When I Fall in Love(12)
Butterscotch ran over and shoved her muzzle into Grace’s lap. She rubbed the golden retriever mix behind the ears.
Ingrid was pouring out more green smoothie. “Drink up, ladies. It will make you strong and beautiful.”
Eden lifted her glass, making the same face Grace had probably made. “Mom—”
Ingrid held up her hand. “Zip it. It’s good for you. Time to try new things.”
Grace smelled her smoothie. Wrinkled her nose. “No.”
“That’s the lovely smell of nutrients.”
“Not bad,” Amelia said, licking her lips. “Tastes like . . . um . . . hmm. What is that taste?”
“Green?” Grace put down the cup. “Listen, I need to talk to you—”
“Not until you have your spinach.” Ingrid gave her a strange smile.
“Fine,” Grace said, swallowing down the concoction. Not sweet, a little . . . acidic. But not especially bitter. “I might be able to live with this if I get my donut too.”
Ingrid rolled her eyes. “Seriously, you need to try new things. Eat more vegetables.”
“And go to Hawaii,” Eden said quietly.
Oh, shoot. “About that—”
“Make yourself useful.” Eden slid another magazine her way. “Find a venue.”
Grace opened the magazine—a Minnesota edition of The Knot—and started paging through the index. Okay, maybe she’d needed some coffee fortification. “What’s this? Finally decided to set a date?”
Eden closed her magazine, something in her grin making Grace nervous. “What?”
“I figured it out. Last night.” She touched Grace’s arm. “You’re going to cater our wedding.”
Grace froze. Glanced at Amelia, who apparently agreed because she added a hearty nod.
“No—listen. Ivy’s wedding was a small gathering of friends and family. You’re marrying Jace Jacobsen, former enforcer for the St. Paul Blue Ox. Future hockey Hall of Famer. You’ll have the entire team, not to mention press, there—”
“Shh.” Eden leaned in. “Breathe, Grace.” She had captured her blonde hair into a messy ponytail and wore a lime-green shirt, capris, her toenails painted a bright . . . green? Grace nearly didn’t recognize her uptight sister since Jace popped the question. As if his words had birthed a new, vibrant Eden.
An Eden who’d moved on from Deep Haven. And although Darek had stayed behind to run the resort, he’d certainly turned a page in his life.
Time to try new things. Her mother seemed to be sending her thoughts directly into Grace’s brain.
Grace ignored her. “I don’t think you want me catering your wedding, Eden. Didn’t you see how I nearly set the folk school on fire?”
“Please, Grace. That wasn’t your fault. You’re an amazing chef—”
“No, I’m not. I know how to follow a recipe, sure, but I’m not a chef.”
“But you will be! After your three weeks in Hawaii—”
“A culinary vacation hardly qualifies me to be a caterer.”
“It does if we want to have a Hawaiian theme! Isn’t that brilliant?”
Uh-oh. But there was no stopping Eden when she had a great idea. Or what she thought might be a great idea. Which included meddling in her siblings’ lives.
“You can cook us a menu based on what you learn on your Hawaiian vacation.”
“Eden—”
“I love that idea,” Ingrid said. “A Hawaiian theme.”
“Seriously? Hula skirts and leis? That’s what you want for your wedding?” Grace said. Amelia grimaced, agreeing with her.
“No, of course not. But tropical, maybe. With passionflowers and orchids? Right?” Eden flipped to a page in the magazine. “Like this. See—it’s pretty.”
Grace studied a picture of an outdoor venue draped with red, white, and teal curtains, tall orchids arching from milk-glass vases on the seafood-laden tables. And in the middle of it all, a bride and groom clasped hands on a deck, tying the knot in bare feet.
“Did you really set a date?”
“October 21.”
“You want to get married in October, barefoot?”
Eden snatched back the magazine. “Hey, you were the one who said you wanted to open a catering company. C’mon, Grace, you could do this. You could cater our wedding, and just think of the contacts you’d have. It’s not going to be huge, but you’re right; there will be some important people there. This is a chance of a lifetime.”
Grace almost reached for it. The I’m going to culinary school line she’d been throwing down for the past three years since finishing her online degree. The line that gave her rent-free living, an excuse for extra hours down at Pierre’s Pizza, and even kept her friends from setting her up with every stranger who happened through Deep Haven.