"But we're on the football field with a live stream."
"That sounds like… a lot of distraction," Piper said.
"Exactly. "
"We’re already assuring that the wedding is going to happen fast. Now we inundate them with football players in the brand-new official underwear of the Stallions. And, as a bonus, if the players aren't enough—" She leveled her stare at Piper. "Puppies in mini–Wild Sacks bandanas."
"That is most definitely a distraction," Piper agreed, eyeing one of the puppies as he peed on a pair of cleats.
"The setting will be the actual field. Thank goodness, Legal cleared it. Then we're going to interview the players, showing off their Wild Sacks and holding the puppies." Tess made a ta-da gesture.
"The live stream will have links to both Wild Sacks and the puppy adoption profiles. They're rescues," Zach added. "Noah and I agreed that a portion of Wild Sacks’s sales will go to the shelter."
"That sounds like it will be…" Mayhem? Insanity? "Fun." Piper went with fun. Her voice was high and bright, like a balloon someone had overinflated.
There was a beat of silence in which Tess's overzealous smile trembled at the corners, just a little. "It's got to work. Right? You agree it's going to work?"
She looked at Piper like a magician who had pulled a rabbit out of a hat and was waiting to see whether the audience clapped or pointed out the ears sticking out of her sleeve.
Zach tilted his head. "Piper? Thoughts?"
Piper raised her chin and walked forward. "It's going to work."
Zach's smile hit her like a well-placed body shot—low, unexpected, and hard to recover from.
"For real? A sanity check," Tess said, sliding in beside Piper. "Because I feel like this is all starting to be too much."
"Adding a dozen puppies to anything will do that," Piper agreed.
"Today is fittings and pairings only," Zach said. "Ensuring fit and getting the puppy matches that work best for each player. Today's the easy day."
Babushka wailed, "Vatch out!" right before a mannequin toppled over onto a garment rack, which collapsed with a musical clang like a steel drum of despair.
"Do not vorry. It is fine," Babushka hollered.
But it didn't really seem fine.
Tess gnawed at her bottom lip. "I'm working with the one staffer who didn't bail to the hockey-team-that-won't-be-named and two interns who can't leave because they need the grade."
Now, that?
"That makes this too much," Piper said, pointing to the broken mannequin.
"We could use a hand here. Things are…" Zach ducked his chin.
Out of control? Totally obnoxious? Piper could make a long list of what things were there.
"Spinning," Tess admitted.
A twinge of recognition hit Piper square in the chest. Trying to balance everything, when nothing was stable, always made things harder than they needed to be.
"I can sell the vision," Tess continued. "That's what I do. But we must nail the logistics, or the field day will eat us alive."
Piper couldn’t help it, she immediately started organizing the room in her mind. Making little micro-plans to ease the load.
"Piper? You're the queen of organization. Could you… maybe… add this to the list of wedding stuff that needs doing?" Zach asked, sheepish. "Only if you have time."
"I'm in over my head," Tess admitted.
