Courted by Trouble: A Courting Romance (In Hyacinth Book 3) Read Free Page A

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    “You want me to what?” Stephanie stared at her friend. Camille being who she was, had stayed in touch. In fact, she had written notes to Stephanie every day, spare thoughts that were running through her head – the kinds she used to text – and put them in an envelope to have Jerod give to her at their next appointment. Those notes had led to get-togethers until a couple weeks later they met for coffee at the Lava Lamp. Stephanie was nervous about being back in Hyacinth, but figured she could handle it for some time with her friend. Until Cami brought up what she wanted. “Can’t you just order one?”
    “Not what I want,” her friend said, shaking her head. “I don’t want a traditional wedding dress. It needs to be unique, scream fall and autumn, and you are the only one I know who can pull that off.”
    It was true, Stephanie loved designing strange outfits, but she hadn’t done so in a long time. “It’s your wedding dress, Cami. I don’t want to screw it up.”
    Cami just rolled her eyes. “It’s already going to be screwed up – it won’t even look like a wedding dress. The only way you can screw it up is if it ends up looking like a dress you could buy off the rack. What do you say? Please?” She screwed her lips into a pout and then when that didn’t seem to work, she pursed them into a fish face. “Please?”
    Giggling despite the situation, Stephanie finally nodded. “Fine, but if you hate your dress, it’s your own fault.”
    “Yay!” Cami threw her arms above her head as though she had just made a touchdown and pounded her feet on the floor. It was a testament to everyone knowing Camille that barely anyone even looked over. Most people were used to her antics.
    “So how does it feel to be back in Hyacinth?” Cami asked once her buoyancy was temporarily abated.
    “Strange. I keep expecting dirty looks,” Stephanie admitted.
    “Why? You aren’t at fault here. And don’t look at me like that. You aren’t. And if it takes us the rest of our lives, I’ll nag it into you somehow. I’m right.” Cami paused and then grinned. “And if it’s Marjorie Farthing? Just laugh in her face.”
    “Why? You know she’ll be the first to make a comment.”
    “True. But I know something about her,” she said with an evil glint in her eyes. “She and James had to get married.”
    “Well, it was the end of their courting year.” Everyone had to either get engaged, married, or get out within a year. The whole community knew that.
    Cami snickered and looked around to make sure nobody was listening. “Dad and Jerod would tan my hide if they caught me gossiping, but you need the ammunition. Her mother caught the two in a less than honest position in Marjorie’s bedroom. That’s why their engagement happened literally one week before their wedding.”
    Grinning as while Stephanie didn’t wish anybody harm, there was a certain pleasure in knowing that Miss Perfect Marjorie who had made fun of the three of them, picking on Dora something fierce because of her weight, messed up. “Did she get pregnant?”
    “What they were doing can’t get you pregnant,” her friend said with a snicker. “But it would make all the tongues wag in this town, let me tell you.”
    Laughing, Stephanie relaxed into her chair. Sitting with Cami like this made her almost feel like they were still in high school. The only thing missing was Dora. “I need to go find Dora and see how she’s doing.”
    Cami pulled out her phone as it beeped. “Drat. I have a meeting with a client in thirty minutes so I have to go. If you find her, let her know I want to see her, too. Maybe we could have a girl’s night in. Get some movies and just chat.”
    “Sounds fun.”
    Camille gave her a tight hug and then jogged out of the café, the phone to her ear.
    Stephanie couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her lips. Cami wanted her to design her wedding dress. While it terrified her, it was also exciting. She hadn’t