Page 89 of Worth the Wait

“Not a chance in hell. This is going home with us. I’ll frame it and hang it from the wall,” he said, and I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not.

“You will do no such thing.” I pretended to be offended.

“Fine. But it’s going in my workshop then.”

“Where you can fix it?”

Knowing Patrick, he’d repair the damn thing, and no one would ever be the wiser.

“Hell no. Where I can marvel at the first piece of furniture we ever broke.”

I started laughing again. “The first, huh?”

“Figure there’s more to come, baby,” he teased, but I kind of looked forward to it.

WEDDING BELLS

ADDISON

THREE WEEKS LATER

I’d been hard at work the past few weeks, getting the restaurant set up and buying a couple of equipment pieces I needed that hadn’t come with the place. First up was an outdoor smoker that could handle cooking pounds of various meats all at once, for hours on end.

It was a beautiful piece of machinery.

I might have married it if I wasn’t going to marry Patrick instead.

I also talked to Mrs. Baker, the owner of the Main Street Diner, and got her blessing on my restaurant theme and menu, even making some suggestions of her own that I’d absolutely take into consideration.

The woman was a saint. She told me the days of the week that I should be closed, reminding me that we all needed days off in this business. Which was ironic, coming from her, considering the diner was open all seven days and she worked every single one of them.

“We all make mistakes we can’t come back from,” she’d said in response when I pointed out that fact.

During the tourist season, we’d close on Mondays. And during the off-season, we’d close on Mondays and Tuesdays. We’d also only be open for lunch and dinner. Closing for breakfast sounded great, but I’d still be there nice and early, prepping and smoking the meat each day. The things I wanted to serve would take hours, sometimes days, to cook properly.

Patrick was dead set on building the bar I’d mentioned wanting and refused to let me hire anyone else, as if I would have anyway.

And Bella had given me an enthusiastic, “HELL YES,” when I offered her the bar manager position.

Things were coming together quickly and easily. Both were encouraging signs that I’d taken to heart.

But right now, Main Street BBQ could wait because Brooklyn and Thomas’s wedding day was here. The entire O’Grady clan was in the brand-new wedding barn. It was fully complete and slated to open to the public in two weeks. It was already booked out a year in advance, just like they’d all suspected it would be. The place was going to be a huge hit. And the chalets I’d heard all about were finally starting to be framed.

Sugar Mountain Resort was growing in the best possible way. I couldn’t have been happier to be a part of it.

“I’m so excited,” I breathed out as I fixed Patrick’s bow tie on his suit. “You look so handsome.”

“What about me?” Matthew said from somewhere behind me.

“You know you look good,” I said, and Thomas appeared. “And the groom looks stunning.”

“Hey now,” Patrick whined, and I gave him a kiss.

“You look the handsomest,” I whispered.

“I heard that.” Matthew frowned.

Patrick and Matthew were Thomas’s best men while Brooklyn had her best friend, Lana, and Clarabel standing by her side. They were getting married in one side of the barn while the reception would be on the other. The wedding side was filled with white chairs and flowers tied to the ones on the aisle. The reception side held long wood tables with wildflowers in small vases and white candles lining each one. It was stunning.

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