A quick scan of the municipal parking lot failed to turn up her somewhat beaten-up blue Ford Fiesta. It appeared that on top of her obstinance, her opinions, and her bucking him at every turn, the woman was apparently not punctual, either. Which was going to make his life absolutely hell for the next six months.

When he got to the fourth and top floor of the municipal building, he found Jack sitting at his desk, in front of bookshelves stuffed with biographies of famous leaders—Churchill, Roosevelt, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. On a table against the wall sat the full-scale model of downtown Blossom Glen that he kept adding to in his spare time, compliments of his architecture degree from MIT.

Jack had left town and come back, bringing with him a fresh perspective that often benefitted their home town. And if he’d done it, maybe Leo could, too.

And there was Tessa, sitting in a chair wearing a lacy dress, bright pink heels on her feet, laughing.

Adjectives to describe her came to mind—but “punctual,” while it could have made the top of the list, didn’t even break the top ten.

Pretty. Great legs. Hot.

Okay, delete that last one.

The last time he’d heard her laugh like that was probably in high school when she’d beaten him out with the high score in AP Calc.

It was…nice, her laughter. And sort of musical. The kind that made you want to join in and laugh, too.

Nerves made him straighten his tie and clear his throat. A sense of relief flowed through him that he’d been spot-on about ditching the khakis.

“Hi Leo,” Jack said, glancing up and gesturing him in. “Have a seat.” As Leo walked to the front of Jack’s desk, his friend was frowning.

Leo ignored the displeased look as best he could. As he dropped into the seat across from Tessa, he noticed she smelled good. Like flowers. What he imagined meadow flowers to smell like, not fancy ones.

And speaking of flowers, she didn’t have a bouquet. On her wedding day. He hadn’t even thought to bring one, and she somehow didn’t seem the type to get one for herself. For some reason, that made him feel sad.

Just business, he reminded himself. Don’t make it personal.

“I’d like to know what’s going on here.” Jack removed his long legs from the top of his desk and sat up in his chair, glancing back and forth between both of them, then riveting his gaze onto Leo. “Tessa doesn’t seem inclined to explain much about why you two want to get married today. How about you?”

“Because we’re busy tomorrow?”

That got a balled-up piece of paper tossed at him.