Page 39 of The Secret to a Southern Wedding

Cyril’s laugh was drowned out by Miriam speaking into the microphone again. “Well, it’s been over an hour and I think we can conclude the business. Don’t forget we have refreshments set up in the back.”

Cyril stood and went straight to Miriam after the meeting ended. “You know you just strong-armed me into doing this festival.”

She smiled and patted his shoulder. “I call it strongly encouraged. Come on, Cyril, St. Patrick’s Day can be fun.”

“I don’t know if you can’t tell, but I’m not Irish.”

“Neither am I, but you don’t have to be Irish to enjoy the festivities. Besides, having a great festival with good business participation will result in a stronger application for Best Small Town. It was your idea that Peachtree Cove apply for the designation. You can’t back down just because you don’t want to wear green.”

He sighed but had no better argument. Going for Best Small Town had been his idea. Granted the idea was more of an offhand comment after seeing the call for applications in Travel Magazine. He’d asked Miriam if the town ever considered applying, and when she said no, he had to open his big mouth and ask “why not?” Now he was designated as the person who’d come up with the idea and therefore was strongly encouraged to participate in every town event that could possibly strengthen their application.

He wanted Peachtree Cove to win the designation. The town had become a haven when he and his father had left Baltimore after his mother was killed. Peachtree Cove, and the people who’d welcomed and accepted them as part of the community, was the best small town in America.

“I’ll do what I can, but I can’t speak for Imani,” he said. “She doesn’t live here, and she may not want to help. No matter what her mom says.”

“I knew Imani in high school. Back then she was always the first person to volunteer for a cause. And I know her mom. If Linda wants her to participate, then she’ll participate.”

He grunted instead of answering. The Imani he knew, the one who was against the wedding, wouldn’t just roll over and accept whatever her mom ordered her to do, but he wasn’t about to put that business in the streets. Several guild members came up to him to give him their plans for the festival. He took note of what they said and thanked each of them for participating. Even if he wasn’t a St. Patrick’s Day fan, he was a Peachtree Cove fan and wanted the festival to be a success. When he finally got a second to breathe, he looked around the room to see if Imani was still there or if she and her mom had left. He spotted her in the back of the room. Smiling up into Brian’s face.

“Imani was asking about her old crush, Brian.”

His feet moved before another thought could form. Imani’s laughter reached him as he got close to them. Cyril didn’t have a problem with Brian. The guy was nice and even though the women in town loved him, Cyril hadn’t seen him running through the single ladies in town. He sold the plants at his nursery, paid his dues to the guild and minded his business. But as Brian smiled down at Imani, Cyril wanted to push him aside and tell him to keep his smiles to himself.

“Hey, Imani.” Cyril walked up and stood between the two. “What’s up, Brian?”

Brian reached over and dapped Cyril up. “Nothing much. I guess I need to think of a St. Patrick’s Day theme for the nursery.”

“It should be easy for you,” he said. “You own a nursery, so greenery shouldn’t be a problem.”

Imani’s eyes widened. “Mom did say you owned a nursery?”

Brian shrugged. “It’s a small one. I reached out to your mom for advice since she has a flower shop.”

“I’ll have to come by one day.”

“Do that.” Brian nodded at someone across the room. “Let me go holla at Joe. Nice seeing you, Imani.”

“You too, Brian.” She grinned after him and gave a little wave.

Cyril barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. “Crush still there, huh?” He tried to sound teasing even though he felt some type of way.

Imani waved a hand and shook her head. “No, Brian’s nice. I’m proud of him. Owning a nursery and all that.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Why do you say it like that?”

Admitting to being jealous about her smiling and laughing with Brian went against his we’re not supposed to be pursuing this attraction to Imani stance. So, instead he said, “No reason. Are you okay with helping me out for this?”

She sighed. “Mom won’t let me rest if I don’t and it’ll give me something else to do besides wedding preparations.”

“You do realize I’m not a good excuse to avoid wedding preparations? If we work together on this then they’ll find even more reasons for us to hang out together.”

“Well, I just view that as more opportunities to get to know you better.”

If only her getting to know him wasn’t connected to their parents getting married. There would be fewer complications with that. Still, he couldn’t help but meet her eyes and ask, “Do you want to get to know me better?”

Imani hesitated for a second. For a second, the attraction between them pulled taut, before she glanced away and took a step back. “Isn’t that the point of this? For me to get to know you so that we’re good with the wedding?”

---