Page 12 of A Wedding in the Bay

“Oh, great.” Michael grinned. “Slow today because of the weather, but it’s no big deal. I will say though, Josie, I miss when your sister used to bake for us. Bakery sales have gone down since she left.”

“Oh!” Josie felt a bittersweet rush of emotion as she thought about her sister. Paige Garner was studying at a baking school in Providence, and Josie missed her terribly. It sounded as though she wasn’t the only one—she made a mental note to tell Paige about what Michael had said. It was sure to make her sister happy to know that Blueberry Bay thought so highly of her baking skills. “She’s really got a gift. I miss her baking myself.” She laughed. “But mostly, I miss her.”

“How’s she doing?” Michael asked. He knew Paige well since she’d been one of his employees at Tidal Wave Coffee before starting her studies at Flourish Baking School.

“Great.” Josie nodded in answer, feeling pride in her sister. “She’s at the top of her class. She says it doesn’t even feel like school, she’s having so much fun.”

“That’s amazing.” The coffee shop owner grinned. “Honestly, I’m not surprised in the slightest though.”

Once Michael had made their drinks, Josie and Wesley took their steaming mugs and their pastry plates over to a cozy corner near a window. Snow was still falling outside, but it seemed to be changing from a blizzard into lazy white flurries.

“Okay,” Josie said eagerly, pulling a trim purple notebook out of her purse. She clicked a pen open and smiled at her fiancé. “Wedding planning here we come.”

Although they had only gotten engaged recently, they’d wanted to have their wedding as soon as possible, and it was coming up soon. Since they both wanted to have a family, they didn’t want to waste any time before getting married. Josie couldn’t have been more excited—not only was she going to be the bride of the man of her dreams, but she loved planning events. She had a great head for details, and she loved arranging celebrations—and this was the most important celebration of her life. She and Wesley had decided to go to Tidal Wave Coffee that day so they could have a date together where they discussed some of the wedding details that still needed to be arranged.

He grinned at her. “Take it away, sweetheart.”

She laughed. “We have the venue and food vendors and all of that settled already,” she said, looking at her list with a sense of satisfaction. “We just need to decide on the cake flavor and some of the decorations.”

Josie had known immediately who she wanted to have bake the cake for her wedding. It had been the easiest decision of all, besides saying yes to Wesley. When she’d been asked, Paige had eagerly agreed to make the wedding cake. Josie and Wesley had yet to decide on a flavor, however. They were torn between red velvet, lemon, and chocolate.

“We should try to finalize the guest list today too,” he said.

She nodded, feeling a twist of anxiety. She’d been wondering about whether or not to invite her mother to her wedding. Josie and Paige’s mom struggled with substance addiction, and Josie had learned many years ago that she needed to distance herself from her mother for her own well-being. Now that her wedding was approaching, however, she felt torn. She wanted her mother to be there, but she didn’t know if her mother would be able to handle an event like that without making more than one person uncomfortable.

“I don’t know what I should do about inviting my mom,” she confided in him softly. “I want to invite her, but I don’t know that it would be a good idea.”

He nodded quickly, reaching out and squeezing her hand. Josie had told him about her complicated feelings about her mother in detail, and he knew what a difficult subject it was for her. “Well, let’s talk about what you’re thinking and feeling,” he said gently. “Why do you want her there, and why are you worried it won’t be a good idea?”

She sighed and squeezed his hand back. “I want her there because she’s my mom and I love her. I would feel bad not inviting her—I want it to still be clear that I care about her. And I think, in the end, I would regret not having invited her.”

He nodded and waited quietly for her to continue speaking.

“And I’m worried it wouldn’t be a good idea because of how she behaves when she’s struggling with her addictions. I know she’s been making improvements, but there’s no guarantee she’s made enough progress to come to the wedding without causing some drama.”

“I hear what you’re saying. It’s a complicated situation for sure. And it’s all your own choice—whatever you decide is good with me. Just think about what you want and decide whether the positives outweigh the negatives.”

She nodded, understanding what he meant. She thought about how sad she would feel if her mother wasn’t there—even if her mother came and things were a little rocky, she knew she would feel worse about her mother not being there at all.

“I want to invite her,” she said, taking a deep breath. “But I’ll invite her and also lay down some ground rules, explaining to her what my boundaries are. I’ll make sure she knows how important to me it is that she doesn’t cross those boundaries. Then I’ll leave it up to her whether she wants to attend or not.”

“That sounds like a great idea, sweetheart,” he said warmly. “I think that sounds like a really wise choice.”

Josie nodded, smiling at him. She still felt nervous about inviting her mother to their wedding, but she now had a sense of peace about it. She would spend some time deciding what her boundaries were and how to phrase them politely but firmly, and then she would invite her mother to the wedding. “I hope it all works out,” she said, letting out an exhale.

He leaned over to kiss her cheek. “I think there’s a great chance it will. And whatever happens, I’m proud of you.”

She leaned into his kiss, feeling happiness well up inside her. “Whatever happens, I’m going to be marrying you. That’s the most important thing, and that can’t go wrong.”

“You’re right.” He grinned at her, his eyes taking on a tender look. “It’s going to be an incredible day no matter what.”

He wrapped an arm around her and squeezed her tightly. Still smiling at each other, they shared a sweet kiss.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Johanna sighed as she climbed back inside her car and shut the door. It was a particularly cold day, with a pale cloudless sky and an icy bite in the air. She was out getting some bakery ingredients at Sandy’s Grocery, since she’d decided that baking something warm and comforting would be the best use of her time on such a cold day. However, getting the necessary ingredients for her pumpkin and pecan pie recipe meant that she needed to go out into the frigid temperatures, and she was beginning to think that she should have just stayed home in her warm house and made something she already had the ingredients for.

It will be worth it, she told herself as she turned on the heat in her car, shivering. Once this pie is made and the whole house smells warm and cozy, and I get to take a bite of it—

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