Page 39 of Snowbound

“I already have. Sort of.”

He shakes his head. “This makes no sense. You’re trying to tell me that you’re a small wedding planner, but you do weddings for millionaires and famous people. You must be at least a bit famous yourself.”

“Most people aren’t famous for being a wedding planner.” I chuckle ruefully. “And besides, I get hired because I’m cheap, more often than not. At least as far as high-end wedding planners go.”

“Jeez, how expensive are the expensive ones?” His eyes grow wide, boggling out of his skull as he grapples with the truly obscene amount of money that some people have. “You should charge them all more if you’re as good as you say.”

“It’s a balance,” I say. “I can’t be too expensive or else no one will hire me, but I can’t be too cheap or I’m not exclusive enough. And I can’t do too much work or else people think I’m desperate, but I can’t not work because I wouldn’t have any money.”

“What a conundrum,” he says dryly.

“Anyway,” I say, trying to change the subject. “You’re a local celebrity yourself. Everyone in town seems to know who you are.”

“Everyone in town has been into my shop. Wedding planning might be a luxury, but car mechanic is a job that’s never going to go out of demand.”

We’re still going back and forth like this when we pull up at Ruth and John’s house. They come out of the house to meet us, and Ruth grins when she sees how close Gabe and I are standing together. “Hey, you two. Come inside. I have snacks.”

By snacks, she means she’s laid out an entire cheeseboard as well as tiny cakes and crackers and anything else we might want. “Help yourself,” she says. “And if you want a drink, just let me know.”

Gabe makes a beeline for the cheese, but I stand firm. “Let’s get down to business.”

“Efficient,” says John, coming in and looping his arm around his fiancée’s shoulders.

“Have you thought any more about what you want from Gabe?”

“Something really simple and nice,” says Ruth. “We want something that we can keep as a remembrance of the day… but also something that will be a centerpiece for the ceremony. Something that represents us.”

“Horse, then,” says Gabe through a mouthful of cheese.

“Horse?” I ask.

“Ruth’s favorite animal. And John used to do a lot of showing in his youth. It’s symbolic. And it’ll look good.”

“This is why I asked you to come,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“Great. All done. Leave me to my cheese.” He crams a lump of cheddar into his mouth, and Ruth laughs.

She goes over to him to tease him about the cheese, but John lingers behind to talk to me. “Thank you again for all the work you’re putting in for us. I can’t tell you what it means to me and Ruth. Not just for the wedding but also for what you’re doing for Gabe. We’ve seen him more over the last few days with you than we have in the years since he got back.”

“It’s not all me,” I say, pressing my lips together.

“Well, we’re grateful anyway. I love Ruth so much, and this is really special to us.” There’s a light in his eyes when he says this, and I believe him completely.

He doesn’t have to say it. I see it with every interaction they have. Both of them are not only besotted with each other but are genuinely well-matched. They have a friendship and easiness in their relationship that anyone would kill for.

People like them are exactly why I got into wedding planning in the first place. I want to make people like them happy.

One day, I want people like them to be me.

CHAPTER21

GABE

If I’d stopped for two seconds to think about it, I wouldn’t have agreed to make benches for the wedding on top of all the sculptures they’ve roped me into. I blame the mountain of tiny cheeses Ruth put together. She knew exactly what she was doing when she put cheese in front of me.

She knew I wouldn’t be able to say no.

But it is something to do, and it’s getting me out of the house.

---