE BROWNLEE always followed her creative, adventuring spirit. Growing up she loved reading, watching Westerns, and taking long hikes, where she’d craft miniature worlds with moss and rocks while making up stories of what happened there. As an adult, not a lot has changed. She still loves all these things—which makes being a writer such a joy. She also loves rainy days in autumn, National Parks, birding and quilting and stickers, and the perfect cup of tea.
Elle currently juggles plenty of travel, working to make the world a better place, and writing. She’s so thankful to be able to share her work with a growing audience, and especially grateful to have you reading along.
Website: www.ellebrownlee.com/index.html
Facebook: www.facebook.com/elle.brownlee
Twitter: @ellebrownlee
Email: [email protected]
By Elle Brownlee
DREAMSPUN DESIRES
Two for Trust
Say Yes to a Mess
COAST GUARD RESCUE
Staggered Cove Station
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
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Published by
DREAMSPINNER PRESS
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or ar
e used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Say Yes to a Mess
© 2020 Elle Brownlee
Cover Art
© 2020 L.C. Chase
http://www.lcchase.com
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64108-231-0
Digital ISBN: 978-1-64405-561-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020942866
Digital eBook published November 2020
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America
Say Yes to a Mess (Dreamspun Desires Book 103) Page 20