Except somehow he was. He’d convinced her to do this, after all.
Tessa turned to the woman, who stood beside a cart stocked with toilet paper, tampons, and paper towels. “Would you mind giving us a minute?”
“Okay, but if you need something, you just give a yell. Okay?”
“Thank you,” she said gratefully.
As soon as the door shut, Leo straightened his coat.
She almost cracked a smile, but he seemed a little agitated. So no mop jokes. For now. She nodded at the water bottle. “Is that for me?”
“Drink up,” he said, handing over the ice-cold bottle.
She did, desperate to stop the acid burn in her throat.
Suddenly she heard a chuckle. She gave him a look that could kill.
“What? What could possibly be funny?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, rubbing his hand over his mouth as if to wipe off the smile. “I can’t believe you actually did something I said.”
She drank again, a long draught, then wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. “Yeah, well, don’t count on that becoming a habit.”
“If it means anything to you, I’m sorry about this.”
She flicked her gaze up to his. He did look sorry. And far too handsome. She’d always had a weakness for men in dark suits.
Whatever criticisms of him she harbored, she had to hand it to him that he’d come after her. In the ladies’ room. And survived an attack by the tampon lady.
“I’m ready,” she said.
He pulled a box out of his pocket. “I have the rings. Okay if I give mine to Jack to hold for the ceremony?”
“Sure. Of course.”
He opened the garish pink restroom door with a flourish. “After you.”
As she passed by him, an errant thought sent a shiver down her spine, and it suddenly occurred to her why she was upset. It was because whatever happened, she was leaving her old life behind. Not just her little apartment, her routine, her way of life, but everything.
She was entering new, uncharted territory—with the bakery, with Leo’s family, with Leo himself—that would alter her life. Not just for six months, but forever.
Chapter Nine
When Leo reentered the office, Jack was bending over his model town with a tiny toy car in his hand. If Jack was actually pretend-driving down the pretend-streets of the pretend-town, that might possibly be cause to reassess their lifelong friendship. But not until he married them first.
“Shall we get started?” Leo took hold of Tessa’s hand. He felt an urgency to get this over with before something else happened to stop them.
“Okay. Here we go again,” Jack said, grabbing his phone again as they reassembled in front of his desk. “Tessa and Leo, we gather today to—”
A knock on the door had them all turning. Actually, it was more like ferocious pounding before two women burst into the room.
One of the women, a redhead, stormed up immediately to Jack and tapped him on the chest. “What kind of mayor are you?” she demanded. “How dare you marry my sister without a witness?”
“Hello, Juliet,” Jack said with strained patience. “We’re in Indiana. None needed.”
She tossed him a scowl. Then, turning to Tessa, she said, “I’m sorry I’m late. I—I have your bouquet.” She held out a small round bouquet of tiny white flowers, tied with a bright pink ribbon.
The other woman, who was blond, ran over to Tessa. “I’m here!” she said, throwing her arms around her. “You look beautiful.” Her eyes overflowed with tears.
Leo realized with a bit of a shock that that had to be Tessa’s youngest sister, Vivienne. His last memory of her was of a big-eyed little girl eating a chocolate cone with ice cream dripping down her chin.
Yeah. It had been a while.
The door opened again. Lilac Krause, who Leo knew was the town’s children’s librarian, stood there in leggings and a smock-like shirt covered with sewn-on silk flowers. “I’m not late, am I? I just ran over from toddler story time.”
Leo turned to Tessa. “You called her, too?”
Tessa shrugged and gave Lilac a little wave. “She’s my best friend.”
“We’d better get this going before the whole town shows up,” Leo said under his breath.
Tessa was crying and hugging people. “Viv! You came from Paris?”
Vivienne gripped Tessa’s arms tightly. “I-I was on the way back anyway, can you believe it?”
“You were on the way back?” Tessa said incredulously. “But why—when?”
“Everything’s fine. I just…missed everyone. It’s a little strange, but Tessa, I was thinking that maybe Dad had something to do with this, you know? Maybe he didn’t want me to miss your wedding.”
That made Tessa tear up. Actually, it created a chain reaction of tears as everyone cried together. “Oh, Viv,” Tessa said, hugging her sister tight.
“The karma of the universe,” Lilac said solemnly. “There are no accidents.” Which created another avalanche of tears.
“Juliet filled me in on everything,” Vivienne finally said. “Tessa, don’t marry him!”
“We know what you’re doing,” Juliet said with all the conviction of telling a patient on the ledge not to jump. “Don’t do it.”
Aw, no. This was just what he’d hoped to avoid. Three sobbing sisters.
“And you,” Juliet said, whirling on Leo next. “My sister would never marry you willingly! You used to laugh at her in high school. You tormented her about those ridiculous GPAs. How dare you bully her into this?” She turned back to Tessa. “Did he threaten Mom in some way? Because I don’t know what else could possibly make you do this.”
Leo raked his hand through his hair, took a few deep breaths, and faced Tessa.
“You’re right,” Tessa said to Juliet.
Okay, this was it. He might as well pull up a seat and join Jack in playing with the Hot Wheels because it was over. Decimated by sisterhood.
“You’re right that this looks…suspicious.” Tessa spoke very calmly, like the eldest sibling that she was. “And you’re right that this is about the bakery. We are going to save it.” Her voice wavered a little at the word save. “And the restaurant. As a team. But you’ve got it wrong.” She turned to Leo, looking him square in the eyes. “I—I’m in love with Leo. And he loves me, too.”