“This is almost overwhelming,” Hollie said. “It’s just so big.” She sighed as if she was sizing up the prison cell she was going to call home for the next twenty-five to life, rather than her wedding venue.
“We’re just looking though, right? It’s not like anyone is going to force you to have a big wedding,” I said, trying to reassure her.
“Right. Can you do me a favor and take photographs?” she asked. “I’m bound to forget. I can barely think straight. And you have such a good eye for detail.”
“Sure,” I replied, pulling out my phone. I tipped my head back to see if I could get the entire chandelier in one shot. In the end, it took three.
The room was all huge mirrors and silk wallpaper and baby blue drapes that looked so full, they might be able to cover all of London if they were straightened out. The entire room was like being on the Bridgerton set. I took a handful of shots, trying to make sure I captured the scale of the room. “It’s beautiful,” I said, turning a full three hundred and sixty degrees to make sure I hadn’t missed anything.
“So it seats up to five hundred and ten people,” Beatrice, the woman from the hotel who had shown us in, said. She came up behind us out of nowhere, making me jump like I’d been caught stealing candy from Trader Bob’s.
“But the huge advantage is the private entrance from Park Lane.”
I recognized that name from the Monopoly board—it was smack next to Mayfair, the second-most expensive property on the board.
“You said you had smaller rooms as well,” Hollie said. “Can we see those?”
“Absolutely,” Beatrice replied. “If you follow me to the lifts, I can show you our penthouse, which can seat up to thirty-four guests.”
Hollie nodded. “Yes, that sounds like a more manageable number.” The green tinge to her face began to fade and she smiled.
“So where is Dexter?” I asked as we got into the elevator, which had walls covered in green silk. I wasn’t sure if fabric on the walls was a British thing or just a rich-person thing. But I took a picture just in case we needed to remember the elevators. “Shouldn’t he be here today rather than me?”
She sighed. “He had some crisis at the store in New York. A security incident, whatever that means. He said if I narrowed it down, we could come back together and look at the rooms I liked best. But we don’t even know how big to go. He knows far more people in London than I do. Although he’s said he’ll charter a plane to bring people over from Oregon.”
“A plane? But who would you invite from there?”
She shrugged. “Exactly. I just don’t know. Mom and Dad obviously. Anything else feels uncomfortable. Like I’m trying to show off or something.”
It was typical of my sister not to make a fuss, even when she was going to be a bride. “Well, like it or not, you’re going to be the center of attention on the big day.”
Beatrice guided us out of the elevator and through the door of what looked like a bedroom. Hollie froze as soon as she stepped into the room. “Oh wow. That view.”
I followed her eyeline and couldn’t repress a soft gasp. We were high enough up to see the London skyline stretched out in front of us, a jumble of buildings, big and small, with splashes of green breaking up the offices, palaces, shops, and homes. “You can see for miles. I completely love it.”
“If the weather’s nice, we could do pre-wedding breakfast drinks on the terrace,” Beatrice said. “Obviously, it’s difficult to imagine on a day like today. We’ve even held some ceremonies out here, but it’s a little stressful being so weather dependent.”
“Yes, that would be worrying.” Hollie stepped toward the windows, following the view, and I trailed after her, taking pictures of everything that caught my attention. “But inside you still get the view.” She turned around to take it all in. “It’s less intimidating than the ballroom but still beautiful.”
“This room is so much fun,” I said, lowering my phone. “The dramatic red drapes and the cherubs in the fountain—it’s all very baroque,” I said. “Like a glamorous fairytale.”
My sister glanced at me. “Baroque?” she asked as if she couldn’t believe that I would have even heard of the word.
“Yes,” I said. “I’ve been to Rome now, didn’t you know?”
Her face lit up with a smile as if moments like these were all she could have wanted for me. Me going to Rome with Gabriel and Bethany wasn’t exactly how she thought I’d get to travel, but I knew she was pleased I was spreading my wings.
“I can show you the Orchid room next if you want to follow me?” Beatrice said. “It’s very pretty for weddings.”