Happily This Christmas (Happily Inc #6) - Susan Mallery Page 0,67
I’ll be your birthing class partner. We’ll have fun like we used to. Remember when we did everything together? This can be like that.”
She looked skeptical. “It’s a bunch of hours.”
“I’m in. Totally and completely in. Just say when and where and I’ll be there.” He held up a hand. “I’ll come home first and pick you up, but then I’ll be in.”
“It’s two evenings this week and next.”
“Done.” He smiled. “So it’s a date?”
“Fine. Don’t be late.”
“I won’t be.” He winked. “Should I bring popcorn for the videos?”
“Dad!”
“So that’s a no?”
“You’re impossible,” she muttered, but she was smiling when she spoke, and that was all he needed.
* * *
WYNN NODDED AS she held her cell phone to her ear. “Uh-huh. I’m putting in five hundred and Garrick wants to put in two thousand. Joylyn says there will be about fifty guests.”
On the other end of the phone, Renee said, “That’s a manageable number. Nick and Pallas have also offered two thousand, and Jasper and I will make up whatever the difference is. We’ll use white linens and add color everywhere else. Obviously the venue is already paid for. I’m talking to the florist right after you and I are done. Silver is holding the spot open, so that’s the bar service. I rebooked the caterer. I’ll let her know the number of guests, and then she’ll send me some menu options. Do we know if Holly has a dress?”
“I have no idea.”
“Okay. I’ll text Joylyn. The cake is going to be an issue. We’re really limited on choices because of the short time frame. The baker the previous bride used will make the cake for us, but says the decorations have to be simple. I’m working on some ideas.”
Renee paused. “Okay, I think that’s all my notes. I’ll let you know when we get our video conference set up. It will be in a day or so. I don’t want to wait any longer than we have to. Time is ticking.”
“I’ll be there.”
“This is fun. I know I plan weddings all the time, but this one is different. I want Holly and Rex to have the wedding of their dreams.” She laughed. “And I look forward to meeting them.”
Wynn smiled. “Talk to you soon.”
“Bye.”
They hung up. Wynn tucked her phone in her drawer, then tried a few deep breaths. She’d asked Hunter to stop by after school, and he was due any second. She still wasn’t sure what she wanted to say to him—obviously she would be expressing her disappointment, but there was a lot more involved in what he’d done.
Right on time her son walked into her office. He was getting taller by the day, she thought. He was still lanky, but he was a good-looking kid. Affable, well-liked, athletic. A few days ago, she would have said she was so lucky that he never did anything really wrong. How she wished that was still true.
“Hey, Mom. What’s up?”
She motioned to the chair opposite hers. He slipped off his backpack and took the seat, then looked at her expectantly.
“Camilla Henderson called me a couple of days ago,” she said.
Hunter’s eyes widened, then he flushed and dropped his gaze to the floor. “Ah, what did she want?”
“You’d left some information off your JROTC application. She wanted me to fill in the blanks.” She put her hands on the desk and laced her fingers together. “You can imagine my surprise to hear what you’d been planning. Joining something like that is a big deal. But that wasn’t the worst of it, was it? Because I quickly realized you hadn’t just applied. You’d faked my signature on the forms.”
He swallowed hard, then looked at her. “You’re mad, huh?”
“Yes, I’m angry and I’m disappointed. In a funny way, I’m also hurt and a little surprised. I never thought you’d do something like this, Hunter. I never thought you were dishonest. Not in that way. You didn’t talk to me, you lied to them and you lied to me by not telling me. The entire purpose of the program is to teach leadership and personal responsibility and this is how you start?”
“Mom, don’t.” He blinked back tears. “I didn’t know what to do. I really wanted to join the program, but I knew you’d say no.”
“How could you know? You never asked. I refuse you very little.”
“You wouldn’t want me learning to shoot and stuff. You’d think it was wrong.”
“I don’t know what I would think because I never got the chance to