Rob drove over to the cottages early the next day. If Violet found out he was getting married from someone besides him—like the Jenkins twins—she’d kill him. He picked up a half dozen muffins from Sea Glass Cafe. He hoped they would soften the news when he explained things. Explained he was getting married next weekend. He could hardly believe it himself.
He walked through the door, balancing the box of muffins. “Hey, sis.”
She rolled her eyes at him, which was not unexpected. “You checking on me again?” She reached for the box. “But come in and tell me all about Evelyn. How’s she doing? I thought you’d be at the hospital bright and early this morning.”
“I was there all night. Slept in the chair. Just ran home and changed clothes. Heading there right after here.”
“But you thought you had to pop in and check on me first?” She opened the box and snagged a muffin.
“I… uh, no. That’s not it.”
“Evelyn is okay, right? Or she will be. Just banged up you said.”
“Yes, Evelyn will be fine. Better than fine. You see…” He took a deep breath. “I’ve asked her to marry me and she said yes.”
“Of course, she did.” Violet set the muffin down and hugged him. “Congrats, Robbie. I’m very happy for you.”
“There’s a bit more to it.” He eyed her, knowing he was probably going to get an earful when she heard they wanted the wedding next weekend.
“Then spill it.” She stood with her hands on her hips, facing him.
“We’re getting married… next weekend.”
“You’re what?” Her hands flew to her mouth.
“We don’t want to wait. I almost lost her, sis. I can’t waste any more time.”
Her eyes narrowed. “And Evelyn agreed to this?”
“She did.”
Violet’s lips spread into a grin as she shook her head. “Okay, then. Looks like we have a busy week ahead of us. I’ll help in any way I can.”
Relief swept through him at her eager acceptance. “Well, there is one thing. I looked on your online calendar—I still have the login because you’re always messing something up and asking me to fix it.”
“I do not.” She glared at him, then laughed. “Okay, maybe I do. But you can fix techie things so much quicker than I can.”
“Anyway, as I was saying. You don’t have a wedding scheduled for next weekend.”
She clapped her hands. “And you want to have it here? That would be great. We can do this.”
“Really, you’re okay with it on such short notice?”
“Of course. It’s not every day my big brother gets married.” She grabbed a piece of paper. “We need to plan. I need to know how many people are coming. What color ribbons on the chairs. How many serving tables.”
“I’ll get you all of that info after I talk to Evelyn again. I’m just heading out to get her from the hospital and take her back to my place. I don’t want her alone after all this.”
“Don’t blame you.” Violet scribbled a note. “So get back to me this afternoon. I’m going to weed the courtyard, too. So it’s all cleaned up.” She jotted on the paper again. “Oh, and find out if she wants flowers on the arbor.”
“I’ll talk to her.”
She grabbed her phone. “Which day?”
“Saturday, I think?”
“Oh, look.” She held out her phone. “Perfect weather.”
He hadn’t even thought to check the weather. What if they predicted rain? They couldn’t have it outside in the courtyard if it rained. “Oh, good.” One less detail to worry about. “And one more thing.”
“What’s that?” She stood with her pen poised above the paper.
“Would you… would you be my best man?”
She grinned at him. “Of course I will be. Who else would be the best man?”
He hugged her quickly. “You really are the best,” he said gruffly, filled with emotion.
She smacked his arm lightly and stepped back. “Go pick up Evelyn. I’ll start getting things organized here. How about flowers and food and her dress?”
He looked at Violet. Yes, all those things. He hadn’t thought of all those details when he’d proposed and wanted the wedding so soon. Was Evelyn really okay with all of this? “I… I’ll have to check with Evelyn. I guess I didn’t think of all the things that would need to be done.”
She laughed. “Of course you didn’t. You just want to be married to her. Nothing wrong with that. We’ll figure it out. I’ll do everything I can to help.”
He gave her a quick hug. “You’re my favorite sister.”
“Your only sister.” She stepped back and shooed him. “Go. Pick up Evelyn. Make some plans. Then let me know what I can do to help.”
“Will do.” He ducked out the door and loped to his car. He couldn’t wait to see Evelyn. They’d figure this all out. Get it all planned. Somehow.
Evelyn wasn’t used to someone fussing over her like this. Rob had practically carried her in from the car and settled her onto the couch at his cottage. He’d insisted that his cottage was a better place for her to recover than her apartment. Fair observation—his cottage had no steps except off the deck to the beach. It surprised her how much better she felt today than last night. Sore, of course. And bruises covered one whole side of her body. Not to mention she had an ugly bruise on her forehead that she’d spied in the mirror. She wasn’t sure how she’d be able to cover that up for the wedding.
The wedding. Where? When? How would she pull it off by next weekend? Today was Friday. So she had one week. Though, to be honest, if it wouldn’t hurt her family’s feelings so much, she would have taken Rob up on his suggestion to elope. But they’d never forgive her for eloping.
Somehow she was going to pull this off because she wanted nothing more than to be married to Rob. He was right. Life is short. This accident had thrown that fact in her face. She’d been very lucky to survive with fairly minor injuries. She eyed the crutches leaning against the wall. And she hoped she’d be off those by the weekend.
Rob came into the room, carrying a cup of hot tea. “Here you go. Just the way you like it, I hope.” He set it on the coffee table by her.
“You can quit fussing over me. I’m really okay.” She reached for the tea. She was used to taking care of him. Fixing him meals. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had taken care of her.
A knock sounded, and Rob went to open the door. Donna, Livy, and Heather hurried in, carrying a bouquet, a large picnic basket, and a suitcase.
“I picked up some things for you from your apartment.” Donna set the suitcase down.
“Melody packed up some meals for you.” Livy handed the basket to Rob.
“Do you have a vase? I brought these flowers for Mom.” Heather handed the flowers to Rob, who disappeared into the kitchen and returned with the flowers in a vase.
She rearranged them slightly when he set them on the table before her. She couldn’t help herself. He’d just crammed them in there. He noticed and grinned.
“So, you’re feeling better?” Heather sat down beside her.
“I am. Much.”
“You’ve got your color back.” Donna frowned. “You actually look… like you’re glowing.” Donna leaned over and placed a hand on her forehead. “No, no fever.”
“I’m fine.” She turned to Livy. “Everything going okay at the cafe? I hate leaving you shorthanded.”
“Last night Collette and Ethan jumped in and helped Melody. Emily is taking on more shifts. We’re good. You just rest and feel better.”
“About that rest thing…”
The three Parker women froze and stared at her.
“What?” Donna eyed her suspiciously.
Rob perched on the arm of the sofa and draped an arm around her in support.
“Ah… I’m getting married this coming weekend.”
“What?” Donna’s eyes flew open.
“Mom, you can’t. You’re not up to that. You just got hit by a car.” Heather shook her head, frowning.
“Wait, Rob asked you to marry him?” Livy looked at her and then Rob and then back at her.
“I did. And she said yes. We decided we didn’t want to wait.”
“Hey, I turned down his suggestion that we elope today as soon as I left the hospital.”
“Okay then,” Donna said.
Livy and Heather stared at her, their mouths agape.
“If that’s what Evie wants, that’s what we’ll do.” She nodded firmly. “We can do this. Seems like we Parker women are always pulling off quick weddings. First, we need a venue.”
“We have one. I talked to Violet this morning. We’re going to have it at the cottages. Next Saturday evening.”
“That gives us a week to pull this off. Nothing fancy. Simple. And I just want a small wedding. Just family and a few friends.” She looked at her sister. “I mean it. Small. Just the ceremony, then cake and champagne afterward.”
“Are you sure?” Heather asked.
She took her daughter’s hand. “I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.”
“Well, then. Let’s get to work. I’ll arrange for the cake.” Livy plopped down in the chair next to the sofa.
“I could bake it,” she suggested.
“You’re not baking your own cake.” Livy shook her head. “I’ll see if Melody will make it. Vanilla, right? Your favorite?”
She looked at Rob, who nodded in agreement. “Yes, vanilla.”
“I’ll arrange for the flowers.” Heather took out her phone and tapped in a list.
“Just a bouquet for me. White flowers. Then maybe an arrangement for the cake table.”
“That’s it?” Heather asked.
“Yes. Simple. Casual. All I care about is saying I do to Rob.”
“My kind of wedding.” Rob grinned. “And I already talked to Violet. We’ll set up the chairs and string lights on the arbor. Evelyn wants to get married at sunset.”
“So that’s about seven-thirty?” Heather started searching on her phone.
“Seven-eighteen.” Rob laughed. “I already looked it up.”
“So I thought we’d start the ceremony at seven.” She smiled at Rob. “A short ceremony.”
“I’ve already talked to the pastor. And we’ll apply for our license on Monday at city hall.” Rob’s eyes twinkled. “I’m trying to do as much as possible to make it easy on Evelyn.”
“What about a dress?” Heather tapped some more onto her phone, adding to her list.
“I… I don’t know. I just want something simple, not a real wedding-ish dress.”
“We’ll go shopping tomorrow in Sarasota if you’re feeling up to it. We’ll find a perfect dress. I promise.” Heather tapped more into her phone.
“I’m coming, too,” Donna insisted. “Wouldn’t miss it for anything.”
“I’d come, but I think I’ll be holding down the fort at Parker’s,” Livy said.
“You know, let’s close Parker’s and the cafe at noon next Saturday. There should be some advantages to owning the place.” Donna laughed. “Oh, and we need to tell Mother.”
“I’ll call her this afternoon.” She hoped her mom wouldn’t be upset by the short notice. But hadn’t that been the Parker women's style for the last few weddings?
Heather stood. “I’m going to head over to Belle Island and see what will be available from Flossie’s Flower Shop.”
“Too bad the new floral shop here in Moonbeam isn’t open yet,” Livy said.
“Are you sure you’re up for all of this?” Donna’s forehead creased. “You just got out of the hospital.”
“A little hospital stay isn’t going to keep me from marrying Rob. I might need a bit of makeup help, though. This bruise isn’t going away anytime soon.”
“We’ll fix it so no one even knows it’s there.” Heather bent over and kissed her forehead. “Get some rest. We’ll take care of everything.”
“Thanks, honey. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“I’ll pick you up at eleven.”
“Livy, we should go, too. We’ve got a lot to do.” Donna gathered her things. “Rest. Don’t overdo it.”
“I won’t.”
They all left, and she reached for her now lukewarm tea. She took a sip anyway, then leaned back on the sofa. “My family is wonderful. But they can be a bit overwhelming at times.” She smiled. “But I guess that’s good because it sounds like we’re going to have this whole wedding sorted out in no time.”
“You sure you’re good with having it so quickly? I really want to marry you as soon as possible, but I don’t want you to regret it later. Afraid you missed out on something.”
She looked up and touched his face. “I’m not missing anything. I’m happy to just be marrying you. We’ll have a lovely wedding, I just know it.”
He kissed her gently. “I’d marry you anywhere, anytime. I love you. I was so afraid I would lose you.”
“You won’t lose me.” She smiled. “Looks like you’re stuck with me forever.”
“Can’t imagine it any other way.” He kissed her again.