Chapter 34
Thirty-four
The next morning, Floss arrived on the doorstep as they were sitting down for breakfast, grinning like a Cheshire cat. She opened her laptop and sat it in front of Kenzie and Ewan.
For a moment, Kenzie looked across at Floss uncertainly, then stared at the screen displaying the article they’d written, her eyes widening as she took in the newspaper name. A major national newspaper, under the human-interest section.
‘How on earth did you manage to get that in there so fast?’ ‘I told him it was urgent. He had a space, we filled it.’ She shrugged.
Kenzie was beginning to suspect that Floss’s previous career had been much bigger than she’d let on.
‘Now we do a bit of appropriate placement and ta-da!’ she said with a flourish of her hand. ‘We’ve nipped any other version of the story in the bud.’
Kenzie turned her attention back to the article, and had to admit, it was a rather captivating headline.
From Stranger to Soulmate:
A Wedding Planner’s Unexpected Twist!
It starts out as a romcom movie opening scene: the groom, the wedding planner and their unfinished business.
That was the surprise businessman Ewan Campbell got when he met the woman he’d let slip away years before in a Cinderella moment—without even knowing her name—never to see her again …
until a chance meeting revealed her as his wedding planner.
However, this is no Hollywood movie; this was the reality for wedding planner to the rich and famous: CEO of Events by Kenzie, Mackenzie Knight.
‘Neither of us had any idea who the other was until we arrived at the meeting,’ Knight explained over a delicious shiraz at the picturesque Swagman Creek vineyard.
Ewan stopped reading to look up at Floss with grin, clearly appreciating his sister’s opportunistic marketing.
‘We didn’t exchange surnames, so we could never track each other down,’ Campbell explained, despite both parties attempting to over the years. ‘As you can imagine, it was quite a shock to find ourselves sitting across the table from each other.’
However, there was another twist to this story: what Mr Campbell didn’t know at the time was that he’d fathered a child to Ms Knight all those years ago, and this added an extra dilemma.
‘I was under the impression he was a Scottish backpacker, due to return home after the night we met. Then, a month or so later, I discovered I was pregnant. I had no way of contacting him. I didn’t know his last name or where he came from, so I just got on with it.
Becoming a mother has been the most challenging yet rewarding experience of my life,’ she continued.
However, faced with not only unexpectedly bumping into the man she’d never been able to forget, and then realising he was about to marry someone else, Knight was caught in the awkward predicament of whether or not to tell him about his child and risk ruining his wedding.
‘I immediately withdrew my services as their wedding planner after the meeting. It wasn’t appropriate to continue, seeing as Ewan and I had had a previous relationship, albeit a long time ago and with no contact since, but I’ve built my business on professionalism and honesty and, while I didn’t admit to the bride-to-be the real reason behind my withdrawal, it was purely because I wanted to avoid upsetting the relationship between herself and Ewan.
‘In all good faith, once I was aware of who he was, I felt he deserved to at least know he had a child, however, I made it clear to him I was in no way needing him to be a part of our life, and there were no ill feelings if he chose not to get to know her.’
‘It was a huge shock, to say the least,’ Campbell agreed. ‘But how could I not want to step up and take responsibility of a child I helped create? Kenzie has done a remarkable job raising our child alone for four years, giving up a number of her own dreams in order to do so.
‘I felt terrible that I’d been oblivious to the whole thing, so naturally, I wanted to change that and be part of this child’s life.
My fiancée was understandably upset by the news and, sadly, we couldn’t come to an agreement on my decision to want to be part of my child’s life moving forward, so we parted ways.
Neither Kenzie nor I had intentionally set out to hurt anyone.
Neither of us intended to be more than co-parents initially.
It was all about getting to know my child and developing a relationship with her, and it’s only been during this process that our previous feelings for each other have had a chance to reappear.
Neither of us went into this expecting to rekindle a romance. It was just something that developed.’
The article went on to disclaim any form of cheating or dishonesty, concentrating on the twist-of-fate surprise aspect of the whole event.
Floss had included other photos from the day at the vineyard with herself, as opposed to the original one she’d put up on social media of just Ewan and Kenzie, making it seem less like a romantic rendezvous and more like a relaxed family gathering, as well as mention of the vineyard and some pretty nice shots of the shop, cafe and vines.
‘I think it covers all the bases. Any negative spin she wants to try and put out there is only going to come off as exactly what it is—bitter jealousy. I mean, if she doesn’t go out and deliberately try to ruin your business, most people will be quite sympathetic towards her.’
‘In all fairness, it was a really shitty thing to have happen,’ Kenzie said with a small wince.
‘It happened to all of you,’ Floss pointed out. ‘You two didn’t sneak around behind her back or anything. You were all victims in this.’
‘I guess,’ she conceded.
‘Right, if everyone’s happy with it, I’m off to get this circulated,’ Floss said, picking up her laptop.
‘Thanks, sis,’ Ewan said, hugging her.
‘No one threatens my family,’ she said lightly, but Kenzie detected the steely edge beneath her words and made a mental note never to get on Floss’s bad side.
‘Thank you,’ Kenzie said, standing to hug her as well.
‘I think that should do the trick,’ Ewan said, turning to face her after his sister left.
‘I hope so,’ Kenzie said. The worry over her business and future clientele still weighed heavily on her mind.
‘If it doesn’t, I promise, we’ll deal with it together,’ he said, stepping forward to hug her tightly. His warmth seeped into her body, giving her a renewed determination, and for the first time in a long while, Kenzie felt like maybe she didn’t have to fight so hard on her own.
‘Was that Floss?’ Vera asked, walking in and taking in their closeness. A small smile touched her lips.
‘Yeah, she was just showing us the article she put up,’ Ewan said without releasing Kenzie. Clearly, this was his way of announcing their budding new relationship.
‘Well, if anyone can fight fire with fire, it’s Floss,’ she said. ‘I’m on my way out to View Club, I’ll be back after lunch,’ she announced, heading out the door.
‘Does your mother ever stop?’ She’d been frequently heading out to one meeting or another throughout their visit.
‘Put it this way: I’ve never seen her sit down and watch an entire movie. I was thinking we could do something today?’
Kenzie’s phone rang and she reluctantly picked it up, groaning when she saw the name on the screen.
‘It’s Mercedes,’ she said, nausea rising up inside her. ‘I’m going to have to take this.’
‘Sure,’ Ewan said, taking a step back.
‘Sorry,’ she said.
‘It’s okay, Kenzie. Take the call.’
‘Mercedes. Hi.’
‘Kenzie. I’ve just had a phone call from Sasha Delsanto.’
Oh God, no. It was happening. This was her worst nightmare.
‘Our parents belong to the same yacht club,’ Mercedes continued. ‘She had a lot of things to say about you.’
‘Mercedes, I can assure you, the whole incident isn’t the scandal that it’s being made out to be.’
‘Oh, I know that,’ Mercedes said airily. Kenzie could just picture her perfectly manicured nails and fingers adorned with sparkling diamonds waving about. ‘I read the paper earlier. I was just calling you to let you know she’s trying to recruit support to get your business blacklisted.’
Kenzie felt the blood drain from her face, leaving her a little light-headed.
‘Of course, I told her I wasn’t going to give up the most sought-after wedding planner in town,’ Mercedes continued idly. ‘I did wish her luck finding one half as good, though I suppose she doesn’t need a wedding planner anymore,’ she added.
Kenzie went silent. That was not what she’d been expecting to hear. ‘Uh … thank you? I … thanks,’ she stammered, then closed her eyes. Way to sound like a professional.
‘I can’t stand Sasha,’ Mercedes continued, apparently oblivious to Kenzie’s floundering.
‘She’s always trying to crash my parties and copy my content.
She tries so hard to be some kind of high-end influencer, but she has no following.
’ She managed to sound bored and scathing at the same time.
‘I heard she’d been going around telling everyone that she only wanted you because I had you.
So tacky. Anyway, just wanted to let you know.
I’ve shared your article on my socials as well.
Sasha won’t be finding much support. No one can stand her. ’
‘Well … thank you, Mercedes.’
‘Oh, and I’ve had a total inspo change on the veil. I’m thinking a mantilla now. So we’ll need to adjust the theme. I’ll send pics. Talk soon.’
The call disconnected and Kenzie slowly lowered her phone and placed it on the table.
‘Not more bad news?’ Ewan asked, his face a mask of concern.
‘Actually, quite the opposite.’
The past few days had been an absolute rollercoaster of emotions, but it was time to step back and take a moment. ‘What were you going to suggest earlier?’ she asked, giving him her full attention.
‘How about we have a re-do of yesterday’s plan? Just the three of us?’ he suggested, leaning his head close to her ear as his arms wrapped around her waist.