by Dylann Crush
“There are some breeds that don’t shed. Maybe something small to keep me company.”
“Darling, you don’t need a dog to do that. That’s why you have me.” Stella finished filling in her lips with a deep pink stain. “There. I think you’re right. Getting back out there is the best way to get over a broken heart. Not that there are any eligible men worth considering here in Ido, but at least I can practice my social game tonight.”
Delilah didn’t bother wasting breath on trying to reason with her. It wouldn’t do any good. Stella was set in her ways and didn’t take well to change. Especially when it wasn’t her idea. She thought back to touring the dog rescue. All of those sad eyes staring up her, looking for love, looking for someone to see the value and worth they still carried inside.
She recognized herself in their gazes. She’d been waiting her whole life for someone to see the worth and value she carried. Beyond the satin sash and perfectly plucked brows. While she waited for Stella to pull on her body shaper and wiggle into her dress, Delilah scrolled through the pictures on her phone again, something she’d taken to doing more often than she wanted to admit.
Jasper covered in butterflies. Jasper sitting on a blanket in the back of his truck bed. Jasper covered in mud. The smile on his face tugged at something deep down inside. Like a thread leftover from when she’d wrapped her heart up tight. He seemed to be the only one who’d been able to unravel any of it.
Stella came out of the bathroom, ready to go. “All right. Let’s get this over with.”
“You look really pretty today.” Delilah meant it. Her mother had been beautiful once. Not that she wasn’t still a very attractive woman. But there was a hardness to her now that Delilah didn’t remember from when she’d been younger.
“Thank you.” Stella offered a rare smile—the kind that actually reached her eyes and went deeper than the surface.
“What was your wedding day like? Do you remember?” They rarely talked about Delilah’s dad. Stella always said it was too painful. As soon as she asked the question, a pang of regret twisted through her stomach. “Sorry, you don’t have to answer that.”
But in a rare moment of openness, Stella reached for her wallet and pulled out a small photo. She and Delilah’s dad stared into the camera. Her dad had a huge smile on his face, the one she remembered from her childhood. But her mother’s lips barely tipped up at the corners. There was a sadness in her eyes.
Delilah searched her father’s face. Brown eyes, that’s right. How could she have forgotten? The memory of him kneeling down in front of her and helping her with her shoes flooded her brain. He’d looked up at her, those deep, dark brown eyes shining with love.
“Why did Daddy leave?” She’d asked the question over the years, more times than she could count, but Stella always put her off with a flippant remark. She’d say things like “We were too much to handle” or “He wasn’t man enough to take care of us,” and Delilah never pressed.
“I told you, sweetheart, he couldn’t handle being a husband and a dad.” Stella slipped the picture back into her clutch. “It was good while it lasted, but it wasn’t meant to be. When you start on shaky ground, there’s not much there to build a solid foundation.”
That was the most information Delilah had ever been able to squeeze out of her mother. Maybe they’d reached a new point in their relationship. Now that Delilah would be retiring from the pageant scene, perhaps Stella was ready to open up a bit.
“You don’t want to keep everyone waiting.” Just like that, the old Stella was back. “I hope you’re going to do something with your hair. It looks so much better when you pull it up. Let everyone see your beautiful face.”
Delilah grimaced as her mother brushed her hair back from her cheeks.
“I’d planned on wearing it down today.” She didn’t add that Jasper liked it down. Stella had made her feelings about small-town life, and especially small-town men, pretty clear. If she had any inkling that her daughter had gotten so involved with a local cowboy, she’d blow her top.
“You’ll wear it up.” With that, her mother opened the door and stepped into the early afternoon sunlight. “I’m going to go track down that mayor before she gets too busy at the wedding. I’ll meet you there.”
* * *
* * *
Jasper sucked in a breath as he stepped onto the porch where Delilah sat in the rocker next to Abby. She had on a low-cut, flowery dress that accentuated her bust. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a mass of curls, but she’d left several tendrils loose that framed her face and drew his attention to her slender neck. All of the reasons he’d come up with in the shower as to why he shouldn’t kiss her again seemed to disappear.
“You look beautiful.” He delivered the compliment with a shy grin, not sure how she’d take it after their talk a few nights before.
“Thank you!” Abby got to her feet and twirled, sending her skirt billowing out around her. “Delilah did my hair. French braids.”
Jasper shifted his gaze to his baby sister. She looked beautiful, too, although she hadn’t exactly been the target of his compliment. “It looks really nice.”
“Can you tell I have on lip gloss?” Abby stepped in front of him and pursed her lips. “Delilah showed me how to put it on.”
“Does Mom know you’re wearing makeup?”
“Yes.” Abby drew the word out. “Of course, I asked her first. Do I look older?”
Jasper shook his head. They were entering new territory if Abby was going to start wearing makeup and worrying about looking like a woman instead of a girl. He pulled her into his side. “You’ll always be Little Bug to me.”
“Stop it, Jasper. You’re messing up my braids.” She pushed on his chest, but her grin let him know that she didn’t mind the affection.
“Y’all ready to go?”
Abby ran to the door. “Hold on, I need to tell Mom we’re leaving.”
As she dashed into the house, Jasper’s gaze slid to Delilah. His pulse ticked up as she stood and smoothed her palm over her dress.
“You look amazing.”
She smiled, her eyes holding just a trace of something he couldn’t identify. “Thank you. You look pretty good yourself.”
“Thanks.” He’d had to borrow a suit from his brother Trent since he’d burned his only pair of suit pants with the iron earlier. The jacket was a smidge tight in the shoulders, but he figured that would be a good thing. It would prevent him from being able to ask Delilah to dance to a slow song.
“About the other night . . . ,” Delilah began.
But then Abby burst through the door again, barreling past them on the way to the truck. “Mom said to have fun and to have me home before eleven.”
“She might be a little excited about singing at the wedding.” Delilah picked up her purse.
“A little?” Jasper chuckled. “She’s been waiting for this all month. Do we need to swing by and pick up your mom?”
“I thought we were going to ride together but she decided she wanted to stop in and talk to Lacey before everything starts. Something about getting more exposure on Ido’s social media.” Delilah shook her head. “Who knows what she’s got up her sleeve this time.”
“Okay then.” Jasper gestured toward the steps. “Let’s go.”
Jasper hadn’t attended a wedding at the Phillips House venue since Lacey tied the knot with Bodie a couple of years back. That wedding hadn’t gone as planned and he hadn’t had a reason to go to any of the others they’d held since. He’d heard about what went on out there between the historic house they’d turned into an event center and the giant warehouse on the property that had been repurposed as a blank slate, ready for whatever dream wedding a potential bride could come up with.
For the butterfly wedding, they’d rented giant white tents. The wedding was going to be held outside, in the beautifully land
scaped grounds, then the butterflies would be released before the guests moved into the tents for the reception. He wanted to pay extra-special attention in case he got any ideas for the wedding barn, although he couldn’t imagine holding events on a grand scale like this.
Lacey didn’t want to miss a single opportunity to showcase Ido in a romantic light, so she met them at the front door when Jasper arrived with Delilah on his arm.
“I’m so glad you could make it.” Lacey pressed an air-kiss to both of Delilah’s cheeks. “Come on in. Let me show you around before the festivities start.”
“Are you sure we’re not crashing the wedding?” Delilah asked.
“Don’t be silly. The bride said she’d be honored to have you here.”
Delilah let out a breath. “I just wanted to check. Oh, and have you seen my mother?”
Lacey shook her head. “She was here earlier but I haven’t seen her for a little while. Do we need to wait for her before I give you a tour?”
“No, she’ll catch up if she’s interested.”
Jasper hadn’t been inside the Phillips House since Lacey had gathered several of the local business owners to discuss her plans of turning their little town into a wedding destination. The whole house had been redone, restored to what he imagined was its original glory.
“This is amazing.” Delilah voiced the same reaction he felt. “How long did it take to renovate this space?”
“A few months. We were on a bit of a time crunch.” Lacey walked through the lower level, pointing out pieces that were original to the house. By the time she led them through the two upper levels, the wedding party had arrived and taken over the second-floor bedrooms to make final preparations.
“How many weddings have you had here so far?” Delilah asked.
“Too many to count.” Lacey stopped by the front door. “I can look it up and get you that information if you need it.”
“I was just curious. But it might be fun to share that on social media. Gives you some legitimacy if you’ve got the numbers to back up your claim of being the most romantic place in Texas to tie the knot.”
“Wait, you’re posting about your experience in town on your social media accounts?” Jasper asked.
“She’s got her own hashtag for the contest and everything.” Lacey squinted at him. “I thought you knew about that.”
“No, I’m pretty sure I didn’t.” Not that it mattered much. Jasper didn’t even have any of those online accounts. He had no need to tell the world what he planned to eat for dinner or how he felt about social issues. If someone wanted to know, he’d rather have a face-to-face conversation.
“Well, you ought to check it out.” Lacey held out her phone. A recent post from Delilah featured a picture of the Hampton barn, where they’d watched that movie a few weeks ago, and had over five thousand likes.
He blinked hard, and the number grew by ten. If and when they did move forward with the wedding barn idea, he’d need to get up to speed on all of that. He almost groaned at the amount of work ahead of him. Maybe Delilah would be willing to help him get started since she obviously knew a lot about it.
“I’ve got to go check on the wedding party.” Lacey tucked her phone back into the pocket of her dress. “Y’all feel free to head outside and find a place to sit. We should be starting in just a little while.”
“Thank you so much for the tour. I’d love to walk around outside and get some pictures of the gardens.” Delilah looked up at him.
“Sure, let’s do that.” He held the door for her, breathing in a whiff of her perfume as she passed by.
“I can see why so many couples choose Ido for their wedding.” Delilah turned right at the bottom of the steps, taking the path that led to the garden where the wedding would be held.
“Lacey’s done a fantastic job. She pretty much saved the town by coming up with the idea of focusing on weddings.”
“I read something about that in the information Mr. Plum gave me. Ido used to be known for a big stationery company, didn’t it?”
“That’s right.” Jasper walked under an arbor covered in some sort of climbing vine. No need to get into the scandal surrounding the downfall of the Phillips family business. He turned the conversation. “It sounds like you’re pretty good at that social media thing.”
She leaned over to snap a photo of a butterfly resting on a large orange bloom. “It comes with the territory. One of my responsibilities with this contest is to post pictures of my experiences. Hopefully, it will make more people aware of what each town has to offer.”
“That’s smart.” He nodded, wishing he could ask for help with putting together some ideas for the wedding barn. But he wasn’t ready to talk to her about that quite yet. He still wanted to keep it to himself so she wouldn’t be swayed one way or another when it came time to make her decision.
“I’ve also started ramping up the marketing for the new company Stella and I are working on . . . the one I told you about with my mentor, Monique. Stella hired a publicity company to do the launch and everything, but I’m handling the day-to-day posts.”
“I wouldn’t even know how to get started.”
She turned to him and put a hand on his arm. He could feel the weight of her touch, even through the layers of his long-sleeve dress shirt and the suit jacket. “I’m sure you could figure it out, it’s not that hard.”
“Thanks.” He stopped himself from sliding his hand into hers and pulling her close.
As Delilah moved around the garden, snapping pictures of flowers and groups of smiling wedding guests, the music began to play. “Should we find some seats?”
“You pick.”
“We’re not really part of the official guest list. Let’s stand at the back.” She headed toward an out-of-the-way area behind the rows of chairs.
Jasper followed, his chest burning as he watched the gentle sway of her hips. His fingers tingled with the memory of having his hands on those curves not that long ago.
She stopped at a bench that had been set up at the edge of a path that wound through the garden. “How about here?”
“Works for me.” He waited for her to get settled, then took a seat next to her, his hip brushing hers on the narrow bench.
“What a gorgeous dress.” Delilah smiled as the bride took a spot behind her bridesmaids. “She looks so happy.”
Jasper glanced from the nervous excitement on the bride’s face to see the calm, confident stance of the groom, who waited for her at the end of the aisle. Delilah gripped his arm as the last bridesmaid trailed past them. The crowd stood for the bride, and the swell of the wedding march began.
He couldn’t help himself. His fingers found Delilah’s and tangled with hers.
She gave his hand a squeeze as the couple took their places under a wooden arbor covered in flowers. The officiant asked the guests to be seated. Delilah didn’t break their grip. Not while the couple said their vows. Not when the tiny ring bearer handed over a satin pillow. Not when the couple kissed for the first time as man and wife.
Jasper had been to a fair number of weddings in his life, but for some reason he seemed to watch this one unfold through new eyes. Instead of witnessing a couple of strangers pledge their love to each other until death, he couldn’t help but wonder how it might feel to be the one standing there, in front of his own friends and family. Vowing his love to one woman for the rest of his life.
Then he looked down at the woman next to him. She met his gaze with an emotionally charged look of her own.
twenty
Delilah tried to hold back the wave of emotion as she met Jasper’s gaze. She had no right to picture the tall, ruggedly handsome man next to her standing in front of her, holding her hand, and promising to love, honor, and cherish her for the rest of their lives. But for some reason, she did. Jasper had thrown a wrench in her carefully constructed plans. A
wrench that she wanted to grab onto and never let go.
“It’s time for the butterflies,” he reminded her. His voice had gone soft.
Reluctantly, she shifted her gaze away from his in time to see a horde of butterflies emerge from a stand of shrubs behind the arbor. They rose into the air, their wings fluttering against a backdrop of the late afternoon Texas sky.
Delilah squeezed his hand tighter. “They’re beautiful.”
“So are you.” His warm breath brushed her cheek as he leaned closer to whisper into her ear.
A chill raced through her and she turned her head, almost causing them to bump noses.
He pulled away and tilted his head back. “There they go. How many hours did we spend collecting butterflies? And they’re gone in a blink of an eye.”
“Some things don’t have to take a long time to make a lasting impression.” Her lungs filled as she drew in a breath.
One side of his mouth ticked up. “Is that so?”
She nodded, realizing the unspoken understanding between them. Maybe that was all this would be. A moment of attraction they’d both recognize before realizing it wasn’t meant to be.
As the last of the butterflies fluttered away, Abby’s voice rose over the crowd. She sang a sweet song about finding the love of a lifetime as the bride and groom walked back down the aisle.
“Your sister has a gorgeous voice.” The crowd began to leave their seats and Delilah let her fingers fall from his.
Jasper took a half step to his left, putting a breath of distance between them. “Yeah, she sure does.”
The song wrapped up and the guests milled around the patio, some of them already starting to make their way over to the tent where the reception would take place.
“Shall we?” Jasper stood and buttoned his suit jacket, then offered her his arm.
They started for the tents on the other side of the property, until Delilah came to an abrupt stop.