by Jaclyn Hardy
“Yeah, sorry about my mom.” Lacey hugged her again. “You’re okay with the changes?”
Lacey sat in one of the chairs. “Yes, I think so. I mean, it’s gorgeous out here.”
“Except it’s not what you planned.” Chloe sat and laid her head on Lacey’s shoulder. “This place is amazing, by the way. How’d you find it?”
“We toured several different places, and this was by far my favorite place. This hotel is over a hundred years old.”
Chloe’s mouth dropped open. “Seriously? That’s awesome.”
“Yes, and the ballroom. Man. It’s exactly what I wanted.” Lacey stared down at her hands. “It’s the reason I chose this place.”
“Let’s go see it.” Chloe jumped up. “Come on.”
Lacey hesitated before taking Chloe’s hand. “I don’t really want to see it. Not now. Maybe after the wedding.”
“No. We need to go. But first.” Chloe turned Lacey around by the shoulders. “Tell me. How does this make you feel?”
“Well, I mean, it’s pretty. It could make a nice wedding. And your mom and Austin’s mom worked so hard.”
“That’s what I thought. Now, come here.” Chloe took her by the hand and pulled her toward the hotel. She grabbed her mom’s hand on the way past. “Mom, stop. Wait. In fact, I want you to follow me.”
Mom wanted to argue, but Chloe kept going. They walked through the main entrance of the hotel and Chloe turned to Lacey. “Uh, which way do we go now?”
Lacey sighed and walked past the front desk and to the left. Chloe walked inside and stopped. The ballroom was ten times better than what she’d expected. No wonder Lacey wanted to come here over any of the other wedding places.
“Close your eyes.” Chloe took Lacey by the hand and pulled Lacey into the center of the room. “Now, open your eyes and tell me what you think about this place.”
Mom stood behind them, her hands clasped in front of her. “I don’t understand what’s going on here.”
Chloe shot her a warning glance and turned back to Lacey. Her eyes filled with tears when she saw the expression on Lacey’s face. This was what a wedding was supposed to look like. This was how excited the bride was supposed to be. Chloe gestured for her mom to come over and nodded toward Lacey.
Mom pursed her lips before nodding and leaving the room. Chloe would be in big trouble later, but she didn’t care. Her cousin would get the wedding she’d always wanted. At least one of them would.
“Now, I say we move double time and have your wedding in here. Like you planned.” Chloe hugged Lacey. “Where’s your mom?”
Lacey wiped her eyes. “Fixing the embroidery on my dress. She hates confrontation as much as I do. How our moms are sisters I will never understand.”
“Yeah, well, it’s a good thing for everyone that I do. Okay, so I don’t, but this time I do.” Chloe left Lacey in the ballroom and went to find anyone who worked here. The same woman stood at the front desk helping one of the guests. As soon as she was done, Chloe stepped forward. “Hi. We’re going to be total divas again and insist on moving the wedding back inside. Do you think we could get some more help? We don’t have a lot of time.”
The woman laughed. “Well, thanks to you, I just won a bet. I’ll go tell Patrick to get everyone over here from the ranch and we’ll have it fixed in no time.”
“Bet?”
“The guys were sure the wedding would stay outside. But I was sure Lacey would get the wedding she wanted.”
Chloe leaned on the counter. “How’d you know that?”
Rachel leaned in closer. “No one else was there when Lacey came to check out the room. She was head over heels for it.”
“So why’d you allow them to move it in the first place?”
“Oh, I didn’t. I got back here from doing some errands to find all the changes.” Rachel shook her head.
Chloe frowned. “So why’d you make the bet?”
Rachel laughed. “Because we have another event out there in two days and the decorators for that one will be here in a couple of hours.”
“Sneaky, sneaky. I’m Chloe, by the way. Cousin to Lacey who is getting married.” Chloe held out her hand.
“Rachel. Owner of this hotel.” Rachel leaned in. “And I hear you were recently married as well. Congratulations.”
Chloe beamed. “Yes, married. Thank you. Excuse me. I have two moms I have to calm down.”
She had to get away. Now. Too many people kept talking to her about weddings and the fact that her wedding had been all a lie just kept feeling worse and worse. She spotted Austin coming down the stairs and sped up. He was the last one she wanted to see right now.
Mom and Mrs. Quinn were arguing when Chloe reached them in the backyard. Rows of chairs were already being stacked by the employees all around them. Rachel hadn’t been kidding when she said she’d have it taken care of quickly.
Chloe stepped between them to face Austin’s mom. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“Chloe.” Mom’s warning voice did nothing but annoy Chloe.
“No. That was not your place. Lacey picked this place because she wanted the ballroom. You can’t just step in wherever you feel like it and change things.”
“Chloe.” This time Mom took Chloe by the arm. “You will show respect to her. Remember, she is your mother-in-law.”
Mrs. Quinn held a hand up. “It’s all right. I did overstep my bounds. Please forgive me. I’ll go right now and apologize to Lacey. Won’t you come with me?”
Both Chloe and her mom stopped and stared at Mrs. Quinn like she’d grown two heads. She was agreeing with them? Before Chloe could stop her, Mrs. Quinn took Chloe by the elbow in a tight grip and pulled her forward. It wasn’t until they were out of ear shot of Chloe’s mom that Mrs. Quinn stopped and glared at Chloe.
“You speak out of turn, you took my son’s wedding away from me, and you embarrassed me in front of all of these people. How dare you?”
Chloe’s eyes widened as she stepped back. “Me? What about you? Just because I don’t bow down to you doesn’t make it okay for you to bully me.”
“I don’t know what your little game is, Chloe Parker, but I will find out.”
“What in the world are you talking about?” Chloe’s voice was louder than she wanted, but at that point she didn’t care.
Mrs. Quinn stepped closer until her nose almost touched Chloe’s. “You didn’t come into the picture until Austin’s grandpa died and his estate was to go to Austin. Now you two show up at the wedding and I’m not supposed to be suspicious? End this charade of a marriage now, or I will tell him the real reason you married him.”
Chloe stood in shock and Austin’s mom strode away, head held high. She shuddered and went to go find Lacey. It was probably better for everyone if Chloe stayed far away from Austin and his mom.
Chloe hid under one of the tables with Lacey eating a piece of Lacey’s chocolate cake. Voices sounded all around them, echoing in the ballroom. The preparations had been sent into super speed, so they needed to stay out of the way. And right here was the best place to stay hidden from everyone.
“Thank you for this.” Lacey took another bite of cake.
“No prob. I’m saving both of us.” Chloe pointed at one of the pieces on her plate. “I think I like this chocolate better than the dark chocolate.”
Lacey nodded. “Good thing Rachel’s mom is fast. She’ll easily have the new cake ready in time.”
Chloe froze. “You’re the second person who has said something about someone being a fast cook. Does Rachel’s mom live at the ranch?”
“Yep. She owns the ranch. Cool, huh?” Lacey set her plate down on the floor, careful not to make it visible for anyone walking around.
“So cool.” Chloe rested her chin on her hand. “This place is so cool. Totally different from Paris.”
Lacey laughed and quickly clapped a hand over her mouth. “I’d think so. But you should see the little town. It’s so awesome. Maybe we can sneak
off in a little bit and I can show you.”
Chloe perked up. “Really? I’d love to go. I heard about the clothing store there and I’m dying to see it. I’ve heard of Mandy’s designs.”
“I drove by there, but didn’t have time to stop.” Lacey paused. “I think the coast is clear. Ready to go?”
“Let’s do it.” Chloe peeked under the table and only saw the feet of the servers who worked here. She crawled out first and made a run for the front lobby—and right into a hard wall. She landed hard on the ground.
Austin leaned down. “You okay?”
“No.” Chloe rolled over and glared at Lacey who was laughing hysterically against the door frame. “Not funny.”
“It’s totally hilarious.” Lacey took deep breaths trying to come down. “Sorry.”
“Sure.” She took Austin’s hand and stood. “What were you doing there anyway?”
Austin rubbed his chest where Chloe hit him. “Coming to find you, actually. I don’t know what you did, but Mom is pretty angry with you right now.”
Chloe could feel the heat her face. “I might have yelled at her. Lacey and I are going into town. Think we can borrow the car? We promise to be safe?”
“I’d love to, but can’t. With it being a rental, I could get in huge trouble. I’ll take you.” Austin pulled out the keys.
“It’s a two-seater.” And Chloe needed some space for a bit. “I promise to be good.”
A tall, blond guy walked up behind Austin. “I can take you. We have space.”
Lacey wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “You’re back. I thought Dad had hidden you somewhere.”
“He tried.” He kissed her before holding a hand out to Chloe. “I’m Dallin by the way. Lacey’s fiancé.”
“Oh. I wondered why I hadn’t seen you around. Where’d you go?” Chloe grimaced. Way to ask a total stranger what he was doing with his time.
He pulled a box out of his pocket. “They had the size wrong on my ring so we had to go get it fixed. We just got back from Boise.”
“Wow.” Chloe loved the twisted rope of gold in the center of the ring. Much better than the mood ring that Austin had. “It’s really nice.”
“Thanks. Lacey picked it out.” He squeezed Lacey in a hug. “So where are we going now?”
Lacey slipped her arm through his. “We’re going into Oakley to show Chloe and Austin the sights. Oh. This is Austin by the way. Chloe’s husband.”
Dallin blinked. “Husband? Didn’t we have to find a date for her?”
“Long story. Come on.” Lacey dragged Dallin toward the front door as she chattered to him about what had been happening while he was gone.
Austin laced his fingers in Chloe’s as they walked outside and down the steps. “Is everything okay? I couldn’t find you anywhere.”
“Yeah. We were just hiding after the whole mess with your mom. Which I’m sorry about, by the way. Not that I was wrong. I was totally right. I just shouldn’t have yelled.”
“What was this fight about?” Austin opened the door to the Pathfinder for her.
Chloe met his eyes. “Lacey wanted her wedding inside. Dreamed about it. I just . . . made sure that it would happen for her.”
She couldn’t tell him about the threats from his mom. He would be upset, and she didn’t want that right now. Besides, it was mostly just that. A threat. Besides, she was kind of right. Chloe had married him for his estate. Just not in the way that his mom suspected. She wanted nothing to do with his money. In fact, she was helping him get what was supposed to be his in the first place.
Lacey and Dallin did enough talking in the front that Austin and Chloe didn’t have to say much. She leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. While everyone else talked, she needed to plot her next book and the silence right now was the perfect time to do it.
She was right in the middle of plotting the romance part of the book when the fields turned into houses and then buildings. “Wow.”
“Isn’t it amazing?” Lacey rotated so she could see them between the seats. “I had to come here to order some flowers and about died. It’s just so adorable.”
“Yes it is.” The town was small, with shops lining the small main street. People talked on the sidewalk while others went about their business.
Chloe gasped when she saw the clothing store. It was closed for the day, so she’d have to try to come back tomorrow or the next day to go inside. This place looked like it had appeared from out of a story book. Or a history book of the old west.
“I figured you’d love it.” Lacey pointed to the diner in front of them and Dallin pulled into the parking lot. “Ready for the best food ever?”
“You know me too well.” Chloe climbed out and waited for Austin. “You’re super quiet. What’s going on?”
Austin smiled down at her and caressed her chin with his thumb. “It’s so weird. I just feel so comfortable here. Like it’s . . . home. With you.”
The butterflies from Austin’s fingertips went into overdrive at his words. She nodded. “I know what you mean.”
“Hey, you two. Are you coming?” Lacey called.
Chloe pulled away from Austin and caught up to Lacey. Austin hadn’t really answered her question, but for now she’d just be happy with the answer she got. Because she felt the same way he did. And neither of them could afford that.
The diner was adorable. From the decor to the outfits all of the waitresses wore. Chloe slid into the bench next to Austin and scanned the menu to decide what she wanted to eat. Something to counteract the sugary cake she’d had earlier.
“Know what you want?” Austin asked, closing his menu.
“I think so.”
Lacey closed hers as well. “It’s a good thing I’m here the night before my wedding so I can be sure to fit in my wedding dress.”
Dallin kissed her cheek. “You’ll look beautiful no matter what.”
“So how did you two meet anyway?” Chloe leaned forward. “It feels like forever since I talked to you.”
“We met at college. He was my TA and helped me with my calculus class. One day he suggested a study date. That one turned to five, and then ten. The day of my final, we went to dinner to celebrate and he slipped a ring into my pie.”
Chloe melted. Dallin seemed like a nice guy, but this story just made her adore him that much more. “Okay, I approve. You two can get married tomorrow.”
“I’m glad I got your permission.” Lacey smiled up at the waitress. “Hi, I’ll have the taco salad with extra dressing. Oh, and bacon. And a strawberry milkshake.”
Dallin kissed Lacey’s cheek. “That’s my girl.”
Everyone else ordered and the waitress left. Chloe nudged Austin. “Seriously, dude. You’re never this quiet. What’s up?”
“Nothing. I’m still just thinking about what I told you outside. This place . . . it just feels right.”
Dallin pulled a card out of his pocket and dropped it on the table in front of Austin. “I’m not fully certified, but I’m pretty close. If you want me to help you look for land here, I can do that.”
“What? No. It’s okay. You’re getting married tomorrow.” But Austin picked up the card anyway and put it in his pocket.
“Are you kidding? Dallin’s favorite thing to do is search house listings. That’s why I pushed him in to getting his real estate license.” Lacey patted Dallin’s cheek? “See? His wheels are already moving.”
Dallin chuckled. “She’s right. I know of some land that might be available. It’s already been developed because another ranch is being built out there.”
“Out there?” Austin raised his eyebrows.
“They’re pretty close to the ranch and hotel. I can always take you out there if you’d like.” Dallin leaned back so the waiter could put his food on the table. “Thanks.”
Lacey grinned at Chloe. “I can’t believe you guys are thinking of moving here. We’ll be able to hang out so much more often. Not that I’ve seen you much at al
l.”
“Yeah. It’s been too long.” Chloe wasn’t sure she liked how this conversation was going. Austin didn’t seem to remember that it wasn’t just him in this relationship. Whatever relationship they had . . . but still. It would be nice if he included her in his plans.
She dug into her steak before they could ask any more questions. This just seemed to be getting more complicated all the time. Appease both moms, sure. Get Austin’s estate for him, awesome. But suddenly having to move to Idaho? Her business, her fanbase for her books, and her life were still in France. She was supposed to be back at a meeting with her board next week.
Austin reached over and took her hand. It was most likely supposed to be a comfort thing, but the way it sent thrills up her arm only threw her emotions into chaos. He squeezed her fingers, then went back to cutting his pork chop. “So are you two going to live around here too?”
“Boise. We found a great place near the university so I can finish school. I want to start the nursing program next fall if I can.” Lacey pushed her plate away. “Okay, not another bite or I really won’t fit into my wedding dress.”
Chloe smirked at the nearly empty plate. Two more bites and Lacey would have been done. She set her fork down. “I’m done too. And I could sleep for a week. Mind if we head back?”
“Nope. I need to make sure everything is set for tomorrow. The flowers hadn’t arrived for the bridesmaids by the time we left. Oh, which reminds me. You’ll need to try your dress on tonight before bed so we can make adjustments.”
Bridesmaid dresses. Chloe did her best not to make a face. She’d worn way too many horrendous bridesmaid dresses over the years and wasn’t looking forward to another one. But maybe she could alter it later.
The idea to make her own line of dresses was interrupted by Austin’s hand waving in front of her face. “Earth to Chloe. Did you fall asleep?”
“Nah, that was her ‘I have a brilliant idea look.’ You’re not going to change the dress I picked for you, are you? Because I made sure to pick out something you’d actually like.” Lacey’s eyes danced.