The Chesapeake Diaries Series (173 page)

“I’m glad. I enjoyed the day, too.” He made the light at Charles and drove back to the inn.

“I am sorry you’re leaving tomorrow,” he told her after he parked in front of the double doors.

“I’ll be back soon.”

He nodded, then leaned across the seat and took her face in his hands. “It can’t be soon enough for me.”

She turned her head and kissed him, taking him by surprise. He could taste the last little bit of heat from the chili peppers in the ice cream on her tongue, hot and spicy. He could have sworn it tasted even better now, and he went back for a second dip. When she finally sat back, she touched the side of his face with her fingertips.

“I’ll let you know when my next meeting with Susanna is going to be,” she told him.

He pushed a strand of hair back from her face and nodded. “I’ll be here.”

She kissed the side of his face and jumped out of the car before he could grab her and kiss her again. He looked out the window and saw her mother in the
doorway. Grace waved and he waved back, then with a final wave to Lucy, he drove around the loop and headed back down the lane.

He took the long way home, driving somewhat aimlessly, and tried to sort out his feelings. He found himself at the cove they’d talked about earlier, and parked and got out of the car. The sky was the same shade of gray as the water, and the afternoon had already made its first turn toward dusk. The swans he knew still nested there were nowhere in sight, and slivers of ice pelted his face. He stood looking out over the water until his face stung.

He didn’t want her to leave tomorrow. He didn’t want her to ever leave again, but there was nothing he could do about it. He understood that she had a thriving business—one she’d worked hard to build and was justifiably proud of. She had a whole life somewhere else that he wasn’t a part of, and while he didn’t like it one bit, that was the reality. He wished he could do something that could change what was, but those were foolish thoughts and Clay wasn’t generally a foolish man. But Lucy owned a big part of his past, and with luck, perhaps there’d be a place for him in her future.

Whatever it took
, he’d told her, and he meant it. As far as he was concerned, he was in this for as long as it might take and wherever it would lead. Of course, he was hoping it would all lead her back to St. Dennis, and to him.

Time would tell. He was in no particular hurry. After all, he’d already waited twenty years.

Chapter 12

On Monday afternoon, Lucy was just wrapping up a call with a potential client when Bonnie swept into her office. Lucy held up one hand in a give-me-a-minute gesture, and Bonnie paced until the conversation concluded.

“Sorry. That was a possible November wedding,” Lucy said as she hung up. “What’s doing? Where’d you go?”

“I was in Sacramento,” Bonnie replied. “Just for yesterday and this morning, but I needed to spend some time with my honey.”

“Your honey?” Lucy raised an eyebrow. “Who’s your honey?”

“Bob, of course.”

“How did he go from ‘the ex’ to ‘my honey’ so quickly?”

Bonnie shrugged. “When it works, it works.”

“So it’s going well.”

“It’s going … well, yes, surprisingly well. He’s a different man since he stopped drinking.”

“Just take it slowly, Bon. You know what they say about a leopard and his spots.”

“No one is more cautious than I am,” Bonnie told her. “Believe me, no one knows better than I. But he really has changed, in big ways and in more subtle ways as well. I’m willing to take it day by day. I’m still in love with him, what can I say?”

“And he …”

“Says he’s still very much in love with me, and I believe him. The move up north was the best thing he could have done for himself. He’s painting again—good stuff, too. Gorgeous landscapes.” Bonnie slumped in the closest chair. “He should never come back to Southern California. Not even for a visit. It’s like poison for him.”

“Because of his family being here?”

Bonnie nodded. “But enough about me. How was your little vacation in charming little St. Dennis?”

“Too short.” Lucy smiled. “But charming.”

“Do we have a date for the Magellan wedding?”

“We do. My brother had to do all manner of finagling with other reservations, but they have nailed down the last Saturday in June.”

“Which is what the bride and groom wanted, right?”

“That was their first choice, yes.”

“Well, then, hallelujah. Get that contract signed.” Bonnie took off her shoes and lifted her feet to rest on the chair next to the one she was sitting on.

“I’m working on it right now, but it’s massive. I called Susanna, told her we could confirm the date, but I need to work our pricing. She said send the contract ASAP and she’d sign it, to put in a flat fee for me and add an ‘as required’ clause plus estimates for all the extras.” Lucy sighed. “I’m not comfortable doing
that—I like the numbers solidly nailed down—but this woman is tenacious. She said just put in a clause to the effect that all numbers are estimates and subject to revision. She wants to get moving on this since now we’re down to a little more than five months till the wedding and there’s a lot of work to be done.”

“As long as you have her name and Magellan’s name on the contract and he signs it, I don’t know what else you can do at this point but send it.”

“That’s what she wants, that’s what we’ll do. I am trying to be as thorough as possible, but some of the things she wants I can’t get a price on right now. Some things will have to wait until my next trip to St. Dennis.”

“Which will be when?”

“End of the month.”

“Do what you have to do to keep her happy. We’re going to make a killing on this one. The publicity alone is going to be priceless. Just look at the mileage we got from the MacGregor wedding. We’re still getting calls from brides who saw the pictures in
People
.”

“As long as we don’t have to turn away too many other affairs because I’m tied up with Susanna and there’s no one here to handle them.”

“Not to worry. We have Corrine Miles lined up to start in …” Bonnie pulled up her sleeve to look at her watch. “Four days. And Ava handled the Carlton wedding on Saturday like a pro. Which she is.”

“All well and good, but I still think we need more support staff, more assistants. We can afford to hire more people.”

“True enough. So let’s work up an ad and have
Angie place it in all the appropriate places. How many assistants do you think?”

“The way things have gone so far this year—and remember, it’s only January—I’m thinking another full-time assistant for each of us. That would be four, with the addition of Ava and Corrine as full-time event planners.”

“Then we’ll hire four new assistants.” Bonnie eased herself off the chair. “By the way, how’d you make out with the Tollivers this morning?”

“Better than I expected,” Lucy confessed. “The contractor really knows his stuff, for which I am infinitely grateful. Knows exactly what to do to build that skating rink and can do it in under six weeks, so we’re good.”

“What’s he going to do? The least technical version, please. Keep it simple.”

Lucy laughed. “Basically, he’ll build a modular rink. Wooden sections that he’ll piece together on their grounds. Then he’ll put some kind of thick plastic liner down, install a refrigeration system, and then just flood the thing and let it freeze. It’s going to use a ridiculous amount of electricity, because he’s going to have to do at least one test run to make sure it freezes, then keep it cold until the party. But the party girl will have her skating rink and everyone will be happy.” She paused. “I still have to find some cattails to plant around the sides.” She made a note on a small pad, then looked up. “Beverly wants as much ‘authentic atmosphere’ as possible.”

Bonnie rolled her eyes and lowered her legs from the chair. “No one can say that Shaefer and Sinclair doesn’t deliver the goods.” She stood and stretched.
“I have about fifty calls to make, so I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

“I’m glad you and Bob are making an effort to work things out,” Lucy said when Bonnie had reached the door.

Bonnie shrugged. “I don’t know that it will work out, but I do know that I could not live with myself if I didn’t at least make the effort. Some things are just worth it, you know?”

“I suppose.” Lucy tapped her fingers on her desktop and watched Bonnie cross the hall to her office.

For her partner’s sake, Lucy did hope that Bonnie and her ex-husband could work out their problems, but if, as Bonnie seemed to feel, Bob was better off in Sacramento than in Los Angeles, what exactly did that mean for the “Shaefer” in Shaefer & Sinclair if they did get back together? It would make for one hell of a commute.

Not my decision
, Lucy reminded herself.
Not my life
.

She opened the electronic file she’d started on the Magellan wedding. First up was to put everything in order of priority—those details that would take the longest to work out, the items that would take the most time to order, what could be accomplished from her office and what could only be done in St. Dennis. She’d need a schematic of the tent and of the gazebo, which, she recalled, would have to be moved. She had to get the contact information on the landscaper Brooke mentioned. She’d need to bring Dan into those discussions, since he was the majority owner of the inn.

She’d have to meet with Olivia from Petals and
Posies and go over all the florals they’d need. Would the peony season stretch into June this year so that Susanna could have all the flowers she wanted? Lucy doubted that they would, but she’d ask. She’d also ask Olivia to sketch out a design for the inside of the tent based on the comments Susanna had made, then they’d go over it with her and see if it met with her approval. If not, it would be back to the drawing board, literally. If it was approved, they’d have to figure out how many dozens of each flower they were going to need and get them on order to ensure they’d be in reserve.

She made a list of other vendors they’d need so that she could discuss the possibilities with the bride, and the groom, if he decided to participate. Based on his involvement the previous week, Lucy suspected he would not, but he could change his mind. There were a lot of decisions that would have to be made fairly quickly, so the sooner Lucy and Susanna addressed those issues, the better.

She wrote up all her ideas in an email and sent it off to Susanna, asking for her thoughts and confirming their earlier conversation. She’d also attached photos of some very cool and original invitations, and again asked about the guest list, to which Susanna replied that she was still working on it. They’d agreed to meet at the inn in three weeks—Susanna had wanted to meet in two, but Lucy had a wedding that she’d been working on for over a year and there was no way she could pass off the handling of the Big Day to someone else, not even Bonnie. Her bride had counted on her for every decision that had been made for the past thirteen months, and she’d be counting on Lucy
to make sure that each carefully chosen detail was just so. Lucy had made a commitment and she would keep it.

She pulled up her online calendar for the year and, after studying it for a few moments, wished she hadn’t looked when she felt a tickle of anxiety creeping up her spine. The next few months would be murder, there was no way around that. She’d be chained to her iPhone and her laptop straight through the summer. Well, she and Bonnie had set out to be the best, hadn’t they? When they first opened their doors, they’d dreamed of a day when they’d be in such demand, they’d be turning away clients. They hadn’t quite reached that point yet, but Lucy could see the day approaching, especially after the news of the Magellan wedding broke.

“It’s the whole reality-TV thing,” Bonnie had said once. “Everyone watches what the celebrities do, then they want to do the same thing, because basically, everyone wants to be a celebrity.”

Lucy was starting to believe Bonnie had been right. They’d had more than a few calls from brides who wanted the same flowers/decor/favors/cake that Dallas MacGregor had had.

It was all good, though. Last night, at dinner with her family, Daniel had mentioned how the income from the Magellan wedding alone would make it possible for him to have the inn’s roof replaced, and maybe even replace the rotted dock they’d had to remove two summers ago. It had given her the strangest sensation to realize that her West Coast party business could have such a positive effect on her family’s East Coast inn. The inn was part of her heritage, part
of her family’s history, and knowing that she was contributing to its preservation had made her secretly proud.

“If we booked a few more events like that,” Daniel had said, “I could redo the bathrooms, make them more like the spa types you see in the really high-end hotels. Wouldn’t Dad be proud?”

“I think Dad would be very proud of the way you’ve run this business, whether or not you get those new bathrooms,” she’d replied.

“I’m sure he’s proud of both of you,” Grace had assured them. “And I’m sure it’s making him just as pleased as punch to see the two of you working together. I think it was always his dream that his children would run the inn as a team.”

“Well, I’m afraid that’s one dream that isn’t likely to come true,” Lucy’d told her, “not beyond this summer, anyway. And even at that, Ford’s not here. Who knows where he’ll end up, once he decides he’s had enough?”

After dinner, Daniel’s kids, D.J. and Diana, had pulled out the board games and insisted on several games of Clue. Grace had begged off the last game and gone to her room, and Lucy lost the hope she’d had of asking her mother about the Ouija board and the other insinuations that had been made about her relationship with Alice Ridgeway. Next trip back, Lucy had promised herself. Next time, she’d make time to get to the bottom of all that.

For now, she had a mountain of work in front of her and all of last week to make up for. She closed the Magellan file and opened the one for Saturday evening’s Considine wedding. She pulled up her “week
before to-do list” and went to the page she’d headed
STATE OF THE WEDDING PHONE CALLS
. She reached for her phone and dialed the first number on the list, that of the floral designer. After Lucy checked in with him, she’d call the band, the photographer, the videographer, minister, the string quartet for the church, the limo service, the caterer, and her “day of” staff. After all those calls had been made and she was assured all the ducks were in a row, she’d call the bride and give her a little reassurance that everything was on target.