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as she sipped her Diet Coke. "They wanted an airy, meadowy look for arrangements and centerpieces. I'm using a lot of baby's breath and painted daisies, Shastas and gerberas, branches of blooming cherry, wild strawberries, and so on. Minimal tulle, and garlands I'm doing like daisy chains. Bud vases for the roses during the reception.

"A lot of fairy lights and candles, Grand Hall and Ballroom, with a continuation of the natural look for arrangements. It'll be simple and very sweet, I think. If one of you can help me transport, I can do the setup solo."

"I can do that," Laurel told her. "The cake's the vanilla sponge with raspberry mousse filling, topped with Italian meringue. They wanted simple flowers there, too, echoing Emma's. I don't need to add those to the cake until around five, so I'm clear for setup. Otherwise, they want assorted cookies and pastel mints."

"We have the standard Friday night itinerary," Parker added, "excluding bouquet and garter toss. Rehearsal Thursday afternoon, so if there are any glitches, we'll deal with them then. Saturday," she began.

W HENEVER EMMA THOUGHT OF HER PARENTS, HOW THEY MET, fell in love, it ran through her mind like a fairy tale.

Once upon a time there was a young woman from Guadala jara who traveled across the continent to the great city of New York to work in the business of her uncle, to tend the homes and children of people who needed or wanted their homes and children tended. But Lucia longed for other things, a pretty home instead of a noisy apartment, trees and flowers instead of pavement. She worked hard, and dreamed of one day having her own place, a little shop perhaps, where she would sell pretty things. One day her uncle told her of a man he knew who lived miles away in a place called Connecticut. The man had lost his wife, and so his young son had no mother. The man had left the city for a quieter life - and, perhaps, Lucia thought, because the memories were too painful in the home he'd shared with his wife. Because he wrote books, he needed a quiet place, and because he often traveled, he needed someone he could trust with his little boy. The woman who had done these things for the three years since the sad death of his wife wished to move back to New York. So Lucia took a great leap, and moved out of the city and into the grand house of Phillip Grant and his son, Aaron.

The man was handsome as a prince, and she saw he loved his son. But there was a sorrow in his eyes that touched her heart. The child had had so many changes in his short four years, she understood his shyness with her. She cooked their meals and tended the house, and looked after Aaron while the man wrote his book.

She fell in love with the boy, and he with her. He was not always good, but Lucia would have been sad if he had been. In the evenings, she and Phillip would often talk about Aaron, or books, or ordinary things. She would miss the talks - she would miss him - when he went away for business. There were times when she looked out the window to watch Phillip play with Aaron, and her heart yearned.

She didn't know he often did the same. For he'd fallen in love with her, as she had with him. He was afraid to tell her, lest she leave them. And she feared to tell him in case he sent her away. But one day, in the spring, under the arching blooms of a cherry tree while the little boy they both loved played on the swing, Phillip took Lucia's hand in his. And kissed her. When the leaves of the trees turned vivid with autumn, they were married. And lived happily ever after. Was it any wonder, Emma thought as she pulled her van into the crowded double drive of her parents'

home on Sunday evening, that she was a born romantic? How could anyone grow up with that story, with those people, and not want some of the same for herself?

Her parents had loved each other for thirty-five years, had raised four children in the sprawling old Victorian. They'd built a good life there, a solid and enduring one. She had no intention of settling for less for herself.

She got the arrangement she'd made out of the