Page 7 of Love in Bloom

“I told Miller not to ask her. I told him she was overbooked.”

“You don’t get to say how she spends her time,” Parker pointed out. “And Miller had other motives for asking her.”

“Oh, I’m sure he had a hidden agenda,” Wren added.The sneaky ones always do.

Parker rubbed his chin and studied her before speaking. “He told me he thought the boys would learn a lot about soccer from Krista and it would be a good experience for them to have a female coach. Help them see bosses as gender neutral.”

“I guess that makes sense, but I still don’t have to like it,” Croix complained as he helped himself to another cookie from Wren’s plate.

“You not liking it is just a bonus for Miller,” Parker said with a satisfied smile.

Jackson interrupted Croix’s retort. He stood in the middle of the deck and tapped rapidly on his Lift Bridge beer. The guests closest to him and Emily quieted down, but those further away kept talking. Emily stuck her thumb and forefinger in her mouth and whistled. The shrill noise captured everyone’s attention. Jackson pulled her to his side and dropped a quick kiss on her forehead.

Ugh, they look thrilled, Wren thought as she stuffed a bite-sized oatmeal cookie in her mouth.

“We’d like to thank you all for joining us this evening in what we hope to be the first of many friends-and-family barbeques.” Jackson raised his bottle to salute his guests. “And since everyone we care about is here—”

Emily jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow and raised her eyebrows. Jackson made a show of rubbing his injured ribs.

“Except Emily’s family and a few members of mine.” He placed a not-so-quick kiss on her lips. As expected, this brought whoops and whistles from the crowd. “I’m happy to announce we’ve settled on a wedding date. Next year, the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. Consider this your ‘save the date’ notification.” They greeted Jackson’s announcement with cheers and applause. “There’s still plenty of food and drink, so help yourself to more, especially the potato salads and coleslaw. It’s good, but we don’t want to be eating it for the next two weeks.”

Wren glanced at her watch. She’d been here for almost two hours. After weighing the pros and cons of staying longer—and really, there were no pros—Wren walked over to the happy couple to give her thanks and goodbyes. She’d avoided Trouble ever since their run-in at the bar, but she didn’t want to push her luck. The sooner she was away from him, the happier she’d be.

“Before you go, can we have a quick word with you? Inside?” Emily asked as she steered Wren toward the house. Wren noticed the pointed look Emily gave Jackson. The women headed for the kitchen and Emily started to clean up. Wren tried not to fidget too much on the barstool. She needed to leave.

“Oh, good, you’re here,” Emily said. From the dreamy look on her face, Wren guessed Jackson was joining them. He walked into the kitchen and stood by Emily.

“We meet again,” Miller greeted as he eased himself onto the other bar stool.

“Counselor,” Wren said, watching Emily and Jackson maneuver around the kitchen.

“Seriously, our next kitchen will be bigger,” Emily complained as she squeezed past Jackson.

“I don’t know. I like it nice and tight,” Jackson said and Emily blushed.

Wren agreed, the kitchen was much too small. Trouble was in her personal space and there was nowhere to move. She was having a difficult time ignoring him.

“OK, if you’re going to get all mushy, I’ll need a few more of those brownies to settle my stomach,” Miller said, reaching past Wren to move the plate closer.

Jackson moved it away from Miller. “No way. I know how this goes. You eat a few more brownies and the next thing I know, we’re doing longer trail runs over the next few days. For my safety and well-being, I’m cutting you off.”

“Watching your girlish figure, Counselor?” Wren handed Miller a brownie, since the plate was still within her reach. If ever there was a man who didn’t have a girlish figure, it was Miller Lynch. Wren tried not to watch, but, honest to goodness, she couldn’t keep her eyes off Miller as he devoured her brownie. He savored every single bite. And at the end, when his tongue snuck out to wipe the last bit of frosting from the corner of his mouth, Wren almost moaned.

“Miller, I’ll send you home with some,” Emily promised.

“Em,” Jackson groaned.

“He’s a grown man. He can eat whatever he wants,” Emily chided. “Wren, do you want one?”

“No, thank you,” she said, straightening her posture and recalling the ice-maiden facade. “I have some at home.”

“You made these?” Miller asked.

“Yes, Counselor, I did.” Wren looked him in the eyes. She may not have the power of a law degree, but she had her grandma’s brownie recipe on her side.

“You’re a woman of many talents,” Miller said. He sounded sincere. Their gazes held too long and Wren felt a tiny part of her melt.

“Yes, Counselor, I am,” she muttered and averted her gaze. She needed to leave. He’d gotten the subpoena. He wasn’t getting anything else, even though she didn’t seem to be immune to this specific pretty boy. She twirled the compass ring on her middle finger to remind herself to stay firm. “Emily, you said you wanted to talk to me. Can we discuss it on the way out?” Wren moved her bar stool back and stood to leave.

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