Five weeks later.
“Ty, you have taken over my wedding. I will not let you take over my new store,” Sophia said, pushing the rustic-looking wooden counter back where it had originally been.
“You really do have to learn to share, bunny. It’s our store, remember? Menswear to the left, ladies’ wear to the right. And this is where my display is supposed to go,” he said, pushing the counter out of the way.
“I don’t know why I ever agreed to go into partnership with you,” she said, now in a tug-of-war over the counter.
“You went into partnership with me because your best friend is moving to Switzerland and you bought her out of the house on Holly Lane. Besides that, other than you, I’m the only person in this town who has an eye for fashion. Not to mention, I’m your other best friend, and you need me. You’re manager of the lodge now, remember? You can’t do it all.”
“Why not? You do. You own Diva and a catering business too.”
“Yes, but unlike you, I have staff. Which you would have if you just hired the woman I found for you yesterday.”
“I don’t trust her. She has shifty eyes.”
He sighed. “You said the same thing about the woman Autumn hired to run Sugar and Spice.”
Logan had signed a two-year contract with the company in Switzerland, so Autumn decided to move Sugar and Spice to the lodge instead of closing. Though their new locations were half the size of the old.
The Colonial on Main Street sold three days after the FOR SALE sign went up. But the sale was dependent on an early-May occupancy. Since Autumn wanted to leave with Logan and the children and it was a good offer, they accepted. Between their upcoming wedding, moving locations, and overseeing the construction of the new stores at the lodge, not to mention learning everything she had to about the management of the place before Logan left, there weren’t near enough hours in the day.
Suddenly too tired to fight, Sophia sprawled across the counter. “Fine. I will hire the lady. If she ends up being a serial killer, I will sue you.”
“If she ends up being a serial killer, we’ll both be dead.”
“If you’re talking about the woman who applied for the job yesterday, she’s a con artist, not a serial killer,” said a familiar deep voice.
Sophia lifted her head to smile at her husband-to-be, who looked breath-stealingly gorgeous in his sheriff’s uniform. Zeus looked to Adam for permission. At his head nod and smile, the dog bounded to Sophia’s side. But Adam wasn’t smiling when he joined him there.
He lifted her chin with his knuckle. “You look beat. You gotta take a break, Dimples.”
“I can’t. There’s too much to do. We want the stores up and running on the first day of June. Then there’s the wedding and—”
“Ty, I thought you were handling the wedding stuff for her.”
“So did I, but your fiancée has control issues.”
“I don’t have control issues, I just want it to be special for you. It’s your first wedding. I want it to be special for Autumn, too, and the children.”
Adam frowned. “Wait a sec. What about you?”
“I’m marrying you. That’s special enough for me.”
“No. Do not even think about it, Adam. She doesn’t know what she’s saying. She wants a wedding, a big splashy affair with lots of bling. And pink. She loves pink.”
Sophia narrowed her eyes at Ty. “Fifteen minutes ago, you told me to think garden-party-goes-country.”
“Well, what was I supposed to do? It’s a double wedding, and everything you liked Autumn didn’t, and everything Autumn liked, you hated. So I had to make an executive decision.”
Adam smiled. “You thinking what I’m thinking, Dimples?”
She walked into his arms. “I hope so,” she murmured against his chest.
He bent his head to whisper in her ear. “Paperwork is done, so we’ll head to the courthouse and see if the judge will marry us right now. And then we’ll spend the next two days at the honeymoon cabin on Silver Lake. Sound good?”
She tipped her head back. “Sounds perfect. I love you, Adam Dane.”
“I love you too, Dimples. Now, let’s get this done.”
“Hey, you two, get back here right now. This is not funny. Sophia? Adam?”