It was still a little weird to think of his friend being engaged to Austin’s younger cousin, and yet…here they were. The age difference bothered him, and for the life of him, he never thought of Ryder getting serious with anyone–let alone a small-town girl–but he’d fallen head over heels for Peyton. He was happy for them and wished them nothing but the best.
And would remind them never to pick a winter wedding date when the time came.
“So, what can I do for you?” Austin asked.
“That’s what I was calling to ask you. I realize you’re probably up to your neck in craziness with things being canceled, but seriously, what can we do to help?”
Raking a hand through his hair, Austin let out a long breath. “Honestly? There’s nothing you can do. Hell, there’s nothing any of us can do. It’s a shitty situation. Mia cried most of the night and…as much as I hate to admit it, I did too. We were just sitting down to coffee and knew it was time to start dealing with everything. Unfortunately, most people have been calling her, but I’m sure I can convince her to let me return some of the messages and handle things. After all, it wasn’t just her wedding.”
“Yeah, it’s going to be a long day, I’m sure.”
All Austin could do was nod.
“Peyton was explaining to me how this is really a freak storm and how it will probably take at least a week for things to open back up. Is that true or is she just messing with me?”
With a snort of laughter, he said, “I hate to break it to you, but she is 100% correct. Back when I was in school, we got a couple of inches of snow and it took several days for the roads to get cleared. We were out of school for a week.”
“For a few inches of snow?”
“Yup. At the time, it was a very cool thing. Now? Not so much.”
“You’d think they would have learned from that.”
“Why? This is truly a freak storm. No one could have predicted it would be like this, so it’s anyone’s guess as to when things will start to open up and go back to normal. That’s why we know even if the snow stopped right now, it’s not going to change anything. We can’t get across the street, let alone down to Wilmington for the actual wedding.”
“Damn.”
“And don’t even get me started on the honeymoon. That trip was going to be freaking spectacular, and now…” His words trailed off because they both knew what he was going to say.
“It seems crazy that we’re only a few blocks away and can’t get to you,” Ryder told him after a moment. “Luckily, Peyton’s always got the pantry stocked, but she’s worried about the food at the café going bad. But if we get to it, we’ll bring some of it to you because I’m sure you weren’t planning on needing food this coming week.”
Shit. He hadn’t even thought of that.
Can I please get a break??
When he groaned, Ryder cursed. “Sorry. I’m not trying to make you feel worse, I swear. If you need food, we’ll find a way to get it down to you. Maybe we can each trek a couple of blocks and meet in the middle.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I can’t even think about it right now.” Pausing, he took a sip of his coffee. “Actually, I need to get back downstairs and see what Mia needs help with. I’m sure there are dozens of calls to be made.”
“Right. Again, Austin, we’re both so sorry. Let us know what you change the date to and what we can do to help. I’m serious.”
He smiled because while Ryder was a little pushy and rough around the edges, he would literally give you the shirt off his back if you needed it.
“I will. I promise. Tell Peyton we said hello, and we’ll talk to you both soon.”
“Sounds good. Send Mia our love too.”
“Will do.” When he hung up, he took another minute to drink a little more coffee before venturing down the stairs where he could hear Mia talking on the phone.
“Right,” she was saying. “If only something like that were possible, I’d do it in a minute.” She paused. “Well, I knew the insurance was important, but I never thought this would be the reason.” Another pause. “I appreciate the call, Josie, and for everything you’ve done. I don’t think I could have handled it all by myself.”
Walking into the kitchen, Austin refreshed his coffee and leaned against the island as he listened to the rest of Mia’s side of the conversation.
“I’ll look for the emails, and honestly, I think it’s too soon to think about dates yet. We were so hyper-focused on this that I have no idea what the next few months are going to look like.” She nodded as she listened. “That sounds good, and thank you for understanding.” Looking over at him, she gave him a weak smile. “I know, I know. We could use a good miracle right now, but…at least we’ll get to spend Christmas with the family–even if we have to hike in the snow to get to them,” she added with a laugh. “Thanks again, Josie, and please thank Skye and Leanna, too. You’ve all been an absolute delight to work with. We’ll talk soon. Bye.”
With a loud sigh, Mia put her phone down and gently banged her head against the table.
He took that as his cue to go over and distract her.
“Hey,” he said softly. “You okay?”
Slowly, she straightened and shrugged. “I mean, I’m as good as can be expected. Josie’s already handled everything with the hotel, and while we’re not going to get all our money back, we are going to get about ninety percent of it thanks to Josie’s negotiating and the fact that we had insurance and this was an act of God.” Pausing, she took a sip of her coffee. “So the venue has been dealt with. Josie doesn’t believe we’ll get our money back on the flowers, but if any of them can be salvaged once things re-open, I plan on donating them to the local nursing home and hospital.”
He nodded.
“Because we didn’t have anything extravagant planned, it’s all pretty straightforward and not nearly as complicated as I feared. Josie and the girls are handling most of it. Mrs. Henderson left me a message saying the cake is at the shop and refrigerated and obviously no one’s going into work, so…” Another shrug. “She said we can come and get it when she opens up or we can donate that, too.”
“I just hope things open up fast enough that we can donate all this stuff. I hate the thought of it all just going to waste.”
“Yeah, me too.”
They sat in companionable silence for several minutes. “So what’s next?” he asked. “Who do I need to call?”
She sighed. “I’m not sure yet. I still have to call Sydney, Jill, and my mom.” Then she grinned at him. “Any chance you’d like to call my parents?”
“Absolutely,” he replied, and he meant it. With all the stress they were dealing with, the last thing he wanted for Mia was to have to deal with her insensitive parents and one more “I told you so.” “As soon as I finish this cup of coffee, I’m on it.”
“Maybe we should have some breakfast before you do that? No need to talk to them on an empty stomach.”
It seemed like a ridiculous thing to say, but…now that she put it out there, he realized he was a little hungry.