A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn(80)

Emma frowned. “I wish him all the best with that.”

“So, I saw you and Jay sitting together during the service.”

She smiled softly. “The kinner like sitting together.”

“Yes, I noticed that.” She’d also noticed that Jay and Emma liked sitting together, too. “I’m glad your families have become close.”

“Me, too. I—” Her eyes got wide, then she bolted to her feet. “Oh, no,” Emma moaned under her breath.

On her feet as well, Tricia turned to where Emma was staring, and gasped. “Oh!”

Somehow Emma’s beagle had barged in and was trotting through the maze of tables as if he were in a race. Tricia hadn’t known he could move that fast.

And then she saw where he was headed.

“Frankie!” Emma called out. “Frankie, nee!” she yelled again as she darted through the crowd, practically knocking over a pair of toddlers in her haste to get to the beautiful five-tiered wedding cake that Beverly had spent almost every spare moment on.

On the other side of the tent, Tricia saw Aunt Beverly stiffen at the sound of Emma’s cry. Then they both stood frozen in horror as one forty-five pound beagle scrambled up onto a white folding chair, paused to gain his balance, then hopped onto the table where the cake was waiting—and took a huge bite.

Tricia was so shocked, she could only watch in dismay.

“Frankie, nee!” Emma shrieked, reaching the cake table.

The shriek startled the dog, which caused him to topple to the ground . . . along with all five layers.

As the entire crowd stared in stunned silence, the beagle began furiously devouring white wedding cake with orange filling and buttercream frosting like it was the most delicious thing on the earth. Which it probably was.

Frankie had struck again.





Chapter 26


Emma had married at eighteen, then given birth to three children and buried her husband. She’d mourned, taken care of her girls without complaint, and had even recently stood up to her parents when the situation warranted it. She took care of her house, paid the bills, and now was raising three little girls on her own.

Because of all this, she secretly prided herself on the fact that she could handle almost any situation with calm and patience.

But none of those things had prepared her for the humiliation of having to detach her dog from the remains of what was once a stunning, five-layered wedding cake.

“Come, Frankie,” she hissed under her breath.

Frankie—whether it was because he was on the verge of a diabetic coma or he somehow knew that he’d finally crossed the line and was in danger of being given away to anyone who would take him—walked obediently by her side through the crowd.

Every single guest stepped aside as she passed, though Emma had no idea if that was because she was now a pariah or because Frankie was covered in sticky white frosting. All she did know was that she was never going to be able to look Beverly Overholt in the eye again.

“Girls!” she called out as she walked. “Girls, we need to go. Now.”

Ben walked toward her. “Hey, um, Emma—”

Though it was one of the hardest things she’d ever done in her life, Emma made herself stop and meet his gaze. “Please tell Tricia I’m sorry. I am so very sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s most definitely not okay.” Then Emma reached down, grabbed hold of Frankie’s collar, and guided him out of the tent before she burst into tears or Frankie decided to go in search of leftovers.

“Mamm!” Lena said. “I’ve got Mandy and Annie.”

Turning around to see that all three of her girls actually were there, she nodded. “Let’s go home.”

Mandy ran forward to open Beverly’s back gate. “And then we’ll come back to the party after we put Frankie up?”

“Nee. We will not be coming back.” As soon as Annie stepped through, she said, “Annie, don’t forget to shut the gate.”

“All right, Mommy,” she replied in a sad little voice.

“Mommy, we’re not really going to stay home, are we?” Mandy asked.

“We really are.”

Lena rushed to her other side. “But, Mamm . . .”

“Not right now, Lena.” Emma was fairly sure if she didn’t get home soon she was going to start bawling like a baby in the middle of the street.

“But Mamm, I wanna go back,” Lena whined. “Two girls I met at school are there. We were having fun.”

“I am glad, but we are staying home.”

Mandy pulled on her apron. “How come we have to stay home?” she asked, her tone turning belligerent. “We didn’t do anything wrong.”