To Have and To Hold

“Can we swing by the B and B before we go to HQ?” Jessica James asked as Baz reached the Coyote Ridge town limits.

With their week 33 doctor’s appointment out of the way, she wanted to squeeze in a check-in before they went to work.

“I thought for sure you were gonna ask for breakfast,” he grumbled, turning the truck toward downtown.

“It’s too late for breakfast.”

“Lunch then.”

“Too early for lunch.”

Baz glanced at her quickly, his eyes reflecting his exasperation. “Brunch.”

She flashed a smile. “That comes after. If you’re nice.”

“I’m always nice.”

JJ grinned. “Unless you’re givin’ me a hard time about keepin’ on top of my wedding checklist.”

“I’m fairly certain they’re capable of handling their reservations without your input,” Baz said as he pulled into the Double R Retreat parking lot.

JJ had heard this same tired speech for the past few days.

I’m sure the bakery can handle the cake without your wealth of baking skills.

I’m sure the diner can handle the catering without your dishwashing knowledge.

I’m sure Moonshiners can handle serving beer without your years of waitressing experience.

Perhaps he had a point. JJ had to give Baz credit for not belittling her with his comments. He’d been teasing, and she knew it, but still.

And maybe they could handle things without her hovering, but JJ needed to do something. And since it was her job as Brantley’s best woman to ensure this wedding went off without a hitch, she was seeing to every detail. No matter how small.

Of course, she had the help of Iris Walker and Cindy Tavoularis, Brantley’s and Reese’s mothers. Since Brantley’s mom had more time than the rest of them, she’d taken charge of ensuring the wedding setup was taken care of—hiring and scheduling vendors for furniture and decorations, dealing with the registry, etc. Iris was also working with Cindy on the catering aspect. And Reese’s mother was taking care of the guest list, following up on RSVPs, and ensuring everyone had a room. Plus she was taking care of the gift bags for guests.

That left JJ to oversee everything else. Namely, setting up a bachelor party to beat all bachelor parties, along with ensuring both grooms made it to the altar without a hitch. And because she had some free time, she was following up with everyone to ensure they’d done their parts. And yes, that included checking in with Ramona Weber at Batter & Bliss to confirm the cake would be ready and checking in with Rafe Sharpe, the new owner of Moonshiners, to make sure he was prepared for the mini bachelor party—which, as of right now, Brantley and Reese believed was the only one they were getting. Last but not least, she had to check with Bailey Weber, the woman now in charge of running the B and B, to make sure they were ready for the guests.

“We’ll let Bailey determine that,” she said, reaching for the door handle.

Baz sighed, but he got out of the truck and walked around, joining her as they walked up to the old farmhouse that had been converted into a bed and breakfast years ago.

She waited until Baz opened the door before leading the way inside, taking in the beautiful space. Coming here never got old. JJ loved the open, homey atmosphere, especially when it was empty, and she could admire the decor without worrying about invading the privacy of their guests.

“Good mornin’. I’ll be right with you,” Bailey called from the kitchen.

“She’s makin’ cookies,” JJ murmured, sniffing the air.

“We’re about to have lunch,” Baz reminded her.

“Brunch,” she corrected.

“I’m havin’ a burger. I’ll call it lunch. If you eat now, you won’t be hungry—”

“Hey.” She smacked Baz on the arm. “I’m eatin’ for three. I don’t think a cookie’s gonna ruin my appetite.”

As was the case any time she mentioned the twins who were nestled safely in her belly for the next six and a half weeks, Baz smiled, and it reached all the way to his eyes. From the day they realized she was pregnant—an unexpected but thrilling acknowledgment—her boyfriend had been smiling quite a bit more. JJ knew he was excited to be a dad, and now that he was going to be a dad times two, he was beside himself. And not in the panicked-we-won’t-have-everything-we-need-to-care-for-two-tiny-humans way that JJ was.

Footsteps sounded from the den behind them. JJ turned to see Holt Callahan, the world-famous mystery writer, step out of the room, a laptop tucked under his arm.

She figured it was silly to be starstruck by his presence, but she couldn’t help herself. Up until he moved to Coyote Ridge, JJ had never even heard of the guy. Since then, she’d been devouring all his books, one right after the other. He was her favorite author at the moment, so feeling giddy in his presence seemed normal.

“Hey.” Holt’s expression lit up with pleasure. “It’s good to see you.”

“Same,” JJ told him, accepting the hug when he offered it.

No squealing. He’s a normal person. He might freak out. She repeated that in her head several times until she forced herself to release him and step back.

Holt might’ve been a newcomer to Coyote Ridge, but he was settling in quite nicely. That hadn’t been the case a few weeks ago. The residents of the small town tended to look sideways at people they didn’t know well. Now that they knew Holt intended to stay, they were warming up to him. It helped that he was now in a committed relationship with Bailey and Rafe. Of course, people were still hesitant to open up to him too much since no one wanted to end up a character in one of his bestselling novels.

Holt shook Baz’s hand. “What brings you by?”

“JJ wants to hound Bailey about—”

“I do not want to hound anyone,” she countered, smacking his arm again.

Holt chuckled, his voice lowering as he said, “Between you and me, Bailey’s a nervous wreck. She’s checked that everything’s in order at least a dozen times. She’s a perfectionist, and this is the first wedding she’s assisting with.”

“First, but probably not last,” JJ told him, feeling better that he said that. Well, not the nervous wreck part. She didn’t want Bailey to stress too much, but it definitely eased her mind to know that Bailey was on top of things.

“Tell me you aren’t revealin’ my deepest, darkest secrets,” Bailey said as she joined them, extending her arm toward JJ. “I brought you this.”

JJ held out her hand to take the napkin-wrapped cookie that Bailey passed to her.

“Oh, my God. It’s still warm.” Her eyes were wide as she looked at Baz. Yes, it was the little things that brought her great pleasure these days.

Bailey followed with a hug. “How’re you doin’?”

“Good,” she assured the younger woman. “Pretty much back to normal.”

It was a lie, but she’d gotten good at making it sound legit. In her defense, she was trying her best to pretend she hadn’t been kidnapped by Molly Ryan and Sonny Gilbert, a couple of looney tunes who’d wanted to cut her baby out of her belly so that Molly could live happily ever after with Baz.

“That’s good to hear. I’m glad you stopped by.” Bailey stepped back. “Iris dropped off the gift bags for the guests. I wanted to go through them with you. Make sure I have everything.”

JJ flashed a smile at Baz. “See. Sometimes people are happy to see me.”

Baz rolled his eyes and shook his head, smiling as he did.

“Do you mind if I steal her for a minute?” Bailey asked Baz.

“Not at all. You can keep her if you’d like.”

JJ laughed because she knew Baz was trying hard to pretend he wasn’t following her around like a lost puppy. Not that she minded. Considering it hadn’t even been a month since she’d been kidnapped right off the sidewalk just a few dozen yards from where they stood, she happened to feel better when he was near. It was going to take some time for both of them to find a new normal.

But she had faith that they would.

“Do you mind if I eat while you talk?” JJ asked Bailey, patting Baz’s arm before following Bailey toward the kitchen.