Head Over Heels (The Bridesmaids Club Book 3) (6 page)

“Wow,” Carolyn said. “He seems like a nice person.”

Sally kept her eyes on Todd’s back as he wove through the crowd. “He is nice.” She took a deep breath and refocused her brain. “Tell me about your wedding.”

Sally listened to what Carolyn had to say. Halfway through their conversation, she grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and started making notes. Carolyn was desperate. They’d already tried to contact all of the venues Sally thought of. The ones that had answered their phones were fully booked. She had a feeling that Carolyn wouldn’t have much luck with the other venues either.

By the time Carolyn had finished, Sally knew what she had to do. “I need to call an emergency meeting of The Bridesmaids Club. Molly has been taking photos all over Bozeman and Annie knows the places that have catering options available. I’ll try and get everyone together tonight and give you a call when we’re finished. How does that sound?”

“It sounds wonderful. Thank you.” Carolyn hugged Sally tight. “Let me know if you need any more information.”

“I will. Now go and enjoy the pet adoption day. You don’t need a fluffy rabbit, do you?”

“Maybe after we move into our own home.” Carolyn leaned toward Sally and smiled. “Ask the man you were talking to,” she whispered. “He looks like the type who would fill his house with lots of abandoned animals.”

Sally thought about Max and the new foal on Todd’s ranch. With a big empty barn and enough space to get lost in, Todd could make more animals very happy. She’d have to work on his enthusiasm for adopting animals, but if anyone was up for the challenge, it was her.

All she needed were some cute and cuddly animals and a deaf ear when he said no.

CHAPTER THREE

Molly looked at the computer screen in front of her. “I can’t believe how much damage an electrical fire can cause. It’s going to take a long time to fix everything.”

Sally peered over her shoulder. The photo of the blackened ballroom sent chills down her spine. “I’m just happy no one was in the building when it caught fire. Imagine if there’d been a wedding or a big event in there? Someone could have been hurt.”

“I wonder how many other weddings have been affected by the fire?” Tess said. “Carolyn and Wayne can’t be the only couple that booked the venue.”

Sally glanced at the notes she’d made. “I don’t know about the other couples, but I do know it’s going to be hard to find somewhere to hold Carolyn’s wedding.”

“Especially if other couples are in the same situation,” Molly added. “How big does the venue need to be?”

“They’ve got one hundred guests coming. Carolyn’s already called most of the hotels and lodges in the area. I spoke with Pastor Steven and his church is booked.”

“What about our school auditorium?” Rachel asked. “It doesn’t look like a wedding venue now, but with a little decoration it might work.”

Rachel and Sally were teachers at the same elementary school. They’d both worked on staging the hall for different student performances and events, so they knew how good it could look.

“Good idea.” Sally picked up her pen and wrote,
Bozeman Elementary School,
on the bottom of the page in front of her.

“Not so good,” Rachel said with a sigh. “I’ve just remembered that the science fair entries are being set up in there soon. They won’t be down in time for the wedding.”

Molly looked at Rachel. “Could we take the entries down on the Friday evening before the wedding and put them back up on Sunday?”

Rachel shook her head. “It wouldn’t work. The students have invited their friends and family to see the experiments on the same Saturday as the wedding.”

Sally drew a black line through the school’s name. “What about other venues? There must be something we haven’t thought of?”

Tess bit into a cookie. “Angel Wings Café is too small. Annie’s not here, but I think Dylan’s warehouse would be too ugly.”

“And too full of people’s stuff,” Sally added. “The storage units have been really popular. They’re starting stage two of the remodel ahead of time, so the big area out the back is a disaster zone.”

Sally closed her notebook and gazed at her friends. Annie wasn’t able to make the emergency meeting, but Tess, Molly, and Rachel were there to help. “How about I email everyone tomorrow night with a venue update? Carolyn would have gotten back to me by then.”

Tess nodded. “And in the meantime, if anyone sees or hears of another place Carolyn could use, let Sally know right away.”

“Can we move onto other wedding things now?” Rachel asked.

“Keep talking,” Sally said. “I’m going to get another drink, but I can hear you from the kitchen.” She rushed out of the living room and headed into the kitchen. Muggles and Jetson were busy eating their cat food. Tabitha, her cuddly orange and white striped cat, was nowhere to be seen. “You haven’t been ganging up on each other again, have you?” Sally asked the two cats.

Muggles and Jetson looked up, crunched their food between their teeth, then went back to their bowls. Tabitha wondered into the kitchen and sat in front of another bowl, munching her food as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

“I guess everything is happy in your cat world,” Sally said to her fluffy trio. She poured hot water into a mug and added the juice out of half a lemon. By the time she got back to the living room, Rachel was showing everyone the letters she’d written for people who contacted The Bridesmaids Club.

“The first letter is for companies offering their services for wedding things. The second letter is for people who contact you about bridesmaids’ dresses. They’re only draft letters, so let me know if I need to change anything.”

Tess and Molly read their copies of the letters.

“They look good to me,” Tess said.

Molly handed Sally the letters. “They’ve got a friendly tone and are easy to read. I think they’re great.”

Sally quickly read the letters and smiled. “They’re perfect.”

Rachel sat back in her chair. “Phew. I didn’t know whether you wanted to say anything more. Are you okay with me going through the box of letters and sending replies to everyone?”

“Are you kidding?” Sally asked. “We’d love you to do that. If you find anything urgent, let us know. We can make time to see anyone we’ve missed.”

“Absolutely,” Tess said. “Each time we thought we were keeping up with the letters, another batch would arrive and we’d be back to square one.”

Molly looked down at her watch. “Talking about fittings, Tess and I need to head across to Logan’s home to meet two bridesmaids. If you need a hand with anything, let me know.”

Rachel smiled. “I’ll be fine. Sally said she’d help me sort the box of letters into categories. After that, it’s just a matter of addressing the letters and making sure I cover any of their questions.”

Tess gave Rachel a hug. “Thank you for helping us.”

“You’re welcome.”

Sally said goodbye to Tess and Molly, then picked up a big cardboard box sitting on the living room floor. “I guess there’s no time like the present to sort these out.”

Rachel cleared a space on the coffee table and smiled. “While we’re working you can tell me about Max. Does he like his new home?”

“He likes it a lot. I think Todd enjoys Max’s company, too.” Sally picked up an envelope and opened it. “All I need to do is convince Todd that he needs a playmate for Max.”

Rachel reached inside the box. “Are you sure it’s Max that needs the playmate?”

Sally’s face flamed hotter than her red nail polish. “There’s no point getting your hopes up. I think I’m doomed to be single for the rest of my life.”

Rachel laughed as she opened the envelope in her hands. “I don’t think so. You just haven’t found the right person.”

Sally concentrated on the letter she was holding. She knew from personal experience that it wasn’t finding the right person that was hard. The hard part was figuring out what to do with them once you knew they were special.

***

Sally leaned her elbows on the table at Angel Wings Café. For three days, they’d been trying to find another venue for Carolyn’s wedding. Everything was fully booked or so expensive that Carolyn and Wayne couldn’t afford it.

“I don’t know what to do,” Carolyn said. “We’d get married in mom and dad’s backyard if it was bigger, but there’s no way we’d be able to fit everyone in there.”

The front door opened and Molly came rushing into the café. “I’m sorry I’m late. My last client took longer than I thought.” She dropped her bag on the floor and put her laptop case on the table. “Ida Cranshaw wanted some photos taken of her holding her great-granddaughter. They’re going to be beautiful. Have you ordered something to drink?”

Sally nodded. “Tess said she’d make you a cup of tea when you arrive.”

A wide smile lit Molly’s face. “I’m spoiled. I’ll just go and let Tess…”

“You don’t have to let me know you’re here,” Tess said. She left a wooden tray beside Molly’s laptop. A pretty silver teapot and white porcelain cup sat in the middle of the tray. “I’ve got a cheese scone heating in the microwave for you.”

Molly sat at the table. “Aren’t you joining us?”

Tess shook her head. “Kate couldn’t come in this afternoon, so I’m doing everything at the moment.”

“Is Caitlin working today?” Sally asked. Caitlin was eighteen years old and worked part-time at the café. She kept everyone amused with stories about college life, although knowing Caitlin’s imagination, she wasn’t sure how many of them were true.

“She’ll be here in fifteen minutes. If you’re still trying to find somewhere to have Carolyn’s wedding, I’ll come and join you after she arrives.”

Molly poured a cup of tea and looked at Carolyn’s unhappy face. “I take it you haven’t found the perfect substitute venue?”

Carolyn shook her head. “I wish we had. At the moment, we’ve got our names down at three places. They’re waiting for final deposits to be paid. If one of those people don’t pay, we’ll get the room. But the chance of that happening is pretty remote.”

“Let’s think outside the box,” Sally said.

Molly opened her laptop. “Are there any places in Bozeman that mean a lot to you, Carolyn? You might have spent time there as a child, or maybe Wayne took you somewhere special on your first date?”

Carolyn frowned at Molly. “I grew up on my grandparents’ ranch and Wayne took me to the movies on our first date. They’re not the kind of places where romantic memories are made.”

“They could be,” Molly said with a twinkle in her eyes.

Sally laughed. “Only someone who believes in leprechauns and fairies would say that.”

“There’s nothing wrong with a little romance. Not that it did me much good.” Molly turned her laptop around and showed Carolyn some photos. “What about these places? They’re all locations around Bozeman. If you like the look of any of them I could ask the owner if we could have your wedding on their property.”

Carolyn looked up from the computer screen. “Do you think they’d let us?”

“There’s no harm in asking.” Molly flicked through the first couple of images. “When you want to see the next photo, push the space bar.”

Sally didn’t know if the photos would make much difference. Most of the shots Molly had taken were either of people or the land. Unless Carolyn wanted to get married in a tent in the middle of nowhere, her choices might be limited.

“This is beautiful…”

Sally pulled her chair across a few inches and looked at the screen. Carolyn was staring at a photo of Gracie, a friend who’d moved to Montana from New Zealand. In the photo, Gracie was as round as a ball with her first pregnancy. At five-foot-one there wasn’t a lot of extra room in her tummy for a baby, but she still managed to look amazing.

Carolyn moved to the next image and Sally enjoyed hearing her sharp intake of breath. The photo on the screen was Sally’s all time favorite. The sun was streaming through Gracie’s deep red hair and her hands were reaching up into the sky. The smile on Gracie’s face was pure joy. You could feel the wonder and excitement of the moment, the anticipation of what the next few months would bring.

Carolyn looked across at Molly. “You tell such amazing stories in your photographs.”

Molly’s cheeks turned pink. “Thank you. My granny used to say that I was born to be a photographer.”

“She wasn’t wrong,” Carolyn murmured. She looked more closely at the laptop. “Where were these photos taken?”

“At Gracie’s brother’s ranch, half an hour west of Bozeman.”

Carolyn leaned forward. “For a minute I thought the barn looked familiar. My sisters and I used to run wild in my grandma’s barn. We pretended we were living in our own magic kingdom. Stacey was convinced the barn mice would turn into beautiful white horses, just like in Cinderella.”

“And you’d meet your handsome princes,” Molly said with a sigh.

Carolyn laughed. “No, we never got that far. Stacey and Kimberly got caught up in the drama of losing their shoes. If anyone ever cleans out the barn, I swear they’ll find at least ten pairs of shoes hidden in the loft.”

Sally watched Carolyn’s face. The barn on her grandma’s ranch meant a lot to her. Maybe, if they cleaned the barn out, it would make the perfect wedding venue. “I’ve got an idea.”