Something Blue, page 16
Shelby’s eyes widened as she smiled. “Oh, really?”
“Yes, really. But I don’t know if Garrett knows we’re hanging out a bit so—”
“Oh, he knows. You and I are going to need to talk later because evidently a lot has happened this week.”
Her relationship with Sawyer had grown much deeper since she’d helped him with Amber’s birth over a week ago.
The old Beth would be in a panic about moving so fast, but all she felt right now was happiness.
“How is Cece doing? I texted her the other day but only got a one-line reply about how she was fine.”
“Much better. The physical therapist said the boot may be able to come off earlier than expected, but I don’t know if it will be before the wedding.”
“She’ll make it work for her, I’m sure. She’s such a trooper.”
Garrett soon joined them, while Aurora and Cece took seats on the other side of the table.
“We’re here in case you need a fourth and fifth opinion.” Aurora grinned.
“We’ll take all the votes we can get,” Garrett said.
“This is a new bakery to us,” Beth added, “so I went with the cakes you mentioned, plus three of their most popular options. You can do all one flavor, or what’s popular now is to have a different flavor on every layer. We have traditional, lemon, strawberry, chocolate, and the ones you mentioned: white with raspberry crème filling and tiramisu.”
“Ooh, tiramisu.” Aurora leaned forward.
“Okay, everyone has their own fork so let’s pass these around, starting with traditional.” Beth handed the cake to Shelby first, then Garrett tried, around to Aurora and Cece, and she tried each sample last.
Traditional tasted like, well, it tasted like wedding cake. Delicious wedding cake, but nothing earth shaking. Next up was the lemon, and it was already steps above the usual. Everyone mmmed and yummed over the cakes, and when the strawberry finally got around to Beth, Garrett turned to her.
“Sawyer tells me the two of y’all are dating now.”
Beth choked on her strawberry cake.
“Whoa, you okay?” Garrett patted her on the back.
In her mind, yes, the two of them were dating. There was really nothing else you could call it. She just hadn’t heard anyone say it out loud yet.
Hearing it from Garrett like that, such a statement of fact, caught her off guard.
And Sawyer was talking to his brother about her?
Garrett handed her a glass of water.
“Thank you.”
“I didn’t mean to blurt it out like that and make you choke. I’m just happy to hear he’s dating and especially dating you.”
Warmth crept up her face. Everyone at the table was looking at her.
“Thank you?” she tried.
Aurora rolled her eyes and passed the chocolate cake to Cece.
“I think it’s great too.” Shelby smiled, pulling the white with raspberry crème closer. “We should all hang out sometime. Before the wedding.”
Shelby had to be relieved that Sawyer had called off the figurative dogs when it came to his anti-wedding stance. Since their dinner at his house, and Cece’s fall, he’d made a big turnaround. Beth had finally gotten through to him, and he’d spent a little time around Shelby now.
He’d gotten to see for himself what a sweet soul she was.
“Yeah, we could all meet for lunch and check out that new bike rental place in town. You can rent them by the hour, ride on the trail by the river, and then drop them back off. It’d be great.”
Dinners and horseback riding with Sawyer, lunches and biking with him and friends. All these personal plans, all this fun. Who even was she anymore?
Beth hadn’t gone anywhere or done much of anything outside of Orchard Inn in years. This place and the wedding business was her life, but with Shelby’s wedding almost in the books, maybe it was time for her life to get a little bigger.
She could do both, right? Work–life balance and all that stuff people talked about. She’d never had any kind of balance before, but then again, she’d never wanted it. When her mom wanted out of the day-to-day of the struggling business, Beth had gladly taken the reins. She’d been satisfied with burying herself in Orchard Inn.
Maybe now was the time to dig out a little and see what else the world had to offer.
“Dinner and bikes sound wonderful. Maybe next weekend?”
Garrett smiled. “Sawyer and I will arrange it all. You and Shelby have done all this; the very least we can do is plan a great date night.”
“Speaking of…” Shelby passed the final cake sample around. “These are all delicious, but…”
“None of them are quite right,” Aurora blurted. “Sorry. I know it’s not my wedding, but—”
“No, you’re right.” Shelby shook her head. “They’re wonderful cakes, but not what I had in mind. They aren’t…us. I don’t know why, though.”
“Because you want something uniquely yours.” Aurora pulled the raspberry crème sample back over to her. “Something that says Hill Country, and Shelby and Garrett, and late spring wedding. This raspberry one is close, but it’s no winner, winner chicken dinner.”
Beth studied her sister as she tasted the raspberry again, then the traditional, then the strawberry.
Aurora had the best nose and palate of anyone she knew, and she could come up with flavor profiles that Beth would never dream of. She also knew how to bake, but, most importantly, she knew Shelby. She knew what this wedding meant.
“You should make the wedding cake,” Beth said.
Aurora’s jaw dropped. “What?”
“Yes!” Shelby exclaimed.
“But I’m not a pastry chef or cake expert.”
“Your tres leches cake at the shower was the best dessert I’ve ever had.”
“Yeah, but that was one little dessert. Wedding cakes are a whole other thing. The weight and structure. They have to look a certain way and hold up.”
“I don’t care about the structure if it’s your cake.” Shelby turned to Garrett, who shrugged.
“I’m good with whatever you want, baby. As long as it tastes good.”
“You say that now, but you’re going to want a wedding cake that looks like a wedding cake. It’s going to be in pictures. It’s a huge focal point of the reception and, most importantly, I’ve never done one.”
“I’m sure you could figure out the structure part,” Cece spoke up. “You know so many people in the industry who could coach you and be a source of info.”
“But this is a totally different thing. I don’t—” She stopped midsentence. “Although…”
“See?” Cece pointed at her. “You already have an idea. I can tell.”
“I don’t know that you want to be my wedding-cake guinea pig, though. What if it’s a disaster?” Aurora’s eyes were wide, shining with fear and insecurity, but there was a desire to try, to rise up to a challenge, etched in the line of her brow.
Reassure her, Beth urged Shelby silently. Aurora needed to conquer this, and it didn’t need to be the big sister doing the encouraging this time.
Beth knew she’d found her baker, but Aurora had to step up to the challenge on her own, not be forced.
“Nothing you make would ever be a disaster,” Shelby said. “Please make our wedding cake. I would love to be your guinea pig.”
Aurora shook her head, but she was smiling and laughing. “I hope you don’t live to regret this.”
“So, is that a yes? Say yes to the stress!” Shelby clapped. “Of making your first wedding cake.”
“Fine! Yes! But my sisters cannot be mad at me when I’m a wreck leading up to the wedding.”
“We won’t,” they both promised.
This new development delighted Shelby and Garrett no end, and they left the inn with huge smiles.
“Thank you so much for taking this on.” Beth gave Aurora a one-armed hug.
“And anything you need from us, all you have to do is ask. We may just end up with a new line of business!” Cece grinned.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. We’ll see how this goes first, and yeah, you better believe I’m going to need help.”
Beth checked the time on her phone and excused herself to get ready. She had plenty of time but wanted to look her best for dinner.
Moments later, her sisters were in her room, Aurora on her bed, Cece sitting in her chair, both offering their opinions on any and all things.
“Look at you, picking out a cute outfit on the first try.” Aurora picked a piece of lint off her top.
“Your flattery is too much.”
“Where are y’all going?” Cece asked.
“Sunset Street Bistro.”
“That place is so nice.”
“And romantic.”
Aurora flopped back on Beth’s bed, messing up her throw pillows. “So, are you two getting super serious or what?”
“I don’t know.”
Cece scoffed. “You like him and it’s obvious he likes you.”
“Oh my gosh, are we going to have a Silva in the family?” Aurora sat up suddenly, grabbing a pillow to hold in her lap. “You’ll be like Fredericksburg royalty.”
“Stop it.”
“Aurora does have a point. You’ll be the talk of the town, for sure.”
Beth did not want to be the talk of the town, unless it was in relation to her stellar wedding business and how fabulous Orchard Inn was.
She hadn’t thought too much about that aspect of dating Sawyer. Gossip was a part of life in a town like theirs, and the two of them dating would definitely be juicy news for a while. Eventually it would all die down, though, and, all things considered, it didn’t really matter.
She was happy, so let them talk.
The only thing that’d kept him sane today was the promise of an evening with Beth.
An order of feed had been lost somewhere, clear on the other side of Texas, one of his trainers had called in sick for the week, and the new neighbors started putting up fencing without so much as a mention of it to anyone at Silva Ranch.
Uncle Joe had hit the roof about all three issues, but particularly the fence. Sawyer had to talk him off the ledge of that one, all while dealing with his own concerns about the week.
But a dinner and time with Beth waited on the horizon. They could sit back, de-stress, talk about their day. Have a laugh. Take a walk. Make out in the moonlight.
He loved work, but he’d come to love his time with her too.
Since when had he ever thought about the joys of making out with someone under the moonlight? Good lord, he was turning into a sap, and he didn’t even care.
He pulled up at Beth’s and she was already halfway down the front steps.
She hopped into the truck. “If you don’t want to spend an hour being interviewed, we better go.”
“Is a news crew here or something?” He purposefully made a show of looking around, already knowing who Beth meant.
“No, but my sisters are.”
“I take it they know we’ve been seeing more of each other.”
“Yes. I got shaken down for details while trying to get ready. Spanish Inquisitors would have nothing on my sisters.”
“And what did you tell them?”
She quirked her lips. “That it’s nothing special and we’re just hooking up.”
Sawyer’s laughter popped out as he drove through the orchard, away from the inn.
“Actually, I told them to butt out. Which never works.”
“I bet. That’s only going to feed their need for more intel.” He stopped at the end of the driveway before pulling onto the road. He turned and waited for her gaze to meet his. “Just for the record, though, it’s not nothing.”
Her soft smile made his heart kick. “Not for me either. It’s definitely something.”
He couldn’t shake his Cheshire Cat grin for the next five miles.
They arrived at the bistro a few minutes later, for a 6:00 p.m. seating. The evening weather was cool enough to sit outside on the restaurant’s patio. Sawyer had purposely gotten one of their earlier reservations in order to have a longer date.
Beth picked the wine and they sat beneath a canopy of trees and lights, sipping a Pinot Gris and snacking on a plate of meats, cheeses, and a bread service.
Somewhere inside the restaurant, a guitarist played music, and it floated outside, adding to the magic of the twinkle lights strung high and greenery decorating the outdoor space.
“This is so nice.”
The place was romantic was what it was.
He knew it when he’d made the decision to bring her here, when he’d made the reservation, and when he’d put on dress pants.
Not jeans. Not sweats. Dress. Pants.
No denying it, he only ever wore real pants to special occasions and tonight, to impress Beth. This was a special occasion too.
Because he was falling for her.
Even with all his big ideas about getting the inside track on the wedding, closer to her, inching in so he could keep an eye on Shelby and even disrupt the event altogether, all he’d really done was get closer to Beth.
The wedding was still moving forward, he hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Clay Reynolds in over a week, Shelby and Garrett were supposedly happier than ever, and Sawyer had done nothing to stop the progress since he’d hired the PI.
He was loath ever to admit he was wrong, but it’d happened before. In life. He might have to come to terms with misjudging things completely.
Regardless, time was running out. And if he was wrong, he found…he’d be glad of it. He’d happily be wrong.
Which was a first, but true nonetheless.
The waiter appeared and they both ordered pasta dishes with seafood.
Once he left the table, Beth leaned forward, her green eyes sparkling as she looked at Sawyer. “How was your day today?”
He chuckled. “My day? It was interesting, for sure. Uncle Joe was on a holy tear about the neighbors.”
“Uh-oh, what happened?”
“They had the nerve to start putting up a new fence, down the property line in the back. Now mind, there’s always been a fence on the property line. For decades we’ve had a fence, but it’s our fence. A Silva fence. Nothing big, just standard for a ranch.”
“Then what’s the issue?”
“The new folks have put up a taller fence, with wiring. And it’s not a Silva fence.”
“So that’s bad?”
“To an old-timer like my uncle? It’s the worst. Neighbors talk before they go throwing up fences. Now I have to hear about it for who even knows how long, go over there to the neighbors and see if there’s some kind of situation, and basically suss out what’s going on and handle it.”
“Have you met them before?”
“Briefly. Only because we went over and introduced ourselves, took them some food, naturally. Haven’t heard from them since.”
“That’s odd.”
In Texas, you made nice with your neighbors. You went out to meet new neighbors, you took food, maybe a houseplant, you always sent a thank-you note when someone gifted you, and if you were standoffish, folks got suspicious.
“Real odd. They’re a younger family. New, new money, from what I could tell. They seem nice enough, but now that they threw up that fence, they might as well be a bunch of cannibals as far as Joe is concerned. He won’t rest until I find out what’s going on.”
Their food arrived and Beth tsked before starting on her pasta. “I bet your uncle was a hoot to grow up with.”
Sawyer laughed as he ate, thinking about one particular incident with Garrett. “You have no idea. One time, when Garrett was in high school, he lied to Joe and said he was staying over at a friend’s house. One of the guys from the football team. Well, lo and behold, Joe gets a call in the middle of the night, and Garrett had been in a car accident out on the highway, headed to Carson.”
Beth covered her mouth.
“He was fine, and the girl he was with, at two in the morning, was fine too.”
Her eyes went wide.
“Exactly.” Sawyer took a sip of his wine to wet his whistle. “Turns out, little Garrett had told a bald-faced lie, went to his girl’s house—with her parents out of town—and they were out, driving around, leaving some bonfire or something and whoo-boy!” Sawyer slapped his thigh, thinking back.
“I hadn’t ever seen Joe that mad. He was beet red and vibrating with anger. He was so mad I had to drive out to the site of the accident. He was too mad to even get behind the wheel. Both of them were fine. The girl’s parents had to come back into town to get their daughter and we hauled Garrett home, but Joe made him ride in the back of my truck, all the way back to Fredericksburg.”
Beth shook her head and they continued to eat.
“Y’know…” Sawyer thought about it. “To this day, I don’t know exactly what all happened. All I know is Joe and Garrett stayed outside for a while, and he wasn’t allowed to go anywhere the rest of the school year. He stayed home and worked on the ranch and went to school, and that was it.”
“Wow.”
“Later on, he told me he hadn’t been drinking, but he’d taken his eyes off the road and that’s all it took. He also said he’d never been in that much trouble, but he’s never gone into details. I asked Uncle Joe about it later, but he never told me anything. He said it was Garrett’s problem and his business, and he was making it square.” Sawyer shrugged. “And that was that. But I’ll never forget Joe’s face that night. I thought he’d pop a vein.”
They kept eating and near the end of the meal, Beth laughed, almost to herself. “Poor Uncle Joe. Y’all probably put him through the wringer growing up.”
“Poor Joe? Poor us! He lowered the hammer on us regularly.”
Sawyer reached for her hand. “Seriously, though. We put Joe through a lot. He was a bachelor and then a single dad.”
He’d given up dating and going out all the time, because they needed him. He’d put his wants and needs second and put them first.
Sawyer had often wondered, if it weren’t for raising them, would Joe have met someone? Maybe even gotten married?
