Chapter 8 Drew
DREW
“No, I’m serious, bro,” Carter gestured at the tall hedge in front of him. “I want this, but at your place.”
I maintained my neutral expression even though what Carter was suggesting was basically impossible.
After all, we were at a botanical garden, where creative plant growing was a full time art form.
Trying to recreate a boxwood maze at the resort where absolutely nothing like this currently existed would require a shit ton of money, and more importantly, time.
“Remember, we’re setting a new standard with our wedding,” Carter said.
“Disruption, baby! And I think a maze like this would be mind blowing, you know? You come off the beach and bam, you’re lost in freaking labyrinth on the way to grab some cocktails.
Maybe we can even hide a second bar inside the maze, for people who can’t find their way out—or who just wanna stay lost a little longer. It’s brilliant, right?”
He glanced at Kristen and she gave him a halfhearted nod. “Sure. I like it.”
She’d been under a dark cloud since the sunflower conversation, which was not the attitude we needed. This planning stage was supposed to be fun and lighthearted.
Emilia and I exchanged a look that didn’t require any words.
We were both keenly aware of client satisfaction—or lack thereof—at all times.
And now we were a united front, so it was in both of our best interest to figure out how to make it right.
We needed our bride and groom to be nothing but delirious with joy and excitement for the event the entire time we were with them.
And most of all, for the entire time they were on camera.
This was a triage for the resort. No sad faces allowed.
I was mindful of the two cameras hovering behind me as I formulated my answer.
“I can appreciate your creativity, Carter. It’s a fantastic idea.
But building a live boxwood maze in the time we have before your wedding might be a challenge.
We can definitely look into trying to source it, but we could also consider doing a faux maze, with artificial plants.
Same effect, but a much easier execution—and much more control for you,” I pointed out, trying to sell the idea.
“You wouldn’t be limited to what live plants can do.
You could pick any shapes you wanted, any colors you wanted, any structure you wanted. ”
Carter was not sold. He made a disgusted noise. “Fake plants? No way. Tacky.”
“Well, we have to consider the comfort of our other guests as well. For example, a couple staying with us celebrating their golden anniversary probably don’t want to have to navigate a maze to get to the ocean.”
“We’ll rent out the entire place,” Carter insisted. “Problem solved.”
I forced a smile despite knowing that we were already near capacity for their wedding weekend with their room block. “I can check to see if that option is available.”
“So is that a green light? We good?”
Everyone turned to me. There was no way I could outright deny the request without looking bad on the show. Either I’d be the dick who flatly refused to give the couple what they wanted to be happy or I’d be the useless moron who hemmed and hawed and failed to get anything done.
Why had I agreed to take this on?
“I think our next step is talking to your florist to see if that’s a request they can handle,” I said smoothly, eager to pass the buck.
The Survivor-style audition they’d made the three florists go through had been painful to witness, but Dorian had insisted that it would make great TV.
They’d picked a winner based on the centerpieces the florists had to create after a brief conversation about their vision for the wedding.
It was no surprise that they’d all been gorgeous arrangements, but one of them had been lucky enough to include sunflowers in his design, which cinched the win.
“Got it. Hey E, can you write that down? We need to circle back and chat with our winning florist about getting that done,” Carter said to Emilia. “What was his name again?”
“Bradley,” Emilia answered as she pulled out her phone.
Poor Bradley was about to get the surprise of a lifetime with this pair. But then again, I had a feeling that we were all going to be jumping through a ridiculous number of hoops to get them to the altar.
Emilia started typing. “Can we take a minute to go through my punch list? I want to make sure that I didn’t miss anything.”
“Yeah, let’s do this,” Carter replied. “Honey?”
“Sorry, can you excuse me for a minute?” Kristen asked in a quiet, strained voice. “I’ll be right back.”
“Sure, babe,” Carter said.
I was the only one with eyes on Kristen as Carter and Emilia started debating what was on their endless to-do list. I assumed that Kristen was going to head for the ladies room but I watched her take a left into the maze, just out of view of everyone else.
She was clearly unhappy and I couldn’t let that stand. I made sure that the rest of the group was engaged in Carter’s demands and took off after her.
I heard sniffling as I got closer to where she was hiding in the maze. I rounded a corner and found her with her head in her hands, full-on crying.
“Hey, hey, what’s going on here?” I asked as I walked closer.
She jumped, then started crying harder. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to ruin everything being dumb. I just need a few minutes to …” She gestured to her teary face.
“Kristen, please don’t apologize for having big feelings. Weddings bring up a ton of emotions, good and bad. Is this about your grandfather?” I asked gently.
She nodded, her chin trembling. She was trying really hard to keep it together.
“I just miss him so much. He should be here with me.”
“C’mere,” I opened my arms and she collapsed against my chest, crying harder.
I’d never have expected that I’d need two handkerchiefs today.
She sobbed and I rubbed her back, not saying anything and not pressuring her to say anything, either.
I wasn’t always the best at knowing how to deal with emotions—my own or anyone else’s—but I understood at least this much about grief.
Sometimes, you just had to sit with it for a minute, let it wash through you.
Let it win. And then, after enough time had passed, you could build back up your walls. Be strong again.
I could give Kristen that minute, and give her someone to lean on until it had passed.
I had absolutely no words that could make this better, but I knew there was nothing she wanted to hear anyway.
She just wanted this minute. Being present with sadness wasn’t easy, but most of the time it was exactly what the mourner needed.
Kristen finally moved away from me after composing herself. She ran her fingers under her eyes. “Thank you. That helped.”
“Your grandfather was a special guy, and I’m glad that I got to meet him.” I smiled at the memory of the first time I met him. “Boy, did he give me the runaround when you and I started dating. He gave me the whole shovel talk, you know. Asked me if my intentions were honorable.”
Her face brightened a little. “He did that?”
“That, and more,” I assured her. “He told me stories about your grandmother, and how hard he courted her despite the fact that her father hated him at first. I tried not to take offense about what he was implying.”
“He didn’t mean anything by it; I could tell he liked you,” Kristen insisted.
“And he loved you, so much. Adored you.”
Whoops. She looked like she was on the verge of crying again. I moved towards her, ready to give her another hug but froze with my hand on her shoulder when a crowd of people burst around the corner just beyond the hedgerow from where we were standing.
“That was fucking amazing! Absolute gold,” Dorian exclaimed, rushing towards us.
“But can we get it again? The sound was muffled at first, I’m assuming it was when you were hugging, blocking the mics.
And can you slip in some additional backstory?
The audience needs context if the two of you have dated in the past.”
My stomach dropped. “The mics?” Shit, had my microphone been on this whole time?
Yeah, this was bad.
“Yeah, you left it on,” Dorian replied. “Rookie mistake. We heard everything. Or most of everything. Who knows what went down between the two of you when the sound was messed up?” He tapped his headset.
Emilia frowned at me like she could sense all of the ways this little snafu was going to blow up.
Kristen winced. “I turned mine off—did you not think to turn off yours?” she added.
“Wait, what was that you said about dating in the past?” Carter moved in front of Dorian looking shellshocked.
“They haven’t—I mean…” I watched realization dawn across his face in real time.
“Hold on…wait a sec. This is your Drew?” Shock was giving way to anger now.
And the cameras were there to catch every second.
The crew went silent as we waited for Kristen to say something. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath.
“Yeah, we dated,” she admitted quietly. “But it was a long time ago. I didn’t think it was relevant.”
Fuck. Not how I would’ve handled it.
Carter folded in half for a moment then popped up like he was ready for a fight. “Not relevant? Are you kidding me? You want us to get married at your ex boyfriend’s fancy-ass resort?”
This was bad.
He strode closer, looking furious with his hands balled into fists. “What else have you been lying about? Are you two fucking? Have you been screwing around behind my back this whole time?”
Okay, we were now one spark away from a five-alarm fire.
This wasn’t just a question of bad PR for the resort from the wedding getting cancelled.
This had the potential to utterly destroy my personal reputation, forever.
I’d be known as the guy who killed Carten—and that shit would haunt me for the rest of my living days.
I’d seen firsthand how dangerous it could be to get in a war with a beloved celebrity.
My brother had faced the wrath of Scarlet Rush’s fans when he’d accidentally insulted their icon and he’d barely lived to tell the tale.
If I was held responsible for this—for ruining the love story that had captured the hearts of people around the world—I’d never be able to show my face in public again.
I needed to do something. I glanced at Emilia and she looked frozen in shock.
“Carter, absolutely not!” Kristen exclaimed. She jogged over to him and stood between us like she was a left tackle. “No way. I love you. Everything between Drew and me ended years ago.”
Carter clearly wasn’t buying it. “So what was with the hugging?” he demanded.
I glanced over at Dorian hoping he’d intervene but he was grinning at them like an ambulance chasing attorney at a crash site. It was up to me to stop the bleeding.
I cleared my throat. “The hug was just a friendly gesture. She was upset; I was trying to help.”
Like hell would I ever be doing that again.
From now on, if someone needed comforting, I’d make supportive noises at them from the other fucking side of the room.
Or, better yet, I’d get the hell out of dodge and leave someone else to do the comforting.
When it came to dealing with heavy emotions, I was the last person anyone should expect to be able to help.
“There’s nothing going on between us,” I tried to assure Carter.
Carter whirled to face me, his hands still fisted. The last thing I wanted was to fight a guy who made a living flexing for the camera in his fancy home gym.
“Like I’d believe a word out of your mouth, man. What, were you laughing at me all this time? Fucking my girl behind my back and thinking I was too stupid to notice?”
He was practically kicking up dirt like an angry bull.
“Absolutely not,” I tried to assure him. “I’d never even think to look at Kristen that way now.”
For some reason, this seemed to make him even angrier. “Oh, so you’re saying that she’s not good enough for you anymore, is that it? Mr. High and Mighty Ashford thinks he’s above all of us now?”
He was spoiling for a fight, and it was going to take something drastic to redirect him. Something dramatic. Something that would turn the tables completely and catch him off guard. Otherwise, this was going to get very ugly very fast. I scanned around, searching for something I could use…
I caught Emilia’s gaze and watched her eyes widen and she gave a not-so-subtle shake of the head telling me that whatever I was thinking, I needed to stop it. I couldn’t. I silently pleaded with her and she mouthed “no.”
I could imagine her thinking something like “not my monkey and not my circus,” but she was a part of this now too.
Both of our reputations would be on the line if Carter decided to move the wedding venue or worse.
He complained to his twenty million followers.
This would be worse than the drama with Harrison and Scarlet Rush fans.
Decision made.
“Carter, I’d never dream of starting something back up with Kristen because I’m already taken.” I strode over to Emilia and grabbed her hand. Her mouth dropped open and she gaped at me, waiting for me to keep talking.
“Emilia and I are in love. We’re engaged.”