Page 62 of The Magic of Sea Glass
Mary lifted her wrist with the bracelet. “Still don’t believe in good luck?”
Lauren smiled. “Ah, I’m not sure it’s the bracelet making me feel at home here. I think it might be the people.” She winked at Mary.
Mary gave her a fond squint, wrinkling her nose in that now-familiar way before leaning on the new railing and closing her eyes, the sun casting an orange glow onto her weathered cheeks. “We’ve got work to do, but I could stand here all day and breathe this in.”
“That sounds like a great idea. But you’re right. I have to meet with Stephanie and Mitchell briefly before the designer shows up.”
“What’s on the agenda today?” Mary asked.
“Cake tasting. The baker is coming over with samples of their stock cake options. I’m floored that they were willing to put a cake together on such short notice.”
“How did you do that?” Mary asked.
“I told them who I was and they rushed the order for me.” It had been the first time since she’d arrived that she’d willingly put it out there that she was Lauren Sutton from Sugar and Lace. What she wanted to avoid at all costs upon her arrival had been her saving grace. “But we better not say too much without the crew here.” She pulled out her phone and texted Dave to meet them in the dining room before addressing Mary once more. “The baker’s coming in about twenty minutes. Want to lend your opinion?”
“It’s a difficult job, trying cakes, but I suppose I can if I have to,” she replied, teasing.
Mary took Lauren’s arm once more, and the two of them went inside. With the breakfast crowd now gone, the dining room was closed, so Lauren put out plates from the kitchen and prepared a tray of iced tea while the crew set up. Diane powdered Mary, and Dave tampered with the lighting.
The baker arrived before Stephanie and Mitchell, a woman with salt-and-pepper hair pulled back into a bun and a faded apron that looked as though it had been around for decades of cake-baking. Dave intercepted her with his iPad for a release and then she unloaded a table full of small sheet cakes with the flavors written on the box in marker. She introduced herself.
“Nice to meet you,” Lauren said.
Mary rubbed her hands together. “It looks like you’ve got a ton of different flavors.”
“I brought the lemon meringue and key lime pie since it’s a late summer wedding, but in case the bride is more traditional, I have vanilla, classic white, and buttercream. I also have the occasional bride ask for chocolate so I brought my chocolate mousse cake and threw in the red velvet.”
“That’s quite an array,” Mary said, her eyes sparkling.
The baker began to pull small tubs from one of the bags she brought in. “And I made each sheet cake big enough to try multiple icing flavors. Some people like vanilla cake and buttercream frosting while others prefer the cream cheese. This way, you can try them all.”
“What are all the frosting options?” Lauren asked as she set places for each of them at one of the dining tables. Her phone went off with a text that Cass Albright, the designer, was two minutes away.
“I have whipped vanilla, regular vanilla, buttercream, cream cheese, iced caramel, lavender cream…” She consulted a few more of the tubs. “One I call snowberry because it has a cream and raspberry flavor, and my signature hazelnut truffle.”
“Well, there’s no way I will make a decision unless I try them all,” Mary said.
Just then Stephanie and Mitchell arrived, coming through the double doors. “You two have got quite a decision to make,” Lauren said, patting them both on the shoulder. “Mary will take care of you. I’ve got to catch up with the designer who’s coming in to talk about décor and get ideas for the wedding layout of the main room. I’ll be back in when you’ve decided, and I’ll wrap up all the details.”
Lauren hurried out to meet Cass, a lone cameraman running behind her, Dave on his heels with release forms.
They all met in the main entrance of the Tide and Swallow, and after a quick conversation to explain the show, the designer signed the form.
“Good to see you.” Lauren reached her hand out to Cass for a hello.
“Oh, that’s gorgeous,” Cass said, momentarily distracted as she set her bag onto the floor. She reached for Lauren’s arm and inspected the sea glass bracelet, running her fingers over the light green and teal pieces. “This could be our color palette, right here.” Then she clasped her hands around Lauren’s. “Sorry, work hazard. Lovely to see you.” Her attention went back to the bracelet. “It is a perfect color combination, though.”
Lauren looked around at the newly painted white walls, the furniture gone, the light wood floors clean. “It would be pretty, wouldn’t it?”
“Absolutely.” Cass walked the room, tipping her head up to the ceiling, taking in the size of the wall of windows as the cameras followed. “For the regular décor, I’m imagining two separate seating areas in here with a wide, wooden, padded bench that stretches under all these windows. We could fill it with seafoam-green and navy-blue pillows to frame the same colors of the ocean.”
“That sounds perfect,” Lauren said. “And for the wedding, I’d like to get as many seating options as possible without it being too crowded.”
“It’s not hard to do.” Cass paced over to the hearth, assessing it. “We could whitewash the wood on this fireplace and then have just a few glass bottles in green on the mantle. And then over here, two wingback chairs in a light beige with large-knit throws and more navy pillows.” She waved a hand toward the other side of the room. “We could mirror the initial design I mentioned over here. And then in the center, have two facing sofas and a coffee table.”
Lauren stepped to the side of Cass to allow the cameraman to get a wide shot. “And for the wedding?”
“I’ll put the furniture in storage and have my team completely reorganize the room for the wedding. We’ll set up the rows of white chairs facing this way.”
