Starting Over (Nugget Romance 4)

by Stacy Finz

  The quartet started playing while the guests mingled. Servers passed lemonade in mason jars and the bar opened for those who wanted something harder. Clay’s idea. Sam noticed Nate bellying up to get himself a drink. She also saw a striking older woman on the arm of Lucky Rodriguez. The woman had more of an olive complexion than Lucky, but Sam definitely saw a family resemblance.

  Lucky came up alongside her and introduced the lady as his mother, Cecilia. The next thing she knew, Nate had inserted himself into their small group and handed her a glass of lemonade.

  “I would’ve brought you wine, but I wasn’t sure if you are drinking or not,” he said, like he was her date.

  Okay. “Thank you,” she said, and introduced Nate to Lucky’s mom.

  “Lucky said you’re the wedding planner.” Cecilia took Sam’s hand. “This is so beautiful, like something out of a fairy tale.”

  “It’s really great, Sam.” Lucky scanned the crowd as if he was looking for someone in particular. Perhaps the perky blonde from the Ponderosa the other day.

  “Thanks so much. But most of it is Emily’s doing,” she said, looking over at the minister, who gave the signal. “I have to get everyone seated now.”

  She moved through the crowd, telling people that it was time to take their places. By the time the quartet started playing the introduction to the “Wedding March,” she couldn’t find an empty chair. That’s when she saw Nate flagging her over.

  “I saved one for you,” he said.

  “Thanks. I thought I’d have to stand over at the bar. How do the garlands look?”

  He looked at the floral boughs hanging from the chairs. “Nice . . . I guess. Why?”

  “We had an unfortunate incident this morning with a stray cow.”

  Nate chuckled. “Seriously?”

  “Not funny. The boys and I fixed them up the best that we could.”

  As Clay, Justin, and Cody moved to stand between the two oak trees next to the minister, a hush descended over the crowd. Then the guests rose as Emily walked down the aisle. Sam could’ve sworn she heard a collective sigh.

  “Nice boots,” Nate whispered in Sam’s ear.

  The ceremony was one of the most moving Sam had ever seen. Clay and Emily had written their own vows and Sam had to wipe away a few tears. Rhys and Maddy were called up to witness the signing of the marriage license, which Sam had never seen before and thought was a beautiful touch.

  After the recessional, the group made their way to the reception tent while the photographer took a few portraits of the newlyweds and the boys. Emily’s mother too. Sam tried to beat the crowd to the tent to make sure everything looked perfect.

  “Where’s the fire?” Nate called to her as he caught up.

  “I have work to do.” What did he think, she could stand around all day, keeping him company?

  She smoothed a couple of the tablecloths and rejiggered the placement of a few centerpieces. Brady stood behind the scenes directing the wait staff serving hors d’oeuvres to the guests who had started trickling in.

  “Thank you.” She squeezed Brady’s arm. “Did you at least get to see some of the ceremony?”

  “I caught most of it.” He grabbed one of the servers on his way out to the crowd, pulled a towel from his back pocket, and cleaned a smudge from one of the trays.

  Nate stole a shrimp from the platter and popped it into his mouth. “Quality control,” he told Brady and Sam. “Damn, these are good.”

  “You know Emily. She’s got great food connections,” Sam said. He pointed to a table toward the back of the tent and told Brady, “You’re sitting with us.” He nodded and hurried off to check on the duck skewers.

  “So I’m at your table?” Nate asked.

  “That’s where Emily put you,” she lied. “If you don’t like it, you could probably cram in next to Maddy and Rhys. Or Sophie and Mariah.” Sam knew that both couples shared a sitter for Emma and Lilly.

  “I’m more than happy with the arrangement.” He grinned at her.

  “You’re a strange man.” Just the other day he’d wanted to bring a date, now he acted as if she was his date.

  She walked around the tent, Nate on her heels, making sure there wasn’t anything she’d forgotten. Lots of guests approached her to tell her how beautiful the wedding was.

  Grace from the Nugget Farm Supply gushed, “This is magnificent, Sam. The linens, the little lollipop trees on the tables, the whole setting is just . . . wow. You have quite a touch, dear.”

  “You’re so sweet to say so, Grace.”

  Owen bumped into her with a couple of cocktails in his hands. “This is one hell of a hoedown. Heard you’ve been working day and night on it. Well, you done good, missy.”

  Nate snagged a small plate, filled it with appetizers, and handed it to her. “Eat.”

  Until that moment she hadn’t realized how hungry she was. They wandered over to their table and Sam sat to quickly stuff her face before she had to attend to anything that came up. The band started playing as the newlyweds entered the tent to thunderous applause.

  “They look so happy,” she told Nate, who’d also gotten her a glass of wine.

  “Yep. That a new dress you’ve got on?”

  It was a flirty little Alexander McQueen. “I got it in San Francisco when I was there for the bridal expo.”

  “I like it.”

  “Thanks.” Sam could feel her cheeks heat, not so much from the compliment but from the way Nate looked at her, like he thought she was beautiful. “I should probably make sure everything is running on time for dinner.”

  “You want me to come with you?”

  “Mingle and enjoy yourself. I’ll be back in a few.”

  It turned out that Brady had everything under control. “I hope you don’t mind, but I changed the service. The servers are going to French everything.”

  Sam laughed because it sounded slightly pornographic, but she knew full well that he meant the waitstaff would serve the meal from platters instead of family style. It was a little formal for the event, but the guests would probably appreciate the convenience.

  “I thought it could be messy for the guests to serve themselves. And the waitstaff seems pretty experienced.”

  “Very classy,” Sam said. Brady was a godsend. “We can send them around repeatedly for seconds and thirds, right?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m thinking. I know Emily wanted it to be a feast.”

  “Excellent,” Sam said. “Then I’ll just go back to my table. You’ll come out soon so you can eat, won’t you?”

  “Yeah,” he said, but she got the impression that he liked hanging out behind the scenes, where the action was. And clearly the man knew what he was doing.

  When she turned around she bumped into Nate. “I thought you were mingling.”

  “Just wanted to see what was going on back here. For someone who never worked in the hospitality industry, you know a lot about service.”

  “Nate, I’ve been hosting functions my whole adult life, not to mention attending a fair number. It’s second nature.”

  “For the record,” he said, perching his shades at the tip of his nose, “I think Frenching is good.”

  “What’s with you today?” She shook her head and headed back to their table. “You’re back to flirting with me again. Is it because Tracy’s gone?”

  He tugged her arm to bring her to a stop. “Get this straight, Sam. I never flirted with Tracy.”

  “So are you not flirting with me either?” She pulled away and found her chair. The rest of the guests at their table were either off chatting, dancing, or getting drinks at the bar.

  Nate sat next to her. “I’ve been up front about being attracted to you. And I suppose I’m less professional with you because we live next door to each other and hang in the same social circle.” He waved his hands at the crowd. “After all, this is Nugget with a population of fifteen people our age. Would you like me to stop?”

  She didn’t say anythin
g, because, well, she liked the flirting. Hell, who was she kidding? She liked him. That didn’t mean she trusted him.

  Maddy and Rhys came over. “This is the best wedding I’ve ever been to,” Maddy said. “Seriously, Sam, everything is breathtaking. The carriage rides, the mason jar lemonades, this”—Maddy swept her hand in the air—“it’s so perfect that I can’t get over it.”

  “Hey,” Rhys said. “Our wedding was perfect.”

  “Of course it was.” Maddy kissed her husband. “Because I was marrying you, but you know as well as I do that we did it on the fly, shotgun style as a result of Emma.”

  “Ah, that’s bullshit. I wanted to marry you the first day I met you.” Rhys nuzzled Maddy’s neck.

  “Why don’t you guys go get a room and leave the rest of us alone,” Nate said.

  Platters of tri-tip, mashed potatoes, and grilled vegetables started coming from the kitchen and Maddy and Rhys went in search of their own table.

  Donna came by, balancing a few drinks in her hands, and told Sam, “You outdid yourself, girl. The open bar—phenomenal.” She tottered off to meet up with the rest of the Baker’s Dozen and their husbands.

  “She’s a lush,” Nate said into Sam’s ear.

  “She is not.”

  The Rodriguezes sat across from them, and once again Sam noted how lovely Cecilia Rodriguez was and how sweet it was that Lucky had escorted her to the wedding. Jake Stryker, a detective with the Nugget Police Department, was also at their table and seemed quite taken with Cecilia. He showed her pictures of his daughters on his phone while Lucky scanned the crowd.

  “Is your friend here?” Sam asked Lucky knowingly.

  “That obvious, huh?”

  “Just a little,” Sam said. “Is she here?”

  He bobbed his head in the direction of the bandstand. “Over there.”

  “You planning to go over and say hi?” Sam asked. Nate was listening in on their conversation but trying to pretend that he wasn’t.

  “Nope,” Lucky said. “She can come over here if she wants to get reacquainted.”

  “Ah.” Sam lifted her brows. “So you’ll just make yourself crazy tracking her every move?”

  “Yep.” Lucky took off his hat and finger combed his hair. “That’s about the extent of it. If I haven’t told you already, this is one exceptional party. We gonna do some of these over at my place?”

  “As a matter of fact”—Sam looked at Nate—“just the other day we were talking about the possibilities, weren’t we, Nate?”

  He let out a sigh and touched her leg under the table. She wasn’t sure if he was using the opportunity to feel her up or telling her to shut up. “Yep. We’ll set up a meeting next week.”

  She locked eyes with him as if to say Really? And he nodded his head. The table got quiet as everyone dug into their food—some of the most succulent beef Sam had ever tasted. Then again it was raised right here on McCreedy Ranch.

  Harlee came over. She’d been taking pictures of the event for the Nugget Tribune, while Colin sat at a table with Darla and Wyatt, looking uncomfortable. Sam knew that Colin had trouble dealing with large crowds. She hadn’t been made privy to all the details, but knew that he was getting medical help.

  Harlee scooted her butt onto Sam’s chair. “Are you going to make my wedding as good as this one?”

  “Of course,” Sam said.

  “This wedding could be on national television, that’s how good it is,” Harlee said. “I love the party favors.” They were mini honeypots filled with McCreedy honey. “Can we do something like that for me?”

  “I have an idea for that,” Sam said. “But we’ll need Colin’s help. I want him to do little personalized boxes that we can put candy or chocolates in.”

  “I love it,” Harlee said. “Oh, Clay’s about to make his toast. I’ve got to shoot it.” She dashed off, clutching her smartphone.

  “You really did do a great job,” Nate said close to her ear.

  He was clearly working her for something, she just didn’t know what.

  After the toast and dinner, Lucky asked her to dance. She caught Nate scowling as Lucky spun her around the dance floor. When Lucky brought her back to the table, Nate took her out again and pulled her so close she could feel his body heat.

  “Nate, what’s your game?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  She put enough distance between them to squint up at him. “You want my help fixing the mess Tracy left you, don’t you?”

  “Among other things.” He smirked.

  “What other things?”

  “Things we can only do if you quit, and since I need you to save the gala right now, you can’t quit.”

  “Why didn’t you just ask me, instead of acting so smarmy? ‘I like your dress. You really did do a great job on the wedding. I’m so attracted to you, Sam. I think I want to marry you,’” she mimicked in a high-pitched voice.

  “I don’t remotely sound anything like that,” he said. “Look, it’s not easy eating crow. I shouldn’t have rejected your help in the first place and now I’m desperate. But I meant every word I said, Sam. I do like your dress, the wedding is amazing, and I am attracted to you. I never said I wanted to marry you. I don’t know where the hell that came from.”

  “Why should I help you if you won’t give me the vice president job?”

  “Because it would go a long way toward proving you deserve it. Come on, Sam, be fair. People work years to get promoted to an executive position in a big hotel company. You’ve been working for less than a year.”

  “What about partnering with Lucky for the barn weddings?”

  “You heard me before. I said I would set up a meeting to discuss it next week. See, I can be flexible.”

  “Just because you want something.”

  “Sam, it’s an all-expense-paid trip to San Francisco. I’ll put you up at the Theodore in the same suite you had before. Wine and dine you. It’s not like I’m asking you to stick needles in your eyes.”

  “I just think the way you went about it was manipulative,” she said, trying to keep her voice down so no one would hear. “You could’ve just said, ‘Sam, I’m in trouble and need your help.’ I would’ve gladly helped you.”

  “Sam, I’m in trouble and need your help.”

  After the wedding, Nate spent the evening with Lilly, the only female on the planet who still seemed to like him. All right, he should’ve been up front with Sam. Hell, he shouldn’t have turned away her help in the first place, since she might be the only person who could save him from the mess Tracy had left him in.

  But the accolades had been real, not just an attempt to sweeten her up.

  Despite his doubts about Sam’s staying power . . . at Breyer Hotels . . . in Nugget . . . she was pretty terrific. Beautiful. Smart. Defiant as hell. A fantastic hostess. And always appropriate. Her clothes perfect for every occasion, her manners impeccable, and without ever missing a beat, she always knew the right thing to say. He supposed it was part of her moneyed upbringing. But beyond that, she treated people kindly, was self-deprecating, and worked her ass off. The woman also had an instinct for business, which Nate found especially hot.

  He was starting to think that Royce had been the problem, not Sam. She’d certainly implied that her fiancé wasn’t exactly a prince. Nate got the sense that maybe Royce had cheated. If that was the case, good for her for dumping him.

  Unfortunately, Nate was also on her shit list, though she’d agreed to help him get the gala on track. He might have lost the event due to Tracy’s negligence, but the organizer seemed more than pleased to have Sam on board. Actually, the old biddy had been ecstatic.

  His biggest challenge would be keeping his hands off Sam while they worked so closely together. There had been a few times during the wedding where he’d come close to pulling her away from the festivities so he could work on getting that dress off her.

  But he was a man of restraint and no good could come of t
hem sleeping together. Not while she was his employee and not when they lived next door to each other, leaving him nowhere to hide when the affair ended. Because with him, they always did.

  Chapter 18

  “It seems ridiculous to fly when I can just ride to San Francisco with you,” Sam told Nate after their meeting with Lucky.

  The meeting had gone far better than Sam had expected. Surprisingly, Lucky was all for the barn weddings and Nate had agreed to a partnership on the condition that the Lumber Baron ran the show and got the bulk of the proceeds. In return, Nate would pay for the refurbishment of an old barn on Lucky’s property, including adding heat and electricity and bringing the building up to fire code.

  “I may leave a day early,” Nate said. “Plus you have a meeting with Landon Lowery.”

  “It’s a phone meeting. I can do that on the road and leave when you leave.” She didn’t know why he was being so obstinate. By the time she got parking at the airport, went through security and dealt with any delays, it would be more time efficient to drive, which he was doing anyway.

  “Trust me, it’s better this way.”

  “Whatever.” She lifted her arms in the air. “Are you happy with the deal we made with Lucky?”

  “I suppose. Just don’t leave me in the lurch by going back to Connecticut after you’ve booked a bunch of weddings. This is your baby, so don’t screw me up on it.”

  Like your pet, Tracy, she wanted to say. “If you’re so concerned, you should give me the vice president job.”

  “Come on, Sam, we’ve been over this.”

  “Fine,” she said. “I’ll see you at the Theodore.”

  After work, she called her father, who’d left a couple of messages that he hadn’t been feeling well. But when she tried to pin him down on his symptoms, he admitted that he just wanted her to come home.

  “I looked up that town you’re living in,” he said. “The place doesn’t even have a movie theater. What do you do all day?”