A Wedding on Primrose Street (Life In Icicle Falls Book 7) by Sheila Roberts Page A

worked as a barista. It was midmorning and the place was humming with caffeinated drinkers and people waiting to get their hit. The smell of roasted coffee practically made Anne’s taste buds spring a leak.
    “Hi, Mrs. Richardson,” her daughter’s friend and roommate said.
    “Hi, Autumn. I’ll have my usual white chocolate latte and a large...”
    “Coconut mocha,” supplied Autumn with a grin.
    “You guessed it,” Anne said and dropped a dollar in the tip jar.
    “Hi, Mom,” her daughter called from her station at the espresso maker.
    Under her bright red apron she wore a short-sleeved shirt to show off the mermaid swimming up her arm past seashells and starfish. Anne preferred it when her daughter wore long-sleeved tops. That way she didn’t have to be reminded of the mermaid’s existence. Laney loved mermaids and had designed the tattoo herself. Anne loved mermaids, too, as long as they stayed in movies, where they belonged.
    It’s her life
, Anne had told herself when Laney got her second tattoo, this one on her neck. A climbing rose. Like Laney herself, her tattoos were all about motion.
    “It’s your favorite flower,” Laney had said. “Your favorite flower and your favorite daughter all rolled into one.” Daughters—they were such a blessing. And such a source of irritation.
    In spite of the tattoo irritation, Anne was proud of Laney. She had a nice guy, a college degree (something Anne had never gotten) and would soon be working on her teaching certificate so she could become an art teacher while she honed her silversmithing skills. She didn’t do drugs or post naughty pictures of herself on the internet, and she was gainfully employed. She was creative and beautiful, and Anne loved her like crazy. She’d probably never love the tattoos, though.
    Laney set out two to-go cups. “One small Americano and one double tall soy latte, no whip.”
    The two women who’d been waiting snagged their drinks and moved to a corner table.
    Anne was next in line. She leaned over the counter. “So what did you decide about going up to Icicle Falls this weekend and checking out that place I told you about?”
    Laney concentrated on putting a stainless-steel pitcher of milk under the steam wand, and for a moment all Anne heard was
whoosh
. Someone at a nearby table laughed.
    “Hello?” Anne prompted.
    “I’ve got that craft fair coming up. I’ve still got to make stuff for that.”
    “The fair isn’t until Memorial Day weekend,” Anne pointed out. “We need to get this venue nailed down. We don’t have much time to plan your wedding.”
    “I know, but I think we want to go to Vegas. That won’t take long to plan.”
    “You shouldn’t make a snap decision until you’ve considered a bit more,” Anne advised.
    Laney shrugged and said, “I guess,” a sure sign that she was underwhelmed by the idea of getting married in Icicle Falls.
    “We can go up for a girls’ weekend with Aunt Kendra and Grammy. What happens in Icicle Falls stays in Icicle Falls.”
    That made Laney giggle. “Mom, you crack me up.”
    “We can be wild.”
    “Where? There?” Laney set out the drinks.
    “Let’s at least go see it.” They hadn’t been to Icicle Falls since Laney was a little girl and she’d obviously forgotten what a special town it was. Once she saw the place, Anne knew she’d be on board. Laney and Drake liked to do outdoor things, and according to the brochure she’d picked up, there was plenty of that—hiking, river rafting, rock climbing. Laney just had to catch the vision. Then she’d be all over this.
    “Okay.”
    It wasn’t the most enthusiastic
okay
Anne had ever heard, but she’d take it. “I’ll make reservations. It’ll be fun. And this will give you another option to explore. Remember, your wedding’s a big deal and you don’t want to do something you’ll regret later.”
    Laney gave her a you-might-be-right kind of nod, and since more customers were waiting for their drinks,