Page 58 of The Wedding

“Someone is getting fired!” Etta promised.

“Ms. Coleman?” Beatrice sheepishly said at the door. “Ms. Thompson is on the landline. Do you want to answer?”

“She can wait!”

Jamie felt sick to her stomach. Barbarossa looked languidly at her, daring her to say anything other than,“Yes, yes, you’re cute.”

Her phone rang and rang and rang. People whom she had spoken to previously about her engagement were calling.

“What’s this about you and Ms. Hottie breaking up and her marrying her old girl?”

“I thought you said you were getting marriednextJune?”

“I figured that was a mistake. Anyway, I’ve changed plans so I can make your wedding this June. What’s the exact date? Australia can wait.”

“Jamie!” Etta dropped her phone as Jamie slumped over the edge of the bed.I can’t take this. Not only was she getting married in three months, but she wasn’t even the one marrying her fiancée, apparently!

Jamie had a feeling a terrible force was coming… and she was at the center of the storm.

Part 2

Guests

Chapter 19

“Ms. Granger will see you now.”

Jamie stood up from the couch in the receiving room. Friends Natasha and Seena were slower on the uptake, partially because Natasha had dozed off during their thirty-minute wait, and Seena was too busy gawking at ten-thousand-dollar wedding cakes in a magazine.

They followed the assistant through the door and into what appeared to be an office and entertaining space hybrid. Jenny Granger stood up from her glass desk, wearing a flowy, silky floral blouse and black skirt that sashayed with every step she took. Both hands went out to Jamie, who felt she had no choice but to take them between her fingers and accept the kisses to her cheek.

“It’s so lovely to have you here, Jamie.” Jenny gestured to the sofa and chairs in the middle of the room. The trio sat on one side with Jenny on the other. She pulled out a binder labeled “JOY / COLEMAN” and opened it to the first blank page, pen poised in her hand. “I’m looking forward to working with you.”

You’re looking forward to it? I’m about to die.Jamie hadn’t slept in the nearly two weeks since that terrible article came out in the paper. AfterEtta chewed out and threatened to have half the staff fired for the heinous misprint, the paper put the corrections up online right away and ran them in the next day’s paper… but it wasn’t enough. By that time, a hundred high-profile and would-be guests had called to demand the exact date of this supposed wedding so they could make last-minute changes in plans.I still can’t believe it…After being humiliated in a national paper, Jamie suddenly discovered she was getting married in fewer than three months. Etta started telling people that they were getting married on the last Sunday of June, and Jamie had no choice but to go along with it.

She thought that would be the hardest thing to accept.Ha!After that fervor died down, Etta still had to deal with the pushback from her and ex-girlfriend Adele Thompson merging companies. But not before she told Jamie,“You need to call Monique and get the name of her wedding planner. We’re having the summer wedding of the year according to these assholes.”

Jenny Granger was not an easy woman to book, let alone at the last minute. She was the go-to wedding planner for any well-to-do couple in the whole region. She claimed to have reach throughout the thirteen original colonies “and some of those states that branched off because of the Civil War.” Jamie couldn’t imagine this woman going out to West Virginia for anyone’s wedding, but she didn’t care. She had to have her.

Since Jenny only did one wedding a month, it was nearly impossible to book her for a June wedding that year. Monique had booked her the moment she found out she was getting married six months before the wedding, and the only reason she convinced Jenny to take her on was because of who she and Helen were.This is so ridiculous.If Etta weren’t one of the richest women around, Jamie would have done more than get on the floor and grovel. Which she practically did, not that Jenny was unprofessional enough to acknowledge it now.She turned away another high-profile couple marrying in early June to do our wedding.Jamie had gone from engaged to planning the nuptials of the summerwithin a week.

Now she sat in Jenny’s office with two of her best friends. This should have been fun. So why did Jamie feel like she was about to pass out at any moment?

“Who are these lovely ladies?” Jenny asked, already writing things down. The assistant brought them all coffee, complete with a cream and sugar set. Selene dug right in while Natasha waited a few seconds and Jamie completely ignored it. “Your bridesmaids, I’m sure.”

“Two of them, yeah.” They had already agreed, Natasha a bit more reserved about the whole ordeal than Seena, who screamed into the phone and asked if she could wear“the most expensive dress ever!”

“Is either of them the maid of honor?”

Jamie’s lips twitched. “I haven’t decided that yet, sorry.” She wasn’t looking forward to figuring that mess out. So many politics.

“All right. Let’s dive in. How many people do you plan on having in your bridal party?”

The woman was practically filling out a pre-fab form. Not that it surprised Jamie, since she had hired the best of the best, and she expected this woman to be no-nonsense and get things done in a timely fashion.I was on the other end of her at Monique’s wedding. I know what she’s capable of.Jamie was exhausted thinking about it. From maid of honor to bride in four months…what were the odds?

“Maybe three to five.” Jamie cleared her throat. “I’m still talking to people and trying to figure it out. Plus, I have to keep in mind that Etta needs to balance it out with her own party…”Who the hell would she choose asherbest woman?Her one close friend turned out to be a creep and a half. “Should I have more?”

“You can have as many as you want, although I usually suggest odd numbers because it looks nicer. However, I will suggest that you extend goodwill to as many young ladies as possible. It also makes for more popular photo spreads.”