Then again, that could backfire. It could cause problems for Presley and West’s wedding. I would not let anything prevent them from having the wedding of their dreams.
I’d bitten my tongue around Luke for years. I could continue to do that at least until after Christmas Eve. For Presley’s sake.
An idea blossomed as I pushed away my empty bowl and picked up my wine with as much enthusiasm as if it was my favorite dessert. Today it was a fitting dessert, and we still had half a bottle to go.
“I’ll work with him when I have to,” I said eventually, “and ensure Presley’s day is memorable and amazing. But I’ll also scour the surrounding area to see if there are other barn event venues for my future clients. It never hurts to have options.”
“That’s my girl,” Dotty said, grinning. “See? You have a very good business brain. You just need to believe in it. A smart businesswoman doesn’t put all her eggs in one basket. Someday you’ll need more than one barn because three of your planners will have barn weddings on the same date.”
“I like the way you think, Dotty,” I told her.
Luke Durham had taken too much of my mental energy already. I’d work with him when I had no other choice, but I’d do everything I could to have multiple better options for my clients.
He wanted to get into events? Well, sadly for him, I’d gotten into them first. I’d be a lot of people’s first contact. He’d have to fight to get my clients to book with him.
Chapter Five
Luke
Being among acres of Christmas trees, surrounded by cool, crisp air and pine scent, had always soothed me, even when I was working my ass off.
It also tended to make me lose track of time, particularly when I became engrossed in a task like pricing.
I was deep in the Fraser firs when I realized I had exactly two minutes to make it to my meeting with Presley at the barn. I stopped what I was doing and jogged to my truck at the edge of the trees, then jumped in and hauled ass. By the time I drove around the corner of the barn, I was a minute late.
An old BMW was parked near the barn door. Seconds later I realized only one person sat inside, and it was Magnolia. Presley must be meeting her here. The upside was I wasn’t the only one who was running behind.
I got out and headed toward the barn door, giving myself a pep talk to be pleasant to the planner. If I was lucky, she’d wait for Presley in her car so we wouldn’t be alone and have to make small talk as if there wasn’t a cargo train’s worth of baggage and history between us.
No such luck. I heard her car door shut behind me.
I opened the barn door, shoving down my bone-deep dislike and steeling myself to be neutral if not pleasant. Then I turned to watch her approach.
Her hair was back in a ponytail, and I couldn’t help thinking again that she dressed differently these days. She wore leggings, those same knee-high boots, a long shirt, and a puffer vest. The old Magnolia never would’ve been caught dead in a puffer vest. As she drew closer, her head down, I noticed a big scuff on one of the boots, which was even more unlike the high-school version of this girl. Guess that’s what happened when you didn’t have Daddy’s millions behind you anymore.
“Presley must be running late,” I said, skipping a fake greeting.
“Presley isn’t coming. West’s stepfather is in the ER with a possible heart attack, so West went to Nashville to wait for news with his mom. Presley has the girls. She asked me to handle this.”
“I hope the guy’s okay,” I said, knowing West thought the world of his mom’s husband and their daughters had embraced him as their grandfather. “Come on in.”
The truth was, Magnolia was the person whose expertise I needed today, so Presley’s absence wouldn’t affect this meeting. If West hadn’t suggested it, I wouldn’t have initiated it. I would’ve spent however many more hours on the internet, doing more research, spinning my wheels.
But time was money, and when West and I had been faced with reining in the rooms and areas we could fit in the barn plans, he’d suggested very practically that we get Magnolia’s input on what to prioritize to make it as appealing as possible for future events, not just his wedding. The logical side of me hadn’t been able to argue.
Now that I was alone with this woman who made me feel so damn much—both back in the day and now, though those were polar-opposite sentiments—I was second-guessing myself. Maybe we should’ve rescheduled. But it was too late to change the meeting without looking like I couldn’t handle it.
Once I’d latched the door to keep the brisk air out, I turned to find Magnolia watching me with a slight scowl. Time to get this over with.
“West and I met to hammer out the plans, and we had a hard time fitting in all the features we discussed during our first meeting,” I said. “We can’t do them all, so what’s most important?”
She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. “So you want me to do you a favor,” she stated. “Since this isn’t about my clients’ wedding.”
Hell. It wouldn’t look like that if Presley were here and we could narrow down her needs for her wedding.
This was not a position I was comfortable in.
“I’ll pay you as a consultant,” I said.
