Page 56 of Dreaming of You

"Yes, there are spaces that are rented out for weddings at a lot of places in the city that you would never imagine. I have found a couple of intriguing options. One is an artist's collective in the South of Market area. It's in an old warehouse and the space is beautiful and artsy. There's a dance floor, plenty of room for tables, a kitchen for catering, and it has a cool, hip vibe."

"Olivia is going to hate that."

She frowned at his words, but they echoed her own thoughts. "I know. But I think Candice would like it."

"What else do you have?"

"There's a mansion on Nob Hill that can be rented for weddings. It's very elegant, lovely views, but it feels too close to the environment the Hunts actually live in." She paused. "What does Olivia like? What do you know about her that I don't? Does she love books? Because the new library has a room that's available for rental."

"I've never seen her read, but you know what she does like—gardens. A long, long time ago, before she married her husband and had kids, she studied to be a landscape designer. Her only dislike of her Sausalito home is that there isn't enough flat land for a big garden."

At his words, a new idea began to take root in her brain. "The Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park does weddings. I wonder if that would work."

"Maybe. Are Candice and Anthony going to have a church wedding?"

"Olivia wants that, but Candice told me privately she'd rather not do it in a church. Maybe that's the trick—I convince Olivia to let Candice skip the church wedding and have both the ceremony and the reception at the conservatory. That will work for at least one of the three ideas I need to have. Any other great thoughts? Anything Candice particularly likes?"

He thought for a moment as he finished eating. "She loves the cable cars. Whenever we would go to the city, she always wanted to take a ride."

She considered his words. "Maybe I could build something around a cable car…perhaps a parade of cable cars to the wedding venue. We could rent the ones that don't run on the tracks. That would be a different idea versus just your ordinary limo. You're pretty good at this, Barrett."

He laughed. "I'm just telling you what they like. You're taking it to another dimension."

"Well, I appreciate the tips. I was really stumped, but if I think gardens and cable cars, creative and elegant, maybe I can figure out a way to merge it all in an amazing way."

"I think you're up to the challenge. When does this have to happen?"

"By Monday morning. I just have to keep thinking outside of the box."

"What's your vision of a perfect wedding?"

"You mean for myself?"

"Yes. Surely you've thought about it. How could you not?"

"I do get ideas, but then they change, and I think of something else. I go back and forth on what I'd want."

"But it will be big, grand, crazy?"

"I don't know about that. I honestly don't have that much family, and while I have my core group of friends, it's not like I'd be inviting a huge crowd. I guess it depends on who I marry and what they want. But no matter how big or how small, I just want it to feel romantic, tender, loving, joyful, intimate." She cut herself off, realizing she was getting carried away. "Anyway…that's probably enough wedding talk for you. I'm surprised you lasted this long."

"You did feed me; it was the least I could do. Sorry, we didn't leave you anything for leftovers."

"It's fine. I'm glad you enjoyed it." As their gazes met, she drew in a quick breath. "I should go upstairs and start working."

"I should go to my office and start working." Despite his words, Barrett made no effort to get up. Instead he said, "It was nice of you to share your dinner with me."

"It was the least I could do. I still owe you for spending the night with my grandfather and watching movies of me trying to do ballet."

"You're gifted in a lot of areas, but I'm not sure dance is one of them."

"Believe me, I know."

"The ballet world's loss is the wedding world's gain."

She laughed. "Well said. But seriously, Barrett, I do feel I owe you for what you did for my grandparents."

"You don't owe me anything. And you just bought me dinner."

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