Autumn nods. “She is. They’re an amazing couple, so down to earth. And she’s in love with your work.”

“Pinch me, Zane. Pinch me.” Vienna turns to her husband, and my best friend kisses her instead.

Autumn and Vienna continue to throw ideas at each other, making some random notes on paper and saving images on the iPad. Meanwhile, our food arrives and Zane and I have to intermittently remind the girls to eat. It’s almost surreal to see Autumn fit so well into my life. It’s as if she were here with me all this time.

Zane follows me out of the restaurant while the girls are still talking, and I light a cigarette.

“How is-s it going?” he asks.

“Okay,” I reply after taking a puff.

“You guys look better than okay.” He cocks his head toward the restaurant main door.

I nod. “As silly as the promise is that brought us together, Autumn is…different than what I thought she would be.”

“What did you think she was like?”

“I don’t know.” I grab my neck. “Not exactly in pigtails, but definitely not someone so driven and motivated. She almost doesn’t fit the view I had of her in my head.”

“Does this mean you guys—”

“No. Nothing has changed between us.” I drop the cigarette and crush it under my boot. “Autumn’s age hasn’t changed. How she entered my life hasn’t changed.”

The biggest reason of all is something I don’t share with Zane.

25. Autumn

25

AUTUMN

“Do you think we went a bit overboard?” Chiara asks as we look around the dining hall that looks like our local florist is having some mega sale.

Every table is lined with a red-and-white tablecloths, and there are pink flower bouquets at every corner of the room.

“We certainly did. But who cares? This is Cherrywood. We love to celebrate festivals.”

“That’s true. Let’s invite Mayor Cole and her husband for a complimentary Valentine’s Day lunch. We won’t have to do any more advertising for tomorrow’s special lunch menu.”

“God, no. She has already called Mom twice because she’s heard through the grapevine about a special wedding at the inn.”

“Crap! Does she know about”—Chiara lowers her voice—“Maddy?”

I shake my head. “No. Most likely, she heard we aren’t taking any new bookings for the long weekend next month and assumed.”

“Or wished badly,” Chiara adds, making me chuckle. “She’s wanted a celebrity wedding in Cherrywood for so long.”

Before I can tell Chiara I probably share our mayor’s excitement, Lukas barges into the hall.

“They were giving away flowers for free, or what?” He looks around and raises an eyebrow at me.

“We love celebrating.” I try to act cool, though inside I’m all warm and fuzzy, like I always seem to get around Lukas these days.