Wedding Bells & Cinnamon Rolls

1 - Come On and Marry Me Bill

The door to the bedroom swung open and a head of tamed and carefully-coiled dark curls poked around the corner.

"Mom?"

Autumn Milford tore her eyes from the full-length mirror and focused instead on her nineteen-year-old daughter, Jordyn. "Yes?"

"They're here."

The words that Autumn had been dreading for weeks echoed in her ears. She stiffened, a kaleidoscope of emotions and memories whirling behind her dark green eyes.

Get out of this house!

But, Mom—

You betrayed our trust and you betrayed God. Get out—now!

Behind Autumn, her best friend Marnie Whitman laid a soothing hand on her friend's shoulder. "Hey, it's okay," Marnie murmured, pushing a curl of chestnut hair behind Autumn's ear. "They can't hurt you anymore."

Autumn took a deep breath and shoved those memories away. She knew that this meeting was inevitable, ever since she made the decision to invite her estranged parents to the wedding. But now that the moment was here, she was having second thoughts.

And third—and fourth.

"Mom?" Jordyn eased into the room, worry writ across her light brown face. "Do you want me to get Dad?"

"What do I need to fetch Corbin for?" a soft, male voice inquired. A tall, lean man in his late forties with striking Nordic features and short, pale blond hair stepped into the room behind Jordyn. He wore a smart black tuxedo with a dark green tie and pocket square.

Closing her eyes briefly, Autumn turned on her bare feet and faced Magnus Solberg. "Nothing, thank you, Magnus," she breathed. "My ... parents arrived, that's all."

"Ah." Magnus nodded. "Do you want them removed?"

Autumn smirked. That would be something, wouldn't it? The ultimate screw-you to the parents who had kicked their pregnant seventeen-year-old daughter out of the house: Be invited to your estranged daughter's wedding to a millionaire and then promptly get frog-marched out.

"It's tempting," she told Magnus, "but no."

"Does your father know that I'm walking you down the aisle?"

Autumn had initially planned on walking down the aisle alone but decided on asking Magnus to do the honor. It was also Autumn's way of thanking the older man for supporting them when some members of Magnus's and Corbin's elite clique came out against their relationship.

"No," she replied. "But that's his fault, isn't it?"

"Indeed." Magnus gave her a little smile and glanced around at the chaos in the bedroom—boxes laying open and scattered around on the floor, Autumn's wedding shoes sitting on a chair, her veil draped over the back. "Do you need a few more minutes? I can come back."

Autumn took a deep breath to settle her nerves. "No, you can stay. Could you hand me that bottle of water over there, please?"

Magnus walked over to a small table by the bedside, picked up the water bottle, and handed it to Autumn. She twisted the cap off and took a long, grateful drink. They'd had mimosas with breakfast; while she desperately wanted another one, she was not going to walk down the aisle tipsy. Puking all over Corbin was not in the cards.

Puking all over her parents, on the other hand ...

"There's a wedding day smile," Marnie said, beaming; she turned Autumn around to face the mirror again.