Marry Me

by Kristin Wallace

  Sarah smiled. “Cool. Now I’ve got a pseudo big brother and big sister.”

  “A rather twisted family.”

  She laughed. “Listen, do me a favor.”

  “Anything.”

  “Would you keep an eye on Julia? Help her out if she needs it?”

  His shoulders stiffened. “I don’t know what I can do.”

  “Just help her with whatever. You’re so good with people. I’m sure she’ll need an ally.”

  Seth knew it was a bad idea to have anything to do with Julia, but he nodded anyway. “I’ll do what I can.”

  And he’d do what he could to preserve his sanity as well.

  ****

  Sarah had given Julia directions to Marry Me the day before. The boutique was located in downtown Covington Falls. The not-quite-bustling town center consisted of Main Street, which ran north-south, while 1st Avenue ran east-west.

  Framing the four corners of town were four churches. On the north end of Main Street was Covington Falls Community Church, where Seth was the pastor. On the southern end was Christ Memorial. The eastern sentinel was Good News Gospel Church, and the western front was guarded by St. Mark’s. Covington Falls was an equal opportunity town so there was also a Jewish Temple, though it wasn’t on the main downtown strips.

  At the intersection of Main and 1st Avenue was Rice Circle, which surrounded a picturesque park. On one side of the park was City Hall and opposite was the Main Library. The wide sidewalks were lined with old-fashioned street lamps. Colored awnings swayed in the breeze, and each store window was decked out to the nines. It was as though someone had conjured up the image of what the perfect small town should look like and plopped it down right here.

  It was downright creepy.

  Julia found Marry Me and pulled into a parking space. The shop was framed by a dress boutique on one side and a baby store on the other. She wondered if anyone had ever noticed the irony in the order of the stores. Boutique where you buy the dress for the date, which leads to the wedding, which leads to the requisite babies. True one-stop-shopping right here in downtown Covington Falls.

  She was about to go in when she happened to glance at the window display. The centerpiece of the window featured a beaded wedding gown hanging from one of those Oriental silk dressing screens. A lovely antique vanity, loaded with a collection of makeup brushes, a silver brush and comb set, perfume atomizer, silk hose, and even a blue garter, sat next to the screen. Hooked on the corner of the mirror was a long, filmy veil.

  Julia stared in fascination. The scene seemed to be a slice in time, and she half expected the bride to appear and commence getting ready for her wedding.

  The bleat-bleat of a car horn brought her back to earth. She spun around as a red compact car pulled into the empty space next to hers. Out popped a tiny blonde with cornflower-blue eyes and the widest grin Julia had ever seen. The woman was wearing a lavender suit with matching pumps. Her wispy, chin-length bob was held back with a lavender headband, and she was carrying a lavender handbag.

  Good grief! A pixie in a business suit.

  The pixie bounded up onto the sidewalk, her grin getting even wider if possible. “Hi. I’m Betsy. Sarah called and told me you’d be starting today. This is so exciting, you coming back like this. It’s going to be so much fun.”

  Julia opened her mouth to respond, but Betsy was off again.

  “You probably don’t remember me. Well, of course you wouldn’t. I was only like five when you lived here before. Truthfully, I didn’t remember you, either. I don’t think I even knew Sarah had a sister. Wow, you’re a tall one, aren’t you? Love the red hair.”

  Betsy floated by on a cloud of flowery-scented perfume and unlocked the front door. Feeling a bit like she’d been run over by a lavender eighteen-wheeler, Julia followed.

  She looked around her new workplace. The inside was much like the display window. Against the far wall sat an antique oak desk. The main room had plush, cream-colored carpet, which made her want to take off her shoes and walk barefoot. The wallpaper had the barest hint of a cream stripe, which was at once elegant and soothing. Black and white photographs of impossibly beautiful couples in wedding attire lined the walls, and small antique display tables were placed strategically around the room. One had samples of lace, and another a pile of wedding invitations. Still another had photographs of different venues from gardens, to lakeside parks, to churches.

  Julia sighed in relief. She could work with this. She’d been expecting something nauseatingly romantic or cheesy, like a Vegas wedding chapel, and though the place was definitely romantic, it was a tasteful romantic. Her estimation of Sarah was growing by leaps and bounds.

  Betsy was talking again, and Julia brought herself back to earth. She had a feeling she was only ever going to catch every fifth word out of the woman’s mouth, so she’d better pay attention.

  “This is where we meet with clients,” Betsy said.

  “It’s beautiful.”

  Betsy gave her a pleased smile. “It is, isn’t it? Sarah did it all herself. Well, she had lots of help, of course. Her husband and some of the kids from the Center. Plus, Seth and other church members. It was a regular barn raising I tell you. Come on to the back, and I’ll show you the office.”

  “I thought this was the office.”

  She giggled. “Oh no, this is where we meet with clients. The back isn’t quite as neat.”

  Julia’s first instinct when Betsy opened the door was to make a run for it. Not quite as neat? It looked like a tornado had gone through the room. Twice. There were piles of books on every wedding-related subject imaginable all over the place. Complementing the books were stacks of magazines. Julia was sure every bridal magazine published in the last century had wound up here. There were four or five stacks on wedding attire alone.

  Crammed in amongst the books and magazines were file cabinets, which clearly weren’t being used properly because there seemed to be more files lying around the room than were actually in them.

  Betsy took in Julia’s horrified expression. “It’s quite a shock at first, isn’t it?”

  Julia waved her hand around the room, unable to comprehend the madness. “Are you telling me you two work in here? What is all this anyway?”

  “Reference material, mostly. Planning a wedding is sort of like trying to maneuver an army. All the little pieces have to come together on “D-Day” or “W-Day” in this case.”

  “This is unbelievable. How on earth am I supposed to know where things are located? Sarah might know, but she’s not here.”

  “Well, all you have to know the location of is the bible.”

  “Huh?”

  A Bible was going to help her plan weddings? Was flower arranging part of the Ten Commandments?

  Betsy delicately made her way past an ugly green couch, a couple of wooden chairs and a scarred, wooden desk and lifted a huge binder off a shelf. The resounding thud of the book landing on the desk made Julia wince.

  “This is the bible,” Betsy said. “Or Sarah’s bible. It’s got all the information you need. Lists of vendors, bridal boutiques and men’s formal wear stores, caterers, cake makers, florists, musicians, photographers, and printers for invitations. Local hotels, inns, and B&B’s. The churches in the area. Different venues. Plus, contact numbers of people from the country club manager to the wedding coordinators at the churches in town.”

  “All in this book?” Julia asked, sure her head was going to explode.

  “Mm, hmm. A lot of the vendors aren’t local, of course. Often we end up having to order from the bigger cities. We’re planning the mayor’s daughter’s wedding right now, and she won’t have anything local in her wedding.”

  “So you order from out-of-town?”

  “It depends on how fancy the client wants to go. We do have some great local talent. The owner of the boutique next door is also a designer, and she makes the most amazing wedding gowns you’ve ever seen. She’s even starting to get quite a reputation,
with clients coming from as far away as Atlanta for her gowns.”

  “Good to know.”

  “And the local florist is a genius floral designer. She usually takes care of ordering anything from out-of-town, too. Then there’s our local caterer—”

  Julia understood the gist of it now. “Let me guess, she’s the finest chef in the South.”

  Betsy nodded and flashed her sunny grin. “Amazing. She’s not truly a local though. She only moved to town about three years ago. Used to work for some fancy restaurant in Chicago. We’ve also got fabulous local talent in the music department, too. Meredith Vining is the Music Director at Pastor Graham’s church, but she also has a band and they perform at weddings. She has the voice of an angel. She had a budding music career, but gave it up to come back home.”

  “So, you’re telling me Covington Falls is populated by a bunch of wedding prodigies?”

  Betsy giggled. “Sort of. Sarah originally decided to open Marry Me to help tie all the town’s resources together.”

  “When opportunity knocks.”

  ”You are the funniest thing,” Betsy said, giggling again. “I can tell I’m going to love working with you.”

  Betsy started toward the door.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I have to go pick up some invitations at the printers. The client is coming by this afternoon to look them over.”

  “What?”

  “I’ll only be gone a few minutes.”

  This was not reassuring. “But you’re leaving me here. Alone.”

  Betsy smiled. “You’ll be fine. It’s been pretty quiet around here. Everyone knows Sarah’s been in the hospital, and it’ll take at least a few days before word gets out you’ve stepped in.”

  “What do I do while you’re gone?” she asked, desperate to keep Betsy in the office.

  “Start reading the bible.” Betsy rifled through the mess on the desk and retrieved an appointment book. “Or if you feel too overwhelmed, you can look through this. It has the upcoming appointments and schedule of weddings. It takes months to plan a wedding, and the ones we have now have been in the works for a while. Mostly you’ll be making sure things get done on time.”

  Betsy left. Julia was still staring at the empty doorway when she heard the little bell above the door jingle. No doubt the bell was laughing at her. With a deep sigh, she sank into the battered office chair and opened Sarah’s bible. At least it had an index of sorts. Unfortunately, it was mostly a bunch of symbols and numbers.

  Julia was about to get a headache looking at it, so she snapped the cover shut and reached for the appointment book. These things she understood. Hopefully. Who knew what kind of hieroglyphics Sarah used for appointment making?

  Fortunately, this book was in English. She glanced at the week’s appointments. As Betsy said, it was pretty quiet. In fact, a couple appointments looked as though they’d been rescheduled. Probably after Sarah had the scare with the baby. Under the Saturday column there was a notation. “Ashley Wedding”.

  Wait a minute!

  Julia stared at the two words with a dawning horror. Looked at the date on the top of the page and then at the calendar.

  Betsy breezed back in with a cheery hello. “I’m back. Good, you’re getting settled.”

  “Betsy,” Julia said, trying hard not to panic. “What does this note here mean?”

  She trotted over and glanced down. “Oh, Maureen Ashley’s wedding.”

  “Did you happen to notice the date?”

  Betsy looked closer. “Oh, dear.”

  I’m going to throw up. “Oh dear, is right. Get Sarah on the phone.”

  It only took a minute to get through to Sarah’s room. Julia grabbed the phone. “Sarah? How are you feeling?”

  “Ready to get out of here,” Sarah said, with a put-upon sigh.

  “You’re sure you’re doing all right? No more scares? Baby’s fine?”

  “Nothing in the last forty-eight hours.”

  “Good. Can I ask you a question?”

  Sarah must have sensed something was wrong because she hesitated. “Sure.”

  “Does the name Maureen Ashley mean anything to you?”

  There was a brief silence. “Oh, my goodness.”

  “Oh my goodness is right,” Julia said. “Now, tell me what I’m supposed to do when there’s a wedding scheduled for this Saturday?”

  Chapter Three

  Julia couldn’t remember the last time she’d prayed, but she figured now was as good as any to start. After taking a deep breath, Sarah had somehow convinced Julia she could handle Maureen Ashley’s wedding. Everything was already in place, and all Julia needed to do was direct traffic.

  So here she was, sitting in the parking lot of the Covington Falls Country Club at 11:00 a.m., wondering how on earth she ever let herself get talked into such madness.

  In her lap was a bulging folder outlining every detail of Maureen Ashley’s wedding. Sarah had insisted the affair was simple, but looking at the file Julia felt as though she was about to march an army across Europe. The battle plans included a schedule of activities which seemed to account for every second of the day. 11:10… meet with country club manager, 11:15… begin setting up tables, 11:17… inventory glasses, 11:25… call Bride to ensure she’s at hairdresser.

  This was insane. What happened if she was a minute off with one of these things? Julia was terrified she was going to miss a crucial step and spin the whole wedding into chaos. She stared at a hand-drawn diagram that explained where everything should go. It looked like a ninth grade geometry book. Squares for tables, circles for chairs, triangles for—

  Actually, she had no idea what the triangles were supposed to be.

  Worst of all Betsy was at the church setting everything else up, so Julia was completely on her own.

  Well, one thing was for sure, she couldn’t spend any more time in the car doing deep-breathing exercises.

  All right, Julia. You can do this. Stick with the schedule, and you’ll be fine. You’re good at schedules.

  Taking a deep breath, she got out of the car. First order of business was to find the country club manager. As it turned out, she didn’t have to find him because he was waiting right inside the door. Dressed in unrelieved black, he looked exactly like the poor sap who’d been chased by the evil Headless Horseman.

  Julia smiled. “Hello. You must be the manager. I’m Jul—”

  “You’re late.”

  She reared back. “Excuse me?”

  Ichabod looked down over his long, hawkish nose. “I realize you undoubtedly feel it’s acceptable to make people wait where you come from, but here in Covington Falls we have the courtesy to keep our appointments in a timely manner.”

  Oh, now this was too much! She was getting etiquette lessons from a guy who looked as though he belonged in a funeral parlor?

  “Listen, Ichy, I’ve been literally thrown into this in the last week, so you can take your scowls and lectures and shove ‘em up your—”

  “Hello there!”

  They both turned as a tall, slender young woman hurried toward them. Her cap of chin-length, ink-black hair bounced as she approached. As she got closer, Julia could see violet eyes shining out of a heart-shaped face. Wow, she was gorgeous. Like a runway model. Moved like one, too.

  Ichabod apparently agreed because he visibly softened. “Devon,” he said.

  “Roger, you old sweetheart, you’re not giving the new girl a hard time, are you?” Devon drawled in a perfectly genteel Southern accent.

  He flushed. “I was explaining about the importance of keeping to the schedule. As you know, the slightest delay can throw off the entire day.”

  This last part was directed at Julia with the looking-down-his-nose move he seemed to have perfected.

  “Roger, stop teasing her. She’s here helping our dear Sarah, after all,” Devon said, sending a discreet wink Julia’s way.

  Roger cleared his throat. “Yes, of course, you’re right.”<
br />
  Model girl turned to Julia. “I’m Devon, the caterer. You must be Julia. Sarah called me last night and told me you’d be on your own here. Said I was to make sure you didn’t drown in the sea of chaos.”

  Feeling as though she was reaching for a life preserver, Julia took the outstretched hand. “I think I love you.”

  Devon laughed. “Oh, I can tell I’m going to like you. Come on. Let’s get this shindig up and running. My people are waiting to bring everything in.”

  “Your people?”

  “It’s only four people,” Devon said, with a chuckle. “But this is Covington Falls, after all.”

  “Thanks for helping with Ichabod back there,” Julia said as they walked away.

  “Ichabod?” Devon asked, her nose wrinkling in confusion.

  “Sleepy Hollow? Headless horseman?”

  Devon threw back her head and laughed. “It certainly fits.”

  “I wasn’t getting off to a very good start with him.”

  “Well, I know what it’s like to be the new girl in town. The outsider.”

  Julia stopped. “Wait a minute. Betsy was telling me about you. You’re the wunderkind chef from Chicago.”

  “I don’t know about wunderkind, but I am from Chicago.”

  “You were using a Southern accent back there. A good one.”

  “I found it helped me get further in this town if I went all Southern Belle on them,” Devon said, violet eyes flashing. “Sugar works down here. They dump it in their tea and smother each other with it in their conversation.”

  Devon’s people were indeed waiting at the loading dock out back. Two men and two women. The guys looked to be around mid-twenties. The women were older, probably mid-forties.

  “Okay, everyone, this is Julia,” Devon said. “She’s going to be in charge today. Julia, this is my team. George, Kevin, Maria, and Sandra. Guys, Julia is new in town, so help her out if she starts to look lost.” She turned to Julia once more. “I have to get to the kitchen. Will you be okay now?”

  “Absolutely,” Julia said, with a big fake smile. Maybe if she said it enough times it might be true.