The One and Only (Heart of Hope 7)

How dare he. How dare he pick her instead of me, how dare he be even more shallow than what I’d expected of him. I felt betrayed, like I had been slapped.

I forced myself to smile, regardless. “Hello again, Mrs. James. Hello Cade. And who’s this lovely lady?”

They were words I’d said time and time again while meeting the birthday girl, the bride or the guest of honor. But this was the first time that the words stung my throat.

“Laura, this is Della Frank, my fiancée,” Cade said. “Della, this is Laura Loomis, she’s our wedding planner.”

“Call me Della, please,” Della said, shaking my hand. She had a soft, sweet voice. I hated that I was intimidated by this obviously wealthy, beautiful woman.

“Congratulations on your engagement,” I told her.

Della blushed and looked at the ground, not the sort of reaction I’d expect from a happy bride. “Thank you.”

I decided to move things along before they got awkward. “We can all head inside. You’re just in time for the appointment, but Della, since you’re here, we should find out what kind of dress you plan on wearing so that we can shop for a tux that will compliment it.”

Tux styles were generally much more subtle than dress styles, but you still wanted to pick something that would match the dress. People picked up on subtleties, even if they didn’t realize it, even if they couldn’t explain why they felt that the tux and dress didn’t go together.

Della blushed and looked…ashamed. “I don’t have a dress in mind, actually.”

My jaw nearly dropped. I was hopelessly confused because she wasn’t acting like any bride I’d ever met before. What bride didn’t have her dress picked out at least three months before the wedding? Most women would have a dress in mind years before the wedding—daydreaming about it—but I understood that not every woman was obsessed with weddings as the media made us all seem to be. Della could be one of those women who hadn’t really thought about it until the time came—but surely, she would have done her research and would know how many months you needed to select and get your wedding dress fitted. This was…concerning.

“What!?” Melinda James sounded as shocked as me. She also sounded horrified. At the end of the day, it wasn’t my wedding nor my wedding dress, and I had a bunch of other things to worry about. “We must go shopping immediately, Della, darling. How could you not have told me? This is shocking! Why—”

She went on about how she had picked out her own wedding dress over a year in advance, and how the wedding dress was truly the center of the entire wedding—the pièce de résistance—and how the tux was really only to compliment the dress….

Finally, Melinda turned to me. “We have to find her a dress, don’t we?”

“Most of the shops require appointments, and they say that you have to order your dress more than just three months before the wedding,” I admitted. “I want to manage your expectations from the start. But I’m going to do the best I can.”

I’d found it was better to manage client expectations from the beginning so there was less room for disappointment.

“Price isn’t a concern,” Melinda said quickly. “I’m happy to foot the bill.”

Shocked, but not truly surprised to hear that, I got an idea. I called the most exclusive, high-end bridal gown store in the city. “Hi, this is Laura Loomis. I’m with an event planning company….”

I did my usual small talk, apologized for the late notice, and asked if they could possibly have anything available? “I hate to do this to you, but Melinda James is here only for the day and seeing as she’s the mother, it’s vital that she be there for the gown appointment. It’s such a bonding moment….”

“Melinda James?” I could hear the receptionist’s voice go up several octaves.

“Oh, my goodness! I shouldn’t have said! It’s all very hush-hush.” I winked at Melinda, who smiled broadly at me.

“No, no, of course. We should have something. I can certainly squeeze her in!” the receptionist babbled, and I could hear the quick typing of a keyboard. “Not a problem at all, tell her to come right on over!”

“Thank you so much, you guys are so kind, we really appreciate it! I’ll have my clients head right on over.”

I hung up the phone and smiled at Melinda and Della. “They have something for you, right away.”

Melinda threw herself at me, hugging me in thanks. I hugged her back instinctively, completely taken by surprise.

She wouldn’t hug you if she knew about you and her son, the vicious part of my mind whispered.

I swallowed my emotions and pulled away, smiling. “You should get going!”

“Here you go.” Cade handed the keys over to Della.

“You’re such a dear, I knew I made the right decision in booking you!” Melinda told me. “This is going to be delightful, you’re simply marvelous!”

“Thank you,” I replied, feeling a bit overwhelmed.