Page 17 of Holiday Hitch

Jamie shook her head, “We decided not to do gifts this year because of the wedding, but I know that sneaky bitch is going to get me something anyway.”

Clarissa smiled, certain that Jamie was right. Over the past year or so, Clarissa had grown really close to her future daughter-in-law and appreciated how much Dani adored Jamie. More than that, though, having Dani around had made her house feel fuller and gave her someone new to hang out with, which were always good things in her book.

But right now, Clarissa was more interested in investigating the tension emanating off of her daughter than she was in speculating about Dani’s Christmas present.

“How are you feeling about the wedding?” she asked as they browsed the racks.

Jamie’s forehead wrinkled at the question, unsure exactly what her mother meant. As far as she knew, her mom loved Dani and was thrilled to have a daughter-in-law.

Clarissa was quick to explain, “I just know you had originally thought you would take your time planning it, and I just wanna see how you’re feeling now that it’s so soon.”

She was right that a summer wedding had originally been the plan, but Dani was eager to get married as soon as possible, and Jamie had no real reason to wait. She had known she wanted to marry Dani from the second they first kissed.

“I’m excited, but mostly I’m worried that Dani is taking on too much,” Jamie admitted. “I’ll marry her any time, any place. But I don’t understand why all the stress is worth it to get married a few months earlier.”

Clarissa considered the question before answering, unsure how honest she should be.

But Jamie could always sense when her mother was holding back an opinion, and she couldn’t help wanting to know what it was. “Well, go ahead.”

Clarissa gritted her teeth but finally said, “Well, where are you going to be after Christmas?”

Jamie considered it for a moment. The new album was due just after the holiday, which meant soon after Jamie would be heading back out on another tour.

She shook her head. It was hard to believe that Dani would be worried about her going on tour. They’d been totally fine doing long distance during the last one.

“Why would she be worried about tour?” Jamie asked.

Clarissa couldn’t help but giggle at her daughter’s naïveté, “Staying loyal for a single tour is one thing. But a second is where most relationships fall apart.”

Jamie shook her head, “But I wouldn’t ever.”

“Of course not, honey. I’m sure it’s just a paranoid thought on her part,” Clarissa clarified, rubbing Jamie’s arm.

She trusted her mother’s opinion, but she wasn’t always right. Dani wasn’t the type to keep a concern like that to herself…

Was she?

8

Zoey

Zoey watchedas Robin gave orders to the construction crew scattered around the venue.

As intimidating as Robin could be professionally, Zoey couldn’t help but think it was hot to watch her so in control. When they were friends in high school, Robin was always the more sheepish of the duo, always letting Zoey speak up first. But here she was barking orders across the site.

Despite her easy-going attitude, Robin had worked so hard to build a career for herself in New Winford, and it was times like this where her expertise was evident to everyone around her.

Zoey had insisted that each row of seats for the wedding have their own heater to ensure that guests were warm no matter what. But that meant Robin had to find a way to temporarily install enough electricity to power a few dozen heaters in the middle of the woods when the state wouldn’t allow them to install high voltage equipment in the middle of a park.

Catching Zoe’s eye, Robin smiled and rushed over, “Are you feeling okay, baby?”

Zoey giggled at her concern. Other than some slight nausea, Zoey felt pretty much exactly the same as usual. But Robin had already jumped into caretaker mode, ready to fetch Zoey anything she might need at a moment’s notice.

Zoey nodded, “Yeah honey, don’t worry about me. I’m all good. You’re going to give us away if you’re this worried all the time.”

Glaring at her, Robin nodded. But it was clear that she didn’t really believe Zoey. In Robin’s experience, Zoey rarely knew her own limits and often pushed herself beyond reason.

“I know, but what if something changes?” Robin questioned, concern washing over her face.