The One and Only: A Single Mom Second Chance Romance (Heart of Hope) Ajme Williams (books for new readers TXT) 📖

didn’t want a stranger like Sharon knowing that I wasn’t exactly pleased with my mother. I didn’t need gossip rags getting any tales.

I turned to Sharon. “I enjoyed the idea of a menu that wasn’t super heavy but had more food options so that people could get a lot of variety and snacks throughout the reception.”

Laura smiled at me encouragingly. “I think the lemon chicken tasted delicious.”

“I agree.” Between Laura and Sharon, I was able to figure out what I liked, and it wasn’t anything that was popular or was “all the rage” right now. It was food that I liked to eat and gave a good variety to guests and wouldn’t be too crazy to prepare, like sushi or seafood.

Finishing up the meeting, I felt much better than I had when I’d started. Laura was good at guiding me through the different options and making suggestions. I was pretty sure she only made half of those suggestions so that she could give me an opportunity to refuse something, because even in saying “no,” I was narrowing things down and considering what I liked.

It was only polite for me to walk her to her car afterwards, I told myself. It was the gentlemanly thing to do.

“There’s no way my mother is allowed to come to the cake tasting,” I said. “My stomach will explode before she’s made a decision.”

Laura chuckled. I loved being able to make her smile. When we’d been dating, it had felt like the best part of my day, the number one thing I was always trying to do. Make Laura Loomis smile. Naturally, I didn’t want to stop spending time with her now. I didn’t want to let her go.

“I’ve been thinking about your layout question,” I said, checking my phone for the time and to make sure I hadn’t missed any calls or texts. It was only about two in the afternoon. Plenty of time to find an excuse to spend more time with her. “I have to admit, I’ve never paid any attention to how tables and chairs look at a wedding. Are there different shapes? Colors?”

Laura’s eyes lit up and she nodded. I could remember her eyes lighting up like that in chemistry class when we’d been assigned as lab partners. It was how I’d met her. She knew more about the subject than I did, and I’d loved watching her eyes gleam as she launched into an explanation about the properties of magnesium.

“There’s round tables, of course, and most people prefer those,” Laura explained. “But some people want the bride and groom’s table to be different, so it’ll be a small square or rectangular table for just the two of them. Or a long narrow table, with everyone in the wedding party on one side, so that they’re all facing the other guests, kind of like royalty. And of course, your color scheme comes into play here—what color tablecloths you want, place settings, any table decorations like a bouquet of flowers. Some people want colored bows on the chairs—”

I laughed. “My brain isn’t built for visualizing this kind of thing.”

“You did ask,” Laura pointed out.

“And now I see the error of my ways.”

“I do know an event rental showroom.” Laura bit her lip with excitement, as if she had just suggested that we have sex in the backseat of the car, rather than go and check out some boring tables. “I can show you all the furniture—more tables and chairs and tablecloths and runners and chair covers than you’d ever want to see.”

I pretended to think about it. “Now, why does that sound like a threat?”

Laura laughed. “Hey, you signed up for this.”

“That I did. I can drive us, if you want. That way we can talk along the way about…” I shuddered dramatically, “…themes.”

Laura laughed again. “Oh, the horror.” She paused, then glanced at our cars.

“Your car will be fine here,” I pointed out.

Laura looked like she was irritated and about to correct me, but then her face went blank and then, carefully, neutral. “Okay,” she said after a moment’s hesitation.

On the way over, we discussed color themes again. The only “theme” I really knew about was our high school theme, but I was grinning. “Hey, what if we paint our initials in block letters like the old blue and gold ones at Grosse Pointe South.”

Laura snorted. “We can also issue people letterman jackets for the wedding prep rally.”

I laughed. “Hey, don’t tempt me.”

“Your bride didn’t go to the same high school,” Laura pointed out. “I doubt she’d appreciate you making the theme of her wedding a school, place and time that she wasn’t even a part of.”

But what if I was marrying someone who did go to the same high school?

Not that I was serious about having my old high school as a part of my wedding theme. High school had been fun, but it wasn’t my entire life and I wasn’t one of those guys who spent all his time insisting that high school was where he’d had his “glory days” and was trying to relive it all in his late 20s and 30s, or even until middle age.

Still. The idea of having a wedding where I incorporated part of my past because my bride had that same past and we were celebrating our long journey together…the culmination of our relationship…. If only I was marrying Laura instead.

At least you get to spend time together. I was glad I’d found an excuse to drag out our time today. The more time I spent with her the more time I wanted to spend with her. I was wading into dangerous waters, and I knew it, but I also had no intention of turning back.

8

Laura

I’d worked with this event rental company many times, so the owner trusted me and gave me the run of the place. It was nice, just Cade and me, nobody else around. No one to disturb our privacy.

We started in the showroom so that I could