Chapter 10 #2
Cassie reached out and shook the woman’s hand, then turned toward Drea. “This is Drea. We’ll both be helping with your wedding.”
Nellie smiled. “Wonderful. It’s great to meet you both. Let me show you where we’ll be.”
They followed Nellie outside to a brick courtyard.
A fountain stood at one end with a brick wall behind it covered in ivy.
Shuttered windows from the second story of the cottage opened up to the courtyard.
The neighboring buildings formed the east and west walls.
One had windows casting a warm glow onto the courtyard, but the other side was a plain wall.
“Hey, honey. Sorry I’m late.” They all turned as a tall, blonde woman walked up to Nellie and leaned down to kiss her.
“We were just getting started.” Nellie placed her arm behind her partner’s back and gestured to Cassie. “Katherine, this is Cassie.”
Katherine leaned forward and shook Cassie’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“And this is Drea,” Nellie said.
Katherine’s eyebrows rose. “Drea, nice to see you again.” The sentiment caught Drea by surprise, but as she shook Katherine’s hand, recognition hit her and she smiled.
“You too.”
Nellie seemed confused. “You know each other?”
“Oh, Drea and I knew each other years ago.” Katherine put her arm around Nellie. “Did you show them the wall?”
“Not yet.”
Katherine gestured toward the blank wall. “I’m not sure if anything can be done about this wall, but it seems really stark compared to the warmth of the rest of the courtyard. We wanted to see if you had any ideas.” They both looked from Cassie to Drea, hope filling their eyes.
“We could add some palm trees or lights,” Cassie suggested.
Katherine and Nellie exchanged an unconvinced glance.
Drea looked around the courtyard and at the wall in question, as mural ideas started to percolate. “I could paint something if you’d like. Have it as a feature on that wall.”
Katherine’s eyes lit up. “That’s right. I forgot what an amazing artist you are.”
Drea could feel Cassie’s eyes on her. It wasn’t uncommon for Drea to run into women she’d slept with, but unless Sam was around, she didn’t usually have someone with her making it that much more awkward.
Someone whose opinion she cared about. The thought stopped her.
Did she care about Cassie’s opinion of her?
“Do you have anything in mind?” Nellie asked, ripping Drea from her thoughts.
Drea needed more information to tailor an idea that might be meaningful to the couple. “How did you two meet?” she asked.
Katherine and Nellie turned to each other and smiled. “You tell it,” Katherine said.
“OK,” Nellie said, affection permeating her voice.
“It was on one of those dinner cruises on the river. My family was visiting, so I thought it would be a fun way for them to see part of the city. There was this beautiful woman at the next table,” Nellie tilted her head at Katherine and chuckled, “who was on a date.”
“A horrible date,” Katherine added.
Nellie grimaced. “A horrible first date. My family couldn’t help but notice, and we were all feeling bad for Katherine as the night went on. At one point Katherine got up and went outside, so I went to see if she was okay.” Nellie shrugged. “And that was it.”
Katherine nodded. “That was it.” She grinned at Nellie who beamed back at her.
Drea glanced at Cassie who wore a polite smile that didn’t seem to reach her eyes, but Drea found the story charming and ideas for the painting rushed through her mind. “If you trust me, I can paint something to honor that night.”
Katherine and Nellie searched each other’s eyes, then turned to Drea. “Okay,” they said in unison, laughing at each other’s enthusiasm.
The couple showed Drea and Cassie the ballroom where the reception would be held, going over details about the number of guests, the colors and flowers, food, and table arrangements.
Drea marveled at Cassie’s professionalism, but worried over the distance in her polite responses.
Not noticeable to the couple, but certainly noticeable to Drea.
“There is one other thing,” Nellie said hesitantly. “The baker we had hoped to use for the wedding cake called me earlier this week. A kitchen fire destroyed their oven, and they won’t be able to get the damage repaired and a new oven in for about a month so we need to find a new baker.”
Drea immediately thought of Jody. Working on her cake menu had made her yearn to try Jody’s creations. She turned to Cassie, wondering if they were sharing the same thought.
“I think I might know someone who can help,” Cassie said. “I’ll look into it and let you know.”
“Really? Oh, that would be wonderful.” The stress on Nellie’s face gave way to relief. “We don’t need anything fancy. We’re paying for the wedding ourselves and this venue is taking most of our budget, so we were just going to do a three-tiered chocolate cake.”
Cassie nodded. “Okay, no problem.”
“So, the wedding is the Saturday after Thanksgiving?” Drea asked.
“Yes, we figured our family would visit for the holiday and we could kill two birds with one stone.” Katherine grimaced at the expression. “So to speak.”
Drea nodded. That gave her just over three weeks to paint something that would hopefully make them happy. That would be tight with all of the other things she and Cassie would need to work on together.
“Perfect,” Cassie said. “Well, we’ll be in touch with details. Thanks for trusting your wedding to us. It’s going to be amazing.” The smile on Cassie’s face seemed more genuine than before.
Drea followed Cassie out to their cars. The night had turned dark except for the glow of the streetlamps by the cars and around the square.
She didn’t know if Cassie was upset she knew Katherine, but it wasn’t like Cassie seemed interested in her anyway.
She had barely spoken to her all week after the dance until she touched base about this wedding.
The dance had been on Drea’s mind, but she figured she’d see how Cassie acted at work to determine if it was an issue or just a fluke .
. . a few moments of connection between two people.
Not something to be concerned about or spend days thinking about, like she had.
Cassie turned to her when they reached the sidewalk. “So, you already know Katherine?”
Drea shrugged. “I wouldn’t say I know her. Our paths crossed once. A while ago.”
Cassie nodded, but there seemed to be more hanging in the air between them. Drea prepared to give an explanation, not excited at the prospect of how it might make Cassie view her. But just as quickly the little bit of tension disappeared. “OK, good night,” Cassie said.
Before Drea could respond, Cassie got in her car and drove off, leaving Drea wondering what had just happened.