“Soccer pitch, really, but it works for other sports too. Logan and I like to relive our glory days and keep in shape.” He tosses Keatyn some keys. “Take the Gator.”
As soon as she leaves, Aiden leads me out of the barn and onto a flat grassy area.
“Our first kiss was on a Ferris wheel at Eastbrooke’s Back-To-School Carnival, so I want to have a Ferris wheel at the wedding. Right here.”
“A Ferris wheel?” I say, a little shocked. “Um, that’s a request I’ve never had before. I’m not sure if I can find one in a couple weeks, but I’ll see what I can do.”
“Oh, you don’t have to find it,” he says. “I bought a vintage one and had it restored back to its original pale pastel colors. I just need you to help me decide where to put it. I was thinking here next to the barn. It will be all lit up and the guests can ride it. I thought it would be a fun surprise for her.”
“It’s an amazing surprise, Aiden. And I think here would be perfect. We can make a pathway and string lights on poles above it to light the way.”
“That works for me.”
“Do you have any other requests?”
“Yes. Pink cotton candy and feathers incorporated somehow. I’m going to have the crew light up the rows of grapes on both sides of the drive up here. If we do the wedding at sunset, guests won’t see it when they arrive, but it will pretty when they leave.” He pulls a phone out of his pocket and shows me a photo of a cute sign. “I was thinking of changing it to read, Once in a while, in the middle of a chaotic life, love gives us a fairytale. And we have to have four-leaf clovers incorporated somewhere.”
“I saw that your vineyard’s label has a clover design in the background. What if we incorporated something like that into the invitations?”
“Could we send an actual four-leaf clover in every invitation?”
“Sure,” I say, adding it to my list. “What about invitations? Keatyn said something about wanting to keep it quiet.”
“We’d like invitations hand delivered the first of the week for a fundraiser here. When the guests arrive, we’ll hand out the wedding programs.”
“That sounds like a plan,” I say, wondering how I’m going to have invitations for six hundred people designed, printed, addressed, and hand delivered in a few days.
“You look a little freaked out,” Aiden tells me. “Maggie will help you with all the vendor connections. We do a lot of events here. They will squeeze us in.”
“Okay, and I’m glad I have Maggie to lean on. I have a vision of what she wants, but I’ll need help executing it.”
Keatyn & Aiden’s home - Asher Vineyards, Sonoma County
DAWSON
“Run, Harlow!” I yell, cheering her on as she dribbles the soccer ball down the field and scores. She comes running up to me and leaps into my arms.
“I scored, Daddy! I scored!”
“You did so good, sweetie,” I say, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“Against boys, too,” she whispers. “Carder is almost my age, but I’m taller than him. He told me that it didn’t matter because boys are tougher.”
“Do you think that’s true?”
She shakes her head. “I think boys are dumb.” Then she looks at me. “Well, not boy daddies. Daddies are smart.”
“Thank you,” I say with a laugh. “Are you having fun here?”
“I’m having the best time ever. Did you see me feed that pony? He loves apples.”
“He did. And you did a good job riding the pony.”
“I ‘specially liked our picnic by the pond. Will we get to come back here?”
“If we all move to California, we could come back whenever you want.”
“I like California. It’s sunny and warm on my face.”
“Next time you come, you can see the house. It’s right on the ocean.”
“Like Grandma’s?”
“Kinda like that, but a different ocean.”
“The Pacific Ocean,” Ava says, chiming in. “It’s on the West coast. Grandma’s is on the East coast.”
“Very good, Ava. Your sister seems to like it here, what do you think?” Harlow wriggles out of my arms and takes off running. Ava plops down on the bleachers next to me.
“I think Knox is funny. He makes us all laugh. And so does Fallon’s daddy. He talks funny.”
“He’s originally from the South, so he has an accent.”
“Fallon is nice,” she says about Dallas’ oldest. “She said if we moved to California that we could go to school together.”
“What would you think of that?”
“I think I’d miss my friends and Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Cam and Aunt Annie and Uncle Brax and my cousins.”
“We’d still visit them a lot. I would let you fly back whenever you wanted.”
“That’s what Grandma told me. I told her that I missed you the most though.”
I get choked up. “I missed you, too, Ava.”
“I know it was only for a few days but Grandma doesn’t put smiley faces on our pancakes. Do you like your new job?”
“I do. But the three of us have to decide together if it’s right for us to move. We all need to be happy.”
“I heard Grandma tell Uncle Cam that you need to be happy. Have you not been happy?”