It had no character. It looked as if it had been copied out of a magazine. It was impossible to imagine her lively, energetic best friend dancing in this ballroom — this was a place for people who cared more for formality than frivolity. This was not the right place.
She thanked Ms. Wallace when the tour was over and followed Theo back out to the car. “We have time for lunch,” she told him. “I didn’t have to make an appointment at the place I want us to look at, we can just turn uo. So, we can get something to eat first, if you’re hungry.”
“All right,” he said. “But tell me what you thought about this place.”
She nodded. “We can discuss over lunch.”
“You still want to visit yours?”
She looked at him. “You thought I’d see this place and be so enamored that I’d say we didn’t have to look at anything else?”
He grinned. “I thought there was a chance.”
“I didn’t hate it,” she admitted. “But I do want to show you the place I have in mind. I think you’re really going to like it. And we have a bit of a drive ahead of us, so let’s stop somewhere and grab sandwiches before we get on the road.”
CHAPTER 11
THEO
By the time they were an hour outside of Houston, Theo’s good mood had evaporated. “If you’re going to tell me your idea is that they should get married in a cornfield…” he began.
“Of course not,” Harper said. “Although therewouldbe something charming about that, wouldn’t there?”
“There absolutely would not.” Sometimes he couldn’t tell when she was kidding and when she was serious. After a moment, she smiled, which gave him the answer to his question, but he was still irritated. “How much farther is this place?”
“Not much.”
“Do you really think wedding guests will be willing to drive all the way out here into the middle of nowhere?”
“There’s a hotel by the venue,” she said. “I’ve used this place before. I’ve always really liked it.”
“Why would we ask people to pay for hotel rooms when most of the guests live in the Houston area?”
“We can reserve a block of them. The venue offers a package like that.”
“You’re sayingweshould pay for the hotel rooms?”
“Money was no object, I thought,” she said.
He ground his teeth. It wasn’t, of course. If Max had told Theo he wanted this place, Theo would have shelled out for it without question. But that wasn’t what this was. Was he really expected to pay an exorbitant rate for a wedding venue becauseHarperliked it?
It’s not as if the Crystal Ballroom is cheap, the nagging thought occurred to him.We aren’t looking at any budget options here.
All right, so he couldn’t reasonably be upset about the cost. But even so, there was something he didn’t like about the fact that she was making him drive all the way out into the countryside. It would be easier and more convenient to have the wedding downtown, and there was no reason to make everyone come all the way out here and stay in a hotel. She was just trying to make things more elaborate than they needed to be again.
And here I was, trying to prove that I really do care about my brother and want the best for him. She’s just trying to one-up me. That’s what she always does.
“Take this road,” Harper said, pointing. “The venue is at the end of it — it’s just about a quarter of a mile from here.”
“This reallyisin the middle of nowhere. Nobody will even be able to find it.”
She was bouncing in her seat slightly, like a kid who was excited about being taken to a party. “You’re going to like it, Theo,” she pledged. “I promise. And peoplewillbe able to find it.We’ll draw little maps for them and send them out. It will be adorable.”
“Oh, when are we going to find the time to draw maps of country roads?”
She didn’t get the chance to answer. The car’s engine made a guttering noise that filled Theo with dread. A moment later, the engine died, and they were left in silence but for the cheerful noises of the countryside.
It felt to Theo like they were now in a competition to see who could go the longest without speaking. Though he knew it wasn’t remotely Harper’s fault the car had broken down, he couldn’t help feeling angry with her, and he thought she ought to offer an apology. If she did, he would tell her that he knew it wasn’t her fault — he wasn’t going to be a jerk about it — but surely she was going to saysomething?
