A Wedding on Primrose Street (Life In Icicle Falls Book 7) (20 page)

Chapter Twenty

Laney the Tour Guide

“I
was thinking we should get together on Saturday after you’re done with work and wrap up a few more things for the wedding,” Mom said.

Laney found herself suddenly clenching her cell phone and walking faster on the treadmill at the gym. “I forgot to tell you. Drake and I are going up to Icicle Falls this weekend.”

Normally, she would’ve told her mother. She told her mother practically everything and they talked every day. But lately all they talked about was the wedding, and she was tired of talking about the wedding.

What was wrong with her? What kind of daughter didn’t want to talk with her mother about her wedding?

If only Mom wasn’t acting quite so...in charge. It had taken a fight in the middle of the stupid bridal shop for Laney to get the gown she wanted. Of course they’d made up, but things hadn’t felt quite the same since. Autumn’s words kept sneaking back into her mind every time Mom called to go over stuff.
“It’s your wedding. Who’s in control?”
Sometimes it didn’t feel as though she was at all.

Not that her mom didn’t ask what she wanted or what she thought. She did. But then when Laney told her, Mom seemed to find a way to shoot it down or change her mind.

And poor Drake—he’d really been left out. It seemed as if somehow things got decided and were a done deal before he even heard about them. That wasn’t right. A lot of guys couldn’t care less, but he wanted to be involved.

Well, this weekend he would be. It would be their time together. They’d check out the river, go dancing and, if the weather cooperated, get in a little rock climbing on Sunday before coming back to Seattle.

“That’s a good idea,” Mom said, bringing Laney back to the moment. “I’m sure Drake will love it up there.”

Laney hoped so. It was his wedding, too, and she wanted him to be excited about it. Actually, she wanted them both to be excited about it.

She
was
excited. Yes, she was!

“We can do more next week,” Mom said. “We need to get out those save-the-date cards.”

“I already sent them out,” Laney said. Her mom had almost made her crazy pushing to get those done. She hadn’t been this much of a slave driver since back in Laney’s junior year of high school, when Laney was applying at colleges.
“It’s your wedding. Who’s in control?”

“And now people will be expecting invitations. You know they should go out two months in advance. We don’t want to wait too long.”

Everyone already had the date on their calendar, so Laney didn’t see what the big deal was, but she said, “Don’t worry, Mom.” She shouldn’t be dragging her feet like this. She should just sit down and do it. And she would. Next week. Or...when she had time. “I gotta finish my workout, Mom.”

“Oh. Well. Okay.”

They said their I-love-yous and then ended the call. Laney turned off her cell phone and upped the speed on the treadmill. She and Drake were going to have fun this weekend. He’d love Icicle Falls. Everything would get done and her wedding would be perfect. And she’d never been happier in her life.

She reminded herself again how happy she was once she and Drake were in his truck and on their way up the mountains to Icicle Falls. There were still some patches of snow on the ground but the evergreens were in their full glory. The sun was the center of attention in a cloudless, blue sky. In short, it was a beautiful day to be heading for the mountains.

She’d taken the day off, so they’d left at nine, which put them in Icicle Falls in time to have lunch at a burger place called Herman’s Hamburgers. They passed by a life-size wooden figure of a woman in a traditional German dirndl as they entered. She was holding a platter bearing a hamburger. The little sign hanging from her neck said Willkommen in Herman’s.

“Okay, what’s with that?” Drake asked.

“It goes with the theme,” Laney explained. “You know, it’s supposed to look like a Bavarian village up here. That’s what Mom says.”

“Whatever.”

He might have been unimpressed with the German theme of Herman’s but he loved the burgers and garlic fries. After that they moved on to Gerhardt’s Gasthaus, where Laney had found a bargain. This time they encountered real people wearing dirndls and lederhosen.

“Weird,” Drake said under his breath.

The lobby was all dark wood and carved wooden chandeliers with lights made to look like candles. A mounted deer’s head hung on one wall, watching them with glassy eyes. Another wall bore a coat of arms with a lion on it. Stepping into their room was like going back in time, with old furniture and some ornate wooden...things that reminded Laney of
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
.

“Where’s the closet?” Drake asked.

“I think this is it.” Laney opened the doors on the thing and found a rack and hangers. “Yep.”

He came to stand behind her. “You don’t see that at Motel 6.”

“It’s kind of cool.”

“I guess.” It wasn’t hard to tell from his tone of voice that he didn’t agree with her. “Let’s get out of here.”

On their way out, they poked their heads into the little bar, taking in the huge wine casks and the decorative steins on the wall. Two old guys sat on bar stools, talking to another old guy who was pulling beer from the tap. “A real hot place,” he observed.

“We’re not gonna be here tonight,” Laney assured him. “There’s dancing at the Red Barn.”

“The Red Barn? I’m guessing they don’t do rap there.”

“Uh, country?”

“Yee-haw,” he mocked.

“I’ve heard it’s a fun place.”

“There’s gotta be someplace here that is,” Drake said.

They made their way down the main street through the throng of tourists, watching the goings-on at the center of town. The aroma of sizzling bratwurst drifted over to them from the hot-dog place farther down the street, mixed with the tempting smells of waffle cones from the nearby ice cream and candy shop. A German oompah band was set up in the gazebo, playing accordions and yodeling, and in the middle of the street a gigantic maypole had been erected. Performers in traditional German costumes danced around it, wrapping it in colorful ribbons.

“Seriously weird,” Drake muttered as they passed.

“I saw this online,” Laney said. “It’s to celebrate May Day.”

“I thought that’s what people say in airplanes when they’re gonna crash,” he joked, eyeing the dancers as if they were some strange species. “I guess.”

So far he wasn’t exactly in love with the town. She shouldn’t have let her mother talk her into getting married in Icicle Falls.

Mom didn’t talk you into this
, she told herself.
You decided you wanted to get married on the river.
And wait till Drake saw the river. Once they got down to the Wenatchee, heard the whoosh of water speeding past and saw the swirling, white eddies crashing around the boulders, his smile grew. Visiting Adventure Outfitters was like going to guy playland. They had kayaks stacked outside the building, river rafts and giant inner tubes down by the river, and inside she and Drake found all manner of outdoor sports equipment and toys.

“Oh, yeah,” Drake said with an appreciative smile. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

There was only one person in the store, and he was pulling life jackets out of shipping boxes and stacking them on a display table. He was older than them, maybe toward the end of his thirties, dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt. His hair was long and shaggy, and he was already getting some wrinkles, probably from spending too much time on the river.

He gave them a friendly nod. “Hi, there.”

“Cool stuff,” Drake said, gesturing around him.

“We try. You interested in booking a river rafting trip?”

“Actually, we came to talk about booking a raft for June,” Laney said.

“Smart to do that now,” said the guy. “June is a high-demand month.”

“We want to get married on one,” she explained.

“Serious?”

“Serious.”

“Hey, Mick, come on out here!” he called. He thrust a calloused hand at Drake and then Laney. “I’m Darrell.”

A man who looked her grandpa’s age emerged from a back room. He was tall and skinny and he had dark hair shot with gray. Judging from the salt-and-pepper stubble on his chin he hadn’t bothered to shave that morning.

“These guys want to get married on one of our rafts,” Darrell told him.

The old man nodded. “Never had anybody get married on a raft before.” He rubbed his grizzled chin, contemplating. “You wanna go down the river on it afterward?”

“Sure,” they both said.

“Well, come on down and I’ll show you what we’ve got.”

The rafts were definitely rustic. Laney could almost see her mother cringing. But they could fix one up with flowers and it would look great. Anyway, it would be fun to shove off on the raft after the ceremony, better than a horse-drawn carriage. They could meet everyone at the reception after.

Details were discussed, and Drake laid down a deposit, and then it was time to visit Primrose Haus.

He wasn’t quite so enthusiastic about that. “It’s kind of old-lady looking,” he said as they pulled up in front of it.

“It’s a Victorian. It’s supposed to look old,” Laney said, and suddenly she was aware of the garlic fries gurgling around in her tummy.

“Hey, I’m okay with it,” he said. “It’s just, well, it’s not Vegas.”

She sighed. “You’re right.” Obviously, he was still stuck on Las Vegas.

“It’s not too late to change your mind, you know,” he said.

Yes, it was. “This will be great,” she insisted.

“Which one of us are you trying to convince?”

“I don’t need convincing,” she said and rang the doorbell. Nobody came. “That’s strange. There are cars out here.” One of them was a PT Cruiser with a gingerbread boy and girl painted on the panel, along with the words Gingerbread Haus, the bakery that was going to do her cakes.

She rang the doorbell again. A moment later the door was opened by Daphne, one of the women she’d met when she came up with her mother. She was somewhere around Mom’s age, a little bigger in the butt and boobs but really pretty with perfectly highlighted hair and perfect makeup. She reminded Laney of those older models you sometimes saw on the cover of
People
with headlines like She’s Turning Fifty and Still Turning Heads.

The woman gave her the kind of friendly uncertain smile people used when they were sure they should know you but couldn’t remember who you were.

Laney introduced herself. “Hi, I’m Laney. My mom and I were up here last month. June wedding.”

“Oh, of course, and this must be your groom.”

“This is him,” Laney said, hugging Drake’s arm.

Drake reached out and shook her hand. “Hi, I’m Drake.”

“I’m Daphne. Come on in.”

“I thought maybe I could show Drake around,” Laney said.

“Oh, sure. We’re setting up for a wedding this evening, so things are a little crazy, but I’d be glad to give you the tour,” Daphne told her.

“Super. Thanks,” Laney said and followed her inside. Behind her she was aware of Drake looking around, and she began to see the decor through his eyes. Fussy girl-stuff like you might find in a museum or on an episode of her mom’s favorite show,
Downton Abbey
. Laney had liked it when she and Mom came up, but now she couldn’t help wondering how comfortable her groom and his friends were going to be here.

“This is where we usually have our receptions before the nice summer weather hits,” Daphne said, opening a pocket door and showing them a huge room with a crystal chandelier. Fancy chairs were scattered around the room, and there was a fireplace with a marble mantel at one end.

A table clad in white linen and edged with flowers had been set up in another corner, and the older lady Laney and her mom had met earlier was helping the woman who owned the bakery set up a wedding cake on it.

“It’s like a castle,” Drake said, and Laney wasn’t sure whether or not he meant that as a compliment.

Their voices echoed across the room, catching the older woman’s attention. She smiled and made her way over to them. “Well, hello. I do believe this is one of our brides.”

“It’s Laney,” said Daphne. “And Duke.”

“Drake,” Drake corrected her, and she blushed.

“Of course. Drake. Great name.”

“Thanks,” he said in a tone of voice that asked if it was so great why didn’t she remember it.

“Let me show you the grounds,” Daphne said next and led them outdoors.

It was too early for much of anything other than the primroses to be in bloom; even so, the grounds were impressive, with statues and a fishpond and that rose arbor Mom had wanted them to get married under. The rose arbor would be nice once it had flowers blooming but Laney preferred something more exciting.

Like a
Pirates of the Caribbean
–style ship.

No, like a raft on the river. “By summer it’ll be gorgeous out here,” Daphne said, “with the lavender and honeysuckle and the lilies and peonies.”

Drake didn’t say anything, so Laney filled in the empty conversational space. “It’s really pretty.”

“The whole house is,” Daphne said with a smile. “My mother’s held a lot of weddings here, including mine.” Her lips slid down at the corners. “And my daughter’s,” she added, bringing the smile back full-force.

Her wedding must not have turned out so well. Laney sneaked a look at her left hand. No ring. That sucked.

That won’t ever be Drake and me
, she told herself. They’d been together long enough to feel confident it would last. He was kind and fun. He knew that she was grumpy in the morning, that she could get pissy when she was PMSing and that she wasn’t very good with money. And he loved her anyway. He knew what turned her on and what turned her off. And she knew what turned him on. (Anything!) She’d learned that he was easygoing but also anal about saving money, and they’d already talked about having a budget when they got married. Ick. But it was probably a good idea because he wanted to budget for big things, like cross-country camping trips and a house. And if it made him happy, then she was willing to write down how much money she spent at her favorite clothing consignment shop. Right now he was trying to act all chill, but she could tell he wasn’t excited about having their reception here. “You don’t like it,” she said once they were back in the truck.