Always the Baker, Finally the Bride (26 page)

“Dude. Don’t fuss,” Fee whispered as Emma adjusted the topper one last time.

She cast a smile up at Jackson before glancing around the room at all of their friends: Sherilyn and Andy; Fee and Sean; Carly and her husband, J.R.’s brother Devon; Kat; even Audrey’s former client Lisette and her handsome husband had managed to attend the last-minute celebration. Lisette was the bride who’d been the catalyst for Audrey’s new life as a plus-size fashions designer, and Audrey’s size 14 evening gown had scored a major hit on the runway for Riley Eastwood’s label. Emma knew Audrey would be thrilled to see Lisette again.

Kat, the only single in the room, leaned into Fee and whispered something to her that elicited a chuckle. The two of them had become great friends, and Emma noted that they couldn’t have been more different if they had worked at it. A surge of emotion moved through her as she realized how many of those in the room were among the people that she held most dear.

“Okay, okay, everyone ready?” Carly exclaimed softly, and she shoved the door open.

J.R. and Audrey stood just outside the door, and J.R. had just reached out for the handle when the door popped open
on its own, so his hand remained frozen in midair. Both of them looked as if they’d been shot at, and Audrey’s porcelain face broke into a knowing smile when she saw Carly waiting for her inside the English Rose ballroom.

“
Sur-priiiiise!!
” their friends shouted, and each of them tossed handfuls of rose petals at the newly married couple.

Audrey brashed the petals from her hair as she grabbed Carly and tugged her into an embrace. “You said it was a party for Emma and Jackson!” she cried. Then to Kat, over Carly’s shoulder, she added, “But I had a feeling.”

“Well, we had to celebrate,” Kat replied with a giggle. “Let’s see the rings.”

Audrey beamed as she fanned her hand around the semicircle of onlookers, and all of the woman ooohed and ahhhed over the striking band of diamonds. Emma looked at J.R. just as he reluctantly waved his hand one time to display a dark Tungsten carbide band framed in platinum. A tough ring for a tough guy. Emma thought it completely suited him.

“Beautiful,” she said as Audrey’s hand reached her, and she picked a rose petal from the shoulder of the striking military-style jacket embellished with silver chains and buckles that Audrey wore over black jeans.

Audrey’s amber eyes wandered over to the cake display, and she laughed. “Where on earth did you get that topper?”

“Carly found it. Darling, isn’t it?”

“J.R., look at that! We’re on top of an Emma Travis cake!”

“Immortalized,” J.R. remarked, and he leaned in to plant a kiss on Emma’s cheek. “Now we’ve made it.”

“It’s a beautiful cake, Emma,” Audrey told her. “I can’t wait to see yours. What’s it going to look like?”

Emma cringed, and Fee let out a cackle.

“Better to avoid that subject,” Sherilyn warned.

“Oh.” Audrey grinned at Emma. “Okay, then!”

J.R. embraced his brother Devon and muttered something quietly. Devon’s eyes lit up as he grinned and nodded. “It’s all good,” he replied. “I’ve got my girl by my side, and a baby waiting at home. Now my wandering brother is settling down. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

“Well, maybe one thing more,” Carly teased. “Your wandering brother and his wife could settle permanently right here in Atlanta.”

Audrey and J.R. exchanged meaningful glances before looking back to Carly and Devon.

“No way,” Devon declared. “Bro!”

“Yep. The movers arrive with my things next week,” J.R. announced. “We’ve rented a storage locker for it, and we’ll both be living in Audrey’s Buckhead loft until we can find a house out here toward Roswell so we can be close to all of you.”

Several sets of eyes bore down on Jackson at that, and Sherilyn was first to pipe up. “Well, you might want to rethink that. It seems The Tanglewood is changing hands very soon.”

“What?” J.R. exclaimed as Sherilyn’s eyes misted over with tears. He immediately looked to Jackson for confirmation. “You wouldn’t, right?”

“It seems that he would,” Sherilyn remarked, leaning in to Andy’s side.

Jackson squirmed a little next to Emma, and she spouted, “Why don’t we keep on topic here! Let’s pour that cider and toast the happy couple.”

“I think we can tell them,” Jackson said, smiling at her. “Don’t you?”

“If you’re sure.”

Jackson extended his arm toward Sherilyn. “Come over here, Red. I want you right next to me when we give y’all the news.”

Sherilyn raised one eyebrow and her gaze darted to Emma. It only took a nod for Sherilyn to rush to Jackson’s side, and he placed an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close to him.

“Emma and I decided to turn down the offer on the hotel,” he said, and before he could take a follow-up breath, Sherilyn snaked her arms around his neck and squealed over the cheers and clapping hands around them.

“Wait, wait a minute! What about your year in Paris?” Fee asked. “And the whole idea of kicking back and taking life a little slower for a while?”

“Well, we can’t very well leave the country for a year now,” he said. “But we’re hoping for a delayed honeymoon to France at some point toward Christmas.”

Fee countered with a half-glare at Emma over the top of her rectangular black glasses. After such a long time, Emma could read Fee like a familiar book.

“I’m going to take steps to relieve some of the stress, Fiona. For both of us. And you’ll like this part of the plan. After the wedding, we’re going to hire another pastry chef. And I’m going to cut my schedule back a bit.”

J.R. looked from Audrey to Emma. “What’d I miss?”

“Emma has been having some health challenges,” Jackson told them, and Sherilyn leaned around him and gawked at Emma.

“What kind of health challenges? Why haven’t you told me this?”

“Can we please just stay on point here?” Emma asked them with a laugh. “We are keeping the hotel, we’re hiring some additional staff, and we are here to celebrate the marriage of two of our dearest friends!”

Sean handed Emma and Jackson glasses of sparkling cider that he had quietly poured, and he returned to Lisette for
another couple of glasses that he then handed over to Sherilyn and Kat. When everyone had a glass in their hand, Carly stepped forward.

“Audrey has always been family to me,” she said, and Audrey smiled at her. “But now she’s actually my
sister-in-law
! And I couldn’t be happier. Aud and J.R., you were so meant to be. I think everyone saw it, even before you did. And though we would have preferred a wedding here in town with all of your friends in attendance, I think I speak for everyone here tonight when I tell you that we wish you every happiness, every blessing, and every joy.” Raising her glass, she added, “To Audrey and J.R.”

Flutes clinked and good wishes flowed, and they all drank to the future happiness of yet another happy couple brought together under the roof of The Tanglewood Inn.

“I hate to interrupt,” Lauren said softly, and Jackson looked up to find just her head poking through the slightly open door.

As Rod continued his noisy diatribe on the other end of the phone, Jackson mouthed, “What is it?”

“It seems some hotel guests are trapped in the elevator.”

Jackson waved his hand at her to draw her closer, and he plucked a business card from the messy Rolodex on his desk. “Call them, ask for Bobby,” he whispered. “Tell him it’s an emergency.”

Lauren grabbed the card and hurried from the office, closing the door behind her.

“Rod, Rod, come on,” Jackson exclaimed. “I have an emergency here. Gotta go, buddy.”

“Don’t you dare hang up on me, Drake. We’re going to hash this out right now.”

“There’s nothing to hash out, Rod. I’ve made my final decision. I’m sorry. If Allegiant still wants to franchise, I’m in. But I’m not selling this—”

“You know they want the whole caboodle. They’re not gonna go for it, Jack.”

“Then I think the deal is off the table.”

“Jack. Jack, you gotta be kidding me.”

“Look, I’m sorry,” he said, sincerely. “I’ve talked it over with Emma and we just don’t think—”

“What, she’s not even your wife yet and she’s calling the shots?” Rod snapped. “Maybe I should have taken the meeting with Emma instead.”

“Maybe so,” Jackson replied calmly. “Or at least included her, because we come as a package deal. She wants to stay, and so do I.”

“No one said you couldn’t stay, Jack.”

“Rod, look. I have hotel guests incarcerated in one of only two elevators in the hotel. I gotta go.”

“No! Look, Jackson, we can talk about this . . .”

“Sorry, Rod. I really am.”

And with that, Jackson disconnected the call. At first, he thought he heard Rod continue to rant after he hung up . . . until he realized the rant emanated from the hallway.

“Where is it? Where is Jackson Drake’s office?”

Jackson popped up from his chair and rounded the desk. As he stepped out into Lauren’s office, an angry man stormed through the door, his bulging eyes seeming to make an entrance before the rest of him.

“You Jackson Drake? The owner of this hotel?”

“Yes, I am. If you’re here about the elevator, we’ve called the—”

“The elevator,” he repeated, running a hand through the few strands of hair on his head. “No, what’s wrong with the elevator? I’m here because one of your maids stole from me!”

“I’m sorry, I—”

“That’s right, you’re sorry. Meanwhile, what good will your sorry do me at the big rock?”

“The . . . rock?”

“Oh, Mr. Drake,” Frank, the front desk manager on duty, wheezed as he stumbled into the office behind the bug-eyed rock collector. “I’m so sorry.” He leaned over slightly and pressed one hand against the doorjamb as he tried to catch his breath. “Did you know the elevator is out? I had to take the stairs.”

“Yes. We’re on it.”

Jackson looked to Lauren, and she covered the phone receiver long enough to tell him, “Bobby is out sick. I’m on hold for his assistant.”

His head spinning a little, Jackson looked back to the crisis at hand.

“I tried talking to this joker,” the bald man spouted, pointing at Frank. “But he won’t do a thing to bring the thief to justice. And I’ll sue this place, Drake!”

“Mr. Schmidt,” Frank interrupted, standing upright at last. “I had the housekeeping staff comb your room, and—”

“It’s not in my room, I told you that.”

“But it was. They found your camera under the bed, sir.”

Schmidt looked for a few seconds like he might choke on his own tongue. Then he curled his face up and grunted. “Oh, sure they did. It was under the bed, was it?”

“If you’d like me to place your camera in the hotel safe for security’s sake, I can certainly—”

“Not on your life, Joe. Besides, I need it today when we go to the rock.”

Jackson glanced at Frank, who clued him in. “Stone Mountain.”

“Ah,” he said with a nod. “So where is Mr. Schmidt’s camera right now?”

“We’re holding it for you at the front desk, sir.”

“I’ll just bet you are,” the man cracked, and he stomped out of the office.

“I’m sorry about that, Mr. Drake.”

“It’s fine. Let’s comp the Schmidts for one night, Frank.”

The manager tried to disguise his astonishment before shrugging. “Okay. I’ll take care of it.”

Just as Frank departed, Jackson’s attention flipped over to Lauren as she jumped up from her desk, yanked a sterling silver cuff from her ear, pressed the phone to her head, and shouted, “Listen to me! We have people trapped in the elevator, and we cannot wait for someone to get out here. The Tanglewood Inn is a customer of yours, and Bobby has provided such stellar service that he’s become a personal friend of the owner, Jackson Drake. I don’t think he’ll be too happy when I call him at home and tell him how you’re mishandling one of his prime accounts, do you?”

Jackson arched both eyebrows and folded his arms as he observed Lauren in action.

“An hour?” she exclaimed. “I’m thinking twenty or thirty minutes, aren’t you, Josh? . . . Good. I’ll hold off on calling Bobby, but I want you to know I have him on speed dial and it won’t take much of a delay to get me to hit that button . . . Yes. All right. I’ll see you then.”

She heaved a sigh as she hung up the phone and shook her head, replacing the ear cuff and raking back her multitoned hair. She started when she caught Jackson’s gaze.

“Oh. I’m sorry. I just—”

“Lauren,” he told her, “I think you and I need to talk later. You, young lady, are a force of nature.”

Her worried expression ignited into a full-on grin. “Thank you.”

“Now I’m headed down the hall to put out some fires. I sense a few more comp rooms in my immediate future.”