The Wedding Wrecker

5. Emma

5

EMMA

THREE YEARS LATER

" S o," Brad said, cutting into his steak. "Lily tells me you're a wedding planner?"

I took a long sip of wine, buying time. Lily—my traitor of a sister—had promised this wouldn't be a setup. Just a casual dinner with her, her fiancé Marcus, and his friend from work who "happened" to be in town.

“Totally not a double date,” she had said.

Right.

"I do small events," I said carefully. "Intimate gatherings. Twenty guests max."

"Really?" Brad's eyebrows rose. "Because Lily was showing me pictures of that castle wedding you did in Ireland. Looked pretty major to me."

I shot my sister a look that promised revenge. She just smiled innocently and snuggled closer to Marcus.

"That was a while ago." I stabbed a piece of salmon with more force than necessary. "I prefer a... different approach now."

"She's being modest," Lily cut in. "My sister used to do the most incredible weddings. Still could, if she'd stop playing it so safe."

"I'm not playing it safe," I protested. "I'm being practical. I can do more weddings this way and there’s far less potential for disaster. Sure, they’re not as… epic, but it’s just a performative ceremony anyway, right?”

“God, listen to you,” Lily laughed, but there was a touch of worry in her eyes. “What did you do with my lovesick big sister?”

Marcus chuckled. "Practical isn't always better. Sometimes you have to take risks." He squeezed Lily's hand. "Like asking out the pretty girl at the park even though she's way out of your league."

They shared one of those sickeningly sweet couples' looks. Three years ago, I would have found it romantic. Now it just made me want to check their phones for dating apps. I could almost see the ghost of James “The Wedding Wrecker” Carter standing behind them, smiling with sinister promise that it would all come crashing down before the end.

God, I was turning into such a cynic.

"Tell me about your events," Brad said, drawing my attention back to him. He wasn't unattractive—tall, nice smile, probably made good money based on the suit he wore and his watch. In short, there was no reason I should feel such a natural aversion to giving him a shot. In fact, I probably would’ve been thrilled to be set up with someone like him before…

Before James. Sometimes, when I closed my eyes, I still saw that image of him standing in the middle of the ruined Harrison-McNamara wedding. That image haunted me. He haunted me…

"Not much to tell," I said. "Small ceremonies. Simple receptions. No surprises."

"Sounds boring," Lily muttered into her wine glass.

"Boring is underrated." I gave her a pointed look. "Boring means no one ends up crying in the bathroom or finding out their fiancé has been sleeping with the entire wedding party."

Brad's eyes widened slightly.

"What my sister means," Lily jumped in, "is that she's incredibly talented but currently wasting that talent on backyard barbecues and courthouse ceremonies."

"They're not all backyard?—"

"When was the last time you did something that scared you?" Lily challenged. "Something that actually mattered?"

"I came here tonight, even though I knew you were probably going to try to set me up with some guy. Again. ”

Brad choked on his wine.

"Sorry," I told him. "That came out wrong. I just... I like knowing what to expect these days."

“All good,” Brad said. “ Somebody told me you agreed to a blind date. I didn’t realize you were caught off guard.” He gave Marcus a pointed look.

“Anyway,” Lily said carefully, cutting in with that way of hers. Lily was the baby of the family, and she’d been the cutest baby on Earth. Then she was the most adorable toddler anyone had ever seen. And now she was so eye-wateringly pretty that old men couldn’t help themselves from shuffling over to her and paying her creepy compliments wherever she went. In other words, she was used to batting her long eyelashes, smiling, and being forgiven for all her sins. “There’s something I wanted to ask you, Emma.”

I froze with my fork halfway to my mouth. "What?"

"Marcus and I want you to plan our wedding. At the Timber Vale Lodge in Breckenridge, Colorado."

"Lily..."

"It's perfect," she continued, enthusiasm building. "The resort is gorgeous, the views are incredible, and you know winter weddings are totally your thing. And I only know about the place because I snooped in one of your old ‘dream venue scouting report’ folders."

"One, I didn’t give you permission to go through my things. And two, Winter weddings were my thing," I said. "And you know I don't do destination weddings anymore."

"But this is different. It's me. Your favorite sister."

"You're my only sister."

"Exactly! Which means you have to do it."

I set down my fork, trying to ignore the way my heart rate had picked up. "Can we talk about this later?"

"No, because you'll just come up with more excuses." Lily leaned forward. "Em, it's been three years. You can't let one bad experience?—"

"Bad experience?" I laughed. "Lily, my career almost ended. Do you know how long it took to rebuild my reputation? How many tiny, perfect, absolutely-nothing-can-go-wrong weddings I had to do before people would trust me again?"

"And now they do trust you," she said softly. "Which means it's time to trust yourself."

Marcus cleared his throat. "If it helps, my family are all on board with you planning it for us."

I blinked. "You already talked to Marcus’ family about this?"

"The Wellingtons have certain... expectations," he said with a slightly apologetic smile. “Lily wanted to make sure they were okay with it before we asked you.”

Two years ago, Lily met Marcus and had no idea who he was related to for weeks. Eventually, she learned his family is old money. They had ties to the Rockafellers, apparently, and were heavily involved in the Standard Oil empire. According to my internet searches, they were multi-millionaires with gorgeous properties in their name across the country. Being hired by them to plan a wedding…

It made the Harrison-McNamara wedding look like a courthouse wedding by comparison.

"Did you know about this?" I asked Brad, who had been suspiciously quiet.

He held up his hands. "I just came for the steak. And you,” he added with an awkward smile.

Lily looked at me, eyes pleading. "No pressure. Just consider it."

Right. No pressure. Just my sister's wedding. At one of the most exclusive resorts in Colorado. For one of the wealthiest families in the country.

What could possibly go wrong?

"I'll think about it," I said, knowing I'd already lost this battle.

"Perfect!" Lily clapped her hands. "Oh, and one more tiny detail..."

"What?"

"The wedding's in six months."

I choked a little, coughing into my napkin. "Six months? For a winter destination wedding at the Timber Vale Lodge? That's impossible. I don’t even know if they’d still have an opening."

"Marcus’ dad called in a favor already. They’re holding our date until we can confirm. Besides, nothing's impossible for Emma Marshall," Lily said with complete confidence. "You're the one who taught me that."

Yeah, but that was the old Emma. The one who believed in fairy tales and happy endings. The one who hadn't watched a perfect wedding implode in spectacular fashion. The one who hadn't been stupid enough to fall for?—

No. Not going there.

I looked at my sister's hopeful face, then at Marcus's encouraging smile. Even Brad looked invested now, though that might have just been indigestion. He was going pretty hard on the greasy appetizers and bread.

"Fine," I heard myself say. "I'll do it."

Lily squealed and launched herself around the table to hug me. "I knew you would! This is going to be amazing."

"But," I added, extracting myself from her grip, "we do it my way. No surprises. No last-minute changes. And absolutely no uninvited guests."

"Of course," Marcus agreed smoothly. "Whatever you need."

I took another long drink of wine, trying to quiet the voice in my head screaming that this was a terrible idea.

"To new beginnings," Lily proposed, raising her glass.

We all clinked glasses. As I sipped my wine, I found myself studying Marcus for signs of trouble. Ever since Ireland, I’d had the irrational fear that every single wedding was going to blow up in my face. Somehow, I hadn’t had a single disaster in three years, but it was as if the scar left behind wouldn’t heal.

I couldn’t look at the “perfect, happy couple” and not wonder how it would all come crashing down for them.

But that was silly. I was just being paranoid. Marcus came from so much money he could have any girl he wanted. He was handsome, rich, and charming. And my sister wasn’t the kind of girl you let go when you got a hold of her.

I found myself smiling as we drank to our toast.

Maybe Lily was right. Maybe planning this huge, high-stakes wedding could actually be a good thing.

The only downside was I’d finally have to meet these mega-rich Wellingtons in the flesh for the first time. And I assumed it would also mean Marcus’ mother getting heavily involved with the planning process.

A multi-millionaire old money mother dipping her hands in my business… Yay.

I forced a smile in Lily’s direction.

Potential disaster, ghosts of the wedding wrecker, and a head-on-collision with old money and all the pretentious looks that would come along with it.

Yay. This might just be horrible.