Page 31 of Falling in Love at Pennycress Inn

It took all her self-control to ignore him, to ignore the fact he kept calling her Nic, to ignore his self-entitlement. How dare he think he could just waltz back into her life, into her cottage, her sanctuary and, what? Expect life to resume where he’d left off?

Keep walking. Just keep walking. And that’s what she did. By the time Pennycress Inn was in sight, Nathan had given up and slinked back to his car.

16

‘Oh, these look lovely!’ Suzy turned to her fiancé, Owen, and ran her finger across the pale pink rose in the centrepiece.

‘They’re adorable, aren’t they?’ Nicola smiled as she admired the pastel roses encircled by muted green foliage. After yesterday’s drama with Nathan, she was glad to have something nice to focus on this morning.

‘They really are.’ Suzy leaned her head against Owen’s chest.

‘So you’re happy for me to go ahead and order them for each of the tables for the wedding reception?’ This was the first Pennycress wedding since Laura had bought the inn and, with Laura busy with other wedding preparations, Nicola was eager not to mess this up. She looked at the three table centrepieces she’d ordered from Fleur’s Flower Shop in Nettleford and smiled. Each of them was exquisite in their own way, but she’d have bet money on Suzy and Owen choosing the one Suzy was currently gushing over.

‘Absolutely!’ Suzy looked up at Owen. ‘I wonder if we can incorporate this colour scheme into something to go along the handrail of the decking?’

‘We could look into it for you?’ Nicola scribbled in her notebook. ‘I can speak to Fleur and confirm your choices for the centrepieces and then ask if she could recommend something for the decking.’

‘Yes, please.’ Suzy checked her watch before widening her eyes and turning to Owen. ‘We need to get going. We’ll be late for the dress fitting otherwise.’

Owen nodded as he pushed back his chair. ‘Thank you, Nicola.’

‘Yes, thank you so much! I can’t wait until next Saturday.’ Suzy grinned, gave Nicola a quick shoulder hug and slipped her hand into her fiancé’s before they rushed from the kitchen.

Pulling the chosen centrepiece towards her, Nicola slowly turned it, looking at it from all directions. Suzy was right; it was stunning and would look just perfect on the pale pink tablecloths the soon-to-be happy couple had chosen for the tables they were hiring for the garden. It might have even been something she’d have chosen for her and Nathan’s wedding.

‘You look deep in thought.’ Laura set two bulging canvas bags on the table and looked around. ‘Have I missed Suzy and Owen?’

‘Yes, only just though. They’ve literally walked out of the door this minute.’ Standing up, Nicola peered inside the bags. ‘You managed to catch the carpenter at the craft fair then?’

‘I did indeed.’ Grinning, Laura began pulling out decorations for the upcoming wedding, each as whimsical and as magical as the centrepieces. Once she’d placed the last item from the bag onto the table – a beautiful white wooden heart – she stood back. ‘How gorgeous are they? And they’re all handmade and hand painted.’

‘They are lovely. You were lucky you got to the craft fair early enough to get them before they ran out again.’ Nicola ran her finger over a cluster of small heart silhouettes.

Laura nodded. ‘I feel bad not being here to see Suzy and Owen, but if I’d gone any later, I wouldn’t have managed to get these and you’ve been speaking to Fleur about their wedding flowers, anyway.’

‘Don’t worry, they were fine. Super excited for next weekend though, as you can imagine.’ Nicola laughed. When Suzy and Owen had first looked around the inn as a potential wedding reception venue, Suzy had been beside herself. They’d been looking for a classic country venue and had both exclaimed that Pennycress was the perfect place the moment they’d stepped inside the gate. Nicola hadn’t thought it was possible Suzy could be even more excited. How wrong she’d been.

‘I just hope it doesn’t rain.’ Laura looked out of the glass French doors and grimaced at the bright sunshine.

‘It won’t. And if it does, Jill is on standby with the marquee the community hub uses for the summer fayre. It’s all good. We’ve got it covered.’ Nicola smiled at her. She could understand why she was so worried about the wedding – it was the biggest event the inn had held since Laura had bought the place – but Suzy and Owen had specifically chosen Pennycress for its charm, they didn’t want flash or perfect, they craved something much more intimate and real. And they knew the risks the weather posed. Suzy’s reaction when Laura had voiced her concerns was to simply answer that at least it would be memorable.

Slumping into the chair opposite Nicola, Laura rubbed her temples. ‘I know. It’ll be fine.’

‘It really will be.’ Nicola reached across and took Laura’s hand. ‘Suzy and Owen are lovely people and all they want is to get married and have their families back to Pennycress to celebrate. And that’s what’s going to happen.’

‘Yes.’ Laura nodded, more for her own benefit than Nicola’s.

‘And they’ll be blown away by Jackson’s menu.’ Nicola flicked through the wedding planning notebook and tapped the page Jackson had scribbled the menu on.

‘They definitely will be, yes.’ This brought a smile to Laura’s face, her shoulders relaxing. ‘He’s popping back between lunch and dinner at the pub tomorrow to trial the vegan options.’

‘Jackfruit and roasted vegetable tart,’ Nicola read. ‘Yum, sounds good and I’m not even a vegan.’

‘It does sound nice, doesn’t it? Well, hopefully we can both be his guinea pigs tomorrow afternoon.’ Laura looked towards the hallway as the happy tune of the doorbell filled the air. ‘I’ll pop and see who that is.’

‘Okay. I’ll just finish making these notes and then ring Fleur.’ Carefully sliding the newly bought decorations to the side, Nicola picked up her pen again.

Moments later Laura peered through the doorway and raised her eyebrows. ‘Nic, it’s someone for you.’

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