Page 155 of The Duke Who Saved Christmas
“You’re getting far too comfortable with that,” I warned him, smacking his arm away. “I’m going to need a full overview of the plan of action and to see your facilities.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
A shiver ran down my spine.
Huh.
It really was different when he said it. How about that?
“Wait. How did this even happen? Do we have an explanation yet?” I grabbed his wrist, shoving the covers aside with my other hand. “The demolition.”
“Ah.” He rubbed the back of his head. “How angry are you going to be if I tell you that it’s an incompetent admin at the council?”
“I’ll be more angry than surprised. I don’t think it’s possible to be surprised at incompetence in a local council.”
“Well, that’s exactly it. The confirmation and contract you received had the date written in longhand form, but it looks like the one sent to the contractor was in numerical form and a typo turned the month from one into twelve and nobody noticed that the year was different.”
I wished I could say I couldn’t believe it, but I could.
“Haaa,” I said on an exhale, burying my face in my hands. “This is why I said this was a bad idea. I knew something like this would happen when everything started going wrong, and I had the worst feeling this morning when I woke up.”
“Hey.” Thomas leant forwards and gently peeled my fingers from my face, slipping his much larger hands beneath mine until he was cradling my face and forcing me to meet his eyes. “Don’t dwell on it anymore. We can’t change what’s happened, and Steve is going to open a lawsuit as soon as he can to recover all the costs associated with the failed venue. What we can do is work with what we’ve got, and it’s not impossible to make sure they have a fantastic wedding.”
“I just feel like… I don’t know.” I laid a hand over one of his. “Like everything I’ve done so far is for nothing.”
“Don’t be so stupid.” He lowered his face to mine once again. “Without your meticulous planning and recording of everything, we wouldn’t be able to save the wedding the way we are. It’s not nothing, okay?”
Tears spilled from my eyes before I could stop them, but they were unlike the loud, painful ones I’d cried earlier. These were quiet, gentle tears—of relief, of gratitude, and of comfort.
For the first time in life, I wasn’t alone to deal with such a disaster.
“Why is it always you?” I whispered, closing my eyes as I leant into his touch. “Why are you always here when I’m at my worst?”
A quiet chuckle escaped him, and he lightly touched his lips to mine. “Well, you see, Miss Harding,” he murmured without pulling away. “It’s all a part of my grand scheme to make you fall wildly in love with me.”
Ha.
Ha.
Ha.
Mission accomplished, Your Grace.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE – SYLVIE
This ballroom was fucking huge.
I’d never been in here before, but the room had to span at last two storeys, and the windows brought in an incredible amount of natural light. There would be no problem whatsoever having both the ceremony and reception in this room as long as the switch between events could be done smoothly.
“What about between the ceremony and the reception?” I asked Emily, looking around. “Assuming Hazel and Julian will have their photos taken here on the estate, there’ll need to be provisions made for the guests during those hours.”
“Already way ahead of you, darling,” Emily said, motioning for me to follow her. “Ignore the current state of the rooms—we haven’t hosted a wedding in a while, but we’ve got almost our entire housekeeping staff currently here cleaning. There are two sitting rooms close to the ballroom, plus a large sunroom we will have prepared for guests. One of the sitting rooms opens directly to the sunroom while the other is quieter, and we can accommodate children there. We renovated this wing of the house with events in mind, so there are four separate bathrooms that can accommodate both disabled and able-bodied individuals.”
“So, the ballroom is accessible for wheelchairs? One of Julian’s cousins is in a wheelchair.”
“Absolutely. It’s a separate entrance, but we’re fully up to regulations, so please don’t worry.” She reached out and squeezed my hand. “Is this enough room?”
She opened the door to a vast space that really was more commercial than sitting room. A bar was situated in the corner, and the seating arrangements varied between armchairs and tables and chairs. The most gorgeous mahogany doors werecurrently open and being diligently cleaned by the Castleton Manor staff, and those doors led to one of the biggest sunrooms I’d ever seen.
