They’d finally agreed to let me help pay for some repairs and sprucing up, allowing that, since this was my reception, it would be similar to a rental fee if we’d had it anywhere else. Semantics. I didn’t care what they called it. I was happy to have their home painted, stairs fixed, and outbuildings rebuilt, and if using this party as an excuse made it acceptable in their minds, so much the better.

I stood momentarily by myself, taking in the scene, after Kemp had convinced Anna to dance to an eighties song with him, leaving me a rare moment to breathe.

“This was the right choice,” Holden said as he came up behind me and wound his arms around my waist. “It looks fantastic.”

“I agree. Anna, Hayden, and the rest of them outdid themselves with the planning.”

There were white twinkle lights everywhere and lanterns on tables and hanging from trees. The food stations and bar were made of wine barrels on end. There were remnants of an old chimney in the yard that had been there since long before my time, from a previous house, and the girls had put a balloon display in front of it to make it into a backdrop of glitz and brick.

Magnolia, of all people, had asked if she could help with the planning and had come up with the concept for the whole design. I couldn’t deny she had some serious party-planning skills. Maybe she could use those somehow. It turned out her dad had, indeed, followed through on his threat and cut her off and kicked her to the curb, almost literally.

Instead of being sad, she’d taken the mad route, and that, in my opinion, had helped drive her to take some major steps in her life. She had her first job ever, working at the paper and stationery store. The owner, Dotty Jaworski, was nearing seventy and had some health issues, so she was glad to have the help. She’d also let Magnolia move into the vacant apartment on the second floor for cheap while Magnolia found her way. She and I weren’t close friends by any means, but we’d come to a sort of peace after the bonfire night. I had a lot more tolerance for her now that I had an idea of what her life was like.

Cash and his staff had catered all the food except dessert, which had been supplied by Sugar, the bakery on Main Street. Though I hadn’t had a lot of time to eat, everything I’d tried was fantastic, and multiple guests had raved about it, particularly the mini masala sausage rolls and the chicken teriyaki skewers. And of course, the specialty donuts were to die for. They’d even made a Twizzler-topped donut just for me—most likely requested by Holden if I had to guess.

See? He was perfect for me.