Page 31 of The Magic of Sea Glass
“Not out,” he replied. “No crowds. And you can tell me whatever it was you wanted to run by me.”
Mary clasped her hands together. “That’s a perfect idea.”
“And where will we eat with no people, in this area?” Lauren asked.
“My place.” Brody turned to Mary. “Tell her. It’s clean and quiet, isn’t it?”
Mary nodded happily. “It’s just lovely. And he’ll be a perfect gentleman, I can promise you that.”
“Definitely. I’ll even ask Stephanie to come, too, if it makes you more comfortable. Mitchell’s off working, so she’ll probably jump at the chance to do something for dinner.”
Lauren deliberated. She did have some things to ask Stephanie…
“I’ll pick you up in an hour.”
“All right,” she relented for the sake of doing business. She made a mental note to get some groceries tomorrow so she didn’t have to put herself in this position again.
* * *
“You’re not going to believe this…” Andy’s voice came through the speaker on Lauren’s phone as she ran a comb through her hair to get ready for dinner. “Dave has agreed to six more episodes ofTying the Knot with Sugar and Lacewith me on my own and he’s using the Maxwell wedding to launch the season.”
“That’s fantastic,” Lauren said, relieved for her friend. She’d kept the books at Sugar and Lace, and she hadn’t wanted to say it, but without the show, she knew that Andy definitely wouldn’t have been able to afford to pull off the Maxwell wedding. So this news was incredible all around.
“But there’s one condition.”
Lauren picked up her blush and dipped her applicator into the powder, applying a light dusting to her cheeks. “What’s that?”
“Well, when I told him about your situation and where you were, Dave got that excited twitch in his voice.”
Lauren bristled with alarm. Dave Hammond only got that little tremor, where his words broke just slightly at the end, when he was on the verge of a huge project or a big new idea.
“Dave will onlyallowme to do the show by myself if you agree to shoot a pilot episode of a new show calledWedding Scramble. He wants to be there to manage it. They’re going to rush production, send a second crew out for the Maxwells’ ceremony with his partner Stan Clements to oversee it, since I know the drill, and Dave wants to be on the premises for Stephanie’s wedding planning and ceremony.”
The blush brush fell out of Lauren’s hand. “Come on,” she said, her shoulders falling before she leaned down to pick it up. “He can’t be serious.”
“He definitely is. He said he’ll shoot raw footage himself with a handheld camera and edit it later if he has to. He wants you for a twelve-episode show, but specifically for the pilot to pitch to the network.”
“When you explained, did you tell him that I wanted to leave the wedding planning and limelight behind?”
“He didn’t hear a thing I said once he heard that you had a wedding to plan in nine days.”
This put Lauren in a terrible position. She was nearly certain that Andy would falter if she didn’t get those six episodes. The Maxwell wedding would send the company into utter oblivionandcutting corners on a wedding like that spelled disaster. Bad press from the Maxwells would ruin their reputation. While none of that was Lauren’s fault, it still weighed heavily on her. She didn’t want to let her friend down or watch the company she’d spent so many years building crumble with one bad decision. But she also didn’t want to be in front of a camera again.
“I’m seeing the bride in about an hour,” she said, shaking her head in disbelief at what was coming out of her mouth. “I’ll ask her if she wants to do it.”
“Are you sure?” Andy asked.
What else could she say? This was Andy, one of her oldest friends and the person who had looked out for her the most over the last twelve months. She had no other choice. “Yeah. I’m sure.”
* * *
Lauren scanned her notes from the last hour, twisting her new bracelet absentmindedly. She’d pulled up the spreadsheet of required tasks for the wedding and compiled a list of questions to ask Stephanie at dinner. While she still wasn’t sure how she would handle the ceremony emotionally, or if she’d fall apart while plastered across people’s televisions, she decided that the event was small enough that she could probably get through it.
She got up and checked her reflection in the mirror once more. On the outside, she seemed more casual, relaxed. Her hair was tucked behind her ears and she’d put on her matte lip gloss the color of the sunset. But inside, she wasn’t quite as calm as her exterior. She straightened her shoulders and studied her mannerisms in the reflection, hoping to pull off the part. Then she spun around and headed down to meet Brody.
The coastline boasted its most brilliant rainbow of evening color yet. She stood on the porch and faced the water, bracing herself emotionally for the night. Two seagulls swooped down just above the waves, their wings spread gloriously. She leaned on the new railing, stretching her fingers out against the wood, and inhaled the warm air. Mason had been right: this truly was paradise.
Brody’s truck growled as it made its way into the lot, the sound pulling her attention to the front of the inn. She rounded the corner and headed down the steps to greet him.
