“How did you feed all of the strays?” Mitch asked.
“I fed them out of a bag of cat food in our pantry that I bought with my allowance.” She frowned as she thought about that.
Mitch lifted a finger and smoothed it over the space between her eyebrows. “What?”
“I just realized that I never had to buy more food after I bought that first bag.”
He smiled slowly. “Huh. A bottomless bag of cat food. Wonder how that happened?”
Her mom, and maybe her dad, had kept refilling that bag of cat food. Paige felt her heart thump hard as the realization hit her. She’d been too young to really think about it. She’d just kept using that same bag. Her attention had been on sneaking the food out of the house rather than on why the bag never ran out. But it was clear that’s what had been going on. Her parents had known what she was doing and helped her, silently anyway.
“Wow,” she said softly.
“Not every family is as expressive and loud and blunt as mine, but that doesn’t mean they’re not encouraging,” Mitch said.
She nodded. “I’m learning that.”
“I’m glad.”
She leaned in and pressed her lips to his, kissing him softly and sweetly. It wasn’t hot and dirty and deep. But it still warmed her from head to toe, and the way his hand tightened on her leg again told her that he liked it. It wasn’t about sex. It was about affection and connection.
When she pulled back, she studied his face.
She didn’t want him to ask her to marry him. But she wanted him to ask her to stay. For good. To be a part of this. To make some history.
That wasn’t fair, of course. This family was about marriage and commitment, and roots. He had the right to want more. They had the right to want her to stand up in front of them all and to pledge to love him and be there for him forever.
It was selfish of her to want to be here for all the good parts but to not be willing to make a forever, for better or worse commitment.
“When I was a little older and had learned to sew, I made my own stuffed cats,” she said. For some reason. “I had… a lot.”
One corner of his mouth curled up. “Where did you get the supplies?”
“My grandmas and aunts and mom all sewed and had baskets full of scraps.”
“And they let you have whatever you wanted.”
She nodded.
“Tell me more.”
So, she did.
They shared stories over etouffee that Cora had made for Paige with tofu instead of seafood.
Mitch even ate it with her. He even said it wasn’t bad.
He was lying, of course.
And it made her fall a little further into not-quite-yet-but-if-I’m-not-careful-it-could-be love with him.
16
“This is such a movie cliché,” Paige said from the top of the stairs.
“Come on, let’s go. I want to see you all dressed up and looking sexy as fuck.”
Mitch was in the living room, waiting for her to come down so they could head over for the weddings.
Paige took a breath. It was finally the wedding day.
In retrospect, she was glad Tori had been willing to move the wedding date. It had given them all time to really put together an amazing plan that included a week’s worth of activities for guests who came in early. Like Chase, who was able to spend five days in Autre for all the fun.
It was now April, and they were still ahead of the bigger tourism dates, but the weather was warmer for the outdoor activities, including the ceremonies and the reception overflow from inside Ellie’s.
Paige had been getting compliments for her part of the planning all week, and she had to admit she was feeling very proud of the way it had all come together.
And now it was time for it to all culminate in the big, happy day for this family and the three women who had become good friends in the time she’d been here.
Even more than she had at the start of all of this, she understood how important it was to have a big celebration like this. She was so excited to be a part of Tori, Maddie, and Juliet’s day. To watch them pledge their love and get that pledge in return from Josh, Owen, and Sawyer. Now that she knew the guys better, too, it made it all the more special.
She had, of course, felt that for her sisters and their husbands. But this was different. She supposed because she was choosing to be here. Or because not every other person attending was looking at her and wondering when she was going to get her life together and settle down.
Or at least, she wasn’t assuming that’s what they were thinking. It was possible, she could admit now, a month and a half after leaving Appleby, that maybe not everyone in town had wondered what was wrong with her and when she was going to get married. She might have been projecting a little. Or a lot.
Paige pressed a hand to her stomach and took a breath. She also felt invested in these weddings because she’d worked hard to make it all special and unique for these couples.
She’d done a final check on everything that morning.
The tents were set up over the docks where Tori and Josh and Juliet and Sawyer would say their vows. The netting under Juliet and Sawyer’s dock was in place. It was there to make Juliet feel better about standing out there over the water rather than to actually catch any guests, but according to all the stories, there really was a chance that Bailey and Chase could end up tipping over the edge.
The lights and flowers on the pontoon boat for Maddie and Owen looked amazing, and Ellie’s place was decorated and ready for the reception. Though it still looked like a bar that had been decorated to look like a make-shift wedding venue.
Still, it was home for all of these people, and that’s what mattered. Paige actually hadn’t wanted to make it look too different. Ellie’s had been the site of birthday parties, holiday gatherings, and other celebrations, as well as just regular weeknight dinners, for this family for years. The guys had grown up there. It was right that this celebration be there, and Paige felt a deep contentment whenever she thought about how they’d brought this all together.
“Okay, I’m coming down,” she finally called to Mitch.
“I’m ready.”
She rolled her eyes. She was about to descend the staircase in her dress for the wedding. Mitch would be standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for her. They’d see each other for the first time all dressed up, and they’d have that moment where they were struck by how great the other looked and realize their crazy strong attraction. Like in every romantic movie she’d ever seen. So cliché.
Yet, she still felt her stomach flip as she stepped onto the third step where he’d be able to see her.
She took another deep breath.
But he didn’t say anything.
She looked at him.
And oh, wow. Okay, that movie moment was real.
He was staring at her as if she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Added to that, he looked damn good.
She loved Mitch in his jeans and t-shirts and flannels. But the button-down shirt with the tie was a new look, and she definitely approved.
The weddings were, of course, casual. No one here dressed up in a lot of lace or tuxedos. The I dos were being said on boat docks or on a boat, so everyone had agreed that the weddings’ dresses would be simple and the girls would wear flat shoes while the guys were fine in jeans. It was too warm for jackets, but the men had decided on button-down shirts and ties to dress things up a little.