Page 45 of Must Love Lavender and Little Lies
I looked to my mother, who was grinning wildly at me. “Ma?—”
“Where is Juniper?” my ma asked, turning and waving back toward the crowd.
Juniper arrived then, still with that odd expression on her face.
“What’s going on?” I asked cautiously.
“You’re getting married, that’s what,” Gree-Gree said as she settled in on a stool at the end of the bench. “Gruffton, go on and get Gree-Gree a flight of those,” she told my brother, gesturing to our drinks.
“But I want to hear what—” Gruffton protested, but my grandmother dismissed him.
“Gree-Gree, I know that,” I said cautiously, already sensing something was afoot, “but?—”
“Saturday,” my grandmother told me, pulling the bowl of nuts at the center of the table toward herself. “Juniper’s wedding gown is purchased. The girl’s dresses are being readied. Some nice gnome lady we met along the way will attend to the flowers. And we’ll start work at the farm to get everything ready tomorrow.”
“But—”
“Oh, and we met Juniper’s friends Rosalyn and Primrose on the way here,” my ma said. “Rosalyn will work on the cake, and the clever half-elf said she will help with the wedding. In a town like this, there will be little trouble finding people to help with the rest. No need to trouble yourself, Granik. We’ll take care of everything. We’ll have you married before we leave.”
Kika clapped her hands in excitement. “Oh, I can’t wait! A wedding! It’s going to be perfect.”
For a moment, I felt dizzy.
Juniper joined me, slipping onto the bench beside me. She took my hand in hers. “Just breathe,” she whispered.
“Drinks! We need drinks to celebrate,” my da called. “Pitchers! Mister Narrow, we need pitchers here,” he said, then rose and stood up on the bench, the wood groaning beneath him. “Moonshine Hollow,” my father called in a loud voice. “We’rehaving a wedding this Saturday! The next round of drinks is on me.”
At that, everyone in the tent cheered.
“Junie,” I whispered, aghast.
“Breathe,” Juniper whispered to me. “Just breathe.”
Everyonein the ale tent cheered Juniper and me, several people stopping by to congratulate us, my parents inviting everyone to the impromptu wedding. Finally, when Elder Thornberry and his wife cornered my parents and forced them into conversation, I managed to pull Juniper away.
“What happened?” I whispered.
“I took them to Zelda’s. One moment, everyone was looking at dresses, the next, Zelda had me in a wedding gown. Kika, sweet girl, floated the idea, but your mother and grandmother agreed. Since they are all here, they decided it was better done now. I tried to protest. I really did. Even Rosalyn tried to say she couldn’t get a cake baked in time, and Primrose fussed over the preparations, but your grandmother just took the matter into her hands and…and…there was nothing I could do. I’m so sorry.”
“You… You were in a wedding dress?”
“I… Well… Zelda just showed me a dress, and then suddenly everyone wanted me to put it on and… Oh, Granik. What are we going to do?”
I looked back at my family, who were cheering loudly and talking with people of Moonshine Hollow.
“I’m going to have to tell them the truth,” I said, suddenly struck dumb by the horrible realization. I was going to haveto tell them, or Juniper and I would find ourselves bound in wedlock in front of the whole town.
“Oh, no. It will break their hearts,” Juniper lamented.
“We can’t just get married,” I said, then looked down at her. “Can we?”
“Well,” she said, then exhaled deeply. “I?—”
“Juniper!” A voice interrupted, Emmalyn coming into form as she dodged out from behind a stack of ale barrels. “Married? You guys are getting married? This Saturday? What’s happening?”
“I…” Juniper whispered in reply, then looked at me. “Things got away from us. Maybe we can say we want to wed at Yule. Would they believe that?”
“Maybe,” I replied, knowing full well that there was no way they would agree.
