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Sean pulled into the B&B’s parking lot and turned to face the crowd he’d driven from San Francisco to Napa And he did er van to fit everyone, and he was the weekend’s designated driver
Oh, how tied “Ready?” he asked
Finn nodded Pru was bouncing up and down in her seat with excite the same Keane, Willa’s boyfriend, opened the door for everyone to tumble out
It eeks before Christrape vines for as far as the eye could see, not that they could actually see theht now It was late, pitch dark, and rain had been pouring down steadily all day, which didn’t detract from the beauty of the Victorian B&B in front of theo out in the rain to get to it though
Not Pru and Willa The two raced through the downpour laughing and holding hands with Elle, Colbie, Kylie, and Tina—the rest of Pru’s posse— more cautiously in deference to the preservation of their heels Sean, Finn, and Finn’s posse—Archer, Keane, Spence, and Joe—followed
They all tumbled in the front door of the B&B and stopped short in awe of the place decorated hat had to be e Christmas tree done up in all the bells and whistles This place could’ve passed for Santa’s own house
Collectively the group “oohed” and “ahhhed” before turning expectedly to Sean
This was because he was actually in charge of the weekend’s activities that would lead up to the final countdown to the wedding happening next week at a winery about twenty minutes up the road This hat a best man did apparently, take care of stuff All the stuff And that Finn had asked Sean to be his best man in the first place over any of the close friends with the his anxiety of screwing it all up
But the anxiety was ht at the moment He shook off so desk and twelve people began to follow He stopped and was nearly plowed over by the parade “Wait here,” he instructed, pausing until his very excited group nodded in unison
Jesus He shouldn’t have poured theame before they’d left O’Riley’s, the pub he and Finn owned and operated in San Francisco And that he was the voice of reason right noas truly the irony of the century “Stay,” he said fir Christ fire in the fireplace with candles lining the mantelto the s looking cookies and a sign that said: yes, these are for you—welcome!
“Yum,” Pru said and took one for each hand
She hadn’t “stayed” And neither had Finn They both flanked Sean,on the cookies
A woers a blur, the tip of her Santa hat quivering as she typed away She looked up and saze landed on Sean and she froze
He’d already done the same because holy shit—
“Greetings,” she said, recovering first and so quickly that no one else seemed to notice as she stood and smiled warmly everyone but Sean “Welcome to the Hartford B&B My name’s Charlotte Hartford and I’m the innkeeper here How can I help you?”
Good question And Sean had the answer on the tip of his tongue, which was currently stuck to the roof of his mouth because he hadn’t been prepared for this sweet and sassy redheaded blast from his past
It’d been what, nearly a decade? He didn’t know exactly because his brain wasn’t functioning at full capacity, much less capable of simple math at the moment The last time he’d seen Lotti, they’d been sixteen-year-old kids and at a high school football game It’d been back in those dark, dark times after he and Finn had lost their parents and Sean had been at his ed to sweet-talk the kindest,his own in the process
Finn nudged Sean, pro him to clear his throat and speak “We’re here to check in We’re the Finn O’Riley party” He ss?”