Four Last First Dates

by Kate O'Keeffe

  My chest tightened. Saturday was the twenty-sixth, three years since Dan had passed away.

  Three years since my life had changed irrevocably.

  Last year Meredith, Josh, and I, along with Dan’s father, George, commemorated Dan’s short life by each releasing a balloon at the beach where we’d scattered his ashes. The beach he’d loved as a kid. This year we planned to do the same once more.

  I sent a quick reply.

  Thanks. See you then.

  I turned my phone over and placed it on the coffee table. I knew Saturday would be incredibly hard, for me as well as for Dan’s family. But it felt vital to do, vital not to forget him. Because we could never do that.

  “Oh, my gosh. You guys!” Paige was standing at the window, her mouth dropped open as her eyes darted around the room.

  “What is it?” Cassie’s voice was tinged with panic.

  “You’ve got to see. Come, quick.”

  Cassie, Marissa, Justine, and I rushed over to the large window.

  I looked down to the lawn below. “What?”

  Paige pointed over to the far corner of the lawn, where the marquee for the wedding was pitched, set against a line of elegant column trees. Only, instead of a large, elegant marquee capable of holding one-hundred and twenty guests, standing proud, white against the green grass, there was now a soggy, lumpy, white mess. One end was still upright, the other totally collapsed.

  “The marquee’s fallen down?” I uttered, barely believing my eyes.

  It was official. This wedding was a disaster-in-the-making.

  My mind instantly darted to the tables and the work Paige, Sophie, and I had put into setting them up early this morning. I heaved a sigh of relief that the food and the cake weren’t due to be delivered for another hour or so.

  “What are we going to do?” Cassie’s face was aghast.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll work something out, right, girls?” Paige’s eyes flashed to mine.

  “Totally.” I sounded a gazillion percent more certain than I was. “We’ll come up with something.”

  I looked at Paige and Marissa and mouthed “what?” They both shrugged, shaking their heads.

  Cassie was still examining at the mess of the marquee on the lawn. She rubbed her neck, shaking her head. “I can’t get married. I can’t get married.”

  And then it hit me.

  I gestured to Paige to follow me to the other side of the room, and we moved away from Cassie, leaving her with Marissa and Justine, all three still gazing at the shocking sight outside.

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Paige said in hushed tones.

  “If you’re thinking we should have the wedding at the Cozy Cottage, then yes, totally.”

  Paige’s face lit up, a smile forming on her pretty face. “You know what? I think Cassie would love that. The café has been such a big part of her life.”

  “It’s not exactly the perfect romantic setting she was going for, but I’m not sure we have a lot of other options right now.”

  “Do you think we can fit one-hundred-and-fifty guests, though?”

  I thought of our Cozy Cottage Jams and how we rearranged the tables to fit more people in. But it didn’t come close to one-hundred-and-fifty.

  Then, I remembered something I’d seen at Addison’s old florist shop and a seed of an idea began to grow. “You know how there are those double wooden doors behind where we put the stage on a Friday night?”

  Paige nodded. “I’ve always wondered about those.”

  “Well, they lead through to that florist shop that used to be next door, Addison’s old place. She told me her shop and our café used to be a restaurant back in the day.”

  “And you’re telling me this now why?”

  “The shop is still up for sublease. I can contact Addi and ask her if we can rent it for the evening. It’s got a beautiful courtyard out back, and we can open the doors from the café. It’ll almost be like one big room.”

  Paige’s face lit up. “That could actually work. Is it a covered courtyard?”

  “Yup. The perfect place for a wedding ceremony.” I grinned, thinking about the special feeling the courtyard had given me when Addi had shown it to me. “We’ll need to organize more tables and chairs, but I think it could work.”

  Paige pulled me in for a quick hug. “Bailey, you’re a genius.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t go that far. Extremely intelligent, maybe?” I winked, and Paige laughed. “First thing I need to do before we say anything to Cassie is find out if we can rent that space.”

  “Do you know how to get hold of Addison?”

  “Just leave it to me.”

  I collected my phone from the table and scrolled through my contacts. I knew Addi was in Florida, and I had no clue what time of day or night it was there, but this was an emergency. Although I didn’t know her well, something told me she’d be happy to help us out.

  The phone rang only a couple of times before she answered. “Bailey? Oh, my gosh. How are you?”

  “I’m great, thanks. Look, we’re in a bit of a jam here, and I was wondering if you could help us out?”

  “Anything.”

  I explained what had happened and asked if we could use her old shop. She agreed in a heartbeat, insisting we have the place for free for the night and telling me where to collect the keys.

  “That courtyard would be perfect for the ceremony,” she said.

  “I know, although it’s not big enough to fit all the guests.”

  “Just as long as you have the bride and groom there, right?”

  “Exactly.”

  I hung up from Addi and beamed at Paige. “We’re on.”

  “Addison’s a total life saver.”

  “I know, right? Remind me to bake her a huge cake next time she’s back in New Zealand. Okay, let’s think this through. The place has been closed all day, so you and I will need to get there with Sophie and the rest of the catering staff a-sap to set up.”

  Paige nodded. “I’ll need to get on the phone right now to let them know. It’s a good thirty-minute drive here from the city.”

  “Yes, good. I’ll pack up my stuff and head straight back to the café to get things started.”

  “Aren’t we forgetting one important detail?” Paige looked across the room at Cassie. She was still standing at the window, Marissa consoling her.

  “Gotcha.” I smiled. “One rather important detail.”

  We approached the window, excited we had the means to save the day.

  “Cassie?” My voice was gentle.

  She turned to look at us, her cheeks wet with tears.

  I couldn’t help the smile from bursting onto my face. “We’ve got an idea.”

  Chapter 22

  “YOU WANT ME TO have my wedding at the Cozy Cottage?” Cassie’s eyes were huge, her mouth forming an “o.”

  I glanced at Paige, suddenly not so sure our plan to save Cassie and Will’s wedding would work. I mean, she would be going from a stately home in a stunning country setting to the café where she got her daily coffee and cake fix. She might well decide it wasn’t nearly as classy or romantic as we thought.

  “Yes?” I held my breath as Cassie blinked at me in disbelief.

  She paused, pressing her lips together, her brows knitted. “I’ll . . . I’ll have to talk to Will.”

  “Of course, you do. This is both your and Will’s wedding,” Paige replied. “We thought you might like to have it at the café because it’s been such an important place to you.” She looked around the room. “To all of us, really.”

  “Not to me. I don’t even know where it is,” Justine said.

  I erupted into a surprised laugh. “Okay, it’s an important place to everyone but you.”

  “I can tell you one thing for sure, though—you won’t be having your wedding in that tent out there,” Justine continued.

  I shot her a “not helping” look, and she shrugged.

  We stood back to allow Cassi
e room to walk over to her phone. We watched as she collected it from the coffee table and punched in her passcode.

  Cassie lifted the phone to her ear. She glanced at Paige and me, chewing on her lip. “Hey, Will . . . yes, I saw it . . . I know, it’s a disaster . . . Tania’s there? Are you fully dressed now? . . . Oh, no reason . . . Me too, but don’t worry.” She glanced back at Paige and me again, and the corners of her mouth twitched. “Me and the girls have got a plan . . . No, we’re not going to get married at the driving range, Will.” She rolled her eyes and mouthed “men” at us. “What do you think about getting married at the Cozy Cottage Café?” Her face broke into a grin, presumably at Will’s reaction, her eyes flashing. “I thought you might say that.”

  I glanced at Paige. She smiled back at me, her eyes dancing.

  “We’re doing this?” I asked Cassie.

  She nodded, her eyes filling with tears. The phone still at her ear, she said, “Hold on a sec.”

  She pressed her screen, and Will’s voice boomed around the room. “Bailey? Paige?”

  “Yes, we’re here,” Paige said.

  “You two have saved the day. We can’t thank you enough,” Will said.

  I beamed. “We’re just glad we’re able to help.”

  “Tania said the hotel has offered for us to have the ceremony and reception in their dining hall, but it won’t feel the same. The café will be just great, as long as you can fit us all.”

  “I’m certain we can,” I replied, although I wasn’t certain at all. Whatever, we’d make it work.

  A few moments later, Cassie hung up from Will and hugged both Paige and me. “You guys! It’s perfect. Thank you.”

  Twenty minutes and a lot of frantic organization later, Paige, Marissa, and I clambered into an old, classic wedding car, Cassie’s dress and veil draped carefully across our knees. We shook out our wet umbrellas as Cassie jumped into the front seat.

  “Where to, ladies?” Josh grinned back at us from the front seat, a chauffeur’s hat on top of his head.

  “Where’d you get that?” Paige asked.

  “It came with the car. Like it?” He waggled his eyebrows at us.

  “Very appropriate,” I replied.

  “Okay, listen up, driver.” Paige was taking control. “You need to drop Bailey and me at the Cozy Cottage first so we can get on with things, then go on to Cassie’s place where she and Marissa will meet Cassie’s parents.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Josh replied, playing along.

  “And driver?”

  “Ma’am?”

  “Don’t spare the horses.” Paige put on that weird accent she’d used once before, trying to be Lady Crawley from Downton Abbey. It was just as terrible as it had been the first time, but no one cared. We were saving the day!

  Josh’s face broke into a cheeky grin. “Yes, ma’am!”

  “He’ll end up making some coffee-themed T-shirt about horses now, you watch,” Paige said. As the owner of Ned’s Coffee, Josh was famous for his corny but cute T-shirt slogans. He’d won Paige over with a T-shirt with the words “I am brew-tiful” a while back. As I said, corny but cute.

  I let out a sigh. Why did there have to be so many happy couples in this city and, what was even worse, in this very car?

  As we sped toward the city, Cassie called her parents, telling them what had happened and where we were now holding the wedding. Paige, Marissa, and I texted everyone we could think of on the guest list about the change of venue, hoping not to miss anyone.

  Despite it being Tania the wedding planner’s job, I googled a table and chair hire place, hoping to find someone who could do it with zero notice. The voice of the guy at the appropriately named Quick Hire dripped with sarcasm when he found out I needed equipment in the next hour, but he agreed to deliver what we needed in time.

  I heaved a sigh of relief. Now all we needed to do was use every glass, every plate, and every utensil in the café. I tried not to think of the mountain of dishes at the end of the night.

  “OMG!” Cassie’s hand flew to her face. “The flowers were in the marquee.”

  My mind instantly darted to Addison’s shop. Although we needed the space to host this wedding, it would have been very convenient if she were still here and not lounging around on a beach, all loved up with her boyfriend in Florida.

  “Get Tania onto it,” Paige suggested.

  “Are thirteen-year-olds good at finding flowers?” Marissa asked with a scoff.

  “You know what? The rest of the flowers don’t matter.” Cassie looked back at us from the front seat. “We’ve got the bouquets.”

  Marissa placed her hand on my forearm. “I’ll text Ryan.” Her voice was quiet.

  My eyes darted to her face, my chest tightening at the mention of his name. In all the collapsing marquee wedding disaster excitement, I’d temporarily forgotten Ryan was one of the wedding guests.

  “Sure, thanks.” I gazed out the window as I chewed the inside of my lip. It was easy to avoid someone when you didn’t actually have to see them. This was a whole different ball game. I knew I needed to be strong, I knew I needed to push my feelings for Ryan down, deep inside where he couldn’t touch them.

  Where I’d be safe.

  As miserable as I was without him, I didn’t know if I could do it.

  By the time Josh parked the classic car outside Cassie’s place the rain had abated, at least temporarily. Josh grabbed her suitcase from the trunk as Paige, Marissa, and I helped her carry her wedding dress inside, trying not to crush the delicate silk and lace.

  Once in her apartment, we hung the dress up on the back of her closet door. I glanced at my watch. As much as it would be fun to stay here with the bride-to-be, we needed to leave—and now.

  Cassie saw us to the door just as her mom arrived, balancing a box in her arms.

  “Honey!” Cassie’s mom, Cheryl placed the box carefully on Cassie’s kitchen counter and drew her into a bear hug. “Oh, honey. Are you okay? This must be so hard for you.”

  “I’m fine, Mom.” Cassie’s calm smile surprised us all. For a woman whose wedding had changed irrevocably in the last hour, she was very chilled out. “It’s actually working out pretty perfect, thanks to these two.”

  Cheryl took Paige’s and my hands in hers. “You two are angels sent from above, do you know that?”

  I blushed at the compliment. “Well, not angels, exactly. More like friends who happen to own a café.” I laughed. “But thanks, Mrs. Dunhill.”

  “It’s Cheryl, and you are angels.” She shot Paige and me a knowing look. “Now, what do you need me to do, honey?” She nodded at the box. “I brought the bouquets, as you asked.”

  “We need to go,” Paige said, glancing at me. “We’ve got a lot of work to do before the big moment.”

  “You see? Angels.” Cheryl’s hand was over her heart as she smiled at us both.

  “Cassie? I’m sorry we can’t be here for you, doing all the bridesmaid-y stuff,” Paige said.

  “Don’t be silly. You two have a much more important job to do now.”

  I smiled at her. “We are going to make this the wedding of the year, so don’t you worry.”

  “And you’re going to look so beautiful,” Paige added.

  Cassie’s eyes began to well with fresh tears. “You guys! I can’t cry again,” she sniffed, fanning her face. “My makeup will run, and there’s no Justine anymore.”

  “I’m on it,” Marissa said. “All that paint-by-numbers I did as a kid has to translate into makeup expertise. Or at least, I hope it does. Now you two, go.” She looked at Josh, who had been waiting impatiently in the wings. “You, too, Josh. Get these two super-chicks to the café so they can get on with saving the day!”

  * * *

  As if being bridesmaids and caterers at the same wedding wasn’t enough stress in our lives, doing it all at our café, that was set up as a café, could have pushed us over the edge.

  Lucky for us, we had a host of helpers. Josh refused to leav
e until he’d helped us work out our hastily drawn up floor plan, calling Nash in as some much-needed muscle. Cassie’s dad, Joe, arrived ten minutes after us with her brother, Luke, and her aunt and uncle, Jim and Bev. They were all more than happy to muck in and get the place looking great. #TotalGodSends

  Tania arrived and started directing people to do things before Paige and I were forced to take her aside for a moment and explain what we had planned. Frankly, she wasn’t helping in the slightest, and giving her the job of pushing chairs into tables seemed like the best use of her “expertise.”

  “I know you probably won’t believe it, but this is my first wedding planning gig,” Tania said.

  “Really?” Paige replied.

  “I can’t believe it’s turned into a total catastrophe, and we need to have the ceremony here.” She ran her eyes over our café, pulling a look of distaste. “I mean, this is a café, not a stately home, or even a marquee.”

  “Well, we like it here,” I said, shooting Paige a look as I moved Tania out of earshot with a firm hand on the small of her back. Quick Hire had delivered the tables and chairs, and people were currently unstacking them and laying them out. “Can I leave you in charge of ensuring there’s an even number of chairs at each of these tables?

  “You sure can. That’ll be easy for me.”

  “Good. I knew I could trust you with this.”

  With Tania no longer trying to order us around, I used the keys Addison had arranged for us to collect on our way here to open the double doors between our two shops. The florist shop was completely empty, which meant it was the perfect blank canvas for us to work with. Paige followed me through the shop and out into the courtyard, where there were still a few wrought iron tables and chairs left from when Addi had the shop.

  “This place is gorgeous!” Paige took in the ivy-covered exposed brick walls and the cobbled ground. The pitched roof was made of glass, and when the sun peeked through the clouds, it streamed into the space, lending it an almost ethereal quality. Even if it was pouring outside, I knew this place would work. It would give Cassie and Will what they wanted—a romantic and whimsical setting in which to commit their lives to one another.