Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

Margo pushed aside the stack of papers and her open laptop, making a spot for the plate of sandwiches that she’d just fixed for lunch. Nora was coming over to go through the fine details of the wedding planning with her—all that they had left to do, really—and she was buzzing with excitement. So much so that she’d told Nora to let her make lunch for them, as a way to burn off some of that excess energy, instead of Nora picking up takeout from Rockridge Grill like they’d originally planned. Nora had sounded oddly relieved, which had surprised Margo, but Nora had gotten off of the phone so quickly, promising not to be late, that she hadn’t had time to ask about it.

Nora was running about ten minutes late. But Margo wasn’t worried about it. Nora would turn up eventually, and in the meantime, she’d had extra time to perfect lunch.

She’d been crazy about a special that Rockridge Grill had run right after Thanksgiving last year: a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce, cream cheese, and a bit of leftover gravy on it with caramelized onions. Since then, she’d been trying to figure out how to replicate it, and she thought she’d finally gotten it down. Between that and the leftover butternut squash bisque that Rhonda had made to go with dinner the night before, Margo thought she’d managed to assemble a pretty good winter lunch.

While she waited, she sat back down and looked over her spreadsheet again, one that Nora had originally put together and then shared with her. It outlined what needed to be at every guest’s chair for the wedding ceremony, and then at their dinner seat for the reception. Everything from the disposable camera for the pictures at both places, to the handcrafted box with the small favors, to how the dinner settings should be arranged. Margo was honestly impressed, every time she looked at it. She’d known her sister would be good at anything she did for a career, of course, but she’d never realized just how amazing Nora was at her job until they’d started planning this wedding.

The fine attention to detail was something she would never have pulled off on her own. She could make sure an article was copy-edited to perfection, find every little detail in a photo that needed to be highlighted or edited so the finished product was exactly right for a magazine spread, but trying to keep track of how many favors needed to go in each box, seating charts, and which floral arrangements were at which tables would have driven her nuts from the start. But Nora definitely thrived on it.

A moment later, just as she was beginning to worry that lunch would get too cold, she heard the tell-tale sound of boots knocking against the mat outside. The door opened a minute later, and Nora blew in, clearly more than a little frazzled. She didn’t have her gloves on, and her normally smoothly styled dark hair was spilling out of a hastily assembled messy bun on top of her head. Her face was flushed, and she seemed out of breath as she kicked off her boots.

She was also toting Madison in one arm—who was equally red-faced and looked on the verge of bursting into screams—and a familiar-looking white and brown puppy in the other, who was squirming even more than Madison.

Margo jumped up immediately to help. “What’s going on?” she asked concernedly, although it seemed obvious that the addition of Chessie was proving to be more than a handful. She was sure that Rhonda wouldn’t mind having the puppy around, although she could already hear Caroline’s concerns about whether or not Chessie might chew or pee on something she wasn’t supposed to. It was probably better, honestly, if Caroline didn’t see the puppy. But she was pretty sure that Caroline was down at the cottage for lunch, feeding Toby and making lunch for Jay, who would be in from sledding with his friends for lunch. Possibly with his friends, who would all be hungry.

Nora let out a breath, and Margo could see the dark circles under her sister’s eyes. She hadn’t looked this tired since the holidays last year, when she hadn’t been able to get Madison to sleep on a regular schedule, and hadn’t had a normal sleep schedule of her own either.

“I’m sorry to drag all this along,” Nora said. “I know we were supposed to have some time with just the two of us this afternoon. But Aiden had to go to an emergency meeting about some repairs, and?—”

“It’s absolutely fine,” Margo assured her sister quickly. “Here, give me Madison, and I’ll get her settled over here in the armchair. I have a bunch of stuffed animals she can play with, I’ll just go grab them really quick. And Mom has some homemade mac-and-cheese in the refrigerator for quick snacks, there’s a couple staying here who have two kids, and she made it for them. But they’ve barely touched it, so they won’t miss a bowl. I’ll heat some up for Madison if she gets hungry.”

“Thank you so much.” Nora gave Margo a look of relief, shrugging off the rest of her outerwear with Chessie still squirming in her arms.

“You can let her run around too,” Margo offered. “Mom won’t care, and Caroline is down at her house. I’ll be right back.”

Nora dropped into one of the armchairs, still clearly unsure about letting Chessie have the run of the inn. Margo went upstairs to grab a few stuffed animals that she’d collected over the years from various places, as well as two that she’d planned on giving Madison for Christmas. Madison was too small still, she figured, to realize that they’d show up again under the tree.

A few minutes later, Madison was settled in the armchair, surrounded by stuffed animals and particularly enamored of one that made small, high-pitched growls every time she pressed the paw. Margo grinned as she sank back down onto the couch. “That’s her Christmas present,” she whispered in a theatrical tone. “I’m glad to see I picked right.”

Nora smiled tiredly, finally setting Chessie down on the floor. “You made lunch?” she asked with a hint of surprise, finally seeing the spread on the table, and Margo laughed.

“You don’t have to sound so shocked!”

“You’re really getting ready for this whole being-a-wife thing.” Nora smirked. “Is it edible?”

“I certainly hope so.” Margo reached out, dividing the sandwiches onto two smaller plates and handing one to Nora. “I’ve been trying to get this recipe right for a year.”

“What did you make to drink?” Nora peered at the fizzy beverage in one of the green-hued Christmas drink glasses that Rhonda always brought out this time of year, and Margo grinned.

“Another step on the road to domesticity. I added ginger soda to some iced apple spice tea. I think it’s really good.”

Nora took a cautious bite of her sandwich, then a sip of her drink, and let out a happy hum of enjoyment. “That’s really good, Margo!” she said, taking another bite, and Margo beamed.

“The soup is leftovers from Mom, so of course it’s good too. But I’m so glad you like the lunch!” She reached for her own sandwich, and just as she did, Chessie leapt up on the couch, climbing into Margo’s lap and making a quick circle before curling up and promptly falling asleep. All before Margo even had time to take a bite out of her turkey sandwich.

Nora sighed as she set hers down, reaching for the bowl of soup. “I wish she would do that at night.”

Margo frowned, taking in her sister’s frazzled appearance again. “How are things going?” she asked cautiously, and Nora glanced between Chessie and Madison before dipping her spoon into her soup bowl.

“It’s been quite the morning,” Nora admitted. “And quite the night last night. We brought Chessie home yesterday, and she seemed fine until nighttime. Then Aiden and I were trying to have a few peaceful moments out on the porch after Madison went down, and Chessie started barking nonstop. I tried taking her out again, tried warming up a little stuffie for her—and it all worked for a little while. Then we went to bed, and she started up again. Woke Madison up.”

“Mm.” Margo frowned. “Sounds familiar.”

Nora groaned. “That’s what Aiden said. It was all night, up and down. I figured at least today, Madison would probably sleep all day. But I guess having her sleep schedule messed up made her cranky too, because, for the first time in a really long time, she fought her nap. Wouldn’t go to sleep at all, even though I know she’s as exhausted as I am.”

“Did you try that silly song?” Margo grinned, recalling the lightbulb moment Aiden had had last year that had finally cracked the code of getting Madison to fall asleep. “What was it? I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas?”

“Not even that,” Nora sighed. “Nothing soothed her at all. Finally, I just gave up and decided to let her stay up. Maybe she’ll be so tired by tonight that she’ll sleep even if Chessie goes crazy and barks again.”

“Have you thought about telling Bethany?” Margo asked cautiously. “Maybe it’s just not a good time for a puppy. I bet someone else?—”

Nora shook her head. “Madison adores Chessie. I’m actually a little concerned with how upset she’ll be when Bethany does find a forever home for her. I don’t want to just give up after one night. Plus, we figured this out with a baby. How hard can a puppy possibly be?”

“Now it’s a baby and a puppy,” Margo pointed out, and Nora laughed, taking another bite of her sandwich.

“Still, we’ll figure out how to calm them both down. Maybe Aiden will figure out the magic trick for a dog too.” Nora set her plate down as she finished the last of her food. “Honestly, this is amazing, Margo. You should make it for Spencer sometime.”

“I will, now that I have it down. It’s a lunch he brought me from the Grill last season, so he’ll find it very romantic, I’m sure.” Margo grinned, collecting the plates. “I’ll clean up and then we can get down to planning.”

When she came back out, Nora was sorting through the spreadsheet. In the armchair, surrounded by the plushies, Madison was asleep. And Chessie had curled up by the edge of the couch, chewing happily on a bone that Nora had brought along. It was a picture-perfect, quiet moment, and Margo smiled, taking it in. She was so glad that she had her sister here to help her with this. And she didn’t mind the extra company a bit either.

“Thank you for coming even though it’s been crazy all day for you,” Margo said, sitting back down and putting fresh glasses of the apple soda out for them. “I would have understood if you’d begged off.”

“Not a chance,” Nora said firmly. “I’m thrilled to help. This is the most fun wedding gift I could possibly have come up with for you.” She scrolled through the spreadsheet again, looking at it with an eagle eye. “And I think everything’s here. All in order, just the way I wanted. We’ll be able to set up like a breeze with this.” She set the laptop back down, glancing over at Margo with a smile, clearly more relaxed now. “Melanie told me that the rings came in and she saw the engravings! She said they turned out great.”

“Oh my gosh, yes!” Margo got up quickly, careful of where Chessie was still lying near her feet and happily chewing away. “I can show them to you. I’ll go grab them, hang on.”

She hurried upstairs to her bedroom, where she’d stashed them in the nightstand. But when she opened the drawer, the blue velvet boxes that she’d expected to see weren’t there.

Her heart stuttered in her chest, and she frowned, hurrying over to her dresser. Maybe she’d stashed them there instead, and just thought that she’d put them in the nightstand. But as she dug through all of the drawers, sifting through her clothes, she couldn’t find the rings anywhere.

Now actually worried, she went into the bathroom, looking through the medicine cabinet and her toiletry bag, feeling like a squirrel with an acorn. She’d wanted to put them somewhere that Spencer wouldn’t accidentally see them if he came over, but now it seemed like she’d hidden them from herself too.

She was starting to feel more than a little panicked when she’d searched all over her bedroom and bathroom, and couldn’t find anything.

As soon as she came back downstairs, Nora saw her panicked face. “What’s wrong?” she asked confusedly, and Margo threw up her hands.

“I can’t find the rings. I know I put them in my nightstand drawer, I remember doing it, but they’re not there. And I can’t find them anywhere else in my room. I swear I remember bringing them home.”

“Maybe you just need a second pair of eyes. Nora walked over to Madison, who was just starting to wake up, and gently scooped her up. “Grab Chessie, and let’s both go up to your room. I’ll help you look.”

That made Margo feel a little better. She’d just missed them, and surely with Nora looking too, they’d find the rings in no time.

But no matter how much they both looked, they couldn’t find them anywhere. Nora set Madison down on the floor next to Chessie, letting the two chase each other around in hopes that she could look better without distractions, but it was no use. And in the middle of it all, Margo felt her phone buzz in her pocket.

She pulled it out and saw it was Spencer calling. Her stomach dropped as she answered, holding up a finger to her lips to tell Nora not to say anything about the rings.

“Hey there,” she said, trying not to sound as worried as she felt. “What’s going on?”

“I was just on my lunch.” There was the rustling of a bag in the background. “I was thinking, what if we go out tonight? I know you’re crazy busy with the wedding planning, but I thought we could go to Marie’s and then see the tree in the center of town. Melanie is keeping the coffee shop open late tonight for a live music event, we could go to that too.”

“Marie’s?” Margo teased, looking nervously at Nora as her sister pawed through another drawer, coming up empty-handed. “Any particular reason?”

“I just thought a nice night out would be a treat. I bought a new sweater.” Spencer laughed. “But really, we haven’t been out anywhere fancy in a while. I was craving something a little more upscale tonight, I think.”

“I love that idea,” Margo said firmly. “It’s a date.”

She hung up a moment later, looking at Nora as her sister turned to face her, holding up her hands helplessly. “I can’t find them either,” Nora said, and Margo let out a frustrated sigh.

“They’ve got to be somewhere.” She shoved her phone back into her pocket, her hands on her hips. “I have to find those rings.”