Page 25 of White Wedding
“I’m almost four months along, and I still have morning sickness. It’s supposed to be gone after the first trimester, but that’s just my cross to bear.” Missy gave a deep sigh. “The problem is my maid of honor. I thought I could count on her, but that selfish bitch deserted me when I needed her the most.”
Victoria said nothing, letting Missy continue with her tirade.
“Kaitlyn was supposed to come here this weekend to help me with all my wedding projects,” she said. “We were going to eat Christmas cookies and watch Hallmark movies and embark upon a crafting bonanza of epic proportions. But she informed me she has to go to a tech conference in San Francisco. Apparently, her boss decided he needs her there to give a presentation. She didn’t even argue. Just went along with it as if our weekend meant nothing to her.”
“Can you get your bridesmaids to help? Or some of your friends? I’m sure they’d love a weekend of crafting at your place.” Personally, Victoria thought it sounded like the seventh circle of hell, but maybe Missy’s friends would be into it.
“Everyone’s busy with holiday events. Or with their families. I feel so abandoned.” She leaned in closer, blasting Victoria with the cloying aroma of her freesia-scented perfume. “Then I remembered I have you. Since you’re my wedding coordinator, you can help me out.”
Victoria refrained from explaining, yet again, that she wasnota wedding coordinator. Her job was to coordinate events at the Blackwood Cellars Estate, not to manage every detail of Missy’s wedding. But the self-centered bride-to-be had ignored Victoria’s previous attempts to clarify her role.
Thank God she had a legitimate excuse not to spend a weekend holed up with Missy. “I’d love to help you ‘get crafty,’ but I’m running a couple of events on Friday and Saturday. Sorry.”
Not sorry.
“That’s fine. You can work on these during your spare time.” Missy stood, opened the first Rubbermaid bin, and pulled out a box. “This is a wedding-themed gingerbread house kit from Coriander+Clove, complete with a gingerbread bride and groom. It’s been custom designed to serve as a cardholder at the gift table. I also planned to make two gingerbread houses as accent pieces for the post-dinner cocoa station. And another one for the head table, with gingerbread people of the entire wedding party.”
Holy Mother of God. “You were going to buildfour custom-made gingerbread houses? Why didn’t you farm them out? I’m sure you could order something like this on Etsy.”
Missy scowled. “I’m sure I could. But I wanted to exude my own personal touch.”
“Butfour?” As a child, Victoria had attempted a gingerbread house once. It hadn’t gone well. She and Connor had given up and eaten all the candy.
“Moving on.” Missy opened the next bin and brought out a white glass ornament and a spool of crimson ribbon. “I’m using these ornaments as wedding favors. I wanted to give one to every guest, with their name written on it in gold calligraphy. The gold pens and the guest list are in the bin.”
This was sheer, unadulterated insanity. “Why didn’t you hire a calligrapher? There are people who do this as their job.”
Theironlyjob.
For that, she got an eye roll. “My calligraphy is exceptional. As is Kaitlyn’s. We took a class together last year. She’s the one who helped me come up with this idea. But it won’t be much fun if she can’t join me.”
The list continued. Tiny golden reindeer to serve as placeholders, each of which needed an individualized place card, also written in calligraphy. An elaborate seating chart done in an Olde English script. And two hundred sets of jingle bells, which needed to be tied with green ribbons, for the guests to ring when they wanted the couple to kiss. Instead of tapping on their wineglasses likeevery other weddingVictoria had attended.
She could barely contain the horror coursing through her. Though she had a keen eye for design and color, she’d never thought of herself as crafty. Even if she was, there was no way one person could tackle all this.
No wonder Kaitlyn had bailed.
Missy blew out a huffy breath. “I’d prefer the personal touch, but if you have to outsource these projects, go ahead. I want them taken care of. Without these details, my wedding will be just some blah, generic Christmas wedding. I want it to be unique and memorable.” She gave Victoria a knowing smile. “As does Ben.”
Which meant if Victoria didn’t concede, Missy would whine to Ben. Then Ben would complain to her father. AndthenVictoria would end up facing him again, like a kid called to the principal’s office. Her only recourse was to smile sweetly, haul the Rubbermaid bins out to her Audi, and load them in the trunk.
Before she left Missy’s house, she texted the one coworker who might be able to help.
SOSChristmas Emergency!! Any chance you could take a break & come to Blackwood Manor??? I’ll be out in the parking lot in 20 minutes.
* * *
A minuteafter Victoria pulled into her spot outside Blackwood Manor, April Beckett appeared, carrying a small glass container. Clad in a crimson tunic embellished with tiny white snowflakes, she looked appropriately festive, which didn’t surprise Victoria, given that April was the type who embraced the holiday season with wholehearted enthusiasm.
April wiped her forehead, pushing her wavy brown hair away from her face. “Give me a minute. I race-walked over here from marketing, and I need to catch my breath.”
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have put the word ‘emergency’ in my text. It’s not a life-or-death situation.”
“No problem. I needed a break. Besides, it’s absolutely gorgeous out.” April handed Victoria the glass container. “Here. Freshly baked gingerbread. Took it out of the oven this morning. I know you try not to eat sweets, but…”
But few people at Blackwood Cellars could resist the lure of April’s baking. In fact, it was her baking skills that had first caught the eye of Victoria’s cousin, Brody Blackwood, who worked with April in marketing. They’d been dating for a little over a month.
Victoria opened the container, broke off a piece of gingerbread, and popped it in her mouth. The flavors of cloves, ginger, and allspice flooded her tastebuds. She closed the lid quickly. “Delicious. But I’ll save it to have with my coffee. A treat this good should be paired with a strong French roast.”
