Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Luke
What a nightmare.
I should’ve expected this.
When West called this morning to discuss a Christmas Eve wedding in my barn, I should’ve guessed Presley would hire Magnolia fucking James as her planner.
Back in the spring when I’d first had the idea of renovating our barn for event space, Magnolia hadn’t opened her event-planning business. Now here we were. I was opening a venue I had every hope would become one of the hottest wedding spots in town just as she was starting a planning business.
This likely would be the first of many times I had to work with this woman I detested if I wanted the barn to be profitable.
I not only wanted it; I needed the barn to be profitable. My doubting Thomas of a father was only one reason.
Our farm wasn’t in trouble, but revenue each year varied widely. The weather could screw us. Pests could screw us. Economics could screw us.
We were lucky in that we had three different crops that could balance each other out, but the event space would be a new revenue stream that wouldn’t depend on Mother Nature.
I wasn’t sure where I’d get the time to manage it, but I damn well would.
Apparently I’d have to figure out how to work with Magnolia as part of that.
“Magnolia,” I finally said, hoping my opinion of her didn’t show on my face.
“Hello, Luke.” She didn’t smile.
I looked past her and pulled my thoughts to the purpose of this meeting—showing West and Presley what I planned for this admittedly dirty, in-need-of-work space.
“Thanks for coming out to see the place,” I said. “I hope you can squint a bit and see the vision I have for it instead of the state it’s in now.”
“It’s bigger than I expected,” Presley said.
“The main space will get smaller when we put in restrooms and a catering area.” I walked farther into the barn. “I’m planning on that corner for restrooms with the catering area next to it.” I pointed.
“How big will the catering area be?” Magnolia asked.
I showed them roughly where we planned to put walls in.
“That’s not very big,” Magnolia said, and I tried not to bristle. “Once you put commercial refrigerators and ovens in, it will be difficult to fit in a serving staff.” She spoke without looking at me, and I fought with myself to disregard the source and consider what she was saying.
It might be a decent point, but I didn’t acknowledge it out loud.
“Will there be a separate area for a ceremony?” Magnolia continued, striding toward the center of the room. “Or cocktails between the ceremony and reception?”
“Are you planning to have the ceremony here as well as the reception?” I asked West and Presley.
“We haven’t decided about the ceremony yet,” Presley said, glancing at West. “Honestly we haven’t decided on much besides the date, the reception venue, and the planner.”
Magnolia turned and smiled at her friend. Then her smile dropped, and she pegged me with another question. “What will the capacity be for guests?”
“I don’t know yet. I’d like to shoot for up to three hundred, but that’ll be determined once the space is finished. We’ll be adding two extra exits and keeping the windows intact with that in mind.”
“And what’s the plan for electricity?” Magnolia asked.
As much research as I’d done, I was beginning to feel like she was on the attack. She might think I didn’t know what I was getting into, but I wasn’t stupid. I’d studied up. I’d made phone calls to key people. West had agreed to help me with construction.
This was going to be what I hoped was a significant part of my livelihood. I hadn’t gone into it lightly.
“We’ll be greatly increasing the electrical capacity,” I said, coaching myself not to snap.
“You’ll want all kinds of lighting options, plus the ability to have a DJ or a band. Speakers, microphones, kitchen appliances…”
“I’m well aware,” I said, and I was, for the most part.
If she were anyone else, I’d be appreciative of the information, the expertise. Frankly I just wanted Magnolia off my property, but that wasn’t in the cards.
“Like I said, we’ll be running a lot more electricity, plus water lines, a heating system upgrade, air-conditioning, all the necessities.” I aimed my answer at Presley, who was, after all, the customer.
“What about a room for the wedding party to get ready in?” Magnolia asked.
Presley nodded, her eyes lighting up. “If we decide to have the ceremony here, that would be really convenient.”
That was something I hadn’t committed to, but I could. We had the space. When my grandfather had built the barn nearly eighty years ago, he’d gone big.
“We could wall off this side over here,” I said, walking to the opposite side from where we planned to add restrooms. “West’s going to help me with a plan.”
West nodded. “I don’t know the first thing about wedding venues, only construction. We could use your input, Magnolia.”
“I’ve got a pretty good handle on it,” I told him, hoping to kill the idea of Magnolia helping me with anything. I didn’t trust her and sure as hell didn’t want to spend any more time with her than I absolutely had to.
“My clients are taking a risk,” she said, “going into this blind and hoping you’ll build what they need. The problem is, if you don’t, they’re trapped.”
“There will be a contract,” I said. “I’m not going to screw over my friends.”
“What about the timetable?” Presley asked, her voice friendlier than her planner’s.
“Christmas Eve won’t be a problem,” I reassured her. “Once we get the plan hammered out, we’ll start immediately. My goal is to be done with the big stuff by early December.”
“That’s plenty of time. Do you mind if I wander?” Presley asked, waving toward the other end.
“Not at all.” Take your bulldog with you, please, I thought to myself.
Presley and Magnolia headed away from us, leaving West and me to talk construction details.
As we discussed who would do electricity and plumbing and how soon I could get them in, we both faced the large, open room, which made it easy for me to keep my eyes on Magnolia like I would a rattler coiled in the corner.
Her change in fortune when her father had kicked her out was evident in her wardrobe these days, I thought as I watched her slender body move away from us.
Before, she’d generally dripped in prissy designer labels I didn’t know the first thing about, plus flawless makeup on her flawless face.
In high school, I’d been intrigued by her, in spite of the superficial layers.
Today she was dressed more simply in a short skirt, a plain short-sleeved shirt, and boots that nearly reached her knees, showing off her legs.
Her makeup was minimal, but she didn’t need it.
I might not be able to stand her, but I couldn’t deny she would seem attractive to the casual acquaintance who’d never experienced her cold-hearted ways.
I’d been sucked in once by her porcelain skin and gorgeous mane of strawberry-blond hair.
Never again.
“Luke,” West said in a low voice, “level with me. You gonna be okay working with her?”
“I’ll be just fine,” I said, allowing zero doubt to infiltrate my tone. “This is business.”
He sized me up from the side, my gaze still on the women, mainly to avoid his. I meant what I said, but it was damn hard to hide my feelings for Magnolia James.
“You’re one of my closest friends, but if anything fucks up this wedding for Presley…”
I grinned, even though I didn’t feel it. “I know, man. Don’t screw over your woman. I won’t. Even though I should since you left me the last single dad standing. Lucky for you, I like Presley.”
“But not Magnolia.”
“I don’t have to like her to work with her. My stakes are high here, man. Whether she’s part of it or not, I need this to work. I need this to work well, or I’ll never hear the end of it from my dad.”
“He’s still not on board, huh?”
I shook my head. “He won’t be, probably not even if I turn this into a six-figure business.”
“What’s his deal? He doesn’t like money?”
“He’s all about the land. Tradition. The way we’ve always done things.”
“Times change,” West said. “For what it’s worth, I’m damn glad you’re doing it. Can you imagine me at the fancy-schmancy Marks Hotel? I’d do it if Presley insisted on it, but this place… It’s gonna fit us better.”
“You definitely belong in a barn,” I cracked.
“Asshole,” he said, laughing. He sobered. “So I have a question for you.”
“Seems to be the theme of the day,” I said, frowning at Magnolia as she and Presley walked back toward us.
“You think you can pull off being the venue owner as well as one of my groomsmen?”
I shot my gaze to him to make sure he was serious. “You asking me to stand up for you?”
“Seems like it,” he said, his hands in his front pants pockets as if he felt awkward.
“Hell yes, I’ll be a groomsman. Even if you did betray our single-guy pact.”
“We didn’t have a pact,” he said as if I was a drama queen, and maybe I was, but it sucked with a capital S to be the last guy in our group to find a wife.
The painful irony? Out of the six of us in the once-single-dad group—West, Max, Knox, Ben, Chance, and me—I was the only sad sack who actually wanted to get married. My involvement with Addie’s mom had barely lasted a year and a half. I was ready for a lifelong partner.
The joke was on me, obviously.
West held his hand out for me to shake. I took it, and we did the man-hug, back-smack thing.
“Thanks, Luke. It means the world,” he said. “Chance is my other groomsman.”
“I’m honored, man.”
“When do you want to meet about this?” He nodded toward the rest of the barn.
“You tell me when you’re available. The sooner the better.”
“We need all the time we can get. Shouldn’t be any supply issues with the basics, but you’ll want to order appliances and windows ASAP.”
“How does Saturday look?”
“I’ll check with Presley and let you know tomorrow.”
“Good enough,” I said as the women approached.
“We came up with more questions,” Presley said.
“Will there be a coat room for guests?” Magnolia asked.
I hadn’t given that a single thought, but it was a valid concern. “There’ll be a place for coats,” I said noncommittally.
“What about a room for gifts?” Magnolia pressed. “One with a lock?”
I was starting to wonder if she was just trying to be a pain in my ass or if people expected a lockable room for gifts. Did people really steal from the bride and groom?
“I’ll have a full layout once West and I put pencil to paper.” Again I addressed Presley with my answer because I found it easier to smile when I didn’t have my nemesis in sight.
“That’s fair,” Presley said. “I can’t wait to see what you settle on. I have no doubt it’s going to be perfect.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Magnolia’s brow go up slightly, as if she wasn’t sure about that.
Damn her. There’d been a time when I’d thought she actually believed in me, but now she was my biggest doubter.
Was I out of my element with an event venue?
Maybe.
But I damn sure wasn’t about to let that get to me—let her get to me.
I’d never had the advantages she’d grown up with. I’d spent my life working against the odds—the farm kid, the C student, the dude who wore old jeans and a bargain T-shirt to school every day.
This project was a significant part of my and my daughter’s future though. I’d sure as hell figure it all out.