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  “No, I know it sounds like a lot. But we just want to make sure our guests have the time of their lives. We want to make sure that everyone is as happy as we are, that everyone has a great time, one they’ll never forget. We’re trying to think of every detail.”

  “I don’t think you’ve missed too many.”

  Susanna laughed. “There’s more to come.”

  “Go for it.”

  “We’re going to want welcome gift bags for our guests’ rooms when they arrive. Can you put those together for us?”

  “Of course. Just tell me what you’d like to go in them, and I’ll—”

  “I already know. It’s on the list, second page. Did I not give you page two?” Susanna frowned. “I’ll get you a copy. At the top of the list are some really good chocolates. Is there a good chocolatier in the area? I like to keep things as local as possible. And maybe some vouchers—like tickets—for boat rides. And a bottle of wine. Is there a local vineyard? Oh, I just had another thought: maybe a wineglass for each guest with his or her initials on it. A map of the Eastern Shore. Gift certificates for some of the local shops, like maybe a discount or something. I bought some darling shorts at Bling when we were here before and I know some of my friends would love that place.”

  “I’m sure our merchants will thank you.”

  Lucy was happy to see the inn’s front door. She’d been trying to run a rough tally of what all this was going to cost, and had just given up.

  “I’m definitely going to have to write all this down,” Lucy said as they went back into the library. “I’ll never remember it all.”

  “Let me know when you think you have it,” Susanna said as she took off her coat, “because there’s still more.”

  “Let me get all the items down for the gift bags before we move on.” Lucy jotted down as much as she could remember.

  “I wasn’t done with the gift bags,” Susanna told her. “I keep thinking of other things.”

  “You have to be kidding.” The words were out of Lucy’s mouth before she realized it. “Sorry, I mean—”

  “Look, I know it’s a lot. It’s going to be excessive. But you know, I’ve known Robert since I was nineteen. I worked for him for years. I’ve waited for him almost my entire adult life, and now I can hardly believe we’re really going to be married. I’m so happy, I just want to share it all with everyone who means something to me and to Rob. I want everyone to be happy that they came and to fall in love with St. Dennis the way I have. I want this wedding to be flawless, something people talk about forever.”

  “I understand.” Lucy nodded. “I just want you to know up front that this will be … well, put bluntly, one pricey affair.”

  “I know.” Susanna grinned. “Isn’t it grand?”

  Lucy laughed. “We’ll do our best to make it absolutely grand.”

  “I know you will.” Susanna reached out and patted Lucy on the arm before launching back into her list of wants. “Did I mention that I wanted tokens of some sort made up? You know, things our guests can use for an ice-cream cone, or a cup of coffee and a muffin. The sort of things that would draw people into the town to discover St. Dennis the way we have.”

  “That’s the town motto. ‘Discover St. Dennis,’ ” Lucy told her.

  “Trula has some mugs that have that written on them,” Susanna said thoughtfully. “Your mom sent them to her.”

  “Some of the merchants in town sell them, along with T-shirts with the slogan.”

  “Do you think we could get some of those—the mugs and the T-shirts—for the gift bags?”

  “I don’t see why not.” Lucy made a note.

  “Oh! And maps of St. Dennis! Wouldn’t it be fun if the gift bags had maps of St. Dennis?”

  “Maps to go into the bags,” Lucy spoke aloud as she wrote.

  “No, no. Not in the bags. On the bags. On the front. Canvas bags with the map of the town on the front that shows where all the shops are located. And a picture of the inn on the back.” Susanna showed no sign of slowing down. “And postcards of some sort.” She paused, then snapped her fingers. “I know! We’ll have postcards made up with some of those beautiful historic buildings on them! We can give each guest a set tied up with a pretty ribbon.”

  Lucy cleared her throat. “Susanna, I think we need to talk about some of the basics.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like, nailing down a date and how many people are on the guest list. What flowers you want. If you want a DJ or a live band.”

  “Maybe both. The band for the adult tent and we’re thinking about a DJ for the kids.”

  Lucy scribbled down that information.

  “Now, about the guest list—”

  “And I know what flowers. Lots of peonies and roses and hydrangea everywhere. I want garlands of ivy and magnolia and those pink roses we talked about wound all around the gazebo. I want the chairs set up outside with a center aisle and flowers on the end of each, set up like a church. Flower petals sprinkled up the aisle. Oh, and for the rehearsal dinner, a great seafood feast with—”

  Lucy laughed and held up one hand. “Let’s make the rehearsal dinner a separate conversation. Right now let’s focus on the wedding.”

  “Sorry.” Susanna looked anything but. “I do have a tendency to get carried away sometimes. I’m so excited about this.”

  “I totally understand. And that’s why I want to go step-by-step so that we don’t miss anything.”

  “All right.” Susanna motioned to Lucy to do her thing. “We’ll start from your beginning …”

  They were halfway through the wedding ceremony when the door opened and Daniel wheeled in a cart of coffee, tea cakes, tea, scones, and fruit. Lucy couldn’t remember if she’d ever been happier to see her brother.

  “I thought you might be ready for a bit of a break.” Daniel looked around the room. “Where’s Robert?”

  “He’s out walking the grounds,” Susanna told him. “I think all the details just bore the hell out of him.”

  “Daniel, we need you to check some availability dates for the wedding,” Lucy said.

  “I’m sure we’ll be able to work it out, regardless of the date you’ve chosen,” Daniel assured Susanna.

  “Well, that’s just it.” Lucy diverted his attention back to her. “The date may have to depend on the availability of—”

  “We’ll work it out, Luce,” he repeated.

  “They want to book the entire inn for a week, Daniel,” Lucy said pointedly.

  He paused and tilted his head to one side, as if not certain he’d heard her correctly.

  “You mean …”

  “Yes,” Lucy told him. “The entire inn, one entire week.”

  “Oh.” His sister could tell he was having a good news/bad news moment. “That could be awkward, depending on the week.”

  “Hence we’re working the date around the availability.” Lucy pulled a calendar out of her bag. “Let’s look at the last weekend in June. Why don’t you check to see if you have any bookings for the week before?” Lucy glanced up at Susanna. “Sunday through Sunday?”

  Susanna nodded.

  Lucy tried to make eye contact with her brother, but he still looked a bit uncertain he’d heard correctly. “Will you check into that and get back to me as soon as you can?”

  Daniel nodded. “I’ll do that. Good to see you, Susanna.”

  “We’ll be talking again soon, I’m sure.” Susanna smiled as Daniel left them.

  “Susanna, would you like coffee?” Lucy asked.

  “Love some. Thank you.”

  “How do you take it?”

  “I’ll fix it, thanks.” Susanna joined Lucy at the end of the table where Daniel had left the cart. Lucy poured and handed off the first cup to her guest, then poured one for herself.

  “These little tea cakes are amazing,” Lucy noted. “The pastry chef here is exceptional.”

  “They look delicious.” Susanna smiled and placed one on a plate along with one of
each of the cookies. “I should sample, of course.”

  “Of course.” Lucy waited until Susanna had made her selection, then picked up two of the petits fours before returning to her seat.

  “As our wedding planner, can you order the invitations for us?”

  “Yes, and you should send out save-the-date notices as soon as we can settle on the wedding date, and let people know of your plans so they don’t book their vacations for that same week. Do you have a guest list yet?” Lucy sipped her coffee.

  “Sort of. I suppose I should finalize that.”

  “That should be your priority right now. Get your guest list drawn up and settle on a date. The rest should be relatively easy.” Lucy tried to smile but had the feeling she’d be eating her words before too long. Something told her that nothing about this long-distance extravaganza was going to be easy. “Once we have those two things done, you can pick out your invitations.”

  “I’ve been looking but I haven’t seen anything I really liked. I wanted something different, but something that still has a traditional feel to it.” Susanna bit into one of the cakes. “These are delicious. Can we have these for the ladies’ tea I mentioned earlier?”

  “I don’t see why not.” Lucy made another note.

  “Do you have any suggestions for the invitations? I’d really like something unique.”

  “I’ve used someone in the past who does exquisite work, all hand done.”

  “One of a kind?”

  “If you like.”

  “Invitations designed just for us,” Susanna mused. “I love it.”

  “Think about possibly playing up the Bay theme,” Lucy suggested, realizing that she would need to take charge if she was going to handle this wedding. Susanna had so many ideas she was all over the place. “Maybe something with a cream-and-navy combo, with maybe a tiny sailboat in gold at the top, and—”

  “As long as it isn’t too girlie,” Robert said as he joined them.

  “I’ll speak with the designer and see if we can get some samples for you.” Lucy was scribbling like a madwoman. “Robert, help yourself to coffee.”

  “I just had some. Ran into Trula and your mom in the back lobby, but thanks.” He rested his forearms on the back of the chair that stood next to Susanna’s. “How’s everything going?”

  “I think we’re finished for one day,” she replied happily. “We’ll have to meet again very soon, but Lucy is going to take care of absolutely everything for us. I’m so happy, Rob. Our wedding day—”

  “Our wedding week,” he corrected, and twirled a strand of her dark hair between his fingers.

  “Our wedding week is going to be everything we talked about. Everyone is going to have such a great time. Lucy is going to make it all happen.”

  “Well, then, Lucy, we’re leaving it all in your hands.” Robert looked somewhat amused, as if he understood that what his fiancée wanted was going to be a monumental undertaking.

  “So, you’ve decided to have your wedding here?” Lucy asked.

  “Wedding week,” Susanna reminded her. “But yes, I very much want to have the wedding here. Rob?”

  “Whatever you want,” he agreed.

  Susanna turned to Lucy. “So that’s that. All we need is a date.”

  “I can get back to you on that as soon as Daniel gives me the green light.” Lucy suspected that the fact that her brother hadn’t already done so meant that they had more than a few “regulars” already committed for that week. “Just in case there’s a conflict, I have to ask: is June the only acceptable month?”

  “I always wanted to be a June bride …”

  “June it is, then,” Robert said to Lucy.

  “But I can be flexible if I have to.” Susanna turned to Robert. “Let’s see what dates Daniel has available.”

  “I’m sure we can come to an agreement on the date.” Robert stepped aside while Susanna stood, then helped her into her coat.

  “Lucy, when can we get together again?”

  Before Lucy could respond, Susanna added, “Soon, I hope. I’m going to finalize the guest list this week, so we should be able to get things moving along as soon as we have a firm date.”

  “We can do a lot by phone, and email—” Lucy began.

  “Oh, but that’s so impersonal,” Susanna interrupted. “I really like having the time to sit and go over things with you in person. It’s so much better. You don’t get the same exchange of ideas on the phone or with email.”

  Lucy hesitated. She hadn’t planned on another trip back to St. Dennis for a while. “How about I get some sample invitations and I’ll overnight them to you?”

  “Great.”

  Lucy sighed with relief.

  “And then we can look them all over when we get together.” Susanna swung her bag over her shoulder.

  Lucy wanted to protest but knew it was useless. Susanna wanted hands-on. Face time. Well, she was going to be paying a premium for it.

  “This is going to be quite the production.” Lucy stood as well.

  “But it can’t look like it’s a production.” Robert frowned. “I don’t want it to look like it’s been orchestrated.”

  “I understand,” Lucy assured him. “I think I know what you want.”

  “Good. Then let’s get a contract drawn up so we can sign it.”

  “Not until we have a firm date,” Lucy told him. “We’ll need to settle that first, then we’ll go over everything else.”

  “Great.” He extended his hand to Lucy to shake. “Everything’s under control …”

  “Of course.” Lucy forced a smile of confidence she wasn’t sure she felt. It was clear that neither of her new clients had any clue as to how monumental an undertaking this wedding would be. “Totally under control …”

  Chapter 8

  I COULD easily see this whole thing spinning totally out of control unless someone keeps a foot on the brake.” Lucy called Bonnie the minute the car Robert was driving disappeared down the driveway. “It obviously won’t be the bride. She wants … well, pretty much everything.”

  “Like what?” Bonnie asked.

  “Name something. Anything. Chances are it’s on her list.” Lucy sighed. “From one-of-a-kind invitations to moving the gazebo so her guests can look out over the Bay. And dear Lord, the list of things she wants in the gift bags is going to make your head spin. Organizing those is going to be a project in itself. But Susanna’s such a sweet person, it’s going to be a pleasure to work with her.”

  “Nice that she’s so generous and can afford to be.”

  “You have no idea just how generous she is.”

  “Hey, we’ve handled huge complicated affairs before,” Bonnie reminded her. “Huge, complicated, expensive affairs. They’re our specialty. Our bread and butter.”

  “True, but those events only lasted one day. Two at the most. I’ve never done a weeklong event like this before. Still, it’s all good news for us.”

  The phone went silent.

  “Bon? Are you still there?” Lucy asked.

  “Go back to the ‘weeklong’ part,” Bonnie said. “I don’t remember you mentioning that.”

  “I hadn’t gotten to it yet.” Lucy sat at the library table and flipped through her notes. “They have their hearts set on a week’s stay for everyone involved—everyone on the guest list. Every blessed man, woman, and child. Activities for each of the seven days. Special activities for the kids. Golf lessons. Sailing. A chartered fishing boat—”

  “You’re making this up.”

  “I swear, I am not. Susanna has a whole list of things she wants for her guests, starting with treating them all to a full week at the inn. Sunday to Sunday, a weeklong party complete with all manner of wonderful things to do and eat and see.”

  “So she’s a real bridezilla?”

  “No, no, not at all. She’s very down-to-earth, actually. A total sweetheart. But she knows what she wants, and one of the things she wants is to share her happiness with all of their
friends and family. Except for relocating the gazebo, almost everything she wants us to do is for the comfort and entertainment of their guests. It’s just that she wants a lot.”

  “For an entire week.”

  “Right.”

  “I’m guessing there’s no budget …”

  “None whatsoever. Robert says whatever Susanna wants is fine with him. It’s going to be a real challenge to put all the pieces together.” Lucy rubbed her eyes, then realized she’d probably just rubbed mascara onto her cheeks.

  “Well, between the Internet and the phone, you should be able to handle it.”

  “Uh-uh. One of the things Susanna wants is lots of face time. She wants meetings. She wants sit-downs. She wants me to be there with her when she goes through sample invitations. However, Robert does have a plane, so hopefully she’ll be willing to fly out to L.A. if necessary.”

  “You’ve held the hand of many a bride before. You’ll do what you have to do. This will be one big payday for Shaefer and Sinclair.” Bonnie hesitated. “You do have a contract signed, right?”

  “Not until we pin down a date. Daniel’s still trying to work something out for June, but he told me he has two blocks of rooms for the last weekend who really don’t want to switch. Both are families that have been coming to the inn for their vacations for well over twenty years.”

  “And if they won’t change the dates?”

  “Then we’ll have to look at July. Every other weekend in June is already one-half to three-quarters booked. They get a lot of regulars here, people who have standing reservations or who book for the following year while they’re signing out at the end of their stay.”

  “Nice that the inn has such a following, but I’d hate to see this job slip away from us because we can’t agree on a date.”

  “It would be a lot easier to accommodate the happy couple if they weren’t insistent upon booking the entire inn.”

  “I don’t believe you mentioned that detail.”

  “Oh, well, that’s part of it. The whole inn for the whole week.”

  “That’s … huge.”

  “It is to my brother.”

  “I’m leaving it in your hands,” Bonnie told her. “I know you’ll wow them with your organizational skills and your creativity. And I trust you’re still planning on coming back on Sunday?”