Chapter Twenty-Three
“Baby girl, we’ve gotta get going, Ms. Anna is waiting for you.”
She runs out from her bedroom in a princess dress, with her new t-ball pants on underneath, and her pink helmet for hitting.
“Weady, Mommy.” She grabs a tennis ball, and her magic wand before slipping on her favorite sparkly jelly shoes.
“You are just prepared for anything, huh?” I grab our bag before opening the door for her to head out.
“Ms. Anna pway basebaw wif me?” She holds up the tennis ball we’ve been practicing catch with ahead of her first game.
“I bet she will. Did you get your glove to catch with?”
“Nooooo!” She runs back to me, pushing the door open before I could lock it. “Got it!” She’s breathless upon her return.
I lock the door and we head out toward the trail that leads to the inn.
“Will I see Coopa?” She asks, taking my hand.
“Not today, remember he’s at work? We won’t see him until tomorrow.” She looks up at me with her pouty little puppy dog eyes.
“No Coopa?” The tears shine in her eyes.
I rush to comfort her before the waterworks start. “We can call him tonight before bed though. We’ll get him on video and you can tell him all about your day with Ms. Anna.”
“Otay.” Her head drops, and so does my heart.
She’s already so attached to him, it makes me a little nervous about the future.
“Look at that princess!” Anna calls out to us from the front porch and Lily takes off running to greet her.
When I reach them, I drop the backpack with all her things in the mudroom at the inn. “Are you sure you don’t mind watching her?”
“Never. I love spending time with her! Plus you’re going to help my baby girl.” She winks at me.
“Well I better get going then. Can I have a hug goodbye, my love?” Bending down with my arms open wide she runs to me.
“Bye, Mommy. Wuv you.” She plants a big kiss on my cheek before she runs back to Anna.
“Love you, baby. Have fun and be a good girl.”
“She’s always a good girl.” Anna squeezes her hand. “We’re going to bake some cookies for Mommy.”
“Thank you so much!” I wave on my way out the door.
Opening the door I practically run into Emma. “Oh, hey! I was just on my way over to the barn.”
“And I was coming to meet you!” She loops her arm with mine and tugs me down the stairs. “I’m so happy you agreed to do this with me. You are so much better at planning than me. I might be a little nervous that I’ve bit off more than I can chew with this whole wedding thing.”
“You do great with the themed weekends. I bet you’d do fine on your own without any help.”
She levels me with a stare. “I have to plan a whole weekend of events! A welcome dinner, the rehearsal, the wedding, a goodbye brunch. And activities throughout the day! It’s Balsam Cliffs, what are they thinking we’re going to do?” Her hands fly up in the air in exasperation.
“Oh! A Jack and Jill barbecue the day of the rehearsal would be so fun!”
“Seeeeee, you’re already so much better than me.”
“Well, I don’t know the couple like you do. But let’s come up with some ideas and then we’ll run it by them today. Why don’t you tell me about them?” We open the barn doors and I follow her to the office in the back.
“Okay, well they’re definitely outdoorsy, hiking, four-wheeling, they just want to hang out with all their friends and family, they’re all super close.”
“I think the barbecue for sure then. We can set up some four-wheeling, maybe riding with Liam?” I grab a notebook and start feverishly writing.
“We could call it an I Do Barbecue, make the guys grill down on the cove. Oh! Maybe Willow could do a little acoustic set down there? They’re coming that weekend right? ”
“Girl. How does your brain go that fast?” she asks, looking over my shoulder before sitting next to me.
Her office is casual, looking more like a dining room than an office.
She has a large wooden table and chairs in here, from Liam if I had to guess.
It’s decorated like a chic New York mansion but with touches of rustic barn.
It’s honestly perfect. If I were to ever get married again, this is exactly the place I’d want.
“I don’t think it does. You’re the one with all the themed ideas.” I shrug.
“No way. I’ve been trying to come up with stuff for weeks. That’s why I enlisted you. What do you have for the day of the wedding? They want to do some special stuff with their bridal parties.”
“What if we ask Victoria’s to do facials, manicures, and pedicures the day of? Is that who’s doing their hair and makeup?”
Her wide eyes tell me it’s not. “Shit! I was supposed to book that! Oh my God. I’m the actual worst!”
I pull out my phone, dialing up the salon immediately.
“Good morning, this is Victoria, how can I help you?” The stylist greets me.
“Hi! I’m calling to see if you have any availability Saturday, two weeks from this weekend? For a bride and two maids, plus two moms.”
“Hold on one moment, let me check our calendar.” I secretly cross my fingers under the table. “I’m sorry. But it looks like we are fully booked that day. Would you like some recommendations of other salons in the area that might be able to help you?”
Emma's shoulders deflate in defeat. I know she’s beating herself up over forgetting.
“Sure that would be great, do you mind texting or emailing them over to me?”
“Of course, just give me the email address when you’re ready.”
I rattle off the email from the business card that Emma slid over to me while I was talking. After hanging up, Emma is in full blown panic mode, pacing back and forth in the small space.
“What am I going to do? Are you good at hair and makeup?” She stops to look at me.
“Um, for sure not. We could probably talk to Lily. She likes makeup.” I laugh, but she narrows her eyes at me. Not the time for jokes.
“Oh! Lacey!” She points at my phone like I’m supposed to know who this is.
I shrug in response to her. “Willow’s sister!
She has a salon in Lupine Valley where Willow and Gunnar live part time.
I know she doesn’t work weekends, but maybe she’d make an exception in trade for a weekend at the inn with her husband. ” She starts dialing her own phone.
“Um, one problem. Isn’t the inn entirely booked with guests?”
“Shoot. You’re right. Oh! Wyatt! Call him. Ask him if the studio cabin is empty.”
I don’t question how her brain is working right now, I just text Wyatt as I’m told.
Me: Emma wants to know if the studio cabin is empty?
Wyatt: For what?
Me: Not really sure how her brain is operating at the moment under stress, but I think she wants to offer it to Lacey and her husband for the weekend in exchange for Lacey coming to do hair and makeup at the wedding.
Wyatt: For Lacey and Colton ONLY, it’s open. No guests other than family though, tell her I fucking mean that this time. I’m not getting saddled with weirdo overflow guests from the inn again.
Me: Thanks, got it. Will make sure it’s just Lacey. Promise.
“He said it’s only open for Lacey and Colton. No one else.”
She gives me a thumbs up, sits again next to me, and places her phone on the table.
“Lace, you’re on speaker with Aubrey.”
“Oh, Aubrey! I have heard so much about you. I can’t wait to meet you!”
Emma smiles. “Does that mean you’re coming?”
“Oh I mean, I have to ask my mom first, but I don’t think she’ll say no to babysitting. And if she does I have two other options. So you can count me in. I’ll do the morning too, but we might have to just pick one option. I won’t have time to do hair, make-up, and three services. Manicures maybe?”
“We’re meeting with them today, I can ask her which service, but manis sound nice,” I add.
“Great! Just let me know if that’s what they want to do and I’ll send you over a blank contract with my family pricing and you can just fill in whatever they decide and let me know.”
“Lace, you are a freaking lifesaver. Seriously. I can’t believe I forgot to book the hair and makeup.” Emma drops her head into her hands on the table.
“Please. A weekend alone with my man? Maybe baby number three could happen finally with some alone time.” Lacey laughs.
“Wouldn’t a third baby mean less alone time?” I joke.
“Probably. But they’re just so darn cute when they’re newborns. And a newborn in Colton’s arms, well that might lead to number four.”
“Colton is smoking.” Emma waggles her eyebrows. “I mean, don’t tell Roman I said that, but…”
Emma can’t even talk. Roman is something pretty to look at. None more than Cooper though. He’s my favorite work of art this town has to offer.
“Okay, I gotta go, my next client is here. I’ll have my receptionist email you that stuff though. Love you!”
“Love you! Thank you!” Emma shouts.
The phone beeps, letting us know she hung up.
“Wow. That was some adrenaline rush, huh?” Emma laughs, but her cheeks are still tinged pink with embarrassment at her mistake.
“At least it’s sorted and the bride won’t be any wiser. That’s why they hire planners, right?”
“Right. But maybe, ones who don’t drop the ball on big things like their hair and makeup.” She rolls her eyes.
“Next up is this welcome dinner. I was thinking of seeing if Violet could do something at the inn’s dining room, a little fancier than usual, but family style.”
The two of us get lost in planning mode for hours when Anna and Lily come into the barn.
“Mommmyyyyyy.” Her little voice sing-songs through the hall.
“Back here, love!”
“Mommy, it’s awmost dinnew!” Lily admonishes me.
Looking at my watch confirms she is correct. “Oh my gosh, Anna, I’m so sorry! We just got lost in planning, and…”
Her eyes take in the table that’s covered in doodled on pieces of paper with notes from both Emma and I.
“I’d say you two had quite the successful day.” A smile lingers on her face, letting me know she isn’t mad about the time.
“Aubrey is hired. I don’t even care if she wants the job.
She’s taking it. I couldn’t have done this without her.
” Emma stands, stretching her back. “But maybe we can pick this back up another day. The couple is happy with what we have so we just need to finalize everything. I’m going to run up to talk to Violet really quickly before she leaves for the day. ”
She hugs Lily, and Anna, before leaving.
“Ready to go home for dinner?” I ask Lily.
“Yes! Mat and Cheese.” She licks her lips.
“Can you say thank you to Ms. Anna for watching you today?”
She spins to face her. “Tank you, Ms. Anna.”
Pulling her in for a hug, Anna bends down to her level. “You’re very welcome, but you call me Mimi K.” She kisses her cheek.
Lily runs off, doing spins on the dance floor and chanting “Mimi Tay”.
“Thank you so much, I really appreciate you watching her. And I’m so sorry again about the time.” I gather my notes to organize later into something more readable.
“Anytime, dear. I do not mind one bit. Whenever you need to work here, you just give me a call and I’ll take that sweet girl.” She hugs me the same as she hugged my daughter. It’s nice to have a village, but I’m not used to it yet.
“I will, promise. But you might have to fight Aggie. She was real mad Tommy was making her go to the auction today.”
“Oh, I heard all about that last night over some margaritas.”
I laugh with her and we go to find Lily.
We split ways at the trail where it forks to the left for her house, and the right to the farm.
All I can think about is how much time is left until we can call Cooper. And I hate myself just a little bit for relying on a man again, but it’s so different with him.
Just shut up, Aubrey. Take the help and the sexy man.
Sexy man indeed. Maybe I should listen to my inner self for once. I didn’t last time and look where it got me.