Page 7 of Dreaming of You

"I hope not," Anthony said. "But your mother is involved, so…"

She could hear the note of worry in Anthony's voice and wondered if Olivia would be trouble. Probably. She was definitely a woman who knew what she wanted and that was perfection.

"My mother may be involved, but it's our day." Candice looked back at Kate. "You're going to have to keep my mom in check. I can never say no to her. She always wears me down. So, you will have to help me."

"Of course." She was beginning to wonder what she was getting herself into. "If you decide to hire me, I will do my best to make sure your day is exactly the way you want it."

"Which is why I want you," Candice said. "But we're going to have to play along with my mother's interview process, so she thinks I'm keeping an open mind. She's going to make demands, and you're going to have to meet a lot of them, because she's paying. She would much prefer to hire one of her friends, but I want this wedding to be mine, not hers."

"I understand."

"Good." Candice paused, tilting her head to the right. "How do you know Barrett? And did we interrupt something…down here on this quiet, dark patio?"

"No, not at all," she said hastily, not caring for the speculative gleam in Candice's eyes. "I was getting some air, and he had the same idea. I actually just met him earlier today."

"He's a great guy…in case you were wondering."

"Good to know, but I wasn't wondering," she said firmly.

"You'd be the first single woman to make that statement," Candice said with a short laugh. "Barrett is a hit with the ladies."

She decided to ignore that. "Let's talk about your wedding…"

* * *

After a busy weekend getting her cupid statues moved into storage and catching up on paperwork, Kate headed into the office Monday afternoon after having spent the morning listening to wedding bands with one of her brides. The downstairs office door was closed, but she could hear hammering and voices. Apparently, Barrett had already started his remodel.

After he'd left her at the party, she hadn't seen him again, but she had to admit that he'd crossed her mind more than a few times. Hopefully, he'd appreciated finding his office empty of cupids when he arrived. That should move their bad start into at least neutral territory. Although, she wasn't thrilled with the dust or the noise. She had a bride coming by later in the day, and it wasn't exactly the ambiance she was going for. But she had no say about it. She certainly couldn't complain to the landlord.

The noise was a bit more muffled when she entered her office suite and closed the door, but it wasn't exactly quiet. "Has it been this bad all day?" she asked Shari.

"Pretty much. What are they doing downstairs?"

"I have no idea. But it sounds like they're moving walls. I can't imagine why. The office space was perfectly fine as it was."

"Apparently, not for a Fox," Shari said dryly. "Did you find any good bands?"

"No. And, for the record, the Devlin Sisters are not a pop group; they play heavy metal and would be better for a rave than a wedding reception. Do we have any aspirin?"

"Who would think a group called the Devlin Sisters would play heavy metal?" Shari asked in amazement, grabbing a bottle out of her desk and tossing it to her. "They sounded harmless."

"Believe me, they weren't. Although, they said they toned down for weddings. I can't imagine what their usual routine is. The little I saw included smashing a guitar over a drum set."

Shari laughed. "I thought you were going to start sending the brides out on their own to listen to bands."

"Thank goodness I didn't. Janine Hampton, Carol's mom, almost had heart failure when she saw the Devlin Sisters. If she'd been on her own, they might have had to call 911."

"Janine and her mother tend to overreact to most things."

"True. How was Tahoe?"

"Beautiful…" Shari winced at a sudden crash down below. "And more peaceful than here. How was the Hunts' party?"

"It was…interesting."

"Like fall in the pond or dump wine down your dress or run into a hot guy…interesting?"

She made a face at her. "When have any of those things happened?"

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