A Very Married Christmas: A Silver Bell Falls Holiday Novella(19)

“Are we?” Melanie quipped as she began walking around the room. There was something wedding or holiday-related on almost every surface—cookies, candles, candy. It would be rude not to sample them, right? Both her father and Josiah joined her in sampling. “I guess I don’t understand why some of this stuff is here.”

Josiah raised his hand as he finished chewing. “Planning a wedding can literally take a village. And considering we’re doing this on a short timeline, I’m guessing everyone just wants to help.”

“Exactly,” John said. “Lisa said she can make any changes to the decor in the barn that you want. Hank mentioned—if you’re interested—that he can make ornaments for you to give as wedding favors.”

“Wow,” she said, feeling a little excited at the thought. Hank’s ornaments would always hold a special place for her and Josiah, so it seemed only fitting. When she looked at Josiah, she saw he was thinking the same thing. “I think that’s perfect.”

“Then Dan offered to help with the food if you wanted,” John explained.

“I don’t know if I want diner food for our wedding,” Melanie said with a laugh.

“Oh, come on,” Josiah teased. “You know you love the meatloaf.”

They all laughed.

“Lisa did mention how she’s been working with a lot of locals for events at the barn so I guess some of this stuff is from them,” Josiah went on. He snagged another cookie and grinned, “We have to have these at the wedding.”

“What about the trees?” she asked her father.

“Bill from the tree lot on Main sent them over. He thought you might like to have some extras this year to use in photos,” John said and then motioned to the plants. “He sent those too.”

Her head was spinning. While everything here was meant to help her, it just seemed like too much too soon. She wandered around the room and saw samples of invitations and flower arrangements and realized that maybe they had bitten off more than they could chew—which is what she said.

“Melanie,” Josiah said softly as he came over and wrapped his arm around her, “that’s what makes this whole scene in front of us mean so much more. We’re not doing this alone. We have the love, help and support of our entire town to help us. I think we can look around this room and have almost everything planned by tomorrow.”

She pulled back. “Are you insane? That’s not even possible!”

But Josiah wasn’t deterred. “We have the venue and the decorations already done. And as much as I don’t think we need invitations, there are enough samples of them right there on the table where we can easily pick one. We’re not snobs and we’re not complicated people, Mel,” he continued. “We’re not looking to have some grand, Hollywood-style wedding, right?”

“Right.”

“And I’m not saying we have to have it all decided by tomorrow. I’m just suggesting that a lot of the ground work has kind of been done for us.”

“I get that and even if we’re not having a…what did you just call it…a Hollywood-style wedding, all of this isn’t free! We have to pay for all of this stuff.”

John cleared his throat. “Can I just say something here?”

“Of course,” Josiah replied.

Looking at his daughter with nothing but sincere affection, he said, “Melanie, you may not believe this, but I have been planning for this day almost since you were born. Even when we were at our poorest, I still put money aside.”

She gasped softly.

“It’s true,” he said with a nod. “Some weeks it was only ten dollars, but I did it.”

“Dad…I don’t even know what to say.” Her heart was beating like mad in her chest at what her father was saying. They had never discussed this sort of thing—weddings or her getting married—and to know that he’d been secretly putting money aside for it was a bit of a shock.

“The money is there for the two of you. It would mean the world to me if you would take it and make this wedding exactly what you want it to be,” John said. Melanie was instantly there hugging him.

“I love you, Dad.”

“I love you more, kiddo. And I want you to be happy and not have to worry about anything with this wedding.”

When they broke apart, Josiah stepped in and hugged him. “I can’t thank you enough for this, John. I had money put aside as well, but this just means we can have everything we want for our wedding.”

“Or,” Melanie interrupted with a grin, “we can plan an amazing honeymoon.”

“On that note,” John said as he grabbed a handful of cookies, “I’m going to go and leave the two of you to talk about this.”

****

To say he was overwhelmed would be an understatement.

As soon as John had left, Josiah looked around the living room in awe. His friends had done this for him. For them. The reality of it was more emotional than he would have thought.

Melanie eyed him cautiously. “You okay?”

He shook his head. “I think I’m just…it’s all really…” Pausing, he shook his head and looked at her helplessly. “Between the shooting, our trip, and now this? It’s a lot to take in.”

And she smiled at him—her beautiful blue eyes going soft and a little teary as she looked at him. “I feel that way too. But you know what helps me get through it all?”