by Tara Randel
“I’m sorry, Nealy. I can’t do it. I can’t marry Brandon.”
Nealy froze. “Wait. You said things were okay between you two.”
“They were, sort of, but the more I thought about the stunt he pulled last night I knew I couldn’t go through with the engagement, let alone a wedding with him.”
“Hey, I don’t think he meant anything by it. This is a big decision to make over one little dance number.”
“It was a sign. You know, like a symptom of a bigger problem.”
Oh, boy. Brandon should have thought things through. “You should come back. We’ll sit down and talk this out.”
“You can’t be surprised. I guess I’ve known for a while, but after all the effort you put into the preparations, I felt guilty walking away.” She paused. “I read your face, Nealy. You don’t think Brandon is the one. Knowing you understood gave me the strength to do this.”
Had her feelings been so obvious? Great. For sure she’d get the blame for Juliet breaking her engagement. “Juliet, please don’t put this on me.”
“I’d never do that. I’m just so...”
Nealy heard Juliet’s sob and her heart ached for her sister. “Honey, it’ll be okay.”
“I’m sorry to do this, but I can’t tell Mom or the others. Will you? I’ve already called Brandon to break it off.”
Nealy bit the inside of her cheek.
“I need some time away. I’ll be fine knowing you’re handling things. You will handle it, right?” She sniffled. “Get Dane to help you. He’s good in a crisis.”
From bad to worse. The bearer of bad news and asking Dane for assistance? When had she become the uber-responsible one in the family?
“I’ll do whatever I can.”
“I need you to be the go-between until I decide what to do next.”
Well, Nealy wasn’t a conspiracy theorist, but there were too many people in Cypress Pointe changing the game plan on her. “You heard I’m running the shop for Grandmother? So I’ll be around.”
Juliet sighed. “When things die down I’ll... What?” Her voice faded as if she had moved the phone from her mouth.
“What?” Nealy called back.
Her sister’s voice returned. “Sorry. I wasn’t talking to you.”
Nealy went numb. “You’re not alone?”
“I have to go. Thanks. I love you.”
“Wait. What’s going on? Who are you with?”
Juliet hung up. Nealy stared at the phone, feeling blindsided. Between Juliet, her grandmother and Dane, managing her time in Cypress Pointe had now turned into a major juggling act.
CHAPTER FOUR
“THIS DID NOT just happen,” Nealy whispered as she lowered the phone. Juliet had bailed on her own engagement party. What was she thinking? And leaving her with the fallout? Somehow her parents would find a way to blame Nealy for this.
She needed a contingency plan. Nealy was an expert, after all, so she put her concerns aside and donned her event-planner hat. Worries about Juliet, and who she was with, would be dealt with later. Right now, Nealy had an engagement party to cancel.
“Deep breath. You can do this.”
“Do what?” Lanie asked as she joined Nealy.
Hurdle number one. “Juliet isn’t coming.”
Lanie stared for a mere second, then playfully tapped Nealy’s arm. “Super. Really, where is she?”
“I have no idea.” She held up her phone. “The call I took? Juliet telling me she can’t go through with the engagement.”
Lanie’s jaw dropped. “Oh, no. But—”
“Yes, there are at least a hundred guests out there expecting the happy couple.”
“Is Juliet okay?”
“Didn’t sound like it.” When Lanie started to ask more questions, Nealy help up her hand. Juliet’s change of heart and who she’d taken off with was her story to tell. “I don’t have any more information. Right now we have to let everyone know what’s happened.”
Placing a hand over her heart, Lanie whispered, “I can’t believe you’re serious.”
So serious, in fact, her stomach kicked up in rebellion at the idea. As event planner, undoing the party fell on Nealy’s shoulders.
Where to start? This had happened to her once before, early in her career. A young reality-show couple had planned a blow-out event to announce their wedding plans. The party included lots of VIP guests and paparazzi. An hour before the event, the fiancé found out his intended had signed up for another show requiring her to be out of the country during all their pre-wedding activities. Needless to say, he didn’t like being second choice over a television show, so he called it quits on the spot. To her credit, Nealy had put together an amazing party, so the guests stayed to wish the guy well.
Maybe today’s disaster would also work out.
According to Juliet, she’d already given Brandon the bad news, so his parents must also know. Yet the Masons were still here and the party outside continued in full swing. Muted music sounded in the room. Laughter and voices carrying through the glass doors. Maybe they were waiting for her to make the announcement?
Taking a breath, Nealy strode forward. Just as she was about to step outside, the doors swung open and Dane entered, his expression grim. Even in the midst of a calamity, he exuded authority, although his charcoal-gray tie hung a tad askew.
“Nealy, thank goodness. Where are your sister and Brandon?”
“I take it you haven’t heard?” Nealy explained the current situation, expecting a thunderstorm, and she got one.
“What was your sister thinking?” asked the thunderstorm.
“I guess she didn’t want to be engaged to a man she doesn’t love?”
He sent her a “that’s obvious” look. “You do realize we have a real problem here?”
“I do.”
“I’m sorry, Nealy, but I really needed this party to work out. I’d hoped to secure more of the senator’s business. This weekend was a test-drive to prove the Grand Cypress Hotel could handle his campaign events.”
“Really? My sister just broke off her engagement and you’re worried about business?”
“This is my livelihood.”
“And my sister’s life.” She paused and looked deeply into his eyes. In a soft voice she said, “It’s hard when decisions are taken out of your hands.”
He grimaced, clearly aware of what she was referring to.
“Yeah, it doesn’t feel great,” he agreed.
The tension was broken when Lanie caught up to them. “So, what’s the plan?” she asked.
Nealy figured a little lightheartedness was probably needed. “As it so happens, I’m trained to handle problems exactly like this. It’s why I get paid the big bucks.”
Dane’s shoulders relaxed but his serious gaze never left hers. “You take the lead.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Can you shut down a party without too much fuss, Nealy?” Lanie asked, glancing outside at the guests.
“Yes, I can.”
“Um, I’m not sure that’s going to happen.” Lanie crossed her arms over her chest.
“And why not?” Dane asked as his cell phone rang.
“Because our mother is on her way over here. Things are about to get sticky.”
Lanie tilted her head to one side, gesturing toward the glass doors. Sure enough, Anita was bearing down on them like a heat-seeking missile, or in her mother’s case, a drama-seeking missile.
Dane pulled his still-ringing cell from his pocket and glanced at the screen. “I have to take this. Do what you can with your mother. Let me know if you need help with the rest of the party guests.”
Nealy saluted him before he hot-footed it out of the room.
“You can do this,�
�� Lanie said in sisterly support.
“I’d hoped to avoid her,” Nealy confessed, knowing it was impossible. The words left her mouth just as Anita halted in front of Nealy.
“We’ve been greeting guests for forty-five minutes without any sign of Juliet or Brandon. You said you’d have everything under control.” Her gaze roamed the room. “Where is your sister and her groom?”
“About Juliet.” Nealy took a bracing breath. “It seems she’s made other plans.”
Anita chortled, though it did sound forced. “Amusing, darling, but enough with the little jokes. Where is she?”
“Juliet won’t be here. She broke off the engagement with Brandon.”
“Ridiculous.” Her mother’s face grew pinched. “Your sister would never pull such a stunt. It’s not like her.”
Her mother was correct, Juliet’s sudden departure was out of character for her straight-as-an-arrow sister.
“She needed some time to think,” Nealy said as she used everything in her power not to squirm. “To make sure she’d made the right decision.”
“You’re telling me the truth? This is no joke?”
“Do you think I would make up this story?”
Anita turned pale. “What could she possibly need to think about? Brandon is a wonderful man and his parents are exactly the kind of in-laws I’ve dreamed of.”
Indeed, this was a dream come true for Anita. Not so much for her daughter. Nealy stood taller. “Maybe Juliet had other dreams.”
“She’s being foolish,” Anita stated as if that was the only consideration at stake here. “Get her on the phone and tell her to come over here at once.”
Lanie laid a hand on her mother’s arm, aware that her mother’s outrage was her way of dealing with the surprise. “I think we should trust Juliet on this.”
“Nonsense. There are influential people here today, celebrating her engagement.”
Nealy knew she was going to regret her next words, but needed to get everything out into the open. “She’s gone, Mom. Deal with it.”
“Gone?” Her mother blinked at Nealy, her anger shifting to a confused daze. “What do you mean, gone?”
“As in not in Cypress Pointe.” Nealy couldn’t trust her mother with any more information. If she knew Juliet was with someone who was probably not Brandon, her mother would blow a gasket.
Anita turned to Lanie. “Please, go and find your father.”
Lanie glanced at Nealy, who nodded in return. Once her sister left them, Anita focused on Nealy.
“What did you do?”
“Do?”
“To make your sister leave. She was fine yesterday.”
Nealy silently counted to ten. She knew she’d get blamed for Juliet’s decision. Ever since she’d stood up to her folks and picked her own career path, they’d taken her decision as a personal affront. Instead of fixing the relationship, they’d only grown further apart ever since. “Mom, she’s a grown woman. She can make up her own mind. If Juliet has concerns, it’s best she deal with them now. Not after she’s gone ahead with an elaborate wedding.”
The older woman shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“Until Juliet decides to tell us what’s going on, we should honor her wishes.”
Her mother looked as if she was about to faint. “What about the guests?”
“Dane and I will handle them.”
At Dane’s name, color quickly returned to her mother’s face. Nealy waited for her next barb, but just then, Lanie arrived with their father in tow. He went straight to his wife. “Anita?” Worry eclipsed his normally calm demeanor.
“Juliet isn’t coming, Marshall. She ended the engagement to Brandon.”
“But why?”
“We don’t know, Dad.” Nealy had always imagined what it would be like for the family to gather together in a time of crisis. United. Maybe this was the moment.
Her father frowned at her. “Why didn’t you stop her?”
Or maybe not.
Nealy ignored the hurt she felt. It had been like this often, her family, especially her parents, thinking Nealy caused all the trouble. Granted, she’d been the odd man out growing up. Her parents had always tried to fit Nealy into their ideal mold, but she’d never fit. While other family members focused on what they perceived to be the “right” track, Nealy had taken a little longer to figure her life out. She couldn’t help it. As a young person she’d been a free spirit, leaping before she looked. Charging headlong from one calamity to another. To gain attention? Who knew? Still, the fact her parents never saw her as an accomplished adult stung.
Nealy straightened her shoulders. Time to act like an adult. Prove her parents wrong. “This was Juliet’s decision, Dad. I knew nothing about it until she called.”
He stared at her as if hoping she’d change her story, then his shoulders slumped when he realized she told the truth. She remembered how powerless he’d looked during her rebellious teenage years. He wore the same expression now. She wanted to hug him, but held back.
Anita put her arms around her husband. He returned the gesture, solid in the face of diversity. Nealy could barely swallow around the lump of emotion in her throat.
Her mother pulled away and faced Nealy, her tone pure steel. “I’ll take over from here.”
“No, Mom. I know how to handle a situation like this. I’ll do it.”
“You came here to do a job and look what happened.”
And just like that she was back in high school, sitting in the administration office, waiting for her mother to bail her out because she’d skipped a couple of classes or hadn’t taken her studies seriously and failed to complete her assignments. She’d always been too involved with drama club, choir or breaking curfew with her friends, something more fun than focusing on the academic classes her parents stressed were so important. Unwelcome tears pricked the backs of her eyes.
She’d anticipated hearing, finally, “Job well done, Nealy. Your ideas are fabulous and the place looks amazing.” But no. They wanted to take care of things. Without her.
“I’m afraid not,” Dane’s firm words and confidence carried from across the room. As he strode forward, he seemed to have everyone’s undivided attention. Authority resonated in his voice. “Since Nealy is the event planner, she will deal with the details. Talk to the Masons.”
“Dane, this is a family matter,” Marshall said. “I appreciate you wanting to help, but we—”
“Mr. Grainger, I understand emotions are running high here, so I’m politely asking you to let us do our jobs while you and Mrs. Grainger take some private time to absorb the gravity of Juliet’s decision.”
Marshall’s surprise at Dane’s obvious concern rendered him speechless. Nealy felt for her father, usually he had it all together and was the one to make sense of a situation. “It’ll be fine, Dad. This is a shock for everyone. Juliet asked me to take care of ending the party, so I will. Better me out there trying to explain the situation to the guests than you and Mom.”
“Of course.” He nodded and held his arm out for his wife. “Anita. Lanie. Come along.”
Lanie glanced at Nealy, an apologetic look on her face, before following her visibly shaken parents out of the room.
“That went well,” Nealy deadpanned, blinking back the moisture in her eyes.
Dane moved beside her, concern evident in his eyes. “You okay?”
Obviously, she wasn’t okay. Her family had left her and were disappointed in her again. And yet for all that, her heart squeezed in admiration for Dane, who had taken a terrible situation and made it easier on them.
She brushed off the melancholy. “Fine.”
“Sure?”
Yep, just like the summer they’d had each other’s back. How easily they fell into old patterns. Afraid to exa
mine that realization very closely, she said, “What do you say we get to work?”
“As you said, you’re the expert. Where do you suggest we start?”
“With the Masons. Find out what they know.”
Speaking with the Masons, Nealy found out they had indeed talked to Brandon. They were disappointed, too, though for different reasons, but were holding up fine. Nealy knew their poise came from years in the public eye. They knew how to rise above an unexpected development.
Since the string quartet was still playing and food and drink still flowing, Nealy called for attention and the curious guests settled down. “I’m sorry to announce the engagement has been called off. Juliet and Brandon request you respect their decision and ask for privacy at this time. Please, enjoy the refreshments before making your way out. Thank you so much for understanding.”
Nealy played hostess, answering questions from the guests without giving any answers. She thanked them for coming, as if redirecting a failed engagement party happened every day in her line of work. In the meantime, Dane spoke with the caterers and his waitstaff to keep them in the loop.
Once she had a free moment, she searched out her grandmother. She found Dorinda sitting by herself, her expression drawn.
Nealy sat beside her grandmother. “What a night.”
Her grandmother patted her knee. “Juliet just called. She wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Me? It wasn’t my broken engagement.”
“No, but she did ask you to tell the family.”
“Wish she’d called Mom and Dad herself.”
“I saw your parents before they disappeared. How did they take the news?”
“Well, considering they think I’m at fault—”
“Although, they’re wrong....”
Nealy sighed. “They’re worried about Juliet. This is very unusual behavior for her.”
“I wish I’d put a stop to things before it got this far.”
Nealy glanced sideways at the older woman. “How on earth would you have done so?”
Her grandmother played with the straps of her purse. “Those two weren’t a good match. I should have sat Juliet down and forced her to see the truth.”
