Chapter Seven

 

* ABBY *

 

I rubbed my eyes against the blaze of bright morning light that blinded me as I left my driveway. I felt exhausted, even though I’d gone to bed relatively early last night. But I had no choice other than to continue working on the wedding. Today was Wednesday which meant I had only a few days before Friday’s rehearsal dinner, and then the next day was the wedding itself on Saturday. I really could have used a staff of about a dozen people, but it was just me running this show. Thankfully, the resort staff always helped me out a ton, but still: I was beginning to feel like I’d bitten off more than I could chew.

“I need coffee,” I announced to my empty car, then turned my old, beat-up sedan down the street that would lead me toward downtown and toward Julia’s café. It was too early for her to be officially open, but I knew she was always there baking early in the morning. She was always happy to brew me some coffee, and her coffee was the best in town. Way better than the sludge the resort served.

I pulled up in front of the Conch Shell Café and parked a few yards in front of the giant delivery van that would soon be filled with pastries to be taken over to the resort. Julia’s bakery did quite a bit of business with the Evans’ resort, which had made a lot of the locals mad at first. But now, they all realized that the extra sales were a boon for Julia’s café, and everyone had settled down.

Thinking of the resort made me think of Zach, which was a problem since it was nearly impossible to go more than a few minutes without thinking about the resort when you were planning a huge wedding at the resort. I gritted my teeth together as I got out of my car and slammed the door, determined to at least go in and see Julia without being in a sour mood over Zach. I walked toward the café, glancing back at my car and wincing at how faded some of the bumper stickers looked. The stickers all represented various interests of mine. Many were from bands I liked, and a few more were from places I’d visited on the mainland in Florida. But my favorite was the big “Official Wedding Crasher” bumper sticker. That one was getting so old that it was hard to read now, especially since it was covered in a nice layer of dust. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d taken time to wash my car.

Kelsey always told me that my bumper stickers were over the top, and that my car made me look like a total mess. I supposed she was right. Any client who saw my car would probably roll their eyes at me. But my clients rarely saw my car, at least not in the beginning. My official first meetings were almost always at the resort, and no one noticed which car was mine in a parking lot full of hundreds of cars.

Besides, I was a bit of a mess. Ironically, that’s what made me good at wedding planning. I was organized with the things that absolutely needed to be organized, but I was willing to tread off the beaten path when needed. I prided myself on being a free spirit, and that’s what people wanted these days: a free spirit who was going to show them how to make their wedding unique.

Well that’s what everyone wanted except Bruce and his fiancée. They wanted everything magazine perfect, to an extreme. And I was going to give them what they wanted because a magazine perfect wedding would look good in a magazine.

Just a few more days, and this will all be done. And then you can hopefully impress the big bridal magazines with details of the event.

I turned away from my car and back toward the front of the café. I had just about stepped in front of the giant glass windows at the café’s front when the front door opened and I saw two men stepping out. Two men who looked like twins. Evans twins. I jumped back behind a large, decorative potted palm that graced the sidewalk, and tried to curl up as small as I could.

Shit, shit, shit! What is ZACH doing here?

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that Zach was hanging out with his brother at his future sister-in-law’s café. But it had never occurred to me that I might accidentally run into Zach here. And the last thing I wanted was to have to talk to him now. I’d made about as awkward an exit as possible from Joe’s Sandbar, and Zach probably thought I was officially crazy now. Maybe I was. Either way, I didn’t want to have to talk to him about it.

Luckily, it didn’t seem like Zach had seen me. He was talking to Logan as though the two of them were standing there alone.

“I’m sorry I took so long to come meet Maisie. I’ve never been a baby person and I was honestly terrified that I wouldn’t know how to talk to her or act around her. I thought I wouldn’t like her very much. But now I realize that it’s different when a baby is your own flesh-and-blood.”

Logan laughed. “Twenty minutes, and little Maisie already has Uncle Zach wrapped around her fingers.”

Zach chuckled. “Guilty as charged. It kills me to think of all the days of her life I’ve already wasted not seeing her.”

There was a short pause, and then Logan spoke again, this time in a more serious voice. “You’re gonna miss a lot more, you know. Unless you think about settling down.”

Zach let out an exasperated sigh. I couldn’t see his face from my hiding spot, but I could tell he was frustrated. “Logan, you know I can’t do that. One of us has to take care of field operations for the resort.”

“Sell the resort.”

“Logan, seriously! Would you let it go already? You’ve asked me to sell a thousand times and a thousand times I’ve said no. When are you going to give it up? Why would anything be different now?”

“Everything is different now. You have a niece and a soon-to-be-sister-in-law on this island. You have me here. And…dare I say it… you have—”

“Don’t. Don’t say it,” Zach interrupted. “I don’t have her. I don’t think I’ll ever have love.”

“Not if you keep up this lifestyle of never being in the same place more than a week.”

“Someone has to run the resorts. You’re certainly not doing it.”

This time it was Logan who let out an exasperated sigh. I felt a bit guilty for eavesdropping on their conversation, but it’s not like I had ended up hiding behind a potted palm on purpose. Besides, I was fascinated. It had never occurred to me that Logan would actually want to sell the resort. I felt a bit sad that Zach didn’t share those feelings. It would have been like a dream come true if Zach left the resort behind and moved here. But even though Logan was unhappy with him, I knew that was asking too much. I knew what it was like to love your job and your career, and to not want to give it up. And Zach clearly loved his job.

Didn’t he?

Logan didn’t sound so sure. “Zach, you’ve accomplished everything you wanted to. We set out to build this resort chain so that we would be financially independent, and never have to deal with things like having the electricity turned off like we did in our childhood. And we also said it was important to have time with family. We wanted to be able to enjoy family without worrying about having to spend eighty hours a week working overtime like dad did, just to make ends meet. But the ironic thing is, now that we achieved financial independence beyond our wildest dreams, you’re working more hours than ever.”

Silence hung heavy in the air for several moments before Zach answered. “It’s complicated,” was all he said.

“Is it?” Logan asked. “Or are you just saying that it is because you’re afraid of settling down?”

“I’m not afraid. I’m just not like you. I’m not ready to completely give up bachelorhood.”

“Because you’re scared.”

“Logan!” Zach’s voice sounded angry now, and Logan seemed to sense that it was time to stop pushing his brother.

“Fine, fine. I’m just saying. You have a family here that would be thrilled to have more time with you. And I think you’d find you wouldn’t miss the constant travel as much as you think you would.”

Zach sighed. “I need to get going.”

“More meetings, eh?”

“Yeah…something like that. I should call a cab and get back to the resort.”

There was a jingle of keys, and then Logan said, “Here, take the Lamborghini.”

“Really?” Zach sounded surprised. “You’d trust me to drive your baby?”

Logan laughed. “Maisie is my baby now. Take it and have some fun. I’ll ride home in Julia’s car. If you’re going to claim this is a vacation, you should at least drive a sexy car.”

“Wow. Thanks. You really have changed. There was a time when you wouldn’t even let me near your Mercedes, let alone a Lamborghini.”

“I have changed. And now I need to help Julia with a few things so I can get Maisie home in time for her nap. So get out of here and go have some fun enjoying bachelorhood.”

“Alright. I’ll be careful with it.”

“Here, I’ll walk you over to it and take a picture of you behind the wheel. Then you can post it to your Instagram and impress the ladies.”

“Pfft. I don’t need a fancy car to impress them. I’m plenty impressive just by myself.”

“Whatever.” I caught a glimpse of Logan through the palm leaves just in time to see him rolling his eyes at his brother. Then I panicked when I realized that the two men were walking in my direction. If they glanced over right when they walked by, this potted palm wasn’t going to be enough to hide me. But I couldn’t make a run for it now. I had no choice other than to crouch down as small as possible and hope they didn’t notice me.

The Lamborghini was parked on the opposite side of the street, a tad further down than my car. I realized with a fresh wave of panic that they were going to walk right by my car to get to it, and Logan would know my car in a heartbeat. Everyone in town knew my car. It wasn’t hard to recognize, with its crazy amount of bumper stickers. I crossed my fingers and hoped that maybe, just maybe, he’d be too busy talking with his brother to actually notice the car.

No such luck. Zach noticed the car, and felt the need to comment on it.

“What in the world? Whose car is that? Have you ever seen a car with so many bumper stickers?”

My heart dropped as I waited for Logan to tell Zach it was my car, and then to turn around and start scanning the street for me. My hiding game was over now.

But to my surprise, Logan didn’t out me or start looking for me. Instead, all he said was, “It belongs to one of the locals. She has quite a bit of personality, in case you can’t tell.”

“Huh,” Zach said, but then let the matter drop as he made his way toward his brother’s sports car. A few minutes later, Zach was tearing off down the street, leaving a loud roar in his wake. When the roar eventually faded into the distance, Logan turned and walked back across the street.

“You can come out now, Abby.”

I winced, but stood to my full height and stepped out from behind the potted palm. “Thanks for not outing me to your brother,” I said sheepishly.

“You’re welcome. Dare I ask why you’re hiding from him?”

“I think you already know.” I hung my head so Logan couldn’t see my cheeks, hot and red from a mixture of embarrassment and anger.

When I looked up again, Logan was shaking his head in a gesture of exasperation. “You two. If you could just get on the same page…”

“I don’t think we can,” I said sadly.

“Unfortunately, I think you’re right.” To my surprise, he sounded just as sad. “My brother is as stubborn as they come. I’m losing hope that he’ll ever sell the resort and settle down. But anyway, enough about him. I’m assuming you’re here for coffee?”

I nodded.

“Come on in. Julia will be happy to see you. And so will Maisie. I brought her in this morning so she could see Zach.”

I followed Logan into the café, where the aromas of freshly baked pastries and fresh brewed coffee immediately assailed my nose. Maisie was playing happily on a large picnic blanket of toys that had been spread across the floor of the café, and Julia was humming behind the counter as she loaded scones into the glass pastry case.

“Abby! Hi! Want some coffee?”

I nodded gratefully. “I’m not sure ‘want’ is the right thing to say. More like I need some coffee right away or I might literally die.”

Julia laughed. “I’ve had days like those. Logan, can you grab her an extra large cup of coffee? She likes it black. I’ve got a pot freshly brewed.”

Logan nodded and bounded around to the other side of the counter. I bent down to say hello to Maisie, who cooed in delight when she saw me. I had never seen a baby as ridiculously good looking as Maisie. She had the perfect combination of her mother’s and father’s good looks, and a bubbly, happy personality to boot. Logan was going to be beating off the boys with a stick once this baby became a teenager.

I stood up to accept the extra large coffee from Logan as he came back around the counter, and at the same moment my cell phone started ringing loudly. I hadn’t realized that the phone wasn’t on silent, and I breathed out a quick prayer of thanks that no one had called or texted me while I was hiding from Zach behind the palm tree. That would have been horrendously awful.

I glanced down at the caller I.D. to see that it was from the resort.

“Sorry guys, just a sec. I have to take this.”

Logan and Julia nodded, and I picked up the call.

“This is Abby.”

“Abby, it’s Cherie. I have some bad news.”

“Okay.” I tried to sound calm, but my heart dropped. Cherie was the head of the kitchen at the resort. If she was calling me, then there must be some problem with the food for the wedding this Saturday. Please don’t be something I can’t fix.

“Alfonso’s mom died unexpectedly this morning. He’s on a ferry to the mainland right now, and he won’t be back for at least two weeks.”

“Oh, shit.”

Alfonso was the resort’s baker. He was the only one there who could handle making wedding cakes. In fact, he was the only one on this whole damn island who could make wedding cakes. Despite telling myself to take a few deep breaths and stay calm, I could feel the panic setting in. Cherie must have known I was going to be horrified by this news, because she was already talking a mile a minute to offer a solution.

“We don’t have anyone else who can do a big cake, but we could make fancy cupcakes. Those are all the rage at weddings these days, anyway, right? We can do whatever flavor or color the happy couple wants.”

I groaned. “Cupcakes are all the rage, but my clients think they’re too trendy. Bruce and his fiancée specifically forbade any cupcakes at the dessert table.”

“Uh-oh.” Cherie sounded like she was starting to panic a little bit, too.

I rubbed my forehead, trying to come up with another plan. I could have a wedding cake shipped from the mainland in a plane. It would be expensive and a bit precarious to get it over with it getting tipped or smooshed or tasting stale. It wasn’t an ideal option at all, and it wasn’t going to be the beautiful cake that Alfonso would have made.

I could suddenly see my dreams of a magazine worthy wedding going up in smoke. The cake was an important part of the big day. If it didn’t photograph well, the magazine and my clients would be pissed. And if it didn’t taste good, everyone at the wedding would be talking about how a rich multimillionaire couldn’t even be bothered to get a good wedding cake.

“Okay, Cherie,” I finally said. “Let me think about this for a bit and see if I can come up with some solutions. I’ll call you back in a bit.”

When I hung up the call with Cherie, I found both Logan and Julia staring at me with concerned faces.

“What’s wrong?” Julia asked.

I explained the cake situation, finding myself suddenly close to tears. I was far too tired to deal with a disaster like this right now. Part of me was beginning to wish that I had never taken on this wedding. It was a good opportunity, yes, but it was proving to be a little bit out of my league.

“There’s gotta be something you can do,” Logan said. “What about flying in a baker to bake a cake at the resort? I’m sure it would be expensive, but it sounds like this couple isn’t hurting for money.”

“That’s a good option, but I have to find a baker first. Most talented chefs are already going to be booked out for the weekend. A couple of days isn’t enough notice to find and hire a world class baker.”

I put my head in my hands and tried to fight back the tears that wanted to come. I was not going to cry in front of Julia and Logan. I had to act strong, and besides, crying right now would be a waste of time. I didn’t have time to waste.

“What about me?” Julia asked.

I looked up at her in shock. “Can you bake a wedding cake?”

She shrugged. “I’m a kickass baker, if I do say so myself. And I’m good at making specialty cakes on the fly. Remember the sculpted cake I made for the Summer Fair last year?”

“Yeah. That was awesome.” I felt a glimmer of hope. “But you know a wedding cake is so much bigger. Are you sure you could do it?”

“I could if I had the right equipment. I’m assuming the resort has the equipment I need to bake a huge wedding cake.”

“It does,” I said, a slow smile spreading across my face. “And I’m assuming the owners of the resort would let you use that equipment.” I looked over at Logan, who was grinning.

“I suppose I could allow her into the resort’s kitchen,” he said with a wink at Julia. “As long as she promises to be careful.”

Julia snarled at him and threw a cupcake at his face, but he caught the cupcake midair and then nonchalantly took a bite. I laughed, filled with a mixture of relief and jealousy. I knew that Julia could manage the cake. She’d do at least as well as any other baker that I’d be able to hire at the last minute. And she understood how much this meant to me, so she would truly give it her all. The jealousy came from watching her with Logan. They had such a fun, happy relationship, and I wondered if I would ever have anything like that.

Not likely. Not when the only man I could think about these days was too busy worrying about his resort to worry about me. I sighed deeply without even thinking about it. Why could I never fall for a man who was actually willing to settle down with me? I might as well just resign myself to being lonely for life.

“Everything okay?” Julia asked.

I nodded, plastering a big smile on my face. “All good. Just…a lot on my mind.”

Julia smiled encouragingly. “Don’t worry. Everything is going to be fine. I promise.”

“I hope you’re right. And thank you. Seriously. I’ll make sure you’re paid above and beyond for working on the cake. Let me know if you need money to hire people to run the café for you for the next few days, too, so that you can focus on the cake. Seriously, whatever you need from me, just let me know.”

Julia smiled and shook her head. “Calm down, Abby. We’ll work everything out. I’m happy to do it. It’ll be good experience for me, too.”

I took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. But I mean it. Whatever you need, just let me know.”

I paid Julia for the coffee and then headed out the front door. I would have loved to stay and chit-chat a bit more, but I had a lot to do. I hoped with all my heart that the cake disaster would be the only major crisis before the wedding, but I had a gut feeling that more was coming. As I pulled into the resort’s large parking lot, that gut feeling was confirmed. My phone beeped, and I looked down to see that I had a text from the wedding florist I was working with.

Abby, call me ASAP. We have a big problem.

Shit. With dread filling my heart, I picked up the phone to find out what the next disaster was.

Could anyone really blame me for wishing that I was anywhere but the resort parking lot right then? A secluded beach with Zach would have been nice. Too bad that fantasy was never going to be.

I took a deep breath as the call began to ring, hoping that I would have a good answer to the next crisis.