Page 8 of A Wedding in the Bay

“No, ma’am,” Everett said. He stepped forward to shake her hand. “I’m Everett Howell.”

“Johanna Taylor,” she said, shaking his hand firmly. “Please don’t ever call me ma’am ever again.”

Everett let out a low chuckle. “Yes, ma—yes, Johanna.” He grinned at her, and she offered him a small smirk in return.

Alissa went to put the pizzas into the oven, and the guests lingered in the living room, nibbling appetizers from the charcuterie board.

“The plan is to come back in here after dinner as well,” Dane said. “We thought we could play some games.”

“Sounds great,” Caitlin said, standing over the charcuterie board and smiling at it as if it was art instead of something to eat.

Outside, a light snow began to fall. Dane felt a sense of joy, surrounded by his friends and family members, in the home that he’d created with his wife. The fire crackled pleasantly, and the group discussed what games they’d like to play after dinner.

“Pizzas are ready!” Alissa announced a short time later. “We can all go into the dining room.”

As they started to move into the other room, Marsha hurried over to Dane.

“Hi, Dane,” she said, smiling sweetly at him. “Thank you again for inviting us and letting us bring a guest.”

“Of course,” he said. He could sense that she was about to ask him something—she had a kind of hushed, conspiratorial tone. “Everett’s a great guy.”

Marsha nodded. “Could you—well, could you help me make sure he sits next to your mom?”

Dane blinked. “Um, yeah, sure.”

Alissa, who was walking just ahead of them, turned and raised her eyebrows at her husband.

“Great!” Marsha rubbed her hands together excitedly.

They entered the dining room, and Everett took a seat near the end of the table. Marsha quickly hurried forward and took a spot one chair down from him.

“Johanna, come sit by me?” Marsha asked, gesturing with one hand.

Dane glanced at his mother. She was standing near the table, her eyebrows lifted. She seemed to be aware of what Marsha was trying to do, and the way her whole body stiffened in response was a little comical.

Oh boy, I don’t think she likes him too much, Dane thought, trying not to chuckle.

Johanna approached the table, clearly headed toward the chair on the other side of Marsha, not the one next to Everett. Dane, remembering what he’d promised, hurried forward and took the chair that Johanna was walking to.

“I’m excited about this pizza,” he said, trying to cover up the fact that he’d just intentionally stolen Johanna’s other chair option.

Johanna let out a slight huff and sat down on Marsha’s left, next to Everett.

“Me too,” Alissa said, clearly having just witnessed the chair snatch. She was trying not to laugh. “Da—Willis, would you come help me grab these pizzas? I know you’re good at carrying trays with all your work at The Crab.”

“Sure,” Willis said, following her into the kitchen.

Dane squirmed a little—he didn’t like not helping his pregnant wife bring in the food, but he knew she’d asked Willis instead to keep up pretenses. In another few moments though, nobody was thinking about anything except the pizza. Willis and Alissa set the pizzas down on a side table in the dining room, and the guests got up one by one to help themselves to pizza, salad, and garlic bread.

The food was incredible, and the conversation around the table was cheerful and animated. Dane was enjoying the evening heartily, and he kept glancing at his mother and Everett, wondering how things were going to go between them.

CHAPTER FIVE

Johanna took a demure bite of her salad, very conscious of where her elbows were. She wished the table was a bit bigger, so she wasn’t in as much danger of accidentally bumping the strange man next to her.

Oh, I wish Marsha hadn’t insisted that I sit right next to him like this, she thought, feeling a twinge of discomfort. I have no idea what to say to someone like him. What would I talk about with him? He hardly looks like the type one could discuss Mozart with.

She took another bite of salad and smiled faintly as the whole table erupted in laughter over a joke that Michael had told. Beside her, she could see Marsha glancing at her every now and again, clearly hoping that she would start talking to Everett.

---