Jade King took a deep breath and stopped outside the door to gather herself. The Guardian Security conference room was empty, but any minute, a number of valuable assets would walk through that door. For an entire week, she'd debated the pros and cons of calling this meeting. She hated to acknowledge she might have taken on an operation requiring more than her solo skills, but time had evaporated, and if she wanted this operation to succeed, she needed to call in some specialists—the “A” team. She rolled her eyes and snorted in disgust. She’d thrown her best effort into it. She'd gone into reconnaissance mode and had spent the last four days doing intense research. The groundwork was laid for the operation. The structure was there... basically... maybe... but the logistics of getting it all to come together? For this particular mission, the logistics portion was astoundingly confusing. Fuck her standing. She had no idea so many moving pieces and details were involved. No idea. Dammit, none of this was ever supposed to have happened. She'd never felt so ill-prepared, and that pissed her off, which made getting shit done even harder.

She glanced down at the printed version of the email she'd sent earlier this morning.

>Urgent. Assistance required. Main conference room. 1400hrs. Today. <

Her assets had acknowledged receipt of the email and had confirmed their attendance. She was screwed with a capital 'S' if they refused to help. She took a deep breath and opened the massive door. The metaphor clobbered her. By coming here and asking for help, she would be doing exactly that—opening a massive door—especially when she laid out her plans and intentions for this op.

She turned on the light before hitting the button on the remote to fog the glass walls and door. Her satchel hit the dark wood of the conference room table, and she pulled three folders and two notebooks out. An unprecedented event two weeks ago triggered her need for help today. Jade hadn't told anyone about what had transpired. Hell, it was intel she held close to her vest. But, but in to order ensure things happened according to her plan, she needed help, and that meant releasing some highly sensitive information.

Her attention snapped to the door. Victoria, her sister-in-law, and Jewell, her sister, walked in. Jade hit the remote to lock the door behind them. It made an audible click.

Victoria glanced from the door to Jade. "So, what's the crisis you referenced in your email? It was cryptic." Tori gracefully walked around the table and sat down in one of the plush leather chairs. As always, she was beautifully put together, her make-up, hair, and clothing were all runway ready.

Jewell threw a bag of fruit-flavored chews on top of the table and flopped into a chair before asking, "What's up, buttercup? Why the secrecy?" Her black hair was pulled up into a messy bun. Three yellow, #2 pencils poked out of the untamed mess. She wore her husband's hoodie over... yoga pants.

Jade gawked at her sister. "Why are you wearing yoga pants?"

"Because I'm off today. I wasn't planning on coming in."

"Oh." Jade glanced at her watch. It was Saturday. Damn, how did she not notice it was the fucking weekend? The days had blurred together. She stood up and started pacing behind her chair. Her sweaty palms ran up and down her shirt sleeves as she mentally debated the wisdom of asking for help. Fuck it. She just needed to get it out there. It was time to do this.

She stopped behind her chair and picked up two of the three folders she'd put on the table. "I need your help with an... well for the lack of any better term, an operation. This needs to be kept confidential. Nobody can know about this unless I specifically approve it. If this information gets out..." Jade ran her hand through her hair, pulling it away from her face. She looked at the women across the table from her. "It could be a mess of biblical proportions."

Tori leaned forward. "What case is this? Overseas or domestic?"

Tori glanced at Jewell who shrugged. "Seriously, I have no idea what hot mess she's working on. I like it that way. Keeps my ass out of the fire."

Jade snorted and slid the files across the table. "Before you open those folders, I want your assurance this will remain between us."

Tori looked from the green folder to Jewell and then back to Jade. "How much trouble is this going to get me into with Jacob, or hell, for that matter, Jason?"

Jade slumped back into the leather cushion of her chair and groaned. "None that I'm aware of, and as this operation progresses, we may have to bring them into it, but I hope like hell we can keep it contained."

Jewell reached for a fruit chew, leaned back in her chair and lifted her feet up onto the leather seat as she squinted her eyes at Jade. "Jason doesn't know about this? What have you gotten yourself into?"

Jade shook her head. "Not until you assure me this information stays between us."

Jewell shrugged. "Until it becomes illegal or immoral, I'm in." She unwrapped the candy and popped it into her mouth. "As illegal is a grey area for me, you've got wide latitude."

Tori's eyebrows rose skyward at Jewell's comment. She turned to Jade. " I need to know what it is. If I can't buy in, I'll walk, but I won't share anything from this brief. Will that work for you?"

"That's fair enough." Jade held her hand out stopping the women from opening the folders. "Before you look at those, I need to show you this."

She unzipped a small side pocket located on the outside of her satchel and reached her fingers in searching for...ahh, there it was. She extracted the item and positioned it before she lifted her hand.

The earth-shattering squeal damn near ruptured her eardrum. Thank God the conference room was in privacy mode and soundproof.

"You're engaged! Oh. My. God!" Jewell ran around the table and slammed into Jade. The tackle hug was awesome and horrible at the same time. Jewell's squeals and shrieks were less than six inches from her ear—guaranteed hearing loss.

She glanced at Tori whose smile split her face, ear to ear. But… fuck, the woman was tearing up. She lifted a warning finger in her direction while trying to contain her sister's gleeful hug with her other arm. "No. Absolutely no crying, Tori."

Tori laughed and wiped at her eyes. "Right, I'll try. Let's see the ring!" She bounced out of the chair and reached across the table to hold Jade's hand.

That comment caught Jewell's attention, and she finally released the death grip she had on Jade's neck.

Tori sighed, "A princess-cut diamond. What is the other stone? A fire opal?"

"Yeah." Two baguette-cut opals flanked the diamond. Nic had told her it was because he saw her strength and fire in those stones, not that she'd ever tell anyone that bit of information.

Tori's eyes welled with tears again. "It is beautiful! When did Nic propose?"

Jewell grabbed her hand and examined the ring.

"Two weeks–"

"What!" The word echoed around the room.

"Wow, impressive. You two did that in unison." Jade was seriously in awe of their synchronization.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Jewell's eyes darted between the ring and Jade.

Dammit, she knew there might be hurt feelings, but seriously, it was... fuck, it was hard. "Look, you know me. I don't do this froo-froo shit, but I was going to try. I was all about letting Mom know and hoping she'd help me do all the planning for the wedding, right?"

Tori's brow furrowed, but she nodded. Jewell just cast her a suspicious look.

"Well, I called her the next morning because, you know, I was kinda busy with Nic the night before." Jewell and Tori snickered but sobered immediately when she frowned at them. "Anyway, I was going to tell her, but she launched into this happy gush of words about all the work she was doing to prepare for the entire family coming to the ranch for Christmas. It’s the first time in what, God, I don't know how many years, that we've all been home at the same time. She's excited, and she's neck deep in all things Christmas. Food, cleaning, buying gifts, assigning rooms, finding things for the grandchildren to do so they don't drive everyone batshit." She glanced at Tori. "No offense."

Tori laughed. "None taken. The boys can be a bit much."

"Nah, your kids are awesome... as long as I can give them back to you when they start whining." Jade shrugged. It was the truth. Talon was cool as shit, and so was Reece, but they were older. The smaller ones? They scared the fuck out of her. And babies? Nope… she'd end up breaking them.

"So, you didn't tell her?" Jewell sat on the conference room table beside Jade.

"No, and the reason I didn't was because I had probably the most stupid idea of all stupid ideas. Ever." She drew a deep breath and shook her head. " I know it is almost impossible for everyone to be at the same place at the same time. I mean when Nic and I were home just before Thanksgiving, Mom moaned about how Thanksgiving almost didn’t come off because of the scheduling conflicts between the few of us that were able to come. Thinking about how to pull off a wedding where everyone could be there? Shit, the details damn near drove me to drink. But then I thought, why not Christmas at the ranch? Everyone is going to be at the ranch anyway, well, except for maybe Dixon, Chief, and Taty."

"Girl, like you need a reason to drink." Jewell taunted.

Jade flipped her off, and Jewell stuck out her tongue. It was orange from the candy she'd just eaten.

"Anyway, I thought we could get married on Christmas Eve and have it as a surprise for Mom, kinda like an early Christmas present." Jade grimaced when she saw her sister's expression change from interest to disbelief.

"Three weeks? You want to get married in three weeks?" Jewell stood up and leaned against the table staring at her sister. Her hands hit the wood, and her fingers moved to mimic typing strokes. She shook her head. "Do you realize how long it took to plan my wedding? The logistics of a ceremony are mind-boggling. To start with, do you have a venue–"

"Jewell," Tori interrupted. "Maybe we should hear what type of wedding Jade wants. That would probably assist us in knowing whether or not she's bitten off more than we can chew."

"Thank you." Jade sat down and tapped the folder in front of her. "I've been doing research and calling around. I talked to Reverend Miller at Mom and Frank's church. He wasn't too keen on doing the wedding on Christmas and suggested we do a ceremony in the early afternoon the day before Christmas. He asked that the flowers remain in the sanctuary and be in liturgical colors for the season."

"Liturgical colors?" Jewell mumbled the question around another piece of candy.

"Colors appropriate for the Feast of Christmas. White and gold, but red’s okay, too. I guess poinsettias or roses and such. I can deal with those colors." Hell, Jade loved the idea. "We have to do video counseling with him before the wedding. Evidently, that's a church requirement. We've already scheduled that. If you take out the calendar...” She watched Jewell and Tori flip through their folders. “Yes, there it is. You'll see I have those appointments already written in."

"In pen, on a copied, fill-in-the-date calendar?" Jewell sat up straight and shook her head. "This is going to go digital about sixty seconds after this meeting is over."

Jade leaned forward and rubbed her temples. "I don't care, Jewell. The point is, I need help."

"What do you need?" Tori pulled a piece of paper from the folder, scanned it and flipped it over. She then reached over and plucked a pencil out of Jewell's hair.

"I need flowers. Obviously, because I told the preacher I would do it. I can't find a florist within a hundred miles of Hollister."

Victoria tapped the table with the eraser of her commandeered pencil as she thought. "It’s been a couple years, but I think—no, I know—Keelee hired a florist from Rapid City to do the arrangements and went down the day before to pick them up. I bet she could work something out for you." Tori circled the flower arrangements. "But that would mean I’d need to tell her. I know she can keep her mouth shut. The woman is about as stoic as they come."

Jade groaned and flopped back into the chair. "I really didn't want to let anyone else in on this."

Tori glanced up from the paper Jade had put together. "She'd be able to take care of it, and you could mark it off your list."

"Fine, but you call her, and you make her swear she won’t say a thing to Mom, or anyone else for that matter."

"Deal. She'll keep it to herself." Tori scratched something onto her paper. "So, any combination of red and white?"

"Yeah, but I don't want a big thing to carry down the aisle. Something small, okay?"

"That leads to the question of your dress." Jewell grabbed a pencil from behind her ear and flipped over a piece of paper from the file. "You've got that taken care of?"

"I found an online boutique. I don't want a gown. Since there isn't time for the dresses to be handmade, I figured we can order cocktail dresses. I have the color I picked out for the bridesmaid dresses annotated next to the link. There are three different styles for the dresses. I've put the item numbers beside the color. I don't care which ones you pick, just make sure you have that color, and we're solid."

Tori's head popped up. "You want me as a bridesmaid?"

Jade frowned in confusion. "Well, yeah."

"Oh." Tears built in Tori's eyes again.

"Nooo… you don't get to do that. I don't do tears. They are not authorized. Copy?" Jade pointed at her sister-in-law. Tori was totally overboard with the emotions. "I want to keep the bridesmaids to just you two."

"Well, that's going to cause a stink." Jewell sat with her pencil suspended in air.

"Why?" Jade could see the metaphoric tide rising.

The pencil in Jewell's hand leveled and pointed at her. "Your twin?"

And it begins. "She and Chad eloped. None of us were there. How could she be upset?" Jade stared wide-eyed at Jewell.

"You're not eloping. They had their reasons for doing that," Tori interjected, bringing Jade's attention to her.

"What reasons?" Jade couldn't think of any. At least she was getting married when everyone was around. Maybe. It was still up in the air.

"Paparazzi and pregnancy." Jewell grabbed another candy and pulled the wrapper away as she spoke. "You know you have to ask Jasmine. Stop being hard-headed."

Jade could see her idea of a small, quiet ceremony starting to wither and die, but Jewell was right. She hadn't considered Jasmine's feelings. "Oh. Dammit. Okay, the three of you."

"What about Faith?" Tori asked. "If you ask me, you almost have to include her."

Jade dropped her head to the wood table. Ow. A resounding thud echoed in the large room, or at least through her skull. She lifted away from the table, defeated. "Can she keep this from Reece? That kid tells Mom everything."

"I can talk to her." Tori jotted down a note. "I'm sure she can."

Jewell lifted a finger. "But if you ask Faith, what about..."

"Ember." All three of them spoke at the same time. "Okay, but no more."

"Dani." Jewell countered.

Jade shook her head. "Uh… no, she isn't married to Justin."

"Yet." Both of the women across the table spoke in unison.

"Dammit!" Jade let her head fall to the conference room table again. She picked it up and dropped it. Harder. "How many is that?" She'd lost count.

Tori tapped her pencil next to each name. "Six."

Her head popped up, and she blinked her sister-in-law back into vision. "Six, including me?"

Tori laughed, "No, you make seven."

This was a bad idea. Her head hit the table again. "Never mind, I'll elope."

"You don't need to do that. The women in this family are more than capable of keeping this quiet. We all love Amanda, and organizing this so she doesn't have to stress? It's child's play. You are doing a good thing here, Jade. We are inventive, resourceful and determined." Tori's voice sounded resolute.

"Correct. We can do this." Jewell agreed. "Who are the groomsmen?"

Jade lifted up from the table. "Right, Nic was going to ask his younger brother, Mario, and Jared to stand up with him, but Mario is spending Christmas with Carmine, Nic's older brother. He'd already committed to it, and if he backs out, Carmine will have more shit to hold against Nic. So, Nic decided to ask Jacob. Now he needs to find four more guys for the detail."

"Easy, I bet I can guess two more, Jason and Christian." Jewell lifted a finger each time she listed a name. "And Chad, Justin or Joseph, maybe?"

Jade crossed her eyes. "I'll let him decide who will be the groomsmen." Nic could deal with that shit.

"Good idea, but we'll have to stay on top of it." Jewell scribbled something down.

"So, we're wearing cocktail dresses? I think that is a great idea since it will be an afternoon affair."

Tori's comment helped elevate her belief she hadn't fucked up the entire event. "Yes, cocktail dresses for us, and Nic and I decided black suits for the men. White shirt and ties that match our dresses. I'll order those tonight. I guess I'll send them to Jasmine's place?"

"Logical staging location. That house they built is huge. Jazz can hide everything away. I'll talk to her tomorrow, which means you need to call her as soon as we finish here." Jewell wrote as she talked.

"Perfect. I can talk to Keelee, who will clue in Ember." Tori chuckled, "Those two are as thick as thieves."

Jade shook her head. "I should call Ember and Keelee. I'll do that after I call Jasmine. Or maybe I'll do it all at the same time... conference call... I'll figure it out."

"I can help you with that. Is this the color you want us to order the dresses in? JB78K5?" Jade pointed to the number code the online bridal shop had given her for the deep rose-red she liked.

"Right. That is the exact color I want. The minute I saw it, I knew it was perfect." Jade smiled. She could do this. She enjoyed the realization that she was semi in control of the situation again. "What's next?"

"Food and alcohol for the reception. I know Mom and Aunt Betty usually make a big Christmas Eve dinner, so you don't need to worry about that, but people are going to want to drink, toast you and..."

Jewell and Tori looked at each other before staring back at Jade. She sat up and looked at the folder in front of her. "What? What did I miss?"

Jewell pointed to the paper where Tori had written the word reception. "Cake. Yours and the groom’s."

"Wait a minute. That's bullshit. Two cakes? Who has two cakes at a wedding?” She pointed at Jewell. “You didn't!" Jade knew when her chain was getting jerked.

"Ummm... just about everyone knows you have two cakes. We had a dessert bar instead because... hello, it was me, but you could have just the one. It's old school, but doable." Jewell looked at Victoria who shrugged in agreement.

Jade gaped at Jewell and turned her stare to Victoria.

The woman held up her hands in surrender. "Don't look at me, I got married in front of a judge wearing Jasmine's clothes. I'm winging this shit based on Keelee’s and Jewell's weddings."

"Right. We can ask Keelee who she used for the cake." Jewell scratched a note to herself.

"I hope it wasn't Aunt Betty, because that woman couldn't keep a secret to save herself." Tori made a note on the paper.

Jade sat up straighter and peeked at the extensive writing on both Tori and Jewell's sheets. Okay, maybe she’d made the right decision when she'd asked for help. Thank God.

"What about Justin?"

"Justin?" Jade had no idea what she'd missed.

"He has like a hundred restaurants. His pastry chefs catered our wedding. If Keelee doesn't have a source, we could ask him for help."

"Okay. You know we are going to need to put this into a spreadsheet." Jewell looked at Tori.

"Definitely. Tabs for each function and who is responsible for what aspect. We can share the sheet between us, that way when an item is finished we'll all see it." Tori shuffled the papers in front of her together.

Jewell nodded. "Perfect. I'll sync it with an event calendar so we can send reminders and have contact information in one place for all vendors."

Jade drew her fingers to the sides of her mouth and let out a whistle. The women on the other side of the table jumped. At least she had their attention now. "Good. Thank you, ladies, you are making all of this bearable, but I don't want you to do anything until I talk to Nic. No phone calls to anyone, no databases, no calendars, no orders, no syncing… nothing. Are we clear?" She had to make sure her fiancé was cool with what was turning out to be one hell of a big event. Maybe they should elope. That was still an option because Tori and Jewell had sworn to keep the whole thing a secret.

Tori smiled. "We are clear. I know it seems like a lot of moving pieces and parts, but we can do this and keep it as a surprise for Amanda."

"Wait, what about Mom's dress?"

Jade felt her eyes roll into the back of her head. "That's a thing?" Jewell snorted and tossed her a look. Jade grimaced. "Let me talk to Nic. Can we get together tomorrow?"

"Sure, the afternoon is best for me." Tori shuffled her papers into the folder.

"Perfect. That will give me time to..." Jewell shoved the papers into the folder and glanced at Jade. "... wake up."

"You're not fooling me. At least don't share those damn documents until I say we are good to go." She knew her sister. If she had a project, she'd work day and night to make it perfect. It made her one of the best tech nerds in the world.

The woman's smile lit up her face. "Coolio. I'm heading home."

"No telling Zane or Jacob." Jade reminded the women as they got up to leave.

"Our lips are sealed."

Jewell laughed at Tori's comment.

Jade dropped her head to the table again and groaned, "Oh, fuck. That hurt."