by Alina Jacobs
"Not a problem. I want her to have a nice wedding, and we don't want Liz to tear out her hair," Allie replied with a smile.
"And she has such nice hair!" Mrs. Davenport exclaimed. "Thick and gorgeous! We just need to find you a man."
"Mom!" Liz said, clearly mortified.
Carter snickered then followed Allie to help with whatever else needed to be done.
As Carter watched Allie mix drinks, he said, "You seem like a natural here."
She shrugged. "It's glorified catering. I can do that."
When she finished mixing up the beverages, she wrote out cards for the drink and the food offerings.
"You have such nice handwriting," Mrs. Davenport marveled.
"It's from writing out menus and such," Allie told her.
"I’m just going to have a little sample, if you don't mind, Allie," Mrs. Davenport said as Carter poured a drink for her.
"Just what I need," she said after taking a long drink. "I don't think I was this stressed for my own daughter's wedding."
"You're feeding off my residual anxiety," Liz said. She grabbed Carter's wrist and checked the time. "We need to change, Allie. Carter, is that what you're wearing?"
"Yes?"
"No," Liz said. "Go change. We have a photographer coming, and Brandy will kill me if the pictures aren't amazing."
After going upstairs to change into a suit, he gave himself one last look in the mirror then stepped out of the guest room just as Allie walked out of Liz's room.
"You're wearing heels?" Carter blurted out.
Allie gave him a weird look. "I used to bartend officers' parties, remember? Heels were required. I don't like them, but I can function in them for short periods of time."
"I'm just not used to seeing you without your boots and jeans or a stuffy business suit and flats," he said. "You look good."
She winked at him and walked downstairs to talk to the caterers.
Carter grabbed a drink and watched the guests stream into the large room. He greeted people he knew, and they asked him about work and being out of the military. Any time he had a free moment, he watched Allie. She was wearing one of Liz's dresses. Her dark hair was pulled up, and Liz had put a dark, striking lipstick on her. She looked exotic, and she moved around the room assuredly.
Carter was standing with Jack and Grant when Allie walked by.
Jack looked taken aback when he saw her. "Allie? I hardly recognized you."
"Thank you for being here, Mr. Holbrook," she said. "I know Brandy and Fernando really appreciate your coming out to celebrate their engagement. Please, there are signature cocktails I made myself, and Nancy made some of the desserts, of course," she said. "If you'll excuse me, I need to talk to the caterers."
Carter was almost giddy with how professional but aloof she was.
One of the servers handed Jack a signature cocktail.
"It's made with brandy," Carter told Jack with a small smile.
"It's delicious," Jack said in amazement.
Carter sipped his own drink then turned his attention to the stairs as Brandy's parents stepped up to address the attendees.
"Thank you all for coming," Brandy's father said. "We're so glad you could join us. Thank you, Liz and Allie, for helping to put this whole thing together, and the Davenports, for hosting."
Everyone applauded lightly, and then Brandy and Fernando hugged the Davenports and Allie.
"Allie sure has ingratiated herself into the town," Walter said, coming up behind Jack and Carter. "And apparently you two are an item now?"
"Excuse me?" Jack said.
"Come now, Jack. She's clearly competent." Walter raised his glass as he caught Allie's eye. "Allie!"
She gave a small smile and walked over to them.
"I heard you've been working on some interesting projects," Walter said, shaking her hand.
"Yes, mainly looking at standardizing the overseeing of safety procedures."
"Because of that Halcion Drone accident," Carter added.
"Terrible business," Walter said. "I'm glad you're taking charge of that, and of this wedding. I hear Liz was in a bit over her head."
"It’s a series of big parties," Allie said. "I've been in the service industry for a while, so this is nothing new. It's pretty standard, just higher end."
There was a moment of silence, and Carter resisted the urge to bounce up and down.
"I know we started off on the wrong foot," Walter said finally.
"That was my fault," Allie said smoothly.
"It was Carter's fault," Grant announced, appearing behind Carter and clasping his shoulder.
Carter made a face, and Allie smiled at him.
"Don't be too hard on him," she said.
"You wrecked a priceless car and almost killed my son," Jack spat.
"Jack," Walter growled at his brother, "it was an accident. Let it go."
"It shows poor judgment."
Carter felt sick. He wondered if Allie would throw him under the bus.
"I’m sorry about your car, Mr. Holbrook," she said, leveling her gaze at Walter. "I'll pay you back for it."
Carter knew that meant that he would pay his uncle back for it.
"No need. The trucking company's insurance is going to settle with us," Walter said. "Besides, the fact that you're helping Brandy is probably payment enough. She used to work for me, and it didn't end so well. I've always felt a bit bad about it, to be honest."
Jack stalked away in the middle of the conversation, and Walter grimaced and finished off his drink then smiled as Mrs. Burbank walked over to them.
"Is that your girlfriend, Carter?" she asked.
Carter could smell the alcohol on her breath. Clearly, Mrs. Burbank had been enjoying the signature drinks.
"Yes," he said. "Yes, she is."
Grant smirked at him.
"How’s Finn?" Carter asked, elbowing Grant.
"He joined the Marines," she replied.
Carter was surprised.
"It will be good for him," Mrs. Burbank said. "He needs the structure."
"Our son was adopted," Mrs. Burbank told Allie, "and he's always been a handful. I had hoped once he reached his twenties, he would mature and become more grounded, but that never happened."
After the other members of their small group left to join other conversations, Allie turned to Carter and asked, "Are you telling people I'm your girlfriend?"
"Why not?" he replied, letting his hand slowly drift down her back. "We basically are. We live together, and we have a dog together."
"We don't really live together," she corrected, "and you barely came to visit that dog."
"Because you wouldn't let me see your apartment. I can't believe you didn't let me help you," he snapped.
"Because of you, I was arrested," she hissed at him. "That's why I didn't tell you—because I knew you would just make everything worse."
She threw his hand off and walked away, her heels clicking on the floor.
Carter inwardly groaned. Why was she so antagonistic? Didn't she want him? He grabbed another of the cocktails from a server and drained it.
Sometimes I don't even know why I bother with Allie.
41
Allie
The next morning, Allie sat next to Liz at breakfast.
"It's so early," Liz said with a yawn.
Brandy and her mother were coming over soon. They needed to start making serious headway on the wedding planning. Liz and Allie had only managed to sleep a few hours since the engagement party the night before had gone on so long.
Carter had left without saying goodbye, and Allie felt terrible about how things were left between them.
"You were really harsh to him," Liz said. She had her tablet out and was going through the inspiration images for Brandy’s wedding, trying to make sure Allie had been familiarized with the design direction.
"I just don't really know how to relate to him. Like, what are we? Are we coworkers? Is he my boss, roommate,
boyfriend? It's complicated," she said, moving her eggs around on her plate.
Liz wrinkled her nose. "You're overthinking it. He's handsome, smart, funny, good-looking, filthy rich. What more do you want?"
Allie flipped through the tablet while Liz finished her yogurt.
"So this new wedding planner hasn't quit?" Allie asked.
"Not yet. This one did Ginny's wedding. She didn't want to do Brandy's, apparently, because she can't stand her, but Ginny and Brandy's dad offered the planner triple her normal fee. So here we are."
"Does she have a dress? Flowers? Venue?" Allie asked.
She didn’t know a lot about weddings, but Stacy loved weddings. Allie's former roommate was constantly planning dream weddings, looking at wedding magazines, and watching wedding TV shows, so Allie knew a bit about them just from osmosis.
Liz stole a bite of bacon from Allie's plate. "Brandy has a dress and a venue. They’re having it at the country club." She pulled up pictures.
"That’s going to be nice," Allie said, marveling at the pictures of the historic building.
"They only just finished fixing everything from the hostage situation last year."
"Right. I read about that. Grant Holbrook prevented the place from being overrun by gun-wielding assailants."
"Yes and, in the process, destroyed a good chunk of the great hall where the reception will be held. The building is historic, so apparently it was a nightmare to secure a permit for repairs. The club's board members also decided that they wanted to go ahead and do renovations since they were going to need a permit anyways. My mom was very involved," Liz said. "There was a whole fundraiser for it and everything."
"And now Brandy is having a wedding there. What about her husband, Fernando?" Allie asked.
"What about him?" Liz said. "He plays polo and is generally obnoxious."
"Is he involved in the wedding planning at all?"
Liz giggled. "No! Honestly, I personally am shocked that the two of them managed to make it this far. Brandy is pretty terrible to him. But he just laughs and says she’s feisty. He probably doesn’t understand a word of what she says. He’s from Argentina."
Allie stifled a laugh.
"Actually, that's mean," Liz countered. "I think it’s more that he’s gone eighty percent of the time, so he doesn’t have to deal with her on a day-to-day basis."
The doorbell rang promptly at eight.
"Come in," Liz said brightly as Brandy, her mother, and the latest wedding planner stood in the doorway.
"We have hot tea and pastries," Liz said, directing the women to the dining room.
The large table was filled with books, collages, and vision boards. While Liz plugged her tablet into a large TV screen, Allie introduced herself.
"This is the girl that landed the latest Holbrook," Brandy told her mother. "You should have tried harder, Liz. You clearly didn’t put in any effort. What are you going to do? You're fast approaching thirty, you know."
Allie opened her mouth to say something, but Liz shook her head slightly.
The wedding planner ignored them and slowly walked around the table, inspecting the design material with a sour look on her face.
"Let’s bring Allie up to speed, Liz, would you, dear?" Brandy's mother said.
Liz dutifully stood up and started walking Allie through the design.
"The colors are peach, white, and brass. It’s a September wedding, so we want it to feel a bit richer than a summer wedding."
She showed Allie a picture of an enormous custom-made chandelier dripping with crystals and orchids. It was a good story and a half tall.
"The venue is a double-height space, so this will be very dramatic. There will be sheets of sheer fabric with hidden LED lights."
"That is quite impressive." Allie didn’t know what else to say. It all looked very expensive.
"Yes, it's just lovely," Linda Fitzhugh, Brandy's mother, said with a sigh. "Maybe we could add some feathers—"
"No, Mom," Brandy snapped. "Stop talking. You have terrible taste."
"Brandy, I just want to be involved," her mother said sharply. "We are paying for this wedding, after all."
"Fernando is contributing some," Brandy retorted.
"Yes, but still, try to make this a pleasant experience. Ginny's wedding was so wonderful." She smiled softly to herself as she took a sip of tea.
"Ginny isn’t getting married again," Brandy hissed.
Liz gave Allie a concerned look then jumped when Brandy screeched at them, "Allie, I need you to plan the bachelorette week."
"Week?" Allie said. "Isn’t it supposed to be one night?"
"Not since the 1980s," Brandy said, looking down her nose at Allie. "Now it's long weekends, but we’re going for a week. Find a destination—not somewhere crazy. I’m not going to Mexico or Puerto Rico."
"I'll have to see about everyone's schedules," Allie said diplomatically. "How many bridesmaids will there be?"
Brandy looked pointedly at Liz, who gulped.
"Several girls have prior commitments," Liz said timidly.
"Nonsense," Brandy said as she moved picture and fabric samples around on the table. "Ginny had seventeen bridesmaids."
"You aren’t having that many," her mother said. "It was a nightmare with Ginny."
"She had that many, and so I want that many!"
"I don’t know if we can find seventeen," Liz muttered to Allie.
The wedding planner looked up from taking notes. "Six is a better number," she said. "Especially with this chapel." She pointed to a picture on one of the vision boards.
"We have Liz, Allie, Ginny, Kate… You need to find me two more."
"Does Fernando have enough people to be his groomsmen?" Allie asked.
"Always asking the pertinent questions, aren't you, Allie?" Brandy said with a false laugh. "I can tell you have worked parties before. I should fire Liz from the maid-of-honor role and put you in charge. Jean-Claude was going to be Fernando's best man, but he's a European and a flake, so I think you'll have to do a lot of the heavy lifting for him."
"Maybe Carter will help," Allie said.
"Let's make him the best man instead," Liz added.
As Brandy walked past her to pour a cup of tea, she said under her breath to Allie, "Don't think that because you are in my wedding, Carter wants a future with you."
"I have no intentions on Carter."
Brandy smirked. "Yes, you do. You're a little social climber. Your whole look screams lipstick on a rag doll. I bet you lie in bed and daydream about him whisking you off out of whatever cesspool you were born in."
Allie stared at Brandy, refusing to let her see how much her words stung.
"He's calling you his girlfriend," she hissed, "but he doesn't mean it. You'll slip up or screw up, Carter Holbrook will turn his back on you, and his family will run you out of town."
42
Carter
Carter spent the day after the engagement party at his uncle's estate. He didn't even say goodbye to Allie when he left with his parents the night before.
Because he was so used to having Allie next to him in bed, he wasn't able to sleep well with only the dogs for company. After tossing and turning, he dressed and walked the dogs before breakfast.
When he walked into the dining room, he mentally kicked himself. He had forgotten that Nancy had a breakfast meeting at the clubhouse about the renovation, and Grant, Walter, and Kate had left the night before for London. Carter would be alone at the table with his father.
Jack didn't look any more comfortable than Carter felt. Their utensils clanked on the porcelain plates, and Gus's whining punctuated the sound of chewing.
"How’s work?" Jack finally asked, breaking the silence. "Grant seems to think you’re doing well. Your project about standardizing safety oversight—I only heard you talk a little about it, but Grant and Walter both seem impressed."
"It was mainly Allie's idea," Carter replied.
"Was it?" Jack said.<
br />
Carter nodded. "We just received all the scans and copies of Halcion Drone's forms and correspondence. Next week, we're going to start going through it, or I am, I guess."
"What does that have to do with operational safety procedures?" Jack asked.
"I don't know," Carter admitted. "I think Allie just wants me out of her and Liz's way while they do the actual work."
Jack smirked a little, and Carter couldn't help but smile. "I guess I'm not that useful. I can't believe you don't like her. You two have an equal amount of faith in me."
After breakfast, Carter and Jack had two horses saddled. As Carter left the house, his riding boots clopping on the floor, he snagged one of the bouquets of flowers on a side table.
There was a bridle path leading to the cemetery, and he and his father rode at a slow pace. It was just starting to be warm enough to be outside without multiple layers of clothing. Margot's head poked out of the saddlebag, and she barked periodically at Gus as he ran after the horses. When the forest opened up to the expansive, manicured lawn of the cemetery, the corgi ran off to sniff the new smells.
Jack and Carter dismounted and walked their horses to the familiar gravesite.
"I miss them too," Jack said as they stood in front of the headstones of Carter's cousins.
"It just feels so wrong that they're here; they're in the ground right below us, but they aren't really here. It just seems strange when you think about it, that we bury our dead. The Hindus burn their dead because it's supposed to be the start of reincarnation, and returning the body to the elements starts the process."
"That's pretty morbid," Jack replied.
Gus wandered back over to them, and Jack reached down to pet the dog.
"I just wish they weren't dead. It's like I'll never be happy."
"Allie doesn't make you happy?" Jack asked carefully.
"I don't know," Carter replied. "I don't know if I can ever be happy."
They rode back to the house in silence. Stefan had lunch waiting for them after they took care of the horses.
