Breathe In (Just Breathe, #1)(125)
Maggie and I finish the movie and then have another round of sex before succumbing to the late evening for rest. After using the bathroom for the last time tonight, I find a passed out Maggie on the bed with Sadie curled up next to her.
I send one final text just after midnight to Joe. “Sweet dreams.”
I hear my phone buzz and I check Joe’s response.
“With you in them, I will.” Joe adds a winking emoticon. “Goodnight, beautiful.”
“Goodnight, Joe,” I write.
Thirty Two
Just as I finish cleaning up breakfast Saturday morning, I get a text message from Amelia to call her. I return the call immediately after drying my hands.
“What’s up Amelia?”
“I can’t get a hold of Maggie. Where is she?” she says frantically.
“She’s here and in the shower. Why?”
“I need to talk to her right now. This is time sensitive. I’ve got the St. Regis on the other line,” she exclaims.
“Hold on. Maggie!” I yell running into the bathroom. “Maggie!”
“What?” Maggie answers.
“Get out of the shower. Amelia needs to talk to you. She has the St. Regis on the other line,” I explain.
“What?!” she shouts. “Holy crap!” She jumps out of the shower and grabs the phone from me as I wrap her in a towel. “Hi, Amelia!”
Following Maggie out to the bedroom, I listen and watch. I pace the room with Sadie on my heels waiting for more information. I should have pressed the button for speakerphone to know what’s being said.
“Okay, hold on. Emma, can you get my phone and call Henry?”
“Why?”
“I need to know if likes the date,” she explains.
“Maggie, you don’t need to talk to Henry. He told you that any date would be fine. You need to trust you gut and make a decision,” I instruct.
Processing my words, Maggie answers Amelia about ten seconds later. “We’ll take it!” Maggie beams the minute the words come out of her mouth.
“So?” I inspect as she hands back my phone.
“So, we’ve got the St. Regis for the Saturday before my birthday!” she squeals with complete elation. Jumping up and down, Maggie continues with more details. “Apparently a celebrity just canceled. The hotel didn’t say why, but we’ve got the entire hotel. It’s going to be only us for the whole weekend!”
My heart settles and tension releases from my body that I didn’t know I had. It’s all coming together. Maggie’s going to have her dream wedding.
“Get dressed and call Henry. I’ll call M?qīn and Jared. We’ve got a lot of things to do,” I direct.
The timeline for the wedding has just been bumped by approximately a whole month. Maggie and Henry were shooting for late August but now the wedding is set for the end of July, just three days before Maggie’s twenty-fifth birthday. I’m grateful that we’ve got Amelia to help as well as the rest of the family. Everyone is going to need to pull together if it’s all going to happen and happen successfully.
Maggie, M?qīn, Nǎinai, Mrs. Wú, Amy and I drive down to the St. Regis in Dana Point, California to meet up with the head manager of the hotel. Amelia arrives at the same time as the rest of us while Jared and Nathan show up about ten minutes later. Formal introductions, arrangements and instructions on the variety of services the hotel can provide are the priority of this initial meeting. Maggie, Amelia and I will be back several more times with Henry to determine food and wine selection for the rehearsal dinner and wedding reception along with other meetings for table arrangements and other necessary incidentals. We are given a brief tour before we are provided a complimentary lunch for our small group. As my companions finish eating, I’m able to collect the remaining needed information to complete both the save-the-date announcements and the wedding invitations. I order a proof of each of the few designs that Maggie had chosen which should be ready by Monday.
By the time we leave the hotel, everyone has agreed to their assigned tasks to move the wedding planning forward. Jared and Nathan follow Maggie and me back to my place. As I cook dinner, Maggie fills Nathan and Jared in on all of the details they may have missed, on what needs to be done, as well as checking in with Henry.
Jared and Nathan leave around ten, and after getting changed into my pajamas, I find Maggie asleep in my bed. Not wanting to disturb her, I grab a book and head to the living room.
My phone suddenly vibrates, scaring me enough to cause me to jump a little.
“Heard you ladies got good news today,” streams across the screen as a text message from Joe.
“Yes,” I confirm. “Henry tell you?”
“Yes. You ladies celebrating?” he continues.
“No. Did earlier. Maggie is passed out,” I respond.
“What are you doing?”
“Reading. You?” I inquire.
“Was trying to do the same,” he writes.
“Trying?” I text.
The phone buzzes at me. Joe’s calling.
“Hey,” I greet in a hushed tone.
“Hey, beautiful,” he returns.
“Why were you trying to read,” I investigate.
“I was distracted . . . kept thinking of you,” he admits.