Diary of an Engaged Wedding Planner (Tales Behind the Veils Book 3)

by Howe, Violet

  I get it, to some extent, anyway. When I was in charge of the chapel at Lakeside Gardens, I had a routine. A method to my madness. We had rules in place, and they were there for a reason. You couldn’t let anyone come in and take over without setting precedent for all weddings to be chaos. Rules exist to keep order and make things fair.

  Undaunted, I thought perhaps I could use our common ground and shared understanding of the need for order to make some headway where others had failed. I also planned to lay on my Southern charm as thick as I could smear it. I’d be so sweet sugar wouldn’t melt in my mouth.

  She, on the other hand, answered the phone about as chipper and happy as a rodeo bull before the eight second bell. Where my accent was syrup, hers was vinegar.

  “Good afternoon! How are you today?” I asked.

  “Fine,” she said, followed by the most awkward silence possible right where all of society knows you’re supposed to say “and you?” or in some way return the nicety.

  It unnerved me, and I stammered.

  “I’m um, a, uh, wedding planner, and I have an out-of-town bride who was interested in, um, perhaps, uh, having her ceremony at—” I didn’t get to finish.

  “Is she a member of this church?”

  “Um, no, she’s—”

  “We do not cater to non-parishioners. We cannot simply rent the Lord Jesus Christ by the hour. If you want to have a personal relationship with the Savior, then you can attend our church on a regular basis to worship him and engage with him.”

  Then she hung up on me!

  Without waiting for any response, explanation or question, she just yelled into the phone that her church is not a Jesus-Rent-A-Center and hung up.

  I’d love to know who nominated her to be the person answering the phones and making first contact with any unlucky caller.

  It would have been fine for her to say no. I half-expected that anyway, and we get that from churches all the time. Even though you’d think a church would have somewhat of an open door policy where all who seek are not lost.

  That lady would probably turn away the angels. She’s probably descended from the innkeeper who told Joseph there was no room at the inn. I bet if Jesus himself came walking up in a robe and sandals, she’d asked if he was a member and then send him away.

  Sunday, August 24th

  Cabe’s birthday is this Wednesday, and since his grandparents won’t be able to come to Orlando, they invited us to come down to their house in Delray Beach today to celebrate. Maggie had mentioned that a few extended family members would be there and were eager to meet Cabe’s new fiancée. I figured fair is fair, and it was my turn to sit in the middle of a room full of strangers and have everyone inspect me and ask me questions.

  I got off much easier than Cabe, if I do say so myself.

  Let me say, first of all, that I had no idea how wealthy Cabe’s grandparents are. I mean, I knew they had money. I’ve met them, after all. I knew Maggie grew up in the upper echelon of society and had attended the most elite schools. I also knew that even though Cabe and Galen had grown up in a single mom household, they’d never hurt for anything materially. Maggie’s parents had taken those kids traipsing all over the world. Of course, Maggie herself had a high-paying position at the Performing Arts Center and had held her own as a provider.

  But Cabe never told me the extent of his family’s wealth.

  “It just never came up, I guess,” he explained as we drove back to Orlando late tonight. “I don’t look at them as being rich. I just look at them as Nana and Pops. They’re my grandparents.”

  “Cabe! They live in a freakin’ mansion on the beach. Like, you could put four of my mother’s house in that house we were just in.”

  “It’s not right on the beach. It’s a couple of blocks over.”

  I sighed.

  I had realized as we got close to his grandparents’ neighborhood on the GPS that the houses were getting bigger and more elaborate. The palm trees were getting taller and the landscaping more lush. The guard gate at the entrance of their neighborhood was impressive, and my mouth probably hung open from the time the guard cleared us through to when we pulled up in front of the massive white house surrounded by palms. Almost the entire front of the house was filled with windows, which when coupled with the two-story ceilings inside the living area, made it feel huge when you entered. The entire house was done in a palette of dove gray, white, and black with occasional pops of color brought out in throw pillows, framed art or fresh floral.

  The sleek, modern lines blew me away. The curved white iron free-standing staircase. The clear globes suspended from the high ceilings hanging low over the long black table set for ten with clear acrylic chairs, then a bit higher over the low gray sofas in the den with the clear octagonal table in the center, and in a variety of heights over the black leather sectional that took up almost the entire living area.

  Pretty much the whole first floor was an open floor plan opening onto the patio with its rectangular lap pool and hot tub along with a large seating area and an additional table for ten out on the lawn. The tall, lush greenery blocked the view of the beach and neighboring houses, but you could hear the sound of the waves crashing nonetheless.

  I walked around in a daze as Peggy gave me a tour of her home. I must have looked like country girl gone city with star-crossed eyes. I’ve never in my life been in a house anywhere near that large or that luxurious. I mean, my grandparents’ house, where Mama lives now, is pretty big, but it’s up on cinder blocks and creaks when you walk. Pa Pat used to joke that Granny had remodeled with so many new floors and ceilings that eventually he was gonna have to crawl around for lack of height in the rooms.

  Never in my wildest dreams did I picture Bill and Peggy stumbling across their shiny white marble floors to make coffee on their gray marble countertops and sit down for breakfast in acrylic chairs. They just didn’t strike me as ultra-contemporary. I mean, they weren’t stodgy or anything. But I don’t think of grandparents being so…modern.

  I met Bill’s sister and brother-in-law, and their daughter Bree, who is Danny the drummer’s mom. Peggy’s brother Rich was there with his husband Skipper and Peggy’s niece, Kathryn. There was a neighbor there as well, Suzann, but I don’t think she was related to the family. Just a friend close enough to be counted as family.

  Everyone was so nice. They asked questions about my job or where I was from, but they maintained a polite distance and didn’t pry. They asked about the wedding, and we all laughed at how much we haven’t decided on, but they didn’t jump in with suggestions or offer judgment on any of it.

  I guess I hit the jackpot of families to marry into without even realizing it.

  “I feel kind of inferior now,” I said as Cabe and I walked across the tennis courts and down to the beach.

  “What? Why?” He held my hand while we walked across the uneven sand.

  “I don’t know. I feel like the country bumpkin. Like one of these things is not like the other, and it’s me.”

  “Oh my gosh, Ty. Don’t be ridiculous. My family’s not like that. At all.”

  “No, I know. I’m not saying it’s them. They’ve been nothing but welcoming to me. But I had no idea they were so…I don’t know. I look at where I come from, where I just took you to, and I want to crack up laughing. We have very different backgrounds.”

  “Yes, and each of those backgrounds has their benefits and their drawbacks. I told you I loved seeing you in the environment you grew up in. That small town. Everyone knowing each other. So many family members all together in the same place. It’s comfortable. Cozy. Beautiful. The trees and the hills. The landscape is so tranquil. I grew up in the city, constantly surrounded by noise and activity. I never knew my father’s family, and my mom is an only child, so her family is limited in size. Except for a couple of people, you pretty much met my entire extended family today. I think together we merge the best of both worlds.”

  “I guess. Does your family know my family�
��s not wealthy? ‘Cause if they don’t, they’re gonna find out at the wedding.”

  He stopped and took my face in his hands. “Ty, my family knows that I love you and that you make me incredibly happy just by being by my side. That’s all that matters to them. You don’t think I was worried about your family accepting me? Coming in as an outsider and not dressing like them or talking like them? I couldn’t understand what people were saying half the time. Then when everybody starting asking me about Gerry leaving us and me not having his name? I thought I was gonna be run out of town or something. Declared a bastard or illegitimate or something crazy like that. We are who we are because of our backgrounds, babe. Now together we build our future. Just think. Our kids will have a little bit of both.”

  I smiled at the thought as he kissed me.

  “We’ve never really talked about kids,” I said as he released me and took my hand again. The sea air whipped my hair around my head and made an unruly mess of Cabe’s curls.

  “So let’s talk. What about ‘em?”

  “You want kids?” I scrunched my nose and squinted against the sun as I looked up at him, wishing that I’d remembered to grab my shades from the car.

  “Sure. Don’t you?”

  “Yeah, I guess. Someday. Like, how soon do you want kids?”

  “Oh. I dunno. Whenever we get ready. Let’s get Deacon trained first and see how we do with him before we start experimenting with human beings, okay?”

  I laughed and squeezed his hand.

  My heart nearly burst with the happiness of the day. The view. The water. The sand. The clear blue skies. The breeze rolling in off the waves as they crashed against the shore.

  Most importantly, Cabe by my side and the future laid out before us. The warmth and acceptance of family surrounding us.

  Back at the house, Peggy brought out a huge ice-cream cake for Cabe’s birthday and we all sang to him. They gave him a new surfboard. It was Bill who had first introduced his grandson to the sport when Cabe was only four. Bill was a lifelong surfer and an avid fisherman as well. Cabe had clearly inherited his love of the water from his grandfather.

  Maggie gave Cabe a new guitar with a condition that he promised to start playing again on a regular basis, something he hadn’t done much since he returned from Seattle.

  He hugged everyone and thanked them for their gifts. Peggy clapped her hand on his back and said, “We have one more surprise before the end of the festivities, and I hope you don’t mind that we tagged this onto your birthday. It’s actually part of your wedding gift, but we needed to go ahead and give it to you so arrangements can be made.” Her eyes sparkled with joy and mischief.

  Bill slid an envelope across the table to Cabe.

  “Congratulations Cabe and Tyler” was scrawled across the front.

  Cabe opened it with a grin and flipped it around so I could see it—an all expenses paid honeymoon to Costa Rica.

  “You have to read the brochure, Tyler,” Peggy gushed. “It sounds just heavenly. The rooms are little bungalows on the side of a mountain surrounded by the jungle. Every room has a hammock and an outdoor shower, and one of those mosquito nets over the bed. It looks awfully romantic!” She winked at me and patted my hand.

  I smiled back at her, trying to absorb that someone had just given us a honeymoon. The best I could hope for from my family was a matching set of cookware that hadn’t already been used. A honeymoon. All expenses paid. How does one casually say thank you for such an extravagant gift?

  Excitement and curiosity bubbled up in me as I considered Cabe and me on our honeymoon. We hadn’t talked about where we might like to go or what that would entail. I mean, I’d considered and ruled out several places for eloping, but I’d been so freaked out about the actual wedding that I hadn’t really thought about the two of us taking a trip afterwards.

  Costa Rica, huh? I knew nothing about it, but the brochure Peggy slid in front of me looked beautiful.

  “Some of the best surfing in the world right there,” Bill said. “I’ve tested those waters myself when I was younger. I think you’re gonna love it.”

  Cabe grinned from ear to ear and hugged both his grandparents and his mom, and then we shared our goodbyes for the evening.

  To think it was not so long ago that I felt like Cabe’s family hated me and I’d never fit in. Suck it, Galen!

  Wednesday, August 27th

  “Okay, Mr. Shaw, this is the final birthday of your twenties and your final birthday as a single man. So is there anything in particular you’d like to do tonight?” I kicked one high-heeled sandal off under the table and slid my foot up his calf as I asked, leaving no doubt in his mind what I’d like his answer to be.

  “Well, when you put it that way, several things come to mind, but we’re gonna need to leave this restaurant.”

  We’d just finished eating at a fabulous seafood dive on St. Pete Beach. We’d driven over earlier in the afternoon to check into our pet-friendly hotel and get Deacon settled so we could watch the sun set over the gulf as we dined. So far, everything had gone right on schedule for a pretty perfect evening.

  “I thought maybe we could go back and get our boy, and then take a walk along the beach under the moonlight before retiring to the room for the night.” I winked and nudged my foot a little higher under the table, laughing at the sparkle of his eyes and the sharp intake of breath as he grabbed my foot and held it.

  I had his gift waiting back in the room, and I’d also packed a sexy black negligee, though I didn’t intend to wear it long.

  The hotel was only a couple of blocks from the restaurant, and we walked back with our arms around each other’s waist, nuzzling and kissing as we reveled in the high that good love brings. He stopped just short of unlocking the door of our room, claiming my lips as he pulled my body against his. Sparks of electricity coursed through me, increasing the intensity of the deep throbbing that had been building all night.

  Suddenly, something slammed the window by the door with enough force that I ducked for fear the glass would shatter. Cabe instinctively drew me behind him just as the window was hit again.

  “Dammit, Deacon!” Cabe scrambled to get the door unlocked and was nearly bowled over by Deacon when it opened. “What the hell?”

  “But he was in the crate! How is he out? He was in his crate. I latched it. I swear.”

  My eyes took in the room with amazement and horror. The comforter had been stripped almost completely from the bed, and the pillows had been reduced to puffs of foam scattered all over the room. The painting that had hung over the bed had been knocked off the wall, its glass shattered all over the nightstand and mattress. The lamp was on the floor, its shade crushed and torn. The window blinds were destroyed and half-eaten, hanging by a thread and almost torn free on one side. The window itself had originally been covered in a thick, dark tint, but that had been shredded by his nails as he scratched the window repeatedly in our absence.

  The small sofa underneath the window had one of its two leather cushions torn open and its guts removed. The back of the sofa was shredded almost as bad as the window.

  To say Deacon looked happy to see us would be the ultimate understatement. I don’t know if he thought we’d dropped him off and left him forever, but the pure joy and relief on his face was unmistakable.

  “Okay, buddy. Okay, calm down. Sit down. Okay, buddy. Okay.” Cabe stared at the room almost in a daze as he stroked Deacon’s head and worked to settle him down.

  “I swear I latched the crate,” I repeated as I replayed the evening in my head, clearly seeing my fingers slide the latch in place before we left for the restaurant.

  “Well, if you swear you latched it, and Dean swears he latched it when we went out of town to visit your mom, then I think our boy may have figured out how to open the latch.”

  I examined the latch and looked back and forth from Deacon to the crate, stunned and bewildered. “Are you serious? But how could he do that?”

  Cabe dropped to hi
s knees and petted Deacon as he began to settle down. “I guess he’s just really intelligent.”

  “And suffers from really bad separation anxiety.”

  “Yeah, he’s only done it when we’d been gone for the weekend and when we left him here in a strange place.”

  I sank down on the chair, the only untouched piece of furniture in the room it seemed.

  “Sooo, what? We’re not ever going to be able to go anywhere?”

  Cabe examined the crate as Deacon came over to beg my affection.

  “I think we need to secure the latch somehow so he can’t slide it.”

  We cleaned up the glass and the foam, removed the destroyed blinds and threw away the damaged pillows.

  “I wonder if housekeeping would give us a vacuum cleaner to make sure we got all the glass out of the bed.” I stood looking at the mattress with my hands on my hips, dreading the possibility of rolling over in the night and getting stabbed with a sliver of glass.

  “Babe, did you see the size of this place? There’s only, like, twelve rooms. They don’t have housekeeping staff on at night. You’d be lucky to find a front desk clerk.”

  “So what can we do?”

  “I’ll go see if there’s anyone at the desk, and if not, I’ll look and see if I can find a supply closet with a vacuum cleaner.” Deacon immediately started dancing in circles at the mere suggestion that Cabe was leaving.

  “What’s up with him? He doesn’t act like this when you leave at home.” I sat in the floor and pulled Deacon in my lap, trying to calm him without much success.

  “Deacon got surrendered to three different shelters before I got him. He’s a little skittish about being left again. I think the fact that it’s a new place and he’s not familiar is probably freaking him out. Hold onto him, and I’ll be right back.”