To Have and to Hold (The Wedding Belles #1)(77)
“I need you to check out someone for me. Have you heard of Clay Battaglia?”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
IN HER SEVERAL YEARS of experience, Brooke had learned that there were two types of wedding planners.
Those that you hired for their vision—the firecrackers who gave you their opinions, like it or not, but in the end were worth it, because their vision was probably better than yours anyway.
Then there were the wedding planners you hired to implement your vision—the ones who listened to what you wanted and found a way to make it work.
Brooke was the latter. She was a people pleaser, and nothing made her happier than when she could make a bride’s dream come true, securing that perfect venue or quaint little church, or even that moment when you could matchmake her with her ideal dress.
But that said, Brooke wasn’t above having private little celebrations when her vision and the bride’s vision aligned.
Such was the case in Maya Tyler’s wedding.
Even if Brooke and Seth weren’t doing . . . well, whatever it was that they were doing, Maya and Neil’s wedding would go down in the books as one of Brooke’s favorites.
Maya had chosen Hamilton House for her reception. They’d just put the deposit for the gorgeous space Brooke had shown Seth just a couple weeks earlier, and Brooke wasn’t sure who was more excited, her or Maya.
Even Seth seemed more or less on board. Brooke wouldn’t go so far as to say he was excited about the wedding, but he’d quieted his objections.
So far they’d even managed to compartmentalize her work from their personal life. As previously agreed, Brooke ensured he signed off on any big expenses, but beyond those weekly check-ins, they rarely talked about the wedding.
It wasn’t ideal. The woman in Brooke was more than a little curious about how he was dealing with his sister marrying a man he didn’t approve of, but the wedding planner in her knew that boundaries were important.
Her other in-progress weddings made for occasional pillow talk, but never Maya’s.
Speaking of Maya . . . Brooke checked her watch. The other woman was fifteen minutes late. Which wasn’t totally unusual. Maya was late more often than not, although she typically texted.
Still, it gave Brooke an extra few minutes alone with her favorite spot. Maya was meeting her here today to discuss layout. Brooke already knew what she’d do. A skinny stage set up along the far wall for a live band. A dance floor in front of that, big enough to feel festive, but not so big that it was intimidating. She’d put the bar in the opposite corner, along the windows, so that when people waited for their champagne or martini, they’d have a view of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Maya and Neil had settled on an early December wedding, and though Maya was still debating on color scheme, Brooke had her fingers crossed for a gold-and-white holiday theme. Twinkle lights everywhere, flocked trees with glittery gold ornaments, delicate flutes of sparkling champagne with delicate gold wine charms with the couple’s initials, or perhaps even a little touch of edible gold glitter . . .
Brooke’s daydreams were interrupted by the slam of the door, and she turned, expecting to see Maya and Neil, and instead seeing . . . Maya and Grant?
“Hi, guys,” she said, carefully hiding her surprise.
It wasn’t the first time Grant had tagged along. Whatever tension had been between Grant and Maya at the announcement of her engagement seemed to have faded. Or at least Grant managed to put on a serious happy face, because he’d been nothing but smiles and jokes when they went cake tasting, or flower browsing, or sampling meatballs from a dozen different caterers. It seemed Maya had replaced Seth with Grant as the male voice of reason in the group, what with Neil being so absent from the planning. She kept insisting that it was worthwhile to have a male perspective along with them for input, but Brooke suspected the woman simply enjoyed Grant’s company.
So Brooke wasn’t shocked to see Grant. But Maya had specifically said Neil would be here today—that he’d regretted having to travel so much and wanted to be actively involved in more of the planning. Oh well. If Brooke were totally honest, she felt more comfortable around Grant than Neil.
She smiled as she crossed the cavernous space toward the two friends, although her smile froze just a touch when she got close enough to see their expressions.
Something wasn’t right.
Maya was smiling, but it was too wide, and her eyes had a slightly wild look about them. And her ponytail looked like it had been hastily styled rather than gathered and teased into its usual classy perfection.
Grant gave Brooke a dark look before bending his long body to give her a brief peck in greeting. “Hi, Brookey,” he said quietly. It was his usual greeting, but it lacked his normally warm, jocular tone. There was no sign of the playful Grant she’d grown so accustomed to. He looked every bit as brittle as Maya.
“What’s wrong?” Brooke asked, not bothering to pretend that everything was okay when it so clearly wasn’t.
Brooke wouldn’t have thought it possible, but Maya’s smile seemed to grow even wider. Even more false. “I have news!”
Out of the corner of her eye, Brooke saw Grant’s jaw clench as though he was gritting his teeth. Whatever Maya’s news was, he didn’t like it.
“Oh yeah?” Brooke asked, using her best soothe-the-bride voice.