Moving On

Chapter 26 - Part 2

The next few months flew by quickly. Winter came, turning the evergreen woods that surrounded the mansion white. Snow covered the green leaves, and with the cold, a stillness took over the woods.

Things in the mansion were the complete opposite.

On top of her work, Kate was planning her wedding and redesigning the mansion. There never seemed to be enough time, making it easy for her to put the fire incident behind her.

She was worried Tyler would get all worked up and decide to ship her away from it all, but he never brought that up again.

Even when Detective Allen told them that there weren't any leads on the fire, Tyler merely requested that she be careful.

His protection was no longer overbearing. He didn't insist that someone had to be around her all the time and didn't go crazy when she went to meet a client on her own.

Maybe it was because of what Kate had seen, letting him know that his parents were watching over them. Maybe the angel necklace she now wore became a reminder that they were never alone.

Evelyn, on the other hand, was very much affected.

Kate had thought that after having gone through a near-death experience, Evelyn would realize how vulnerable life was and would finally open up her heart. Instead, she appeared to have withdrawn even further. She shut Dan out of her life and avoided him at all costs.

Kate wanted to help. But when it came to relationships, nothing she said or did would get Evelyn to change her mind.

"So, have you asked him?" Ryan asked, pushing aside the drawings that Kate had in front of her.

She sighed and shook her head. Of all the things she had to deal with, this was the worst.

Whenever the guys had the chance, they would pester Kate on who the best man would be.

Each time they had asked her, she had told them to ask Tyler. But somehow, they kept coming back to her.

"All right, all right. I'm going to ask him now." She stood and marched up the stairs, ready to transfer her vexation onto her fiancé. "Have you decided on who will be your best man? They won't stop bugging me."

"I'll tell them to stop."

She elbowed him lightly in his chest. "That isn't the point. Why haven't you made your decision?"

"They're all hoping to participate in the wedding. Since you have one maid of honor and one bridesmaid, I can only have one best man and one groomsman. That means one of them will be left out."

"That was what you were worried about?" Shaking her head, she continued. "You should've told me. I don't have anyone to walk me down the aisle, so they'll all be involved. One best man, one groomsman, and one to walk me down the aisle."

Tyler blinked while she laughed.

"All right. Now that I've solved your problem, please, please, please tell them what they're doing before I strangle someone," she said and gave him a peck on the lips. "Oh, and Joanne came over the other day."

"Here?"

"No, at the office."

Tyler's eyes narrowed.

"Don't worry, it was nothing. She was actually looking for Eve. She wants to study interior design, so she came over to ask for our opinions."

"Huh."

"She apologized."

Tyler's eyes widened. "Did she actually mouth the words 'I am sorry' or did you assume she was sorry?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "She said she was sorry."

"Why interior design?"

"I know what you're thinking. She swore she isn't trying to become me. Apparently, the only real work she'd ever done was at our office, and she loved it."

"Okay."

Kate grinned. Tyler wasn't the only one who had changed. She didn't know how to explain it, but something was different with Joanne as well.

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