Sunset on Moonlight Beach - Sheila Roberts Page 0,118
party favors are going to be net bags filled with saltwater taffy,” Courtney continued.
“Gee, I wonder who’s providing that,” Tyrella said, and winked at Cindy.
“Sorry, Jenna and Patricia, but we won’t be staying in Moonlight Harbor for the honeymoon, so I can’t give you any business.”
“Have you decided where you want to go for your honeymoon?” Patricia asked.
“We’re still kicking around ideas,” Courtney said. “But I think it’s going to involve a cabin somewhere in Canada. We’re looking at Banff. They’ve got hot springs, and biking and hiking.”
“Since when do you like to hike?” Cindy wanted to know.
“Since I met Jonas. I don’t care where we go, really. It’s all about being together. So, this year Banff, next year a resort on Grand Cayman.”
“Something for everyone,” Patricia murmured. “It’s lovely to have wedding bells ringing in Moonlight Harbor. So much happiness. You have to be thrilled about your mother and Ellis,” she said to Jenna.
“I am. He’s perfect for her.”
Her mother’s happy ending was sewed up, and life was good with Celeste. At least that was two out of three of the Jones women. Three out of four, if you counted Sabrina.
Although who knew if things would last with Scotty? They were both so young. “Don’t be in a hurry,” Jenna kept telling her daughter. “You want to get it right the first time.” Unlike your mother.
She hadn’t gotten it right the first or the second time. The third time was supposed to be the charm, but with her luck, she wasn’t buying that.
She could be glad for her mother, though. Mel and Ellis got married on the first Saturday in May. Between his family and friends and hers—both the ones she’d made in Moonlight Harbor and the ones who had come down from Lynwood—the church was packed. Ellis wore a white tuxedo and Mel had looked beautiful in a blush-colored tulle-draped calf-length dress Courtney designed and made for her. She’d accented it with her mother’s pearls and a pearl bracelet Jenna and Celeste had bought her. Jenna, Celeste and Sabrina served as her bridesmaids, and all four women had their hair done by Moira at Waves—her wedding gift to the bride.
Ellis had insisted on hiring Annie to cater the event, and the tables in the church addition that had been built for such events were filled with guests enjoying salmon, Caesar salad, and one of Annie’s pasta salads. Sunbaked, everyone’s favorite bakery, had provided a four-tiered cake frosted with fondant in turquoise and white and decorated with sugar clam shells and starfish.
Mel was beaming as she and Ellis drove away in his classic car, heading for Sea-Tac airport, where they’d catch a plane for Paris. Another well-deserved reward for a life of kindness and sacrifice, Jenna thought, watching them drive off.
Tyrella, who was standing next to her, pointed to the bouquet Jenna had tried not to catch. “Girl, it looks like you’re next.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” Jenna said.
That whole bouquet thing had been embarrassing. Celeste had shoved her into the group of giggling single women. She’d edged away, but her mother had proved she really did have eyes in the back of her head by throwing it right at her. It would have been rude not to catch it, but both Mom and Celeste would hear about that when Mom returned from her honeymoon.
“Now it’s your turn,” Celeste told her.
There was no one left to take a turn with. Seth was his usual elusive self, and she was still struggling with her feelings about Brody.
Forgiveness, she was learning, wasn’t an easy thing. She still had days when she wished she could toss him in the ocean and use him for crab bait. Those days alternated with ones when she made an effort to pry her fingers off the grudge she was carrying, tried to put herself in his shoes. For reasons known only to herself, Aunt Edie had left the Driftwood Inn to him and he was merely honoring her final wishes.
Still, it felt wrong of him to keep the place. He should have offered to deed it over to her once it came to him. If he really loved her he would have. The fact that he was paying her so well to manage the place felt more like a sop to his conscience than a generous offer, and it frustrated and angered her that he put her off every time she tried to pin him down about buying the inn.