A Wedding on Lilac Lane by Hope Ramsay (best book clubs .txt) 📕

on the table. “I’m sorry you’ve had to put up with him. I think it was a huge mistake for me to suggest that you and he plan this party together. I thought…Well, it’s not important.”

“He’s not so bad,” Ella said without making eye contact.

The waitress interrupted the conversation, delivering their salads. Brenda used the break to collect her thoughts. She needed to make Ella understand that she would always come first, no matter what.

When the waitress left, Brenda captured her daughter’s gaze. “Honey, I want to say something important to you. Something I think you need to hear.” Brenda paused and was encouraged when Ella didn’t roll her eyes or look away.

“You know how much I want us all to become one big, happy family, but you know what? That doesn’t mean you have to let Dylan run roughshod over you. I’d rather you just be yourself, okay? And let’s face it, Dylan is not his father. He’s not easy to like.”

“You think?”

What was it in Ella’s tone? Not the usual sarcasm. Something was off.

“I want to apologize,” Brenda continued. “I’ve been guilty of pushing you in directions you never wanted to go. And I’m starting to feel as if my desire to see us all become one happy family is another example. So I’m going to stop now, okay? If you don’t want to spend time with Dylan, that’s fine. I don’t ever want Dylan to be a reason you can’t call Magnolia Harbor your home.”

*  *  *

Wow. There was so much to unpack in what Mom had just said.

First, was the basic question of home. Was Magnolia Harbor Ella’s home? Hardly. Mom had grown up here, and so had Granny.  Dylan too. She’d visited as a child, and she was merely visiting now, when you got right down to it.

There would always be a room at Cloud Nine with her name on it, but Mom’s beach house wasn’t home either. She didn’t have a place of her own. Not now. Not ever, really.

And then there was Dylan. Oh, the irony. Dylan might be a reason to come visiting. He might be a reason to stay put. But she didn’t know for certain either way. And she couldn’t even talk to Mom about her confusion.

It was far too early to know where this thing was going, but she could see herself falling hard for Doctor Delicious. Would that be good for Mom and Jim? She didn’t know the answer to that either.

And what happened if Mom and Jim didn’t work out? Maybe that was asking for trouble, but she couldn’t help it. If Mom and Jim broke up, while she and Dylan got together, there would be misery for everyone.

She wasn’t stupid about Dylan either. What if he broke her heart? She’d have to move away, and that would hurt Mom.

The cause and effect rippled across her brain like waves on a still pond. This was complicated and fraught. A wise woman would stop now. But she knew damn well that if Dylan called her tonight, she’d gladly go spend time with him.

She needed to change the subject, so she drew Mom into a conversation about the Mozart piece and party details while her guilty conscience twinged.

An hour later, they headed toward the restaurant’s front entrance linked arm in arm, as if they’d always known harmony in their lives. But all of that came to an abrupt end when Mom stopped in her tracks and said, “Oh no,” in a voice more like a gasp than a whisper.

“What? Are you okay?” Ella turned to face her mother, suddenly concerned.

 “I’m fine. But maybe you aren’t going to be when you turn around.”

Ella turned and scanned her surroundings, doing the classic double take when her gaze fixed on the poster in the restaurant’s vestibule. An expletive escaped her mouth, and Mom didn’t even seem to notice.

The flyer listed the bands that had been booked to play Rafferty’s patio during the month of April. Urban Armadillo was listed as the patio entertainment for Saturday, May 1—a week after the engagement party.

A buzz of unexpected fury jangled in the back of Ella’s mind. For thirteen years, Cody had resisted touring the band anywhere east of the Mississippi. Now, suddenly, he’d changed his mind? This booking was not serendipity. Cody was coming for her.

“Maybe it’s not the same band,” Mom said.

Ella rolled her eyes in Mom’s direction. “You don’t believe that for a New York minute. What other band would be dumb enough to pick a name like that?”

“You’ll stay away from him, won’t you?” The pleading tone in Mom’s voice was almost heartbreaking.

“Mom, I promise that I won’t seek him out. But we both know why he’s brought Urban Armadillo here. He thinks he can sweet-talk me into joining him on the road.”

“Can he?”

“No. I don’t want to go back to Urban Armadillo.”

“But what about Cody?”

“Him either. I mean it, Mom. Relax. Cody is not a problem.” But Dylan might be. And she would have to find a band sooner or later because she couldn’t continue working part time at Howland House. Especially now. Last night, she’d all but spent the night with Dylan. She’d nearly been late to work. That couldn’t go on without Ashley noticing something.

She felt as if she were walking on a tightrope with a big arc light blinding her. The future was impossible to see, and any misstep would end with her falling hard.

They walked back to the yarn shop together, where Mom gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll call Granny, and we’ll schedule a time to get some invitations addressed and in the mail. We can practice the Mozart at the same time.”

“Okay. Dylan and I are supposed to check out catering companies over the next few days. You want to join us?”

Mom shook her head. “No. I think Dylan and I would probably disagree. Thank you for running interference with him. Are you sure you’re okay doing this?”

“I’m fine. I just don’t want to