Page 30 of Cut The Cake

“We can’t afford to mess this up, Nick. We promise a perfect wedding for every bride who comes here. That goes double for someone like Jenny. Only, she has to do her part. You’ve got to make sure she does.”

The need to defend Jenny coursed through him as he mopped the floor with a napkin he grabbed from a table dispenser. “You know it’s not entirely her fault.” He pitched the damp paper into a nearby trash can. “Her fiancé’s mother invited those extra people to the wedding. The groom is the one who insists that nothing but the best will do.” From what he knew of Jenny, none of the pomp and extravagance were her idea.

“Then she needs to stiffen her spine and tell them to back off,” insisted Alicia. “What kind of marriage will the girl have if she constantly gives in to everyone else’s demands?”

What kind indeed?

“Look, Nick, you’re the only one here who has some sway with her. We need you to take her under your wing, so to speak. Talk her out of making any new changes before her big day.”

“If you don’t,” Janet warned, “we’ll end up disappointing her. Then, whether her demands were unrealistic or not, it won’t matter. Word will spread. I don’t have to tell you what it’ll do to us if our image gets tarnished.”

One way or another, the livelihood of every person in Heart’s Landing depended on the town’s A-plus reputation. He had to do his part to protect it.

Nick lowered his coffee cup to the table and pulled himself erect. “I’ll do the best I can,” he promised.

Roy lingered behind when the others filed through the door. “You got a sec?” the videographer asked.

“Just about that long,” Nick answered. He’d already had a hectic schedule before his friends had dropped this new responsibility in his lap.

“Well, I was thinking about when my sister got married last year. The closer we got to the big day, the more harried she was. I don’t know if she’d have made it, except my brother-in-law made her get away from it all for a day or two. They took a break from the wedding stuff and spent the weekend in Newport.”

Nick’s eyebrows rose. A wry grimace twisted his lips. “You aren’t seriously suggesting I whisk Jenny off on a weekend getaway, are you?” His friends and fellow business owners already held him accountable for their wayward bride. They’d run him out of town on a rail if he ran off with her.

“Nah. Nothing like that.” Roy punched Nick’s arm. “But you could take her sight-seeing. There are plenty of historic places around here.”

Nick rubbed his chin. Roy’s suggestion was worth considering. “I’ll come up with something,” he said, wondering how he’d gotten himself into this mess and, better still, how he’d get out of it.

Just exactly how was he supposed to keep his distance from Jenny when he’d promised to take the wishy-washy bride-to-be under his wing?

Chapter Ten

People moved through the hallway outside Jenny’s door, their footsteps clattering on the hardwood floors. Laughter punctuated the low murmur of conversation that drifted up the stairs from the lobby where guests gathered for an early evening wedding. Late arrivals added to the volume until, finally, doors opened and closed. Gravel crunched beneath shoes and high heels as the party moved around the house to the parking lot. Standing at her window, Jenny caught snatches of banter while the departing group piled into waiting cars. Another round of doors slammed. Engines revved. And then they were gone, off to the wedding that had been the main subject of conversation around the breakfast table this morning.

Her stomach issued a low grumble. Not that the hunger surprised her. Nervous about having to break the distressing news of Kay’s latest round of changes to her friends in town, she’d only downed a couple of cups of coffee before heading out this morning. Lunchtime had come and gone before she’d visited half the shops, where her excuse for switching colors sounded thin, even to her. With no other option, she’d kept at it. By the time she’d convinced the last store owner to adjust their order, Open signs were being flipped to Closed, and doors were being locked from one end of Bridal Carriage to the other.

Her shoulders slumped, she’d picked her slow way along the emptying sidewalks to her temporary home. Her spirits had plummeted lower still when she reached the bed-and-breakfast and spotted the group gathering in the lobby. Unable to think about anyone’s wedding—and certainly not the one she was planning—she’d rushed upstairs. No sooner had she reached her room, though, when her stomach sent up a protest.

Too late, she realized she’d spent the entire day rushing from one place to another without a single break. She hadn’t even stopped by I Do Cakes to see Nick and have her daily cupcake.

Nick.

What would he think of her when he found out the real reason she’d come to Heart’s Landing? Would he understand her need for subterfuge? Would everyone else? For what had to be the hundredth time, she sighed. She’d told herself over and over that once everyone learned Karolyn Karter was the real bride, they’d be so excited they’d forgive her for misleading them. She crossed her fingers and hoped she was right about that.

However the future played out, though, food was her immediate priority. She needed to make some plans for dinner. Unfortunately, dining anywhere within a five-mile radius was out of the question. The odds were too high that she’d run into Mildred or Alicia or any of the dozen other shop owners whose paths she’d crossed today. She supposed she could drive to a nearby town and grab a bite, but that idea didn’t hold much appeal, either. She liked it here. She wanted to stay here.

She really did, didn’t she?

Startled by the sudden realization of how much Heart’s Landing had come to feel like home in such a short time, she rubbed her eyes. Her thoughts didn’t waiver. The idea that if it was up to her, she’d stay here forever, wrapped around her like a warm shawl.

She glanced out the window at the garden behind the bed-and-breakfast. Slowly, she shook her head. Moving here wasn’t in the cards. She’d need a job, and her cousin’s indecisiveness had tainted her. Thanks to Kay’s insistence on changing everything from the size of the wedding to the color of the napkins, she doubted anyone in town believed she could make a decision and stick to it. Who would hire someone that weak?

Besides, she didn’t have much of a resume. She’d had one job—as Kay’s personal assistant—since college. She doubted many people here needed one of those. As for her dream of opening her own event-planning business, that was only a pipe dream. Without the cachet of Kay’s name to back her up, how was she supposed to strike out on her own?

She brushed a sudden dampness from her eyes. She needed to forget the idea of moving to Heart’s Landing. Her life, her job was in L.A.

Which still left the matter of her empty stomach. Resigned to ordering in a pizza, she thumbed through a phone directory she’d found in the nightstand. Number in hand, she reached for her phone. She’d barely picked it up when a soft chime signaled an incoming call. Her hand froze.

Was it Kay again with more suggestions that sounded more like marching orders?

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