Bride & Seek (Enchanted Bridal #5) - Samantha Chase Page 0,2

she quickly took several sips and began to cool down. The opportunity with Dixie Cruz couldn’t have come along at a better time. And after a rough patch in her life that she’d love to forget, it seemed like things were finally going her way.

At nine-thirteen, she took her seat in Dixie’s office. Anna May was already in there, and after saying hello to Dixie, she swiped her tablet screen to pull up the agenda.

“Okay, let’s start by looking at our upcoming calendar. We’ve got six events in the next two weeks,” Dixie began.

“Six?” Cammie asked. “But...how…?”

“You’ll get used to the pace,” Anna May said with a smile. “Although I’m sure it’s only going to get busier now that the resort is done being under construction. I know a lot of people are just dying to come in and look at it all and see for themselves! I’ll bet…”

“Anna May,” Dixie interrupted with a bit of a snap. “May I continue?”

Cammie had to hide a smile. In the last month she had learned that Dixie was extremely task-oriented while Anna May tended to constantly run off on a tangent.

It made for some interesting conversations.

“And you don’t worry, Cammie,” Dixie added. “We’re not just going to throw you to the wolves.”

“Thank God,” she sighed and then relaxed.

“Except for the expo,” Anna May chimed in. “I know we haven’t talked a lot about it yet, but it already sounds a bit overwhelming! I’m sure you could teach us a thing or two where that event is concerned!”

Dixie let out a loud sigh and then went on. “First up is our Friday night wedding - second time around for both, only two attendants and two dozen guests for dinner. We could almost do that one with our eyes closed.”

“Agreed,” Anna May said.

“We’ll follow that up Saturday afternoon with the Malcolm-Charles wedding. More traditional - four attendants, fifty guests for lunch. No weird requests, so I think we’re good there too.”

Everyone nodded and checked off their lists.

“Saturday night is the Briggs-Davies event,” Dixie continued. “High-maintenance bride, uninterested groom, bitchy mother of the bride.”

Cammie looked up and saw she was the only one who seemed dismayed. As if sensing her apprehension, Anna May reached over and patted her hand. “You’ll get used to it. We have to be brutally honest with one another on these things. And we keep that brutal honesty here behind closed doors. It makes it all run smoother.”

“Are... are all the events filled with…”

“Drama?” Anna May finished for her. “Yes. It goes with the territory. Some events…”

“Like the Malcolm one…” Dixie supplied.

“Are a breeze. Then you get the Briggs group in here and you have to wonder why they’re even getting married when divorce is so clearly in their future.”

Cammie found the whole thing a little disenchanting. Weddings were supposed to be a beautiful event - a happy event - and yet the business end of it was totally…not.

Anna May patted her hand again and smiled. “You’ll get used to it. Trust me. We don’t take these things lightly, but after a while, you begin to see the signs and…”

“It’s hard to keep your observations to yourself,” Dixie said with a sympathetic smile.

Rather than respond, Cammie just nodded. “Got it.”

They went down the list of the Sunday events before letting Cammie take the floor to discuss the expo's plans. It felt a little strange to be the one taking the lead on this, but she’d done so many of them with Hailey and the girls at Enchanted over the last two years that it was like second nature.

Once she was done, they went over the two small events scheduled for next weekend–an engagement party and an anniversary one. Neither seemed overly complicated.

Next on the agenda were the appointments with prospective couples wanting to book a destination wedding with them. Cammie followed along as Dixie read off the list, and then she gasped and choked on her own saliva.

“Oh my God, Cammie! Are you all right?” Anna May cried as she jumped up.

Both women surrounded her, patting her on the back, pouring her a glass of water as she tried to catch her breath. It took a few minutes, but when she was finally able to breathe again, she looked at Dixie in dismay. “I’m sorry, did you say Van Wilkinson-Cameron wedding?”

They nodded. “Do you know them?”

“You could say that,” she murmured and quickly drank a little more water.

“I’m sensing a story…” Anna May said quietly, retaking her seat.

She nodded. “Six months