The Favor

“You make the coffees,” said Dane, his half-full cup in hand. “I’ll take Miley and Chris into the formal sitting room.”

“All right.” Remembering how the planners took their coffees, I prepared the drinks and made myself a fresh cup. Once I’d placed all the mugs on a tray, I carried it into the formal sitting room and then set it on the coffee table while saying my hellos.

“We brought your gown,” announced Miley.

I smiled. “So I see.” You couldn’t exactly miss the big, bulging dress bag. “Thank you.”

As usual, all four of us settled on the sofas. Dane interlinked our fingers and rested our joined hands on his thigh.

Glancing down at her tablet, Miley said, “We touched base with everyone—the photographer, the florist, the vendor, the band, the cake baker, and the lighting technician. All the details have been confirmed; everyone knows where they’re supposed to be and when.”

Chris handed us a sheet of paper. “We’ve finalized the seating arrangement. If you’re happy with it, we’ll send it to the necessary people. I was impressed that none of the guests missed the RSVP deadlines—there are usually a few we have to chase up. You should be flattered that no one wants to miss it.”

I scanned the seating arrangement and nodded, happy with what I saw. The guests were mostly family, o-Verve employees, and Dane’s closest associates.

“The arrangement is fine,” said Dane, his thumb brushing the top of my hand.

“Excellent.” Chris tucked the sheet of paper away. “Don’t forget you have your hair and makeup trial on Wednesday, Vienna. Now that you have your gown, you need to try on the full ensemble one more time just to be sure you’re fully happy with it. Did you break in your new footwear?”

I nodded and took a sip of my coffee. “But I’ll take blister plasters to the reception with me in case I need them.”

“Good. Did you pack an overnight bag for your reception so I can have it delivered to the hotel for you?” asked Chris.

“Yes, it’s in my room. I also prepped the box you asked for with the cake knife, guest book, and all that stuff so that you can send it to the venue.”

Chris grinned and lifted his mug. “I love it when my clients listen to me. This is good for you, too. The more things you’ve checked off the to-do-list, the less stressed you’ll be.”

I’d actually felt remarkably unstressed about it up until now, since the planners were taking care of everything for us and the reception had always seemed so far off into the future. Now that I had only a week left to go until the event, my stomach gave the odd flutter whenever I even thought about it.

“The guest packages will arrive at the hotel the day before the reception and they’ll be delivered straight to the rooms of your guests,” said Miley.

Dane gave a satisfied nod. It had been his idea to secure rooms at the hotel for the guests. Many were traveling to be here, including Melinda’s sisters and Wyatt’s family. Some of the guests who lived locally had opted to stay overnight at the hotel so that they wouldn’t have to get a taxi home in the early hours of the morning.

Miley turned to me. “You’ve already had your wedding ceremony, so I assume you have your old, new, borrowed, and blue items.”

I blinked. “Actually, I didn’t have them with me on the day. We didn’t go to Vegas planning to get married, so I wasn’t prepared.” I pursed my lips. “I’ll have pretty much all of the items on the day itself, incidentally. Except ‘the something blue.’ I’ll think of something.”

“If you need any ideas, let us know,” said Chris. “Did you choose someone to collect the gifts, cards, and bits of décor you’d like to have as keepsakes? You don’t want to be doing that on the night of your reception.”

“Hanna volunteered to do that for us,” I replied. “Ashley’s preparing the reception emergency kit you said I’d need. So far, it’s got everything from tampons to safety pins. She’s changed the bag three times because she keeps adding more stuff to the kit and so needs a bigger bag.”

Miley smiled. “Trust me, it’s best to have those little things and not need them than to not have them at all. I’ve seen brides break down in tears because they weren’t prepared for those minor emergencies. It’s best to have a kit with you.” She looked at Dane. “Are there any last pieces of attire you need? Shirt? Cravat? Cuff links? Shoes?”

He shook his head. “No, it’s all sorted.”

Chris’s mouth curved. “I do adore how organized you both are.”

We talked for at least another half an hour. After they left, I grabbed the dressing bag that concealed my gown. Damn, it was heavier than I remembered.