Chapter 10
A knock on the door woke Kelly out of a deep sleep. She rolled over and looked at the clock, seeing it was nearly noon. She groaned.
“Yeah?”
Ava popped her head in, looking ready for the day. “Well, hello sleepyhead.”
Kelly grabbed a pillow and pulled it over her head. “Is it just me, or did we drink too much last night?”
Ava laughed and sat on the edge of the bed. “ You drank too much.”
Kelly pulled the pillow away and did her best to scoot up into a sitting position. “Did I make a fool of myself?”
“Aside from walking into a glass door? No.”
Kelly tossed the pillow at Ava, who caught it. “I was sober when I did that.”
“I know.” Ava studied her and tilted her head. “How are you doing?”
Kelly shrugged. “I’m fine.” She pulled another pillow onto her lap and fiddled with the edge. “I really like him.”
“I can tell.”
“So what do I do?”
Ava sighed. “Do you see yourself moving here?”
“I don’t know.” Kelly smiled. “You know, Miles made a joke yesterday about me filling the event coordinator position to take a load off his mom.”
Ava’s eyes widened. “What did you say?”
“I only said that I wished I could. Then the subject changed. I don’t think he was serious.”
“Or maybe he was worried you’d shoot him down, so he played it off as a joke.”
Kelly sighed. “I think that’s wishful thinking.”
“Girl, with the way he was watching you last night, it’s not wishful thinking.”
She blushed. “He wasn’t watching me.”
“Oh please. That man can cook, and he burned a burger because he was staring at you. A hamburger , Kel. Those are on the restaurant menu. He probably makes at least fifty daily. And he burned one.”
“That doesn’t prove anything.”
Ava snorted. “Yeah. Okay. Whatever you need to tell yourself.”
“So what’s the plan today?” Kelly asked, changing the subject. Thinking about any feelings developing between them needed to be suppressed. She couldn’t entertain that idea right now—not when she wasn’t sure if she could leave Colorado.
Ava looked at her watch and stood. “I’m going on that hike that the influencer posted about before she was injured. I want to see how hard it actually is.”
Kelly laughed. “Want me to join you?”
“Nah. I’m an independent woman. Besides, you probably have wedding stuff to do.”
“Not much to do today. But I think I might start setting up early. Miles told me the ballroom is empty until the event. I think we’re going to be short-staffed, so I might get a head start.”
Ava paused. “Do you want me to stay and help?” Then, she crossed her fingers and squeezed her eyes shut. “Please say no. Please say no.”
Kelly snorted. “No. Go have fun.”
Ava giggled. “If you insist.” She waved and disappeared through the door.
Kelly pulled herself out of bed and went to the shower, forcing herself to wake up.
If she wanted to be productive at all, she needed to get a move on it.
She left the house and walked down the street toward town.
With a quick stop at the coffee shop, she grabbed an iced coffee and breakfast sandwich before walking to the resort, enjoying her sandwich on the way.
She walked inside and felt at home as she smiled and waved at the staff she passed. Everyone was so friendly and already knew who she was despite her not having been there for very long. Then she walked to the ballroom and pulled open the door.
The room was a large space. So much work needed to be done before the wedding on Saturday.
She looked at the layout that had been drawn up for her so she’d know where everything was typically placed for events.
Then she walked over to a door and pulled it open, finding a large storage space with tables neatly folded up.
She set her coffee and bag down on the floor outside the door and then went into the room and rolled a table out.
Once she moved it to the far end of the room, she unfolded and flipped it right side up without too much trouble.
“One down, nineteen to go,” she mumbled.
After the seventh table was set up, she sighed and slid down onto the floor next to where her coffee still sat.
Her arms shook with exhaustion as she took a sip of her now watered-down coffee.
Doing it alone had been a terrible idea.
It would be much faster and a lot less taxing having a few people do it at once.
The door at the far end of the ballroom opened, and Kelly watched as Miles walked in. He looked at the few tables that had been set up with furrowed brows before he scanned the room and spotted her sitting on the floor.
“Kelly? What are you doing?” Miles asked, walking toward her. “We aren’t planning to set up until tomorrow.”
She lifted her hand in a lame wave. “I’m getting a head start.”
He stopped in front of her, and his eyebrows raised. “By yourself?”
“I’m trying to, but I’m already tired.”
He chuckled. “I’m not surprised. Those tables are heavy.
” He reached a hand down and took hers, pulling her to her feet.
“Can you show me where you all decided the cake and catering would go? We usually do it over here.” He motioned toward a section of the room.
“But I hadn’t gone over the final plans with my mom before she got sick. ”
Kelly fished the notebook out of her bag and flipped through the pages to the diagram of the room. She frowned. “Um, I don’t even see the food or cake tables on here.”
Miles furrowed his brows and leaned closer to Kelly to see the book in her hands. The scent of vanilla and butter washed over her. She suspected he had been working on the cake that morning.
“That’s weird. My mom is usually really organized. May I?” She handed him the notebook, and he flipped through several pages before sighing and going back to the page with the diagram on it. “I guess we’ll make do. Do you think the setup still works over here?”
Kelly looked down at the diagram and then looked back up at the room. Her mind formed so many ideas of how much better the room could be laid out. “Why don’t you do the catering and cake over there?”
“No specific reason. The last event coordinator planned it that way, and we just kept following it to make things easier.”
Kelly tapped her lips and looked around the room. “I think we should move the food tables over there.” She pointed to the opposite end. “You’ll have an easier time getting in and out of the room with the catering from those back doors than you would in the original spot.”
Miles looked at where she pointed and then at the back doors that led to the kitchen. “I like it. What about the cake?”
Kelly looked at the diagram again, considering any space that wasn’t taken up by items the bride requested.
She walked up to a wall and smiled. “How about here? The bride wants her and her husband’s names to be written out in glitter letters.
Your mom never made a note of where they would go, so I was just going to pick a spot, but I think behind the cake would be perfect. Especially for photo opportunities.”
Miles smiled. “I agree. You’re a natural at this.”
She blushed. “Thank you.”
They stared at each other for a moment before he nodded toward the doors. “Come with me. I’ll make you lunch, and you can rest for a bit. If things slow down in the kitchen, I’ll come help you get a few more things set up.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that.”
He took a step closer, so he was mere inches away from her. “I want to.”
She’d be in big trouble if this continued. When she went back home, she wasn’t sure her heart could handle it.