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“They must be so excited for you.”

Trina hummed a small agreement and sipped her tea, wishing she didn’t have to lie to a woman she would be happy to call a personal friend.

“Will they be joining you for the ceremony?”

“No.” Trina ignored the heat flooding her face. “I love my parents dearly and I’m proud of my Italian roots. That said, Rhett and I decided that eloping is the best wedding present we could give each other.”

Ilsa’s laughter was contagious. “That’s fine by me. Simplifies a few things, too. Do you want to start with the venue or flowers?”

After that, the questions came in a flurry. Trina found herself making decisions by following her intuition and her own preferences. Piece by piece, the wedding plans came together. They would be married out on the water during a sunset cruise. When Trina couldn’t hide her discomfort overbeing one of several couples on a wedding cruise, Ilsa made a few phone calls and scheduled the private event.

“You’ll need witnesses,” she explained. “Max and I are available, unless there’s someone else you would like to invite.”

Trina thought of Rhett’s face when he spoke of Max, the gym, “his” wedding planner, and her dog. “We would be honored to have you and Max stand up for us. Can Annie come along?”

“Annie isn’t big on watercraft,” Ilsa replied, smiling. “But if you want to have a reception, either here or just a small nightcap at our place, she would be happy to attend.”

A nightcap sounded lovely. “Rhett would get a kick out of that. Maybe champagne and some light appetizers with the two of you, as long as we can order something. I don’t want you going to any further trouble.” Having a quiet plan in place for after the ceremony might keep her from freaking out that she’d married a man she barely knew to avoid a marriage that would crush her.

“No trouble at all. I’ll contact catering and have them handle everything.” She moved to her desk, but paused with her hand on the Cove house phone.

“Trina, I realize you don’t know any of us, but we all adore Rhett. Would you be willing to host a small reception here at the Cove after the ceremony?” she asked. “We’ll keep it super informal, and I won’t let it drag on, but it would give everyone here a chance to celebrate this occasion with you.”

She hadn’t anticipated being a bride in front of a crowd. “Oh.” What would Rhett want her to do? “We were hoping to keep this as quiet as possible,” she said as she searched for the right answer. Then she thought of her own staff and knew they would want to help her celebrate as soon as they heard the news.

“Rhett warned me that he sent an email to the staff.”

“He did.” Ilsa bobbed her head. “My emailhas been blowing up for the last 30 minutes with people asking all the questions.”

“Well that decides it. Of course we’ll do a reception. Especially if it won’t create more chaos for the team.” She hoped Rhett would be okay with an impromptu wedding reception.

“They’ll be honored to jump in,” Ilsa assured her. “Leave the details to me. Do you have a favorite champagne?”

“Not really.” They probably wouldn’t have her preferred French brand in stock. And it was ridiculously expensive. “I am partial to prosecco, if it’s available.”

“Of course.” Ilsa was all smiles once more. “Should’ve thought of that.” She made a few more notes as they discussed favorite cake flavors and food options to serve at the reception.

“You can trust the kitchen to come through. And, bonus, if there’s something that sounds particularly yummy to either you or Rhett during the party, I’ll have the kitchen work it up for you.”

“Wow, thanks.”

“It’s my job.” She reviewed her growing list. “We’ve covered flowers for you and Rhett as the only two members of the wedding party. If you don’t mind, I’ll build from that for the reception.”

Trina nodded in agreement. It was all spinning so fast through her head. The time for backing out seemed to have passed. Well, it had passed when Rhett sent the email to his staff. She wondered now if he’d done that deliberately.

“I must say, you’ve got a great eye for floral design.”

“Thanks.” The compliment made Trina happy. “One of my friends on Brookwell is a florist. I’ve learned quite a bit from her.”

“Tell her it shows,” Ilsa approved. “Okay. The only thing left is attire. Do you have a dress?”

Trina shook her head. “No. Nothing suitable for what we’ve planned. This is a lot more involved than I anticipatedfor an elopement,” she admitted. “I’m woefully ill-prepared.”

“Because Rhett knew you’d have me. He was clear that this should be a special occasion, despite the lack of guests.”

“Memorable, yes,” Trina agreed. What would she be wearing in the photos? It was one thing when she only had to consider a sunset cruise. Casual worked well for that, at least in her mind. But a reception with his staff? She needed something decidedly… More.

“I’ll need to shop for something today. What do you think he’ll expect?”