Page 14 of Wishes at Water's Edge
Julia grinned. When the Owens family had first learned that Faith was dating a McCormick, they’d been perturbed and unsure of how to take the news. Judd McCormick, Ryan’s father, ran a local brewery in town and had set himself up as a rival of The Lighthouse Grill even though Vivian had never wanted to compete with the brewery. He’d gone so far as to bully the Owens family through his competitive tactics, and his sons Seth and Brady, who ran the brewery with him, had participated in the one-sided feud.
It had soon become clear, however, that Ryan was cut from a different cloth than the rest of his family. He was kind and thoughtful, and once the Owens saw how tenderly he treated Faith, they had no more reservations about him. Since Faith and Ryan began dating, Ryan had been able to help bridge the divide between the two families, and it had been months since Judd had tried any competitive schemes against The Lighthouse Grill.
“Go ahead and sit down,” Julia told her cousin cheerfully. “You want some of my fries?”
“Oh, yes please. Are you sure you don’t mind?” Faith plopped down into the booth on the opposite side from Julia.
“Not at all. You know how generous Tom and Allison both are with the waffle fries. I always need some help clearing my plate.”
Faith popped one of the waffle fries into her mouth with a grateful smile. “Mm. Whoever figured out that you could make something this tasty out of potatoes is my hero. And I already love potatoes.”
Julia chuckled. “I can agree with you there.”
“Wedding planning?” Faith asked, gesturing toward Julia’s planner.
Julia nodded. “Yup. I’m slowly chipping away at this to-do list.” She laughed. “It’s all good, fun work but it does seem like it’s never-ending.”
“You can do it.” Faith smiled. “And remember, we’re all happy to help out like we did with the invitations. That was a lot of fun.”
“You’re right, thank you. I need to keep that in mind—I don’t have to do everything myself all the time. I mean, obviously, Cooper is helping with a lot, but I tend to put all the work on my plate. I like to know that things are getting done the way I want them done.” She shook her head.
“I hear that.” Faith laughed. “But you’ve got a good team of people around you. It’s not like one of us is going to order you carnations for your wedding bouquets when you asked for a blend of wildflowers and roses.”
Julia grinned. “You’re right. And actually, I just got off the phone with the florist. I did pick a blend of wildflowers and roses—are you a mind reader or something?”
Faith bowed. “Maybe—but I probably just heard you mention it sometime.”
“We do talk about the wedding a lot. Sorry.”
“No, I love it! It helps me imagine what my wedding might look like someday.” Faith’s eyes sparkled. Recently she’d been worried that Ryan didn’t share her hopes of one day making a life-long commitment, but when she’d finally mustered the courage to speak with him about it, he’d assured her that he loved her so much he’d changed his mind about being interested in marriage. Although they were still taking their relationship slowly, everyone could see they were headed in that direction. Faith and Ryan were absolutely devoted to each other.
“What else do you have left to do? Any really big items on the checklist?”
“No, thankfully it’s all little stuff at this point. Now that we’ve booked our reception venue, we’ve got all of the major planning items off the list.”
“Hey, speaking of reception venues, have you heard of that new place, Turtle Dove Hall? Lindsay is one of my good friends from book club, and I just got off the phone with her. It’s a total disaster over there.” Faith shook her head.
Julia froze. “What do you mean? Did something happen?”
“Yeah.” Faith winced sympathetically. “I guess she’s been frantically trying to get a hold of Jacob, and she even went down to his office but he wasn’t there, which is weird for him. Usually he’s so good about getting back to people.”
“Yeah.” Julia frowned, agreeing that was strange behavior for her sister’s partner. “But why was she trying to get a hold of him? What happened?”
Julia was envisioning small issues, like a fridge that needed a tune-up or a light switch that had stopped working. When Faith answered her question, however, she gasped in alarm.
“I guess a pipe burst.” Faith shook her head. “They weren’t expecting that cold snap we just had last night, and the heat wasn’t on enough to protect the pipes. It sounds like it’s really a disaster and they’re going to have to shut the place down for a long time. I feel so bad for Lindsay.”
“Oh no!” Julia shot to her feet, grabbing her purse and getting ready to race out the door. “That can’t be true! That’s the venue Cooper and I just booked for our wedding!”
“Oh no!” Faith echoed.
“Finish my fries,” Julia said as she stuffed her planner into her purse. “I’m going down there.”
She saw Faith give her a sympathetic look before she turned and ran out of The Lighthouse Grill. Her car was in the parking lot, and she scrambled inside it and drove straight to Turtle Dove Hall.
When she arrived at the building, which used to be a factory in the eighteen hundreds and had a beautiful red brick exterior, she noticed both Cooper and Jacob’s cars in the parking lot. She guessed that Lindsay had finally gotten a hold of Jacob and that Jacob had called Cooper, knowing that Turtle Dove Hall was his and Julia’s wedding venue. She could understand why neither of them had reached out to her—they didn’t want her to be upset.
And I am upset,she thought, biting her lip as she hurried up the steps toward the front door.It’s going to take everything in me to not burst into tears when I get in there. I can’t believe our perfect reception venue has been ruined.
