The Wedding Shop Read Online Free PDF

just a lowly captain. Captain Morgan. Like the rum. Didn’t that gain her some notoriety in the military? It was good for a few tricks.
    In fact, that’s how she met Dax. When her friend Rick Cantwell baited him into meeting his friend “Captain Morgan.”
    Dax thought he’d find a golden-brown liquid in a bottle. Instead, he found a “hot blonde with gorgeous blue eyes.”
    A shout rose from the first floor. “Football,” Mom said.
    “Who’s winning?” Haley didn’t have to ask who was playing. Some SEC team.
    Dad had posted the post-season bowl schedule on the wall in the media room, and the alma maters of the Morgan household played today—Alabama and Tennessee.
    “Last I looked, Bama. The work I did with their quarterback after his accident last year paid off. He’s a seventy-percent passer right now.”
    Haley shifted her gaze to her mom, who returned to leaning against the doorframe. She was so intense about her work, such a medical geek, she had absolutely no awareness of her legend among college athletes. Coaches and athletic directors had her number on speed dial.
    “Does it ever occur to you how successful you are, Mom?”
    A brainiac and introvert, Mom grew up the only child of a World War II widow and her much-older second husband.
    “Not really. Just that I’m good at what I do. And I love it.”
    Haley sat up. “That, right there. That’s what I want this year. To do something I’m good at, to do something I love.”
    She’d loved the air force, but it was more like a duty, giving back to her country, helping others. Now it was her time. Find what she loved and do it.
    Mom reached for the university letter. “Go to Kellogg. You excelled in management and marketing in college.”
    “I guess . . .” Haley stared at her blank notepad.
    College was seven years and a lifetime ago. Was she still the girl who wanted to build a career telling people what to buy or sell?
    “Does your hesitation have to do with Dax? What happened between you two? Your dad and I liked him.”
    She’d been waiting for this question. “We broke up. End of story.”
    A shout pierced through her answer, followed by male voices cheering in unison and the distant pop of high fives.
    “I think the goal setting tonight will help you, Haley,” Mom said.
    “So you’ve said since I was seven.”
    “And? Goals led you to college, the air force, to the rank of captain. Now you’re home again with grad school ahead. Weren’t you the one who always wanted an adventure?”
    “I had my adventure. After the air force I was supposed to come home and open the old wedding shop with Tammy.” Haley smiled at the memory of playing in the shop with her best friend. “Man, I don’t think I’ve really thought about that since high school. But if she were alive now, she’d be begging, ‘Let’s open the shop, Hal. Now’s the time.’ ”
    “The old wedding shop? What? I never heard this before. Why would you want to open that old place? The city owns the property and, last I heard, was about to tear it down, thank goodness.” Mom opened the bedroom door and hollered down, “Dave, is it almost halftime? We can do our goals.”
    Haley was on her feet. “Tear down the shop? Why?” Her dream with Tammy woke up, stretched, and rattled around in her soul. “They can’t tear it down. It’s part of Heart’s Bend tradition, the center of bridal lore.”
    “I say good riddance to the place. It’s an eyesore. Why would you want to reopen the old wedding shop? There are all kinds of great bridal boutiques in Nashville. Petra Cook’s daughter bought her whole trousseau online. Haley, you’re too smart and talented to be chained to a shop, catering to picky brides.”
    “When did the town decide to tear it down?”
    “Well, it’s been in the works for a long time, but the old brides . . .” Mom shook her head, surrendering her hands in mock exasperation. “They come out of the woodwork, protesting, calling the shop a