"Miranda Castellano's caterer had a mass food poisoning incident. The entire kitchen staff left, four days before her wedding."
Savannah's eyes widened. "The Castellano wedding? Two hundred guests, half the county invited, photography spread for the style magazine?"
"That's the one."
"Please tell me you solved it and I'm not about to spend my Tuesday morning making emergency phone calls to every caterer in three states."
"Solved. Maria Santos is taking over the catering, upgrading the menu, and charging the same price as the original vendor plus a small rush fee."
Savannah stares at me for a moment, then shakes her head with the kind of admiration that makes my chest warm. "You're magical. Seriously. How do you just... fix impossible problems like it's routine maintenance?"
"Planning, contacts, and the advantage of having built relationships with people who are good at their jobs." I close my laptop and focus on her completely. "Plus the knowledge that every crisis we handle well builds our reputation for handling the next crisis that comes along."
We discuss potential business expansion and hiring additional staff until the front door opens and Logan and Griffin's have come back to the house.
"Crisis management meeting?" Griffin calls out as they enter the kitchen.
"Strategy session," I correct. "I solved the crisis, now we're planning world domination."
Logan raises an eyebrow. "What kind of world domination?"
"The kind that involves a second venue location and hiring additional staff to handle our increasing market demand," Savannah says, grinning at their expressions.
"I need to grab some files from the office," I tell them, standing. "Griff, can you help me carry out the expansion research?"
Griffin follows me down the hall, and once we're out of earshot, I turn to him. "Thanks for backing up the kitchen modifications yesterday. I know the electrical work was more complicated than we originally planned."
"No problem," he says, then pauses. "Though I noticed you called me Griff just now."
"Sorry, I know you prefer Griff in business settings…"
"Actually," he interrupts, stepping closer, "I like it when you call me Griffin. Just... don't tell anyone, okay? I've got a reputation to maintain."
The admission catches me off guard. Griffin, who insists everyone use his full name, who corrects people automatically, wants me to use the nickname he usually hates.
"Your secret's safe," I promise, reaching up to cup his face.
He leans into the touch, then closes the distance between us. The kiss is soft and sweet, nothing like the heated claims from months ago, but somehow just as significant. It tastes like coffee and contentment, like the quiet intimacy that's grown between all of us.
"Come on," he murmurs against my lips. "Let's go plan our empire."
We return to the kitchen with the files, and I catch Savannah's knowing smile. Logan just shakes his head with amusement.
"Are we ready for that?" Griffin asks, settling into the chair beside me.
"Are we ready to stay small-scale forever?" I counter. "Because that's essentially our choice. We can maintain our current size and risk stagnation, or we can grow strategically and increase our impact."
"Impact," Logan repeats thoughtfully. "You mean helping more couples create their perfect celebrations?"
"That's exactly what I mean. Right now, we can handle maybe seventy-five weddings per year. With a second location and additional staff, we could potentially handle a hundred and fifty events annually."
"Twice as many perfect days," Savannah says softly.
“I agree,” Griffin adds with a grin.
“Sure,” Logan concludes.
I look around the table at these three incredible people who've helped me build something I never imagined wanting, let alone achieving. Six months ago, we were four individuals trying to figure out how to coexist. Now we're a family, a business, a team that makes magic happen for other people.
