Page 36 of Snowbound

“Well, we’re glad to have you.”

I get up and call Angie back in. This conversation is starting to get a little bit too personal.

Angie grins when we tell her that we want to go ahead. “Oh, fabulous! I already gave you the phone number for the catering, right?”

“You did,” I say. “I’ll let you know when we want to come back and plan the decorations.”

“Please call me anytime. It’s my pleasure.”

“Thank you for being so accommodating,” I say, blinking in surprise. It really has been too long since I did anything low-key like this. I’ve forgotten how pleasant it is to deal with people who aren’t rude or demanding, and with venues that aren’t so exclusive that it’s a fight to get the date you want, let alone a chance to see the space at all.

Seeing the way that John and Ruth smile as we leave stirs something inside me. Maybe it’s just the leftover hormones from last night, but being in this town is doing something strange to me.

If you’d asked me three weeks ago if I love my job, I would have said yes, and it would have been true.

But doing this for them, for their true love, rather than bragging rights or a flashy photo for a magazine, is reminding me why I love weddings so much. This truly is why I became a wedding planner. To see couples connecting and celebrating.

I always thought that I would get someone else to plan my wedding so that I could be like all these couples who get to sit back and let someone else do all the hard work. I always imagined I would marry someone who I truly loved with all my heart.

It’s a plan I’ve been putting on hold for years. But seeing the way Ruth and John hold hands and giggle with each other over nothing is setting alight an ache in my chest that I’d forgotten was there.

Between them and Gabe, I don’t know how I feel anymore. I don’t want Gabe to be the one I’ve been searching for.

Or do I?

CHAPTER19

GABE

Someone rings the bell at the front desk, and I sit up with a groan. I’m just about to get the new axle for Carly’s car fitted. I don’t exactly want an interruption.

But unfortunately, I’ve made my name around here by being good at customer service — or at least, good at serving customers, despite whatever anyone might think, so I get up to head to the front desk. Usually, I make Phoebe deal with all the people and the niceness and stuff, but today’s her day off, so it’s just me.

Whoever this is will likely be disappointed when I’m not all smiles and rainbows.

“I’ll be with you in a second,” I call, wiping down my hands.

“No rush,” comes a familiar voice. I step out to the front desk and blink twice.

“Jensen?”

“Hey, Gabe. Good to see you.”

“What are you doing around these parts?”

“The wife wanted to move us back closer to home, so here we are. God, it’s been ages since I’ve seen you. How have you been?”

The barrage of questions knocks me off my feet. I manage to say, “Working, mostly. Keeping busy. Yourself?”

“Oh, much the same. Computers are computers, and I mostly work from home these days. That’s why I didn’t mind moving back into town. It’s a real nostalgia kick to be back. Everyone still remembers my name.”

“I’m pretty sure you helped most people connect to their Wi-Fi in this town.”

“Please, Gabe, we’re not that old. Anyway, I heard you got yourself a woman.”

“Who said that?” I snap incriminatingly.

Jensen raises an eyebrow, and I force my face not to smile or to frown any more deeply, not wanting to give anything else away.

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