Free Lily (Suitors of Seattle) by Kirsten Osbourne Page A

mind?”
    “I’d rather it was small.  Just my family and yours.”  She was glad his family was small, because hers was big enough to more than make up for it.
    He tilted his head to the side.  “If your mother would be okay with that, I’m all for it.”  He seemed to think for a moment.  “Could we do it faster if we do it that small?”   He obviously loved the idea of having a wedding as soon as possible.
    Her smile widened.  “Let’s go talk to Mama.  She’ll have something in mind, I’m sure.”  She looked at him, waiting.  “You have to get down first.  You’re blocking my exit.”
    He looked around him in wonder.  “Are we really sitting here talking about our wedding in a tree?”  He gave a half laugh.
    “Apparently we are.”
    He got down slowly, half worried he’d fall.  Once he was on the ground, he watched her scramble down in no time flat.  “You’re going to have to teach our daughters how to climb trees.” 
    “Daughters?  Not just sons?”
    He grinned.  “I want daughters who are just like their mother, so of course they have to climb trees.”
    She grinned, her hand going through his arm.  “You know just what to say to make me feel good about myself.”   She hoped marriage wouldn’t change him.
    They walked into the house and found her parents sitting together in the parlor.  Lily didn’t say anything but walked to her mother and held out her left hand, showing her engagement ring.
    Mary’s smile was one of sheer delight.   “We’ll have a June wedding at the church!”  She knew Lily wouldn’t much care about the wedding planning, so she announced what would happen obviously expecting Lily to agree.
    Lily exchanged a look with Daniel before shaking her head.  “We were thinking about a December wedding in the back garden.”   She watched her mother’s face as she suggested it.
    “It’s cold outside in December!  If you want an outdoor wedding, you should marry in the late spring or summer.  If you want to get married in December, y ou should marry in the church.”
    “I want an outdoor wedding.”   Lily kept her voice low and reasonable, but made it clear she wasn’t budging.
    “ We’ll plan the wedding for June then.  That’ll give us six months to plan, which is more rushed than I’d like, but we did Rose’s in a month.”  She sighed, making it clear that her daughters were making wedding planning hard on her.
    “No, Mama.  I want a December wedding outside.”  
    Mary made a face.  “Well, December does give me time to plan it, I guess.  We could do a Christmas themed wedding.  Your sisters could wear red dresses.”  She seemed to contemplate it.  “Your white gown would really stand out.”  She sighed.  “I guess we can do an outdoor wedding in December.  We’ll put up a tent in case it rains or snows.”  She seemed lost in thought for a moment.  “Are you thinking the beginning of the month or the end?  I think the end would make the Christmas theme more fun.”
    Lily looked over at Daniel, her eyes begging him for help.   When he just shrugged, she turned back to her mother.  “We want to get married this December.  Next week.”  She watched her mother, waiting for the explosion she knew was coming.
    Mary’s jaw dropped as she stared at Lily in horror.  “You can’t get married in two weeks!  Everyone will think you’re expecting!”  She shook her head adamantly.
    “But I’m not expecting.  We just want to get married.” 
    “Absolutely not.  You are not getting married in two weeks.  There’s no way I could arrange a big wedding in two weeks.  It’s not possible!”  She looked at Fred.  “Tell them it’s not possible, Fred.”
    Fred grinned at Lily.  “It’s not possible to arrange a big wedding in two weeks.”  He winked at her, letting her know that he agreed that her mother was being crazy.
    “But I don’t want a big wedding!  We just want to have family there.”