by Leigh Duncan
Is that all? He went to stand beside her. “I’ll let you in on a little secret—brides change their minds. It happens so often around here, we’re kind of used to it. Everyone just wants you to have a perfect wedding—a Heart’s Landing wedding. We kind of pride ourselves on that.”
“Yeah, I get that.” She swayed, her bare shoulder brushing against his shirt.
The slight touch sent his pulse racing. He stilled. This couldn’t happen. He couldn’t be attracted to her. Swallowing hard, he stared into the darkness beyond the porch. A warm breeze fanned his face. It carried the salty tang of the ocean, mixed with the light scent of Jenny’s perfume. Or maybe the smell came from flowers from the B&B’s garden. He wasn’t sure it mattered. “These changes, you need to make them?”
“Yes. But—”
“No buts. If you need to adjust the plans, just do it.” He managed to angle his body away from hers, a move that backfired when he ended up facing her. Staring down at Jenny’s pert features, he cleared his throat. “Why waste the energy fighting it? If you know it’s something you’re going to end up doing anyway, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and heartache if you just tackle it head on.”
Jenny’s dark eyes brightened. “That’s exactly what I needed to hear. Thanks, Nick.”
“Now, how can I help?”
She reached out. Her fingers barely made contact with his arm, but her touch sent tingles of awareness coursing through him. He tried telling himself that his was nothing more than the usual reaction of a man in the presence of a pretty woman, but he knew there was more to it than that. He was dangerously close to crossing a line with Jenny, something he absolutely wouldn’t do. Not even if she wanted him to.
“Well.” Jenny tilted her head and issued a challenge. “I need a bigger cake.”
“No problem.” He could easily add another layer to her wedding cake, maybe even two. But something in Jenny’s expression triggered a flicker of doubt. Had he just committed to more than he could deliver? Not exactly sure he was going to like her answer, he ventured a tentative, “How much bigger?”
Her gaze cut to one side. “Enough to serve two hundred and fifty guests.”
“Whooo.” Air whistled through his teeth. That was a lot more cake.
“I’ve been having second thoughts about the flavor, too.”
“Okay,” he said bracing himself. He’d known about Jenny’s soft spot for chocolate since the day they met. But to craft a cake in her favorite flavor for that many people would require extra work. He’d need to dowels to support each layer of the dense, heavy…
“Almond,” she said firmly.
Not chocolate? He frowned, recalling how her nose had scrunched up during the tasting. She didn’t even like almond.
“And it needs more, uh.”
“More what?” he asked, growing more perplexed by the moment.
“It needs more pizzazz.”
He took a breath. Of all the brides he’d worked with over the years, he would have sworn Jenny was the least likely to want a lavishly decorated cake. But maybe he didn’t know her as well as he thought he did. “I could pipe the icing to match the pattern of your dress,” he suggested, certain she’d consider the idea too ornate. “And add a cascade of rose-gold flowers down one side.”
A happy smile teased Jenny’s lips. “Yes. That’s it. Exactly.”
Nick folded his arms across his chest. They said no good deed went unpunished. He should have known offering advice to a bride-to-be would come back to haunt him. This larger, fancier cake would take the better part of a week to create. Worse, just when he’d sworn he’d keep his distance from Jenny, he’d have to work closely with her on a whole new design. “I’ll get on it first thing in the morning,” he promised on his way to the stairs.
“I’ll stop by in the afternoon so we can go over the particulars. Save me a cupcake?”
Though he automatically agreed, he shook his head as he headed for the van. His determination to keep his distance from Jenny had lasted less than two minutes before she’d melted it, just like she’d melted his heart.
Chapter Eight
Jenny trudged down Bridal Carriage Way. A couple traveling in the opposite direction neared her on the shaded sidewalk. Arm-in-arm, they laughed at some private joke. The man brushed an airy kiss through the woman’s hair and snugged her the tiniest bit closer to his side.
Jenny mustered a weary smile. Someday, she wanted a love like that. Someday. But not in Heart’s Landing. And not today.
Today, she needed to fix a wedding that had grown more complicated than she’d ever imagined. Nick’s reaction to the expanded guest list had been so blasé, so matter-of-fact, that she’d been sure everyone else in town would take the news in stride as well. She’d been wrong about that. But for very different reasons than she’d expected.
Jenny had never been good at lying. But with as much practice as she’d had since her arrival in her favorite wedding destination, she’d gotten better at it. Too much better. She hated how, at their meeting this morning, Alicia hadn’t so much as lifted a doubtful eyebrow when she heard Jenny’s convoluted tale of how she’d been pressured into adding to the guest list by her future mother-in-law. She was certain Alicia had only had her best interests at heart when she’d advised Jenny to stick to her guns and plan the wedding of her dreams, not anyone else’s. The tears that had shimmered in Alicia’s eyes when Jenny explained that the invitations had already been mailed nearly caused her to blurt out the truth. The whole truth. She hadn’t, though. And in the end, they’d agreed to serve cocktails and hors d’oeuvres on the veranda, but hold the ceremony and reception in the grand ballroom.
Her heart heavy with the weight of everything she had to do to protect Kay’s secret, Jenny had headed to Forget Me Knot next. There, Mildred had been visibly shaken by the news of the larger wedding. When she couldn’t locate enough hydrangeas to top an additional twenty-five tables and suggested using white freesia and large garden roses as substitutes, the florist had actually trembled like a leaf in a storm. Though Jenny thought the new combination was sheer perfection, she’d spent the better part of an hour reassuring Mildred that she trusted the woman’s judgment.
Wasn’t that supposed to work the other way around?
Jenny ran her fingers through her hair. She had just reached the crosswalk when a horse and buggy trotted past, carrying another lucky bride to the church at the end of the street. Unable to wrench her eyes from the passing vehicle, she tapped her foot in time with the horse’s hooves.
“One day,” she whispered. One day, she’d take her own carriage ride through the center of town. She pinched her lower lip between two fingers. She’d set her heart on a Heart’s Landing wedding, and now she was in the middle of planning one. Only it was for someone else.
A passerby cleared his throat. The noise startled her. She blinked slowly and took a breath. Around her, people went about their business. Shoppers ducked in and out of stores. Couples meandered down the sidewalks hand in hand. She glanced toward the end of the street. The space in front of the church stood vacant, the ringing sound of hooves against the pavement long since faded. She shook herself. She had no business standing here mooning after some other bride’s carriage ride when she still had so much left to do.
Straightening, she waited for the opening bars of “The Wedding March.” When they played, she crossed the street. A few minutes later, she stepped into Favors Galore, ready to face her next task in finalizing the plans for her cousin’s big day.
The instant she crossed the store’s threshold, the smell of rich chocolate engulfed her. Pausing to get her bearings, she drank in the candy-scented air. The wonderful aroma drew her, and she made her way down the wide aisle that cut through the center of the shop. Shelves on the left housed party favors that ran the gamut from matchbooks to cookie tins. An extensive wine collection lined wooden shel
ves on the right. At the back of the store, tray after tray of hand-crafted chocolates filled a low display case.
“Hi, Jenny!” One of a matching set of willowy, raven-haired twins looked up from the marble slab balanced in one of her hands. Arrayed in circles, hand-crafted candies dotted the stone platter.
“Hey…” Uncertain whether she was talking to Alexis or Ashley, Jenny halted.
“Are you here to check on your order? I think Alexis said we received the last of it this morning.”
Thankful for the hint, Jenny nodded. “That, and I need to add to it, Ashley.”
“More guests?” The fine sprinkling of freckles across the twin’s nose crinkled, and a teasing grin lifted the corners of her mouth. “Did you find out your cousin-once-removed decided to bring a plus-one to your wedding? They always do. Don’t worry. We’ll take care of it. But first, you have to try one of these.” She held out the tray. “It’s a brand-new flavor. A pistachio cream dipped in white chocolate with a sprinkling of toasted coconut.”
“That sounds divine.” This was a lot more than a plus-one situation, but she couldn’t ignore how the sights and smells made her mouth water. Taking one of the candies, Jenny bit into the creamy confection. The flavors melted on her tongue. “Heavenly,” she pronounced.
“That’s just the reaction I was hoping for. Let me put the rest of these away, and we’ll get you taken care of.” Using tongs, Ashley placed the last of the candies on a plain white tray, slid it forward in the display case, and closed the glass door.
Jenny shifted her weight from one foot to another. Unlike the other shop owners she’d dealt with today, Ashley didn’t seem a bit perturbed by her news. Maybe changing her order wasn’t going to be as big a deal as she’d feared. She took a calming breath while the store’s co-owner moved to the cash register.
Taking an iPad out from underneath the counter, Ashley swiped through several forms until she reached the one she wanted. “Okay. It says here you ordered fifty bottles of the Saba Palm Napa Valley Chardonnay, fifty four-piece boxes filled with pink truffles wrapped in gold foil, along with gray tissue and rose-toned gift bags. So, how many more do you need? Ten? Twenty?”
Jenny gulped. She’d been wrong to let her guard down. Word of her expanded guest list apparently hadn’t spread this far. “I, um, need another two hundred.”
“Wow!” Ashley’s hazel eyes widened. “That’s a whole lot more. How did that happen?”
“Turns out…” Jenny’s mouth went so dry her tongue stuck to the roof. She grimaced. So much for the idea that the more she repeated the story she’d concocted to explain Kay’s change of plans, the easier it’d get to tell. Signaling that she needed a sec, she swigged water from the bottle she carried in her purse and took a steadying breath. “Sorry about that,” she said when she was able to speak again. For once, she was glad she hadn’t worn her hair up today. Thick and long, it hid the heat that burned the back of her neck. “Turns out, my future mother-in-law has invited everyone in her family to our wedding. Without saying a word about it to me or my fiancé. I’d probably still be in the dark if one of his relatives hadn’t asked where we were registered.”
“So, you need another two hundred?” Ashley’s voice thinned. She held up a finger. “I’ll be right back.” Leaving her iPad on the counter, she race-walked to the end of the counter and disappeared through the door that led to the back of the shop. She emerged seconds later with an equally flustered twin at her side.
Jenny’s gaze shifted between the tall women who wore matching pink smocks over identical pairs of black jeans. With their long, straight hair worn in the same blunt cut, she doubted their own mother could tell them apart. How was she supposed to know which twin was which?
“Ashley tells me you need to increase your order?”
Imagining the tricks the pair had pulled on teachers and friends when they were younger, Jenny nodded. “Yes. I’ll need two hundred more of, well, everything.”
In tandem, concerned frowns bowed two pairs of heart-shaped lips.
Jenny focused on the woman who’d spoken last. “Is that a problem, Alexis?”
“Sadly, yes.” A sheaf of jet black fell forward onto Alexis’s face. She brushed it back with a shaky hand. “I don’t want to say we can’t fill your order, but we don’t have that much of the Sabal Palm in stock. I’ll need to call our distributor to see if he can get it to us in time.”
“The pink chocolate is a special-order item. I don’t have enough of that to fill another two hundred boxes, and I know I can’t get it in time for your wedding.” Ashley pressed her fingers to her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
Jenny took in the twins’ mournful expressions. Squaring her shoulders, she summoned a can-do attitude. “What if you”—she pointed to Alexis—“call your distributor and check out the wine situation while Ashley and I come up with different candies for the boxes? Sound good?”
Their mouths open, the twins stared at each other for a long minute. Slowly, they turned to face her.
“You’d do that?” Alexis started.
“And you’re not upset?” Ashley added.
Jenny grinned. “A good friend recently reminded me that I’d be better off trying to find a solution than wasting my time and energy crying over a problem.” She tapped her finger on the glass countertop. If one more store owner melted down over Kay’s wedding, she might just cross-stitch Nick’s advice on pillow cases and hand them to shopkeepers throughout the town. “So, what do you say? Can we do this?” She pointed to the phone Alexis held.
While one twin tucked herself into a corner to make the call, Jenny aimed a pointed look at the other. “So, what can you make in time for the wedding?”
“Truffles are still the best bet. You can have them dipped in either white or dark chocolate. Or some of each.” Grabbing an empty tray, Ashley filled it as she worked her way down the display case. “This chocolate cardamom is to die for. So’s the mascarpone. Customers rave about our white cranberry cashew. And this new pistachio.” When she finished, she presented her eight favorites.
Jenny didn’t have to taste the raspberry cream with pink sprinkles. She chose it to go in the box simply because it matched Kay’s color scheme. After sampling the others, she chose the three she liked the best to round out the selection. “I think that’ll do it,” she said, happy with the choices. Not that she could have chosen wrong. Mouth-watering goodness filled each hand-crafted chocolate in Favors Galore.
She turned expectantly when Alexis stepped away from the wall where she’d huddled with the phone pressed against her ear. One glimpse of the girl’s blotchy face told Jenny things with the supplier hadn’t gone well. “Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it,” she said, forcing a confident air into her tone.
“He can’t get the 2016 Chardonnay. If we had another month, maybe,” she announced in the hushed tone suitable for a funeral.
“But we don’t,” Jenny reminded her. Kay’s wedding was less than three weeks away. That, at least, hadn’t changed.
“He faxed this list.” Alexis handed across a single sheet of paper. “It’s everything he can get in the quantities you need.”
Alexis looked so sad that Jenny had to work hard at resisting the urge to pat the young woman’s arm. Doubling down on her own determination to make light of the situation, she pushed an extra measure of self-confidence into her voice. “We’re going to make this work. I’m sure we can find something just as good.” She traced a finger down the list until she reached a particularly fruity moscato. “This.” She pointed to a wine that had been served at a recent cocktail party. It had tasted like summer in a bottle. “This one right here will be fine.”
“Really?”
“I’m positive.” Pricey enough to impress their guests, it would pair well with the chocolates.
Relief flooded Alexis’ face. “Okay. Where should we deliver all this?”
>
Jenny’s forehead scrunched. “To the bed and breakfast on Union Street, I guess. I want to assemble the gift bags myself.”
Well, not exactly. But the labels she planned to put on the bottles had been engraved with the names of the happy couple. She couldn’t let anyone see them before the wedding.
“Whoa!” Ashley or Alexis—she’d lost track again—held up a hand. “Do you know how much space you’ll need?”
Jenny slowly blinked. Assembling the gift bags hadn’t seemed like such a big deal when there were only fifty guests. But now there were more. A lot more. She ran the numbers. Twenty cases of wine would fill her suite from the floor to the ceiling. “I guess that won’t work, huh?”
The twins shook their heads in unison. “Then there’s the not-so-little problem of moving the bags when you’re finished with them. How are you going to get them to the Captain’s Cottage?”
She closed her eyes. The odds were against her having enough time between now and the wedding to center a label on each bottle, place it in a gift bag along with a box of chocolates, and finish it off with tissue and ribbon. Plus, she’d still have to run up and down the stairs of the B&B like a madwoman, ferrying the completed favors to the trunk of her car. She’d need a truck to do the job right.
She nibbled her lower lip while she considered possible solutions to the problem. Settling on one, she texted Alicia. When the event planner not only agreed but seemed delighted with the opportunity to help out, Jenny gave the twins two thumbs up.
“Have everything delivered to the Captain’s Cottage,” she said at last. The supplies could remain there until right before the wedding. After the rehearsal dinner, she’d press Kay and her bridal party into an assembly line. Working together, they’d finish the job in no time. She stifled a laugh at the thought of Karolyn and Chad applying labels and stuffing tissue into bags. But, seriously, it was the least the two of them could do for their own wedding.
The very least.
Walking out of Favors Galore a few minutes later, Jenny patted herself on the back. Things in the gift shop hadn’t gone as smoothly as she’d hoped, but she’d been able to put Nick’s advice to good use. As a result, no one had broken down in tears or fainted dead away at the thought of adding another two hundred guests. From where she stood, that was progress.
