two dozen words reminding me I’m old?”
Dottie grinned. “I did! Summer insisted we check out West Hollywood and drop by Lou’s shop.”
This was news to him. A smile broke loose inside and spread to his face. In the aftermath of their engagement, it took his sunshine lady a day or two to find her footing, but once she did, holy cow. He wasn’t sure why or how, but Summer’s initial resistance to the money issue evaporated in the blink of an eye. She still planned to clip coupons and look for the best deal, but one perk of marrying a very wealthy guy was her new ability to indulge in gift giving. Summer loved people, and she was down for spending money if someone else was the recipient, and since buying shit for others usually led to personal purchases, he was here for it.
“And with Lou, being Lou,” Dottie continued, “she wouldn’t let Summer buy knockoffs for herself. I almost wet my pants when that crazy aunt of yours took Summer aside and explained why it was her duty to burn through as much Wanamaker cash as she could manage.”
He chuckled, imagining the scene. Aunt Lou was a piece of work, and he loved her the way a kid cherished a shiny penny. She was eccentric and had quirks out the wazoo. In a way, he met Summer because of his aunt’s atrocious taste in footwear.
“There’s a tea service coming your way. Not a wedding present. Lou called it a housewarming.”
“She’s the only person who had a true dog in the fight over Rose Hill. I don’t need to know the particulars, but you can bank on Senior having given her first right of refusal. There’s no way he’d just give me the family estate on a whim.”
“Oh lord.” She laughed. “Can you imagine that beautiful house and property under her control? She’d turn it into a boho amusement park. There’d be a Ferris wheel in the courtyard, and the formal dining room would get made over with a Mad Hatter’s tea party vibe.”
They cracked up. Every word Dottie said was accurate.
“So did my fiancée get everything she needed? When you guys came back, all she had with her was a tiny bag.”
Dottie arched a brow and fixed him with a look. He felt the blush start in his feet and shoot onto his face. How stupid was he? Pretty goddamn stupid. She probably knew all about the itty-bitty bag.
He gulped, remembering his hot bride-to-be removing identical fire engine red G-strings from the bag, holding them up, one dangling from each hand, and informing him one pair was for him and his big paws to rip to shreds and the other to always remind him how much of a beast he could be.
His flaming red face gave Dottie the reaction she wanted. Crowding way too close, she pinched his cheek as if he was a five-year-old and gave him a playful smack.
“She enjoyed flashing the platinum card.”
“That’s good, right?”
Dottie gave him a pitying look. “You have no idea, do you?”
“Idea?”
“Between the cost of Summer’s trousseau and what you’re spending on the wedding, I’d say your net worth took a little nosedive.”
He had to look up what a trousseau even was after Summer kept using the word. It was an old-fashioned term having something to do with what a bride brings to the marriage. When he tried to point out Ari was enough, she got all annoyed and pouted. Did he make love to her in an effort to put a smile back on her face?
One hundred.
“I told you, don’t worry about the cost.”
“Oh, I’m not.” She cackled with far too much delight. “Just pointing out how much you’re about to drop. Anyway, let’s get down to business. The thirteenth will be here before you know it, and we’ve still got details to pin down.”
She made quite a production of paging through the ginormous binder, picking a tab, and then slamming it open with a thud.
Her words came at a thousand miles an hour. He shifted on his seat and tried to follow along. Kicking the chair next to his, he snarled, “Can you sit down? It makes me nervous when you hover.”
Her huff was loud and unambiguous, but she lowered onto the chair with objection rolling off her in waves.
“Your grandfather missed his calling,” she began. “He should coulda been a top-notch party planner.”
A flash visual of Darnell Senior as a party planner left him grinning.
She winked. “Senior gave Benjamin