Authors: Mariah Stewart
“So am I, Mom.”
“Daniel tells me that you’re going to run an event in July and another in September.”
“It does look that way.” Lucy put her arm around her mother’s shoulders. “But don’t get too used to it. I will be going back to California, you know.”
“Oh, I know, but it’s such a relief for me not to have to worry about you for a while.”
“Worry about me? Why?”
“I worry about something happening to you, surrounded by all those crazy people you read about out there in Hollywood,” Grace stated matter-of-factly. “When you’re here, with us, I know you’re safe. I don’t have to worry about something bad happening because, well, where on earth could you possibly be safer than under this roof, with your family?”
Lucy forced a smile and walked her mother to the door.
“Go upstairs and take a good long nap. Sleep right through until the morning if you can.”
“Thank you, dear. I’ll do my best.”
Lucy watched her mother cross the lobby and slowly climb the stairs. She hated to think about her mother getting older, but she certainly did look her age tonight.
Of course, it was fatigue after her trip, and surely with a few nights to catch up on her sleep, she’d be herself again.
Lucy logged off her laptop, the irony not lost on her that in all the years she’d lived in Los Angeles, there’d never been an incident that had made her fear for her life. Yet it was here, where she should have been safest, that she’d been assaulted and terrorized and robbed of so much. Thank God she’d never told her mother what had happened to her, Lucy thought as she locked her office. Let Grace go on believing that her family home offered safety and sanctuary. The truth would cause her mother too much pain. Knowing Grace, she would blame herself for not being there when it happened, and she’d carry that guilt for the rest of her life.
Lucy hadn’t kept too many secrets from her mother over the years, but this was one she planned to take to her grave.
For all Lucy’s good intentions of running every morning, she overslept on Saturday by almost an hour, which meant she not only had to skip her run, but had to skip breakfast as well in order to get down to the lobby to meet Jason Bowers and Daniel to go over the proposed changes to the landscaping that Susanna had wanted.
“You’re very accommodating,” Jason said after they’d introduced themselves. “Offering to redo your landscaping to accommodate a wedding.”
“It’s a pretty important wedding,” Daniel told him as they walked outside.
“So you said something about moving a gazebo.” Jason addressed Lucy. “Let’s take a look at where it is now, and where you’d like it to be.”
“This way.” Lucy led him around the side of the inn. “It’s been here for years.”
“I can see that,” Jason replied as he stepped inside the gazebo and took a look around. “You’ve got a few splintered floorboards in here, did you know?”
Daniel and Lucy followed Jason inside and looked at the offending floorboards.
“Boy, that doesn’t look good,” Daniel said. “I guess we could replace them. I should talk to Cam about that.”
“You could paint the floor,” Jason suggested. “It would look fine.”
He walked out of the gazebo and walked around it, taking note of the plantings.
“You’ve got a lot of old, established vines here that probably look pretty lush when they’re all in bloom.” Jason knelt down. “Looks like clematis, morning glory, honeysuckle. I’ll bet this smells wonderful in the mornings.”
“It does. Our guests have commented on that very thing,” Daniel told him. “A lot of people like to come out here and sit with a book and just relax. We have wicker sofas and chairs out here in the warm weather.”
“You’re sure you want to move it?” Jason asked.
Daniel looked at Lucy for a response.
“Susanna really wanted the ceremony in the gazebo overlooking the Bay,” Lucy reminded him.
“Let’s take a walk over there and check it out.”
“This way.” Lucy stuck her hands in the pockets of the light jacket she’d tossed on before leaving the inn. She just wanted this to be an easy decision, but the look on her brother’s face told her it was going to be anything but.
They walked around to the Bay side, and Lucy led Daniel and Jason to the spot where Susanna had envisioned her wedding as taking place.
“I see your point,” Jason said. “This is the perfect spot for a wedding. You have the grove of trees on the one side to give some nice shade during the hottest part of the day, and the view of the Bay could not be
prettier.” He looked from Daniel to Lucy. “It’s your decision, of course.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier and less expensive to just buy a new gazebo, have it delivered and painted right here on the spot?” Lucy asked.
Jason nodded. “Could be close.”
“Then why don’t we do that, Danny? Get Cameron to bring in a new one and place it right there. That way, your guests who like to sit and read can still do so in the old gazebo and they won’t be inconvenienced if you’re having a wedding out here.”
“That’s a much better idea. Yeah. I like it. Let’s do it,” Daniel said. “I’ll run in and give Cam a call, see how quickly he can get us a new one. Then he can replace the floorboards in the other one.” He turned to his sister. “Lucy, I’m leaving this in your hands. You know what you need to have done out here.”
“Right.” Lucy assured him. “We’ll stop by your office when we come in.”
Daniel headed inside and Lucy turned to Jason. “We’re going to need some rosebushes planted around the base of the gazebo. Medium pink, fragrant, preferably one that will climb up the sides of the structure. Is it possible to buy roses now, in April, plant them, and have them mature enough to be climbing and blooming by the end of June?”
Jason whistled. “That’s going to be tough, unless I can find a grower who has bushes to sell that are already very well established. I can make some calls. There is a grower in Pennsylvania that might have what you need, but they’re going to want top dollar.”
“Go ahead and contact them, see if they have them in sufficient quantity, and see what they’d want for them.”
“Are you thinking of a structure about the same size as the one you already have?” Jason asked.
She thought that over. “Maybe slightly bigger.”
“For a structure that size, you’ll need maybe …” Jason appeared to be mentally calculating. “Maybe four good-size bushes on each side, one on either side of the doorway.” He nodded as if to himself. “And you wanted a medium pink climbing rose … maybe Social Climber. Maybe a David Austin …” He turned to Lucy as if remembering that she was there. “I’ll call around and see if I can find something that will suit. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. We want to move on this, though, if we find your rose. You’re going to want the plants to get their roots into the soil and start putting out a good display of flowers.”
“Here’s hoping you can find what we need.” Lucy crossed her fingers. “Now, we’re also going to want some flower beds.”
Jason looked around the expanse of lawn. “Where were you thinking of putting them in?”
“I think along this side”—she gestured—“and maybe over there. The greater part of the lawn will have a tent for this wedding coming up.”
He studied the areas she’d indicated. “Annuals or perennials?”
“Both, if possible. I’d love to see a lot of bloom here, spring to fall.”
“Any particular style?”
She thought about it for a moment. “Maybe something structured for the area closest to the inn, something more casual, sort of cottage-y for the side.”
“How big? What color family do you have in mind?”
She walked off the beds with him. “Maybe mostly
soft. Pinks, lavenders, peaches, creams. We want to use this area for weddings, so we want colors that can blend with just about any color scheme.”
“Got it.” Jason nodded. “I think I know what you want.”
“Great. You’ll work up an estimate for us?”
“I’ll start on it this afternoon, and I’ll get you some sketches as soon as possible.” Jason gazed up at the inn. “It’s a beautiful building. The landscaping you have here—all the shrubs and those ancient trees—it’s all perfect. But you’re right that you need more color.”
“I agree. Shall we go in and talk to Daniel?”
Jason nodded. “Lead the way.”
They were almost to the inn’s door when Jason said, “So you’re Clay’s Lucy. I’ve heard a lot about you. Mostly from Clay.”
Her hand on the door, she paused. “Oh. Of course you’d know Clay. You’re Brooke’s …” What had Brooke said?
“Brooke’s late husband, Eric, was my brother,” Jason told her.
“Right. And you’ve moved to St. Dennis to be near Logan.”
“My nephew. Last of our line.”
“I met him the other night. He’s seems like a terrific kid. I know Clay dotes on him.”
“We all do. And thanks, he
is
a terrific kid. He’s my brother all over again.”
They crossed the lobby and knocked on Daniel’s office door. Lucy outlined the landscaping plans that she and Jason had discussed, then sat back while Jason and her brother went over them. After a few minutes, her mind began to drift.
“Clay’s Lucy,” Jason had called her. She thought about it for a moment, then realized that yes, that’s exactly who she was. She hadn’t set out to be his, or anyone else’s for that matter, but sometimes life throws you a curve.
Clay’s Lucy
. She actually liked the sound of it.
As soon as Jason left, she went back into her own office, her phone already in her hand, her fingers dialing Clay’s number.
“Hi,” he said when he picked up.
“Hi, yourself. Are you busy?” she asked.
“I’m at Logan’s T-ball game and I … Justin, bend your arms just a little, don’t hold them out so straight. That’s better … Sorry, Lucy.”
“No, no. I’m sorry. I interrupted your game. I’ll let you get back to it.”
“Not before you tell me why you called.”
“I was just wondering if, well, if you were free tonight, that maybe …”
“Yes.”
“I haven’t even said what—”
“Doesn’t matter. If it involves me doing something—anything—with you, the answer will always be yes.”
“I was thinking dinner, maybe someplace with music.”
“I’ll pick you up.” He paused. Maybe something a little different tonight. “I’ll come for you around six-thirty. Dress casually.”
“How casually?”
“Very.”
“I’ll see you then.”
Lucy wrote up her notes on her meeting with Jason on her electronic file, checked in with Corrine to assure
herself that all was well on the West Coast, then turned off the laptop and headed directly for the second floor, where she changed into running clothes. She’d missed her morning run, but she’d make up for it now.
She made it as far up Charles Street as Bling, where Vanessa had just stepped outside.
“Isn’t this a gorgeous day?” Vanessa waved to Lucy.
“Glorious,” Lucy agreed. “And don’t you look fabulous. Pregnancy clearly agrees with you.”
“Oh, thanks. I feel terrific now, but I have a way to go yet. We’ll see how fabulous I look by July.” Vanessa rolled her eyes and laughed. “Now, are you into serious exercise, or can you stop and chat for a minute? We’ve been really slow today …”
“I’m serious about my running, but not so serious that I’d pass up an opportunity to stop by and visit for just a few.” Lucy followed Vanessa into the shop. “You’re on my list of people to see. I was going to stop in one day this week.”
“So it’s true. You
are
staying for more than the weekend. Steffie said Wade told her you’d be here for the whole week.”
Lucy nodded. “I’m trying to get everything lined up for this wedding at the end of June, and there’s so much to do and so many people to see.”
“Can’t you get someone local to help you?” Vanessa asked.
“I’m going to talk to the event planner that Daniel hired for the inn, see if she can pitch in. She’s off until Monday since there’s no event this weekend.”
“Wade said that you were going to be around a lot this summer,” Vanessa continued.
“I have events at the inn, July and September, that will keep me around for a while.”
“We’ll have to get together while you’re here.”
“I’d love to.” Lucy opened the bottle of water she’d carried with her on her run and took a drink. “By the way, congratulations on your wedding. You were a gorgeous bride, and your house looked beautiful. I wish I could have been there.”
“I wish you could have been, too.” Vanessa paused, and then frowned. “Where did you see …”
“The pictures? Clay emailed them to me.”
“That was nice of him.” Vanessa looked as if she wanted to say more, but did not.
“It was. I really enjoyed seeing them.” She took another sip before screwing the cap back onto the bottle. “Before I forget, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“What’s that?”
“Our June bride wants to give her wedding guests the royal treatment, including a week’s stay at the inn and a very lavish welcoming gift bag. One of the things she wanted was to offer her women friends tokens that could be used for discounts at various shops here in town, and I was wondering—”
“Is this June bride the one who’s marrying Robert Magellan?” Vanessa’s eyes widened slightly.
Lucy nodded.
“And she wants to draw shoppers into Bling by offering them discounts?”
“Right. I don’t know how you feel about that, so if you’d rather not—”
“Are you kidding? Of course I’d rather. I don’t know who’d pass up an opportunity like that.” Vanessa’s
eyes took in the shop’s inventory in one quick swoop. “I’ll make sure there’s all fresh stock in that week. Lots of cute walking shorts and skirts. Tennis clothes. Oh, and I have some really sweet knit dresses on order that can be very casual or a little dressy, depending on how they’re worn.” She smiled at Lucy. “This could be really fun.”
“Then I’ll put you down as a yes.”
“An absolute yes.”
“Oh, and one other thing. For the gift bags for her guests, my bride wanted to do canvas totes with a map of St. Dennis on them. Any idea where I could get something like that? I could do a search and have them made myself, but if someone local is already doing them, I’d just as soon use the time for something else.”