Love on Beach Avenue(11)

“Of course I did! A guy named Steve told me the planners at Sunshine Bridal were the only ones who could fix the mix-up.”

Avery tapped her foot and tried to ignore her pounding head. Dammit. She knew Steve was a part-time student working for extra cash. God help them all if he’d taken the booking without informing the owner. Seemed like he couldn’t handle confrontation and wanted to keep his job, so he’d sent an upset bride straight to her doorstep. Sure, blame the wedding planner. Wasn’t that standard? The kid had no thought to the disasters that could occur. “Wait. Delilah, how did you even hear about this?”

“She called me and said to meet her here at one p.m.,” Delilah said.

She swiveled her gaze back to Ms. Papadalle, still confused. “But how did you get Delilah’s number? The booking is under my business name, not Delilah’s.”

“I told Steve I wanted her information and refused to leave until he gave it to me!” the woman yelled.

Oh yeah, Steve was definitely getting fired over this breach of protocol. Her head pounded harder.

Delilah trembled. “I’m sorry, Avery. I was afraid not to show. She scared me.”

Delilah was soft-spoken and shy. The poor thing was clearly terrified, and the whole scene was unfolding in front of Avery’s respectable business. She had to get them off the street before the town gossips realized a bride war was brewing.

Avery cleared her throat. “Okay, let’s go inside. We’ll get a cool drink, I’ll make some phone calls, and we’ll straighten it all out.”

Ms. Papadalle ignored her calm entreaty. Bracing her feet, she threw her shoulders back and announced her ultimatum. “There’s only one way to solve this. Change your date.”

Delilah’s voice broke. “But I can’t. It would ruin everything.”

“Then I’m bringing you all down. This is America. I deserve an equal shot even if I don’t hire a fancy-schmancy wedding planner.”

Delilah’s lower lip shook, and her eyes filled with tears. “But my family already bought airline tickets. They’re nonrefundable.”

“Too bad. I have proof I booked it first.” She shook the receipt wildly in the air like a baby bird trying to fly. “I’m taking the date. Deal with it.” Ms. Papadalle towered over Delilah, face masked in righteous fury.

Before Avery could take a step forward to defuse the tension, comfort her bride, and take control of the situation, Delilah launched herself at the woman. Ms. Papadalle stumbled under the surprise attack and fell back on her ass, landing in a tangled mess of limbs on the sidewalk. Delilah stared in shock, blinking as if she’d come out of a fugue state. She opened her mouth, maybe to apologize, but it was too late.

“I’ll kill you!” Ms. Papadalle sprang up from the ground and came at Delilah with a roar, but instead of running away, Avery’s once-shy, reserved bride let out a matching warrior cry, and they fell into a tangle of fists, hair-pulling, and nail-scratching.

Holy shit.

She’d witnessed wicked arguments before, along with many drunken threats she’d always been able to resolve, but never two women in a real catfight. Knowing she had little time and no help, she went with her instincts and dove in.

“Stop it!” she yelled, wishing she had a hose to spray them with water like she’d seen on television with warring dogs. “You’re both making a scene!” She tried inserting herself into the middle, but a flashing nail caught her on the cheek, and then someone hit her in the head and ripped out the clips holding her hair. Gritting her teeth, she used all her strength and managed to push them away from each other with one mighty shove.

Both staggered back, eyes wide as if just realizing what they’d done on a public sidewalk. Avery moved to keep herself in between them, but her heel wobbled in the crack of the sidewalk.

Ah, hell.

Balance lost, she waved her arms in the air like a crazed chicken, then crashed to the ground. A litany of curse words blasted from her mouth, each one dirtier than the last, as she crawled indelicately to her scraped knees and looked up with a glower.

She registered the matching chagrined expressions on the two women staring down at her, then let her gaze travel past them to the couple framed in the open doorway. Ally took in the scene with a dropped jaw and eyes filled with shock. A man flanked her friend’s side, tall and lean and slightly familiar. His gaze assessed the situation with a flare of mockery and judgment that immediately pissed Avery off.

He turned to Ally. His voice was deep and velvety smooth, but his words cut deep without apology. “Please don’t tell me this is your wedding planner.”

And then she remembered who he was. Carter Ross. Her best friend’s older brother. Dread punched her stomach.

A groan of disgust rose to her lips as she straightened up and regarded the man she’d disliked from the moment they’d met. Carter was rude, arrogant, and always trying to boss them both around. He’d consistently judged her and found her lacking, believing she wasn’t good enough to be friends with Ally. His cool gaze hadn’t changed, even behind those new nerdy black glasses, and it still made her vaguely uncomfortable.

Lips slightly pursed, as if he’d tasted something bad, he shook his head and marched over. “Okay, ladies, fight’s over. Let’s see if we can solve the problem.” Guiding them both firmly under the elbow, he began to direct them inside.