"Zachary, come try bread." Babushka called from across the space where she served Drake a big slice of brown bread with butter.
"Duty calls," Zach sighed. "Somebody better save me if she tries to perform a blessing ritual with vodka like she did at Jase's wedding. I smelled like a distillery when we left."
The easy way Zach interacted with his family and the sincere affection behind his teasing increased his attractive quotient by a solid 20. Piper's focus lingered on him longer than strictly necessary as he strode toward his grandmother and Tess hustled behind.
"I think he likes you, you know," Anna said beside Piper, a knowing smile playing at her lips.
"I… that's not…" Piper fumbled.
"Of course," Anna agreed smoothly. "I just thought you should know. As his sister, I feel obligated to mention he hasn't stopped talking about 'the wedding planner with the impressive organizational skills' to anyone who will listen."
"Oh." Piper wasn't sure what else to say. "That's professional of him to notice."
Anna's laugh was gentle. "Sure, let's call it business interest. I haven't seen him this 'professionally interested' in anyone… before… ever."
Zach seemed to be attempting to translate between Babushka and Tess about something that involved a great deal of hand motions and frowning that even got Drake's attention away from the butter.
"I'm going to go… help Drake." Anna beamed as she walked toward her fiancé.
Piper moved to the quietest corner of the terrace to compile some notes, but it took no time for Tess to grab her attention and pull her from one corner to another with increasingly specific questions.
Every time she tried to rejoin Anna and Drake to get their unfiltered opinion on the various aspects of the venue, Tess intercepted with another concern about lighting, acoustics, media positioning, or how Babushka wanted the tables to be rounds while Tess preferred rectangles. Tablitsa Sud'by didn't work with rectangles, apparently. Tess didn't work with rounds.
So, there they were, at a stalemate of shapes.
Tess's phone rang.
"Legal needs me," she said, already walking away to take the call. "You've got this under control, Piper?"
Piper nodded. Of course, she had this.
Zach caught Piper's eye and gave a subtle nod toward a quiet spot by the potted palms.
The setting sun cast his profile in golden light. For a moment, she allowed herself to appreciate that view before clearing her throat.
"Rescue mission?" she asked.
"Something like that." He shifted to make room for her beside him. "I figured you might need a breather from Tess the Taskmaster."
"Is it that obvious?"
"Only to someone who's been watching you try to escape for the last…" He checked his watch. "Twenty-seven minutes."
The casual admission that he'd been observing her sent an unexpected flutter through her chest. "I need to get honest feedback from Anna and Drake," she explained. "Without Tess's industrial-strength filter."
Before he could respond, Anna and Drake made their way across the room toward them. Piper straightened. With Tess nowhere to be found—probably plotting world domination with legal—this was her shot.
"So, what do we think?" Piper asked.
"I like it," Anna said with a quick glance to Drake. "I think this is it."
"If Anna says this is it, then this is it," he replied staring at Anna in that gentle way of couples in love.
They seemed so real together. The kind of real Piper was terrified of breaking.
"Fabulous," Piper grinned huge instead of thinking more on that. "Then I think we should sit and go through the rest of the binder."
Drake and Anna exchanged glances that screamed "emergency exit strategy."
