Can't Help Falling in Love: Charles Town Brides, #2

Chapter 1

Valerie

I can’t wait to hear about your honeymoon! Valerie Thomas squealed as she came into Delaney Taylor’s living room. I’m so glad you guys are back! We missed you so much! Her fiancé, Alec O’Connell was right behind her as they entered for Delaney and her husband Josh’s housewarming party.

Delaney hugged her. We’re glad to be back, not that we didn’t have an amazing time. It’s so nice to see you two!

Valerie let go so that Alec could hug Delaney and saw Josh crossing the living room. He was so tan--it made her jealous. She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and he kissed her cheek. You definitely got some sun!

Oh, yeah. We were on the beach most of the time, he said, releasing her and moving to shake Alec’s hand.

Gosh, I wish I was there! Valerie said, handing over the gift they’d brought as she smiled at several other familiar people who were already there.

You didn’t have to do that, Delaney said, taking the package.

Please! You don’t move into a new house every day.

Thank you, Delaney said, setting the gift on a table where there were several others. The doorbell rang again, and she went back to the door while Josh walked Valerie and Alec into the living room.

Valerie said hello to everyone, including Melody and Reid Perry, and their son Michael, Olivia Kensington and her boyfriend Memphis Nix, and Sophie Chambers and her boyfriend, Dr. Zach Kemper. Delaney’s and Josh’s parents were there as well, along with his sister and her family, which included two little girls, his nieces, who were playing with Melody’s son Michael. There’s definitely a party going on! Valerie joked, stepping around the children to hug Melody.

Luckily, this new house is a big one, Melody replied. How have you been? I haven’t seen you in a while.

Great! Valerie said, taking a seat next to her on the sofa. Alec was standing across the room, talking to Zach and Memphis. We are getting a lot of planning done.

That’s great since you only have four months! Melody’s eyes practically bulged when she said it.

Hey, you were only engaged for about five months, weren’t you?

True, true, Melody said, conceding. I guess it just seems like a rush because Delaney took forever to plan her wedding.

They both laughed as Reid excused himself to go talk with the men. I don’t want to accidentally make some crazy wedding suggestion--like putting the bridesmaids in white, he said as he scooted away.

Valerie giggled. Reid was so funny. I think we’re on schedule. I do need to get my dress a little quicker than our dear friend, though.

Good idea. If you can find one you like.

I want something simple. Since the wedding is going to be on the beach, I want a dress that’s not going to be dragging in the sand, something I’m not going to feel bad about if I get it wet, too, you know?

Definitely. Melody smiled at her, and Sophie came over to sit on Valerie’s other side. The girls had been roommates for years, and Sophie was going to be Valerie’s Maid of Honor. In an effort to keep it simple, she’d decided only to have Sophie and Alec’s sister, Erin, stand up with her. Alec had asked Luke, Erin’s boyfriend, and his best man was going to be his dad, which Valerie thought was heartwarming. Their whole family was so close, it made her smile, especially since that wasn’t the case with her family.

So… how are you doing, Val? I haven’t seen you in an hour or so. Sophie giggled, sending the other girls into a laugh, too.

Melody was just trying to freak me out by reminding me that I have less than four months until the wedding.

Did you… ask her? Sophie said, pointing at Melody with her head.

Ask me what? Melody said, her eyebrows raised.

Wow, Sophie. Way to be secretive. Valerie stared at her for a moment with wide eyes.

Oh, it’s not a big deal. You always make it seem like a huge deal when you ask someone to participate, and it doesn’t have to be. You know she’s going to say yes.

Well, she’s going to feel like she has to now, Valerie replied.

Ask me what? Melody repeated, a tight smile on her face showing she wasn’t quite comfortable with the direction of their conversation.

Sing. At my wedding. Mel, will you sing at my wedding.

No, Melody said, straight faced.

Valerie raised an eyebrow, shocked. Well, okay….

I’m just kidding! Of course, I will! I just figured after Sophie seemed so sure I’d say yes, I should mess with you.

Blowing out a hot breath, Valerie put her hand over her heart. Gosh, you got me there. Way to go, Soph!

Sorry. Sophie looked away. Melody patted her on the leg.

I’d love to, Valerie. What do you want me to sing?

Well, ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ is our song, but I think we’ll save that for the first dance. So I don’t know yet. But I’ll decide soon.

Okay--well just let me know when you have it figured out, okay? Thanks for asking.

Thank you, Valerie said with a smile. One more thing to check off of the list!

Delaney

Having all of her friends together in her own house was a dream come true for Delaney Young Taylor. She looked around at all of the smiling faces and felt joy bubbling up inside of her. This beautiful home, a wonderful husband, a thriving business, a ton of amazing friends, her parents and Josh’s loving family. Only her sweet grandma, Nana Nora Jean, was missing. Ever since she’d fallen and broken her hip a few days before Delaney and Josh’s wedding, she had been in the hospital and then rehabilitation. She hoped that her grandma, who had been her best friend for so many years, would make a full recovery, but she had a feeling things would never be the same.

That wasn’t quite the only thing that was missing, though. Delaney had given plenty of tours of her new home to her friends as they arrived. She already had in mind what she wanted to do with the bedroom closest to the master. While Josh wanted to wait a year or two to start a family, Delaney was ready right that moment. She looked across the room at the children playing together and desperately wished she had one of her own. Every night, she prayed to God that He’d see fit to make her a mother sooner rather than later. It was the one thing missing in her life.

So… I know that you just got back from a trip, Delaney, but while you were gone, Mel and I have been talking about taking a girls’ trip, and we’d love for you and Liv to join us, Valerie was saying as the four girls in question stood in a group in the kitchen.

A girls’ trip? Delaney repeated. To where?

We haven’t decided yet, Melody replied. But we were going to ask you, Olivia, about that cabin you like so much. If we went up there in the spring, I bet it would be really beautiful and peaceful.

Olivia’s eyebrows shot up, and it was almost as if she were envisioning her happy place. Oh, Mr. Minter’s place is lovely all times of year, but yes, it’s definitely pretty in the spring, when all the baby animals are born. Birds are chirping, flowers are blooming. It’s great.

We were thinking of asking a few of the other girls, too, but I wasn’t sure how big the biggest cabin is, Melody continued.

The one we used to stay in as a family sleeps up to ten if people don’t mind sharing rooms, Olivia said.

That sounds like a lot of fun, Delaney said. How long were you thinking of going, though? I don’t want to be away from the bakery too long now that I just got back.

By bakery do you mean your new husband? Valerie asked with a wink and a gentle nudge with her elbow.

Delaney felt her cheeks pinking. Well, yes, him, too. She was excited that she got to see Josh every day now.

We were thinking just a weekend, Valerie said. Just enough to get a refresher and have some bonding time.

Let me make some phone calls, and I’ll see when it’s available, Olivia offered.

I can take care of it, Melody said with a shrug. I just wanted to see if that sounded like a good idea to you.

It sounds like a great idea, Olivia said with a nod. Mr. Minter’s an old family friend, though. I’ll call him tomorrow and see if he has a weekend open anytime soon.

Great, Valerie said with a smile.

Even though Delaney didn’t want to leave her husband anytime soon, she would love some time away with her friends. And she couldn’t help but notice a little twinkle in Melody’s eyes which made her wonder if maybe something was up she wasn’t quite privy to. If she got a chance to pull Melody aside, she’d definitely ask her. Either way, it sounded like fun, and Delaney was definitely up for that!

Chapter 2

Olivia

The idea of going back to Minter Woods had Olivia smiling all morning the next day as she went about her daily routine. She planned to call Mr. Minter in a bit but didn’t want to call too early. Olivia needed at least two cups of coffee before she was awake enough to do anything relatively constructive anyway.

Thinking about Mr. Minter made Olivia remember what it had been like the last time she was there, the trip where she had met Memphis. It had been a last minute trip, and she hadn’t been able to get the cabin that she wanted because his family had already booked it. Memphis was there for his grandfather’s birthday party.

Taking a sip of her coffee, she laughed as she thought about how terrified she’d been when he’d knocked on her door late that night in the middle of a snowstorm. There was an issue with the address, and he thought that he was at the cabin his family had booked, but he was at hers instead. Thank goodness the door had been locked and he hadn’t just barged in. She’d tried to convince him she was married to a big, burly dude--named Brutus.

The next day, he’d come over to tell her she had a branch on her car, one knocked down from the storm. They’d started talking, and she couldn’t help but be attracted to him. He was so handsome, and who doesn’t love a cowboy? He’d driven her to town before a bad blizzard hit and made sure her generator was working.

Probably what had endeared him to her most of all was the fact that he’d carried her to safety after she’d fallen in the freezing water when they were coming back from a walk in the woods. She’d taken him out to the quaint old chapel she absolutely loved, and on the way back, she’d been so giddy at sharing her special place with him, she’d tried to jump across the brook and landed in it instead.

Memphis had come to her rescue, though, carrying her inside and helping her to warm up. If she hadn’t been stuck on him before then, she was from that moment on.

The idea of going back to that magical setting was exciting, even if Memphis wouldn’t be there with her. She’d gone so many times as a child, and she’d love to show it to her friends. Reid’s bachelor weekend getaway had been there, too, so many of the men had gone, but not the women, and she would love to share it with them.

As soon as she’d written a chapter of her book, Olivia picked up her phone and gave Mr. Minter a call.

Minter here, his familiar voice said, his thick accent bringing a smile to her face.

Hi, Mr. Minter. It’s Olivia Kensington, she said, waiting to make sure he remembered her.

He did, of course. Well, hello there, darlin’. How are you doin’? Haven't heard from you in a spell.

I’m good, thank you. How are you and Mrs. Minter?

Oh, fair to middlin’. We’re hangin’ in there.

Glad to hear it, she said with a smile. Listen, the reason I’m calling is because my girlfriends and I would love to rent the large cabin one of these weekends coming up in the spring. There will be ten of us, so we’ll need the big one by the creek that my family used to rent.

Well, isn’t that excitin’? he said. Let me get the appointment book out here.

She smiled, thinking of how he did everything old school instead of using a computer. A few minutes later he was back.

You still there? he asked.

Yes, sir, she replied with a smile.

Okay. How’s the weekend of April twenty-seventh work for you?

Olivia double-checked the weekends she’d written down after talking to the other girls. That’s perfect. It was one of the three weekends they were all available.

All right then. I’ll put you down, girly.

Wonderful. I’ll send you the deposit.

You know I don’t need no deposit from you.

And you know I’ll send it anyway, she said, laughing. I can’t wait to see you, Mr. Minter.

I can’t wait to see you either, Miss Olivia. You be safe now. We’ll visit with you real soon.

Olivia said goodbye and held her phone, smiling for a moment. Something magical always happened when she visited Minter Woods, which she’d used to call Winter Woods because she’d misunderstood her parents when she was little.

She sent a group text to everyone to let them know the cabin was booked and then went to send the deposit before she forgot. Everyone was supposed to pitch in on the cabin, but she didn’t mind covering the whole expense. She’d get to spend a weekend with some of her best friends and get to know some of the other girls in their group she didn’t know as well. She was already excited, even though it was a month away. She just had a feeling in her heart that this was going to be a trip she’d never forget.

Chapter 3

Valerie

Cutting hair was Valerie’s calling. When she’d worked as a waitress, she’d enjoyed her job because she loved talking to the customers. She’d also loved the owners who’d treated her like a part of their family. Now, she still got to enjoy her customers, including Frank Bishop, one of the diner owners who came in to get his hair cut at least every two weeks.

Today, she had several older clients that she really enjoyed chatting with. She finished up one of the women from church and then turned to the waiting area to welcome the next. Are you ready to take a spin in my chair, Mrs. Gregory? Valerie asked, smiling at the woman. Patricia Gregory was one of sweetest women in town, which was saying something because there were a lot of wonderful, Christian women in Charles Town.

Yes indeed, Mrs. Gregory said, coming over. I’m looking forward to catching up on your wedding plans, dear, she said, taking her seat. Valerie put the cape around her to make sure she didn’t get any hair on her bright pink sweater and turned her to look in the mirror.

Well, not much has changed since last week, she said, pulling out the sides of Mrs. Gregory’s hair to see how much it had grown out in the last few days. It only needed a bit of a trim, not even half an inch, but that was okay. A lot of the women in town loved to come in just to chat and have their hair professionally washed and styled.

Have you decided where you’ll get married yet? she asked as Valerie led her over to the shampoo chair.

No, but we’ve got some locations in mind. Valerie was so excited to talk about the wedding, she couldn’t help but smile as she told Mrs. Gregory what she and Alec had discussed recently. We were thinking Virginia Beach or Myrtle Beach. I know they’re both a bit of a drive, but it would be possible for people to drive there and not have to fly. Also, if someone wanted to do it in one day, they might be able to, if we have the wedding early enough in the day, like at noon or so.

Oh, those seem like lovely options, Mrs. Gregory said as Valerie rinsed her hair. And you’ll have it right on the beach?

"That’s