One-Off

by Lynn Galli

  “Did I hear a touch of Great Britain there?” Morgan smiled at Ainsley.

  “You did. Scotland.”

  “I visited Edinburgh for a couple of days on my honeymoon. It was majestic.” Her face didn’t show the melancholy I knew she felt at the mention of her now dissolved marriage. “Are you just visiting?”

  Ainsley nodded. “I’m in for my cousin’s wedding, and Skye tells me you do lovely flowers.”

  Morgan tipped her head at me. “This one here is so thoughtful. Do you know how many bosses don’t even get a card for their staff when they have birthdays or babies or go into retirement? If I’d had a boss like her, I might never have gone out on my own.”

  “Well, if you do weddings, we’re glad you didn’t have a boss like Skye.”

  Morgan laughed and flashed me a bright smile. “I’d love to help you out, but Skye knows I’m a one-person shop. I don’t have a crew for installations, and I decided a long time ago that bridezillas aren’t worth the extra income from wedding flowers.”

  “Bridezillas?” Ainsley turned a questioning stare at me.

  “Brides who get so caught up in having every little thing perfectly done and only their way that they become Godzilla-like.”

  “There’s even a TV series on it,” Morgan added helpfully. “That alone would make me want to skip wedding flowers. Who’s getting married?”

  “Dallas.” I felt a little guilty that she hadn’t had time to tell everyone yet. Morgan was more my friend than Dallas’s, but they got along whenever we all went out together.

  “Really? She bagged and tagged Colin, huh?”

  I held up my hand to keep Ainsley from asking what that meant. “What do you say?”

  “I don’t know. It’s a lot of time and I couldn’t do installation.” She shot me a guilty look. “No offense, but Dallas likes getting her way when she’s normal. As a bride, she’d be a terror to deal with.”

  Ainsley started cracking up, and I couldn’t help but join in. “Good thing they’re off in South America and we’re the ones planning the wedding.”

  Morgan tapped her ears for effect. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “We’re not,” I confirmed. “They had a cancellation at Dallas’s church and now they’re off chasing a big story. They don’t want to give up either, so we’re the standins.”

  “Wow.”

  “Aye,” Ainsley agreed.

  “I still don’t think I’m the right florist.”

  “There’s a wedding planner with a staff,” I coaxed. “We can get them to do the installation if you’ll agree to the arrangements.”

  “I love your shop,” Ainsley told her. “I knew we were in the right place as soon as we stepped through the door.”

  “That sounds a lot like you’re buttering me up, but thanks for that. It’s great to hear.”

  “So?” I’d put her on short notice before with orders. I was hoping this wouldn’t be any different.

  “When’s the date?” she asked and started choking when Ainsley told her. “Are they crazy? Dallas is, sure, but both of them together? Three weeks is nuts.”

  “Can you do it?”

  “How elaborate?”

  I looked at Ainsley. “Does Colin have specifics other than colors?”

  She shook her head. “Not too ostentatious.”

  “I agree. Whatever you think, Morgan. You’re the pro. Maybe we can take you by the location after work one night and you can come up with a plan?”

  “If it were anyone but you, Skye, I’d tell you to shove it.”

  “I feel honored.”

  “Colors?”

  “There’s a bit of a clash on that, I’m afraid.” I told her the colors they both wanted.

  “Hmm,” she thought for a moment. “We’ll use variations and complements so everything isn’t so color matchy.”

  “No white,” I inserted, shooting a glance at Ainsley.

  “The funeral thing, right?” Morgan guessed.

  Ainsley beamed. “You are the right person for this.”

  “I tend to get on Dallas’s nerves. Just ask Skye.”

  I shrugged. They did often try to one up each other, but Dallas would be happy that we were benefiting our friend’s business.

  Ten

  Fine white china decorated the table we’d been led to. After the fiasco at the first flower shop last night, I was hoping to avoid the same with the caterers tonight. Based on their showy table settings, it didn’t look like that would happen.

  “Are you going to make us order haggis?” I joked as we took a seat.

  “We don’t make that,” one of the caterers supplied before Ainsley could get in a word.

  Now I really didn’t think this was the right place for us. As Gary’s top choice, the food must be spectacular. It better be to make up for the lackluster service.

  “Gaylord sent over a suggested menu. We’ll be serving the courses one after another.”

  I raised my eyebrows at Ainsley. As far as I knew, Dallas and Colin hadn’t decided on a menu when they’d spoken to him.

  Two servers appeared and produced salads that looked less like salads and more like a showcase for one scallop, one shrimp, and two weed shaped leaves that passed for lettuce. Not much for seafood, I tested the temperature on both and took a sliver of each to make sure the chef could cook. If I liked scallops or shrimp I’m sure I’d think this was fine, but how did it qualify as a salad?

  “Is this an appetizer?” Ainsley asked.

  “Ooh, are you Australian?”

  Ainsley had to be sick of that question in all its forms. I was sick of hearing it, and I only heard it part of the time. “Scottish.”

  “Oh.” The disappointment was plain in her tone. What did she have to be disappointed about?

  “Is it the appetizer?” I repeated.

  “This is the salad course. We’ll bring out appetizers later.”

  “A salad?” Ainsley’s eyes indicated her disbelief.

  “Our chef likes to change things up in the kitchen.”

  “Have things changed that much since I left the States that there’s no lettuce in salad anymore?” Ainsley asked me.

  “We don’t do ordinary here.” Defensiveness crept into the server’s tone. “It’s a feast extravaganza.”

  A bubble of laughter erupted from me. Ainsley turned surprised eyes at me before joining my laughter. The server huffed back to the kitchen for the next course. That just made us laugh more.

  Something red in the shape of a small disc came out between the appetizer and next course. It could have been from the beet family without tasting anything like a beet. The next course was more fish. How did I know other than the smell? The entire fish was sitting on the plate, eyes and all.

  “Goodness,” Ainsley said when the plate was unceremoniously plopped in front of her.

  “Not to your liking?” the woman almost taunted. “How long have you two been together?”

  Heat swarmed my face and my heart started beating faster. “We aren’t,” I clarified and hoped to get what would surely anger Ainsley off the table quickly.

  The woman just stared at us. “We don’t appreciate couples wasting our time. If Gaylord hadn’t called in a favor, you wouldn’t have gotten an appointment until next month.”

  Ainsley straightened in her chair. “We aren’t wasting your time. You’re wasting ours. Based on the exorbitant pricing you’ve shown us, this food is not worth even half that. The planner was doing you a favor.”

  This was the Ainsley I’d come up against many, many times. Daunting in every way and the snobbish woman didn’t stand a chance.

  “Well, I’ve never—”

  “I’m sure you haven’t,” I cut her off. “Let’s not waste any more time. You’re obviously not the caterer for us.”

  “You’re not even getting married. Of course we’re not.”

  Ainsley looked like she was going to shoot something back at her, but I grabbed her arm and twisted her toward the
door. It was the first time I could consciously remember touching her when she wasn’t sick. I didn’t like that her bare arm felt cool and firm in my warmer grip. I released her as soon as we reached the door.

  “We appreciate your time,” I fibbed to be polite and pushed us out the door.

  “Obnoxious American.” Ainsley glared back through the glass.

  “Don’t lump her in with all of us. She was just plain obnoxious.”

  “Fine,” she reluctantly agreed. “But that was the worst of the appointments so far. Are we sure Gary is the right planner?”

  “He does have connections. Like the woman said, most of these caterers are booked solid for the next three months.”

  “If Mum were here, she’d insist on being the chef after that dud.”

  I turned to face her and smiled. “If I didn’t think it would tax her too much, I’d take her up on the offer. The food would certainly be better.”

  Ainsley’s smile flashed bright. Then she remembered that she resented how much her mother liked me. It was her own damn fault. If she’d had fewer classes when her mum came to visit, she could have been done with her exams on Wednesday like I’d been. Instead she needed to study, so Elspeth and I visited the touristy spots together for the rest of the week and had a grand time. “I’ll let her know you said so.”

  “What did she say when you told her I was the MOH?”

  “MOH?”

  “Apparently that’s what you call the maid of honor.”

  “Americans.”

  “Enough,” I grumbled.

  She smiled after landing another jab but said sincerely, “She’s looking forward to seeing you again.”

  “So am I. When does she arrive?”

  “She was coming the day before the wedding, but she’s decided to come in a few days earlier.”

  “Oh?” I wondered what made her change her mind. Probably the shrieking her daughter was doing about having to deal with me on the planning part.

  “She wants to lend her hand where she can.”

  “It’ll be much appreciated, but hopefully the bride and groom will be back by then. We can turn it over to them.”

  “Colin made it sound like they’re in this story for a while.”

  “If all goes according to plan, they’ll be back with three days to spare.”

  “And if it doesn’t?”

  “Worst case scenario: they get kidnapped.” Even as I said it, I mentally flinched and chastised myself for joking to deflect my worry. Half joking, in all honesty. The security teams should be enough to prevent that possibility. “Worst case scenario for the wedding: they get back here the day of the ceremony.”

  Ainsley halted on the street and reached out to stop me. “He said it could be a little dangerous, but are you kidding?”

  I flinched again. Now I’d transferred my speculative worry to her. “We have plenty of security and a firm that specializes in kidnap and ransom recoveries covering them at all times. It’s dangerous, but we’ve taken every precaution.”

  “I’ll kill him if he gets killed.”

  I chuckled, thankful that she seemed to have the same trait for masking her worry. I was pretty ticked at them both for deciding that they had to be the ones to get this story. It could have been handled by field reporters. It wouldn’t have been as powerful to see our field reporters bringing in the story, but it would have ensured my friend and her fiancé stayed safe.

  “Were you always close?” I asked about her and her cousin.

  “Aye.” A fond look crossed her face. “As a family, we’d travel to the U.S. for a few weeks every summer. Dad and Colin’s dad were best mates from the PGA tour and my mum and aunt were always close. Colin and his mum would come back to Scotland for the rest of their summer holiday. After my aunt died, Colin would spend summers with us on the farm.”

  “All summer?”

  Sadness tightened her lips. “His dad was a little lost without his wife. He took a job coaching pro golfers and traveled a lot. He was happy to let Colin spend some time with his mum’s family in Scotland.”

  “Friends from the start?”

  “Our other cousins would come out to our farm occasionally, but they were all older and thought of Colin and me as pests. We all get along as adults now, but Colin and I were left to knock about on our own as kids.”

  “So that’s a yes?” I teased.

  “Aye. We shared an apartment at Columbia for two years after my first in the dorms.”

  “Then you moved in with Gwen and Petra and got stuck with me.”

  “Stuck is right.”

  I shook my head. Why did I even try with her?

  She gave me a moment to jab back and seemed perplexed when I didn’t. “Are we visiting the second caterer tonight?”

  “I have to call—” My cell rang. I looked at the display. “Hi, Gary.”

  “What did you do to Katrina?”

  “It’s not like we physically hurt her. Calm down.”

  “Calm down? You just burned every spec of goodwill I had with those caterers.”

  I sighed at his dramatics. “We gave our honest opinion. Oh, and why did she think we were the ones getting married?”

  “They pay closer attention if you’re the clients not if you’re deciding for the clients.” He didn’t bother sounding contrite. In fact, he sounded like he enjoyed throwing us into the fire pit of catering pretention.

  “That was a bad call on your part. If you haven’t noticed, we don’t exactly get along.” My eyes flicked to Ainsley to see if she objected. Hopeful on my part, and as expected, no rush to object on hers.

  “Pull up your big girl pants, Skye. There’s a fabulous wedding to plan.”

  “Your compassion pales only to your customer service,” I snarked.

  “You’re lucky I’m secretly in love with Dallas.” No surprise there. Dallas just seemed to bring that out of men, even the gay ones. “Anyway, I’ve called ahead to the next place. They can see you in half an hour. You better like what they have to offer. If not, you’ll be hiring a food truck for the wedding. No one else can take them in two and a half weeks.”

  “Thanks,” I said with genuine gratitude. He was right. This kind of a tight deadline diminished our options. I ended the call and looked at Ainsley. “He’s upset and we’re down to our last choice.”

  “You don’t know another Morgan of catering?”

  “Not for this kind of job. If it were sixty people, sure, but two hundred plus, no.”

  “Let’s hope the salad looks like a salad.”

  I chuckled as we loaded into my car. She really wasn’t that bad. If we’d met just for this, I’d actually like her. I might even enjoy this wedding planning thing. Okay, I wouldn’t enjoy it, but I wouldn’t loathe every second of it either.

  Eleven

  As I waited for the laptop screen to signal the video call I was expecting, I went through the finance news show’s budget. Far less than the one allocated to Dallas’s cornerstone show, it still had some significant expenses that could be cut. I’d already saved the network almost a million by slashing the riders in the on-air talents’ contracts. Not even Dallas had the gall to ask for a daily supply of water sold exclusively in France. Like we’d fly it in every week just for one host while her entire staff didn’t even have a water cooler with American water to share.

  “Chief, someone here to see you.” Tori smiled from the open doorway of my office.

  I searched my calendar, wondering how I’d missed this meeting. When nothing came up on the screen, I shot a confused look at her.

  “She’s not in your book.”

  Sighing, I flipped my hand in a welcoming gesture. I could cut it short as soon as I got the call from Dallas, Colin, and Van.

  Ainsley’s face appeared over Tori’s shoulder. “All right?”

  I cringed, not ready to deal with her yet. We weren’t meeting until later tonight. I needed time to prepare myself to see her. “Hi, weren’t we meeting later?”
<
br />   “Colin emailed to say he’d be ringing today. I hoped for a chance to chat to him.”

  My breath pushed out as silently as possible. This was mostly going to be a work call, but I couldn’t really deny her the ability to speak to her cousin on the only secure line we had. “They are. You’re just in time. I expect them any minute. I do need to discuss business with them first.”

  Her eyes darkened and her jaw ticked. She’d start yipping at me any second. Instead she nodded slowly and tilted her head back toward the open door. “I’ll wait out there. I don’t need a lot of time. I just want to be sure they’re okay.”

  “That’s fine. I’m actually glad you’re here. You should be able to stay in touch with them, too.”

  “Cheers.” She backed out of the office and closed the door behind her. It was probably the most respectful she’d ever been to me. I could only imagine what she’d tell Tori about me while she was waiting.

  A series of bells sounded on the screen. I connected the call and saw Van’s face fill the screen. He looked tired and flushed. “Hey, Skye.”

  “Are you well?”

  “We’re good. Tense sometimes, but we’re getting what we need so far.”

  We couldn’t go into specifics of the story because, despite the secure connection, it didn’t mean it couldn’t be hacked. Talking specifics of the story while they were in the middle of it was asking for trouble.

  “Both teams?” I asked.

  “B Team is working hard to collect everything and is getting around okay. The extras were a good idea.” He spoke of Dallas working on the stories that would show the damage this general was doing in the country.

  “Are they noticeable?”

  “Yep.”

  I knew Dallas and Colin would be, two groups of mostly Caucasian reporters and crew, but I was hoping the security teams wouldn’t be so obvious. “Drawing the wrong interest?”

  He shook his head. “Not yet.”

  “The second that happens, you’re on a plane.” We couldn’t risk tipping off the general or any of his supporters to our true intent. If we had to get half a story to keep them safe, that would have to do.

  “Will do.”

  “Anything else to report?”

  “The twins are stressed.”

  I snorted at his nickname for Dallas and Colin. He called them twin beauties. “It’s a tough project.”