Mr. & Mrs. Douglas Quinn
cordially invite you toshare
in the wedding of their daughter
Ava Verbeke Quinn
to
Mr. James Allen Gelovani
at
the Glidden House
Saturday,the10th of May
Ceremony to begin at3p.m.
with reception to follow.
Carriages at Midnight
23
CALEB
On the eve of the royal visit, he was exhilarated and exhausted. Sitting around the crackling firepit of the Sands Motor Motel courtyard, Emery curled in his lap, glass of wine in his hand, he finally, finally exhaled.
The jumble of voices and to-dos in his head went silent. After eight hectic weeks, Sea Blue Beach was ready. Once Simon hired Caleb to head up logistics for the royal visit, he zeroed in on all he had to do, found his stride, and got more done in the last two months than the previous six.
The Swansons’ design was complete, and ground had been broken. The Østers’ plan was still on the drafting table because Mrs. Øster kept changing her mind.
Alderman’s Pharmacy reached the halfway mark this week—restoring history took time. Jenny Finch graciously donated to the East End restoration fund before knowing about the royal visit. She was bowled over to receive one of the few gold-embossed invitations for the Friday night reception.
On Saturday, one hundred and twenty town and business leaders, educators and students, city workers, first responders, doctors, lawyers, and senior residents of Sea Blue Beach would gather under a forty-by-sixty tent on the beach for a brunch reception.
Chief Kelly, along with the royal protection detail and a crew from the US State Department, was handling security. Simon and the town council were hosting, overseeing the reception line, and Misty from Sweet Conversations and Paige from the Blue Plate Diner were tapped to supply all the food.
Mac Diamond asserted that the Skylight—the finest restaurant in Sea Blue Beach (he stopped saying “in the West End” the moment he heard the news)—should cater the brunch, but Simon put a lock on the East End businesses.
Servers from about every café and restaurant in town volunteered to keep the champagne flowing and food platters filled. A team of twenty were selected. They’d wear blue Tommy Bahama shirts and khaki shorts.
The high school string quartet had been retained to serenade both events. Caleb was impressed when he visited their rehearsal this morning. The historical markers arrived, and a crew from the city cemented them in place last night.
The whole town buzzed. Every hotel and rental was booked, and as of yesterday, the East End crawled with tourists and security.
Hometown Hollywood legends Matt Knight and Harlow Hayes offered their lovely home at 321 Sea Blue Way for the royal couple’s one-night stay. After all, Prince Blue was its builder and first resident. Descendants of the Nickle family had a private meeting with Prince John and Princess Gemma before the Friday night reception.
Royal watchers and photographers lurked against the barricade and roped-off areas. And Chief Kelly had assured Simon everything was under control.
Bentley continued to thrive, becoming more grounded every day. When Emery ran her story on the royal visit, Bent read up on everything about the House of Blue and Lauchtenland, then generously shared his knowledge with Caleb at the dinner table.
He was grateful for this quiet moment with Emery.
“What’s that pinched expression?” she said. “You did a fabulous job, Caleb. The program is beautiful.”
“Dad gave me lots of logistical help. I was just running through everything in my head. What did I forget? Do you think the West End is really okay with the prince and princess only touring the East End? I have this feeling Mac will pull something.”
