Page 4 of I Always Will

“We sure did. It’s been three-and-a-half wonderful months.”

Hailey suppressed her smile poorly. “And so you’re tying the knot?”

“We are.” She looked serenely happy about it, and who was Hailey to rain on her parade?

“Well, congratulations! When’s the big day?”

Esme looked up at her. “In thirty-two days.”

Hailey barked a laugh, paused, realised Esme was deadly serious, and put on a more sincere expression. “You don’t hang around, do you?”

Esme wafted a hand in her direction. “You know I don’t like the whole waiting around, planning nonsense. We’re happy, we want to get married, so we’re doing it.”

“Kind of surprised you’re not just doing it tonight, honestly.”

She tilted her head before leading the way over to the tills. “I mean, if it were just up to us, we probably would have. Well, maybe we’d have waited a couple of weeks. We do want a big party with all of our friends and family, after all. But we wouldn’t have waited nearly so long. But we have to follow the rules for marriage licences and such.”

Hailey wondered whether she should point out that thirty-two days was basically no time at all in the wedding planning world. She was fairly certain most people would be impossibly stressed if you told them they had to get ready for their wedding—from zero to go-time—in only thirty-two days. But that wasn’t Esme. And, apparently, it wasn’t her fiancé either.

“And I was wondering, actually,” Esme went on as Hailey went to unlock the doors. “Well, we both were, really, about whether you’d be willing to do the catering?”

Hailey joined her back behind the counter, more amused than anything. “You want mashed potato catering at your wedding?”

“We absolutely do.” She was nothing but resolute. “We both love mash, I trust you, we want something pretty casual, fun, and that people can move around with, but that’s also filling and delicious… This place just seemed perfect for it.”

Mash-N-Go had done workplace lunches, food festivals, and even birthday parties in-store, but they’d never catered a wedding. At least not as far as she was aware. Given the wedding industry markups, she wouldn’t be surprised if someone had come in for a large order, claiming it was for an office, and then taken it to a small wedding, but she couldn’t care less. So long as people were enjoying the food, she didn’t care what the event was.

Hailey watched Esme as she greeted the first two customers of the day. She didn’t mind doing a wedding, especially not Esme’s wedding, and she was honestly curious to see what Esme came up with for a wedding, in thirty-two days.

She grabbed hold of a bowl to prepare for the customers when they knew what they wanted and grinned at Esme. “Sure. I’ll do it. You’ve got your wedding catering.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely.”

“I’ll even pay extra because it’s a big event.”

Hailey rolled her eyes. “Absolutely not. You get a discount because you’re an employee and my friend.”

“Dan’s going to be so excited,” she said, clasping her hands together and twirling on the spot. “I didn’t even tell him I was going to ask you today.”

“Did you… tell him you were going to ask at all?”

She laughed as if that weren’t an especially relevant question. “Of course. I told you, we both love mash and want Mash-N-Go at our wedding. But you have to promise you won’t be working the whole time, you know? You’re a guest too.”

“The Loaded Vegan Breakfast Bowl, please,” one of the guys in the shop said, stepping up to the counter. “And a cup of tea.”

“You got it,” Hailey and Esme both said at the same time, eliciting a smile from the customer before they both started moving with practised ease. Hailey immediately scooped the plain vegan mash into the compostable bowl she’d been holding before moving to do his toppings, while Esme rang him up and made his tea. Esme might be a little impulsive, but they were a winning team. Hailey had great taste in employees and friends.

???

Alexandria paused, confused. She cleared her throat. “What do you mean you’re getting married?”

Daniel’s booming laugh echoed down the phone. “Al, you’re smart. I’m pretty sure you know what getting married is.”

She rolled her eyes, her hands still hovering over her computer keyboard where she’d been working before Daniel had interrupted her with news of his impending nuptials. “Yes, thank you. I know what getting married is but how can you be getting married? I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone. Also, that’s not my name.”

“Your name is just so long…”

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