1
It was madness, plain and simple.
She didn’t understand how she had gotten to this place, and she certainly had no idea how to escape. With every step, her heart beat harder–so hard she thought it would soon come right out of her chest.
Slowly, cautiously, she peered around the corner, and then the pounding in her chest stopped. Her scream pierced the silence as dozens of faces stared back at her in abject horror.
Oh, how she hated the element of surprise sometimes…
“Mia? Mia, are you even listening to me?”
With a slight shake of her head, she minimized the document on her screen and put her attention back on the video call she was currently having with her mother.
“Sorry, Mom,” she said without any real sense of remorse. “I’m in the middle of a scene, and you stepped away to answer the door, so I thought I’d get a few sentences written before I lost my train of thought.”
Being an author meant she usually had a story going on in her head at any given time. This particular story was coming at her hard and fast, and if there was one thing she knew about writing, it was that you had to get the words down when they were there.
The weary sigh was her mother’s first response.
Then came the disapproving look
“Mia, we have wedding plans to discuss, and you haven’t responded to any of my inquiries! You know I want to sit down with the wedding planner next week and get things going.” She pursed her lips as she shook her head. “You need to put that book on hold and focus on what’s important.”
With a serene smile, Mia knew it was time to put her foot down and was thankful they weren’t having this discussion in person.
“Okay, first things first–my books are important, Mom. I’m an author; it’s my livelihood, not a hobby. Secondly, we’ve been over this. The wedding isn’t going to be up in Boston. Austin and I are getting married here in Magnolia Sound. We have an appointment with our wedding planners next week.”
“This is nonsense. Utter nonsense! You have to have the wedding up here! This is where you’re from, and your father and I have dozens of friends who we simply have to invite to the wedding! No one’s going to travel down to that tiny town,” she added with more than a hint of disgust. “And where would you even have a wedding there? On the sand? One of those…those…pubs? Or perhaps the sorry excuse for a country club? I mean, honestly, think about what you’re proposing! I insist…”
“No,” Mia firmly interrupted. “You do not get to insist this time. Austin and I are paying for this wedding and it’s our wedding! Now I’m sorry if that disappoints you, but that’s just the way it is. The only people calling the shots–and writing up the guest list–are Austin and me. Feel free to send me some suggestions, but this isn’t going to be some kind of three-ring circus. We want it to be small and intimate and about us.”
It appeared she had left her mother speechless and decided to use that to her advantage.
“Now you’ll have to excuse me. This book won’t write itself and I’m suddenly very inspired! We’ll talk soon! Love you!” And then she turned the video off and sagged down in her seat, groaning.
“Uh-oh…that doesn’t sound good.”
Turning, she saw her fiancé standing in the doorway to her office, looking all kinds of sexy. She stood and walked over to kiss him. “Just another wedding conversation with my mother.”
His arms banded around her as he held her close. “Another one? Didn’t she get the memo that we’re handling everything?”
One of the many things she loved about Austin was how blunt he was. “Apparently, it was lost in the mail.”
He held her for a moment before kissing the top of her head and taking a step back. “You know you can still change your mind. If you want to get married up in Boston, then…we’ll get married up in Boston.”
Frowning, she shook her head. “I don’t want to get married up there. That’s her dream. Ever since we moved here, I envisioned getting married on the beach and being barefoot and…” She sighed happily. “That’s what I want.”
“So…you’re thinking…summer?”
She nodded. “It would be silly to be barefoot in the winter, right?”
A low chuckle was his first response. “And are you thinking this summer–like six or seven months from now–or…the following one?”
“I don’t think I want to wait another year and a half,” she reasoned. “We’re not looking to do anything over-the-top, so planning something for this summer shouldn’t be a problem.”
He looked ready to argue–or at the very least give another opinion. Instead, he simply shrugged and murmured, “If you say so,” before walking out of the room.
Mia stood where she was in mild confusion before walking out after him. In the kitchen, she found him staring into the refrigerator.
“Are you hungry?” he asked without turning around.
“What? Um…no.” Pausing, she let out a soft sigh. “Is something wrong?”
Now he did turn around. “No, why?”
Shrugging, she studied him because she didn’t quite believe him. “I don’t know. It just seems like you had something to say about when the wedding is but you kept it to yourself.”
Closing the refrigerator door, Austin crossed his arms over his chest and matched her gaze.
Silently.
That was never a good sign.
“Okay,” she prompted. “Out with it.”
Nothing.
“Austin Coleman, I am in the middle of a very gripping scene that my mother already interrupted. I’d like to get back to it, but I’ll stand here and wait you out if I have to.” She mimicked his pose. “And then you can deal with my editor when the book is late.”
He let out a small snort. “Please. Jillian adores me and knows that I would never keep you from writing.” Then he stepped in close until they were practically nose-to-nose. “The only one not willing to go write is you.”
Ugh…she hated when he was right.
“Come on!” she demanded, even stomping her foot for emphasis. “What’s wrong with a summer wedding?”
“Fine,” he mumbled, walking over to the breakfast bar and sitting down.
Wow…that was easier than I thought…
Quietly, she sat down beside him. “What’s going on?”
“If you wanted to do the whole Boston wedding thing, I would have gone along with it. It would have taken forever to plan, and I would have hated every minute of it, but I would have done it for you.”
“O-kay…”
He gave her a lopsided grin. “I think we’re on the same page with this–we want something simple and elegant with just our closest family and friends.”
She nodded.
“Then what are we waiting for?” he asked softly, taking one of her hands in his. “I don’t understand why we have to wait.”
Mia was pretty sure her eyes were bugging out. “Why wait? Austin, even a small and simple wedding takes a little time to plan,” she explained as calmly as she could. “And even if we said small, we’re still looking at a hundred people, easily! You have a big family, we have a ton of friends, and…”