Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Carissa Owens had built her business from scratch. After planning her own nuptials over thirty years ago, she fell in love with everything wedding planning had to offer and wanted to give brides the same joy she’d had on her special day. But despite her best efforts, she’d never been able to branch out beyond Southern Maryland or into other types of events like corporate retreats or even retirement parties.
Still, she considered her work a moderate success, and she had her late husband, Chuck, to thank for that. He’d supported her through those early years of barely making it to her becoming the main breadwinner when he was diagnosed with cancer five years ago. Her work allowed her the flexibility of caring for him during those final months while still providing enough income to replace his when he could no longer work.
As she was fast approaching her sixtieth year on earth, she was faced with a decision: keep trying to break into other markets or throw in the towel and sell her business to enjoy a well-deserved retirement. Chuck would have encouraged her to retire, as he’d always had his eye on traveling the world before they were too old to enjoy it. But without him, she wasn’t sure there was much point. Her business was all she had left of the life they’d built together, and she wasn’t sure she was ready to give it up.
Thankfully, it wasn’t something she needed to worry about yet. Her client for that day had been the maid of honor at the last event she’d planned. After the setbacks with Steven and Rose McAllister’s wedding, she hoped Steven’s sister, Lanie, would have an easier time. She and her fiancé were planning a Christmas wedding, and Carissa hoped it would be the key to breaking her out of her usual holiday funk. After all, nothing looked quite as beautiful as a snow-white dress against the deep green of a Christmas tree covered with sparkling lights.
But when she entered the door of the caterer, her excitement deflated. There, sitting beside the bride-to-be, was Carissa’s least favorite person in the world: the bride’s father, Max McAllister.
He’d been a thorn in her side during his son’s wedding, and she’d hoped he would be less involved with Lanie’s. From what Carissa had seen, Max didn’t have a close relationship with his daughter, but she supposed it’d been too much to hope that would apply to wedding planning as well. Usually, it was the mothers of the engaged pair who bickered over the wedding details, but Lanie’s mother had passed away the previous year. Carissa reminded herself to tread lightly with her new client. She could only imagine how hard it must be to plan a wedding after such a major loss.
Still, Carissa’s job would be difficult with Max around. Part of her wished she could view it as a blessing that a father was involved, and had it been any man other than that one, she might have been able to. He was, without a doubt, the most stubborn, pigheaded man she’d ever met.
Pasting a smile on her face, she sashayed up to the table. Lanie turned just as Carissa reached them, and she jumped up and greeted her.
“Carissa! Thank you for fitting us in on such short notice.” She pulled Carissa into a hug.
Nate stood and shook her hand, but Max didn’t move. His expression had changed from one of genuine surprise to a cold fury, the warmth in his deep-brown eyes frosted over like a window on a snowy winter day. The feeling was mutual.
“Max.” Carissa tried to keep her tone even.
Unfortunately, he didn’t repay the favor. “What are you doing here?”
She opened her mouth to respond, but Lanie beat her to it. “Dad! You said you were going to behave.”
“I didn’t know she was coming,” he replied without a bit of remorse.
Nate pulled out a chair for Carissa, and she gave him an appreciative smile, choosing to ignore Max’s less-than-welcoming reception. You’re not here for him , she reminded herself. It was a mantra she’d developed for the more difficult family members of her clients, but somehow, it had never worked with Max. Something about that man got under her skin.
“It’s nice to see you too,” Carissa said, surprised by how calm she sounded.
Before Max could insult her further, Nate cleared his throat. “We’ve been looking over the menu, and we have some ideas of what we want to serve at the reception.”
Grateful for his intervention, Carissa nodded. “That’s great! Tell me what you envision, and we can look at how it works with your overall theme.”
“It’s food,” Max said, his eyes narrowing at her. “Food doesn’t need a theme.”
Carissa was tempted to laugh. How little people understood the way weddings worked. From the venue to the decor to the meal, everything needed to fit in with the overall theme of the wedding. Most food was versatile enough to work with any theme, but there were certain ways to finagle dishes to support the overall vision.
But that would be lost on someone like Max McAllister. She’d learned that lesson while planning his son’s wedding. Instead of engaging Max, Carissa decided to do what she’d done the last time she’d had to deal with him: ignore him entirely. Nate slid over the printout the caterer had provided, and Carissa’s eyes flicked over the choices they’d circled.
“You’re going with the traditional Christmas dinner.” She pursed her lips. “That’s wise, but we need to be careful not to veer too close to Thanksgiving.” Her finger slid down the page to the options for sides. “I would forgo the cranberry salad and try for something heartier. How do you feel about squash?”
Lanie and Nate looked at each other and shrugged.
“Depending on how it’s cooked, we’re fans,” Lanie said.
“Good. A maple-glazed butternut squash would offer something colorful and different but still appeal to most of your guests.” Something at the bottom of the page caught Carissa’s eye. “We could have holiday cookies in addition to your cake.” At their dubious faces, she continued, “Having alternative desserts often helps reduce the cost of the cake, as we can make a smaller cake due to the variety of options.”
“Who has cookies at a wedding?” Max scoffed. Without waiting for Carissa to reply, he gestured to Lanie. “If the cost of the cake is a problem, I’m happy to pitch in.”
A red flush stole over Lanie’s cheeks, leading Carissa to believe that was not the first time Max had offered to pay for something. “We’ve got it covered, thanks.”
“Should we add some pies as well?” Nate asked, clearly trying to prevent an argument between father and daughter.
“It’s an idea,” Carissa said. “But the point of including a variety of cookies would be to reduce the overall cost. If you start adding a bunch of other desserts, you risk paying more than you would have if you just made a cake large enough for all your guests.”
“That makes sense.” Nate looked at Lanie. “What do you think?”
“I like the idea of having cookies, but I was wondering if we could save even more money by baking them ourselves,” Lanie said.
Carissa bit her lip. On the one hand, she didn’t want to discourage her client, but on the other… “That’s a lot to take on the week of your wedding.”
“Oh.” Lanie’s face fell. “I didn’t think about that.”
“But if it’s something you want,” Max said, “I’m sure Rose, Steven, and I can help bake them.”
Nate coughed loudly, and Lanie covered her mouth with her hand. An amused glance passed between them.
“No, that’s okay,” Lanie replied quickly. “I wouldn’t ask that of you.”
Carissa kept her eyes on the menu to keep from laughing. From what she’d heard, Max didn’t have many culinary skills.
His eyebrows pulled together. “You didn’t ask. I offered.”
“Perhaps you should talk to Rose and Steven before you offer their services,” Carissa said with as much tact as she could muster. “Besides, isn’t Steven still recovering? I thought the doctors had encouraged him to continue to take it easy. We wouldn’t want to add more stress to his plate.”
“And perhaps you should keep your nose out of my family business,” Max retorted.
“Dad!” Lanie pushed her chair back and stood. “If you don’t knock it off, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“Me?” he demanded. “I’m not the one pooh-poohing every idea you have.”
If looks could kill, Lanie’s furious glare would have slain Max long ago, but luckily for him, Nate intervened. “It’s Carissa’s job to give her opinion of our ideas. That’s why we hired her. She’s planned more weddings than any of us, and we trust her.”
Carissa’s heart warmed. When she’d first spoken to Nate and Lanie, he’d resisted the idea of hiring a wedding planner. They’d originally hired her only for the day of the wedding, but as they’d started putting things together, Lanie had convinced him they were in over their heads.
“Fine.” Max crossed his arms like a petulant child. “I’m sorry.” But his tone and lack of eye contact suggested he didn’t mean it.
Stifling a sigh, Carissa continued to peruse the side-dish options. For a Christmas wedding, she wanted food that embraced the spirit of the season while also providing guests with a hearty meal before they ventured out into the cold at the end of the night.
“What if we did a play on classic Christmas carols for some of the food options?”
Lanie cocked her head. “What do you mean?”
“For instance, they have a fig-and-prosciutto appetizer, which could be a fun play on the line from ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ about figgy pudding.”
Lanie’s hazel eyes lit up. “Oh, I see! We could serve roasted chestnuts and maybe have little nutcrackers on every table as a decoration.”
“Exactly,” Carissa said. “Or we could serve the chestnut-and-rice pilaf as a side dish.”
“So more of a subtle nod to the songs than a direct correlation?” Nate asked. “I like this idea.”
She braced herself for Max to make a comment, but he didn’t seem put off by the plan, even though it was her idea. If she didn’t know any better, she would almost think he liked it, though he’d probably never admit that.
“They have towers of garlic bread.” Lanie pointed at the option on the menu. “Maybe they can make it look more festive, like a Christmas tree.”
“I’m sure we can find a way to make that happen.” After pulling out a notebook, Carissa jotted down their ideas, more excited to plan their wedding than she’d been for any event in some time.
Later that evening, Carissa arrived at her home in Hidden River City, a few towns over from Cedar Haven. She’d shared the house with her late husband, and since his death, it’d become both sanctuary and prison. While the house still looked the same as it had when he was there, sometimes, she wished she could bring herself to make it more her own. The constant reminders of his presence weren’t helping her to move on, but at the same time, she couldn’t bear to give them up.
Setting her bag on the kitchen table, she breathed a deep sigh. “You would love this wedding, Chuck.” Her voice seemed to echo off the walls. “Christmas was always your favorite time of year.”
Unfortunately, since he’d been gone, it’d become her least favorite holiday. Despite trying for years, they’d never had children, which meant she often spent Christmas alone. Her family had scattered across the country like fallen autumn leaves. Every year, she received invitations to go to her siblings’ houses, but she preferred her own company. Instead, if she wasn’t working, she blindly picked a place on the map and booked a solo vacation. If she was working, she was usually too busy to notice the holiday.
“This year, I won’t be alone,” she told the empty house.
In some ways, working with both McAllister children had made her feel like a part of their family—minus their father. She shook her head in bewilderment. Those kids must have taken after their mother because neither one was anything like their dad. Grumpy, pigheaded, and intolerable were just a few of the words she would choose to describe him, and those were the nicer ones that came to mind.
That’s how he presents himself , she could almost hear Chuck saying. It was something he’d repeated throughout their marriage whenever Carissa complained about a difficult client or, worse, one of their family members. Chuck believed that everyone had a mask they wore before the world, and his favorite part of getting to know a person was watching that mask fade as the person grew more comfortable with him. Her husband had studied to be a psychiatrist, though he ended up teaching instead of opening his own practice. Still, he’d had a knack for putting people at ease.
If that man has a mask, he’s worn it so long he doesn’t know how to live without it. She could almost see Chuck’s weathered face break into a smile and the way he would shake his head, admonishing her for not looking deeper. Her heart panged at the image, and she closed her eyes.
But her thoughts were interrupted by the shrill ring of her cell phone. Without looking at the caller ID, she answered. “Carissa Owens.”
“Hello, Carissa. It’s Max.”
Closing her eyes, Carissa stifled a sigh. Had her thoughts conjured the phone call? I thought the saying was speak of the devil and he shall appear. But perhaps thinking about someone was close enough.
“Max, what a surprise. Miss me already?”
A snort sounded on the other end of the line. “Hardly. I spoke to Rose and Steven, per your suggestion, and they’re more than happy to help Lanie and Nate bake cookies for their wedding.”
She rolled her eyes and was thankful she wasn’t on a video call. “Don’t you think there will be enough to do for the wedding without adding baking to the list?”
“McAllisters always rise to a challenge.”
Pinching the bridge of her nose, she struggled to keep her voice even. “That may be true for you, but I’d prefer to confirm this with my client before we make any definitive plans.”
He scoffed. “You don’t think I discussed it with my own daughter? She does live with me, you know?”
“Not for much longer,” she muttered under her breath.
“What was that?”
“Max, I’m in the middle of something right now,” she lied. “Don’t do anything until I’ve consulted with the bride.” Without waiting for a response, she tapped the button to end the call and tossed her phone onto the counter.
“It’s going to be a long four months,” she grumbled. First, she’d endured his behavior toward her at the caterer, then came his discussion with Steven and Rose without Lanie’s knowledge. It appeared Max was going to be a thorn in Carissa’s side once more.