“Wow. Now that you put it that way,” Jenna said. “I wish I could get my gown finished in time and join the fray.”
“No, no, no, no, no.” Cait shook her head vehemently. “Don’t envy Melisa and Rob. Your wedding will be the loveliest one ever. Picture this. It’s Valentine’s Day in the heart of San Francisco. The Gilded Ballroom is filled with symbols of love: hearts, lovebirds, and arrows.”
“Arrows?” Melisa smirked. “Wouldn’t they pop all the heart-shaped balloons you were planning on?”
“Cupid’s arrows.” Cait pantomimed pulling back on the bowstring and releasing an arrow. “Jenna and all her bridesmaids will walk down an elevated runway in front of the guests, modeling the gowns Jenna designed for her Gilded Wedding Collection.”
“I’m having a fashion show at my wedding?” Jenna’s jaw dropped and she stared, wide-eyed, at Cait.
“Not just any fashion show, but a premiere of your newest bridesmaid and spring wedding line. Combining it with your wedding will put Hart in SF Designs on the map of haute couture wedding wear.”
Silence. Both of her sisters stared at Cait as if she’d sprouted antennae. What they failed to realize was they were in the presence of a genius mastermind.
Cait Hart might be a housewife with a high school education, but Cait Hart thought big, and there was nothing bigger than a person’s wedding, especially since she, herself, squandered hers at a city courthouse without family present.
“You don’t think it’s big enough?” Cait addressed Jenna. “Shall we add a bachelor’s auction to the reception? Or maybe a dating game?”
“Stop.” Now it was Jenna’s turn to slap the tabletop. “I’m already crawling up the wall trying to come up with a unique wedding dress, and you two keep changing the design on your bridesmaid dresses.”
“And I have to finalize the food selections and cross-check them with the guest list,” Melisa said. “Allergies, gluten-free, things like that.”
“Nothing to worry about.” Cait bobbed her head at her sister who was too timid and careful. “Rob’s an emergency room doctor, and I’m sure most of his friends are, too. Plus we have half the fire station there, ready to give CPR. I’m sure everyone will be fine. Now, for the open bar, I suggest…”
“Stop it right there,” Jenna said. “Melisa and I need a timeout to confer with each other.”
“In other words, to plot against me.” Cait jutted her chin at them defiantly. It was always like this growing up, the blondies against the ginger-head.
Fortunately, all of her brothers were brunettes, and people often wondered why the boys were typical tall, dark, and handsome while the girls were fruit bats, or so Cait imagined.
Jenna whispered in Melisa’s ear and Melisa nodded, then whispered back, flapping her dainty little hands like a hummingbird’s wings.
Cait narrowed her eyes at her rebellious sisters. Why wouldn’t they let her have free rein? They were both busy women with real jobs. They didn’t have time for bridal magazines, caterers, party planning, event coordination, bakers and flowers, RSVPs, invoices and bills, and everything else!
“Okay, we’re making you a deal,” Jenna said. “We’re only letting you plan our weddings if your name is Cait Wonder, and you start a business called Cait’s Wonderful Weddings. We’ll be your first customers. But you need to change your name before Christmas.”
“Do it, Cait.” Melisa added. “Be a Wonder for a change.”
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” Jenna sang as she twirled her way around the coffee shop.
Before long, Melisa joined her and Cait, feeling left out, jumped up to cavort along with them to the applause of the other patrons in the shop.
Christmas was definitely the most wonderful time of the year. For the Hart family, but not so much for the Wonder family, of whom the only person left was Brian who’d requested to be left alone in the woods this year.
