A short, plump woman with a mess of curly hair popped up from under the table.
“Hi! Sorry, I was trying to get the projector to work.”
The screen at the front of the room brightened, and I blinked then looked at the girl.
“You!” I barked.
Amy blanched. “Oh…shit.”
She tangled her hand in her hair sheepishly. Twigs, leaves, and flower petals rained onto the table.
“Oops! Don’t mind me. I was doing a little gardening.” She was dusty, dirty, and covered in bits of mulch and grass trimmings.
“They can’t plan this wedding,” I said flatly, turning to the mayor.
“They’re the best in the business,” Meg said.
Hunter glared at me. “Weddings in the City is who Meg wants to plan the wedding, Sebastian.”
I pointed. “That girl, Amy, dumped barbecue on me.”
“Not on purpose, I’m sure,” Meg said with a laugh. “I know Amy. She and I both like our food. No way are we wasting it by dumping it on someone!”
Amy nodded. “Yeah, it was totally an accident. I had aleetlebit too much to drink.” She placed an enormous bag on the table. “It was a super-awesome event, though. Congrats on the win. Hunter, you killed it out there.”
“I’m surprised you remembered,” I grumbled.
She opened the bag. “Also, I brought you something, Meg, as a wedding-kickoff present.” Out of her bag, she pulled an enormous plant with wand-like stems and waxy, emerald-green leaves.
“What the hell?”
“It’s a Zanzibar gem. They are drought tolerant and great for offices.”
“It’s beautiful,” Meg said.
I looked around the room. “Is no one going to remark on how crazy that is? She just pulled a whole plant out of her purse.”
“Oh, that’s nothing,” Amy said with a laugh. “Once, I had a squirrel in my purse and didn’t realize it, and it hopped out of my bag in the middle of a town hall meeting!”
Everyone in the room laughed, like that wasn’t the grossest thing in the world. Then a horse neighed.
“Shhh,Baxter,” Amy said under the table.
“You brought your horse here?” I asked in shock.
Amy glared at me. “On Saturday, you were going on and on about how he wasn’t a horse. He was a stuffed animal,” she shot back.
“You had him dressed in sneakers!” I railed.
“He’s so cute!” Meg cooed. “Baxter has to be in the wedding.”
“Speaking of,” Ivy said, writing in her notebook, “Hunter, which one of your brothers did you choose to be your best man? We will need to coordinate with him.”
Hunter leaned back in his chair. “None of my brothers who could be trusted with the task wanted to do it. And the ones who did want to do it, I wouldn’t trust with a pet rock, let alone a wedding. So Sebastian is going to be the best man.”
“Oh, hell no!”
7
