After a bit more haggling, we have ourselves a deal. We’ll have to make a visit to thefoie grasfarm so we can get the glass bottles. It’ll be worth it to make sure the favors don’t look like cat food.
Evidently, that’s the new gold standard for this wedding.
Yikes.
14
SIENA
Thankfully,Jack has the foresight—or maybe it’s his conscience kicking in—to buy the two glass containers offoie grasthe men had on hand. The man trulyisa sucker for entrepreneurs. Secretly, I find it attractive.
I need to do a bit of testing to see if we can really make these things look decent. I brought a few things for the bachelorette party I can use to spiff them up. That’s what I’ll do tonight, since we told thefoie grasguys we’d come by tomorrow.
If itdoesn’tlook good, well… I don’t really want to think about that right now. The spreadsheet is haunting me evenwithoutany issues with the wedding favors.
When we get back to the chateau, I rummage through the suitcases in my room to find the odds and ends I broughtjust in case. If I was smart, I would have made a spreadsheet detailing where I packed everything, but I was a little distracted by someone.
“Hey, Jack!” I call from my room, sitting back on my heels. “Do you remember where we put that canvas bag that had all those random ribbons and small bags and things in it?”
I hear his footsteps, then his head pops into my room. It’s been like five minutes since I last saw him, but I swear he’s gotten more attractive in that short time. Stupid Jack.
“You’re asking if I remember where we put bags that were inside of a bag, which we then put inside of another bag?”
I sigh, setting my hands on my thighs and looking at the array of open suitcases. “Yeah, I guess that’s what I’m asking.”
He steps inside the room and turns off his phone. “I donotremember, but I can help look.”
I raise my brows, nodding at his phone. “What’s the occasion? I thought you made it a point not to have your phone with you?”
He stuffs it in his pocket. “Just some hiccups at work. That’s all.” He sets his hands on his hips. “All right, which ones have you looked through?”
* * *
Fifteen minutes later,I’ve got the canvas tote in hand. Well, Jack does. He’s the one who found it.
He frowns at the contents. “Where did you even get all this stuff? Did you have some past, secret wedding I wasn’t invited to? I’m hurt, Sheppard.”
I snatch the bag. “I’ll take that, thank you. And no, it’s not from somepast, secret wedding, but if it was, dang skippy, you wouldn’t have been invited.”
He puts a hand to his heart. “And the hits keep coming.”
“If you must know, I bought it all off a lady a few months ago. She had a bunch of extra stuff from her daughter’s wedding, and I thought it might come in handy.”
Time to shine,burlap tote with random wedding contents.
Fifteen minutes after that, I stuff a spool of silver ribbon into the tote with a sigh. Pretty as it is, none of the stuff I have works with the jars offoie gras. The ribbon is all too thick, and the colors aren’t right. But it’s at least shown me the potential. Jack was right—with the right bags and ribbon, I think they’ll look pretty dang good as wedding favors. Good enough that I search on my phone for the nearest craft store, assuming that’s a thing in France.
“Bingo!” I cry out when I find what I’m looking for. Thank heaven for Google translate. “A craft store, and it’s only a ten-minute drive.”
Jack is staring at his phone, brow furrowed, but he glances up. “Want me to come?”
“Don’t you have work stuff to take care of?”
He sighs. “Yeah, but it can probably wait. If you’re going to a craft store, you should really be with someone who has an eye for this stuff.”
Chuckling, I shake my head as I grab my purse. “Much as I’d love to have your expert crafting skills on hand, I’ll have to make do without. I’d rather have your help tomorrow with assembling the favors.” I clench my teeth. “All 108 of them.”
“A hundred and eight?” He whistles. “Who knew Madi had so many friends?”
