“Thanks, Renee. You’ve been so wonderful to work with.”
“You’ve been great, too. Just remember, I’m here for you. Call me if you need anything and I’ll do the same. Otherwise, we are good to go.”
“Wow. It’s getting close. I guess I’ll see you soon.”
“You will.”
They hung up. Renee wrote up the notes from their phone call, entering the information on her computer where it would automatically feed to her tablet. A happy wedding day was all about keeping track of the details.
She’d barely hit the save key when Jasper walked into her office.
He looked good, she thought as she felt a bit of tingling low in her belly. Tall and a little rugged. She hadn’t seen him since their night together and wasn’t sure what to say now. Or think. Or how to act. Unexpected nerves tightened her throat and chest and she had the strangest urge to both bolt and throw herself at him. She settled on doing neither.
“Hey,” he said as he paused by the door. “Is this an okay time?”
“It is. What’s up?”
“I was in town and I wondered if we could talk for a second.”
“About?”
He motioned to a chair in front of her desk. She nodded and he sank down, then looked at her.
“I have no idea,” he said.
“You have no idea why you’re in town or you have no idea what you want to talk about?”
“Both.”
“Okay. Do you want to take a minute and collect your thoughts?”
Instead of answering, he glanced around at her office. “You plan weddings, right?”
“I do.”
“What does that entail?”
Not the question she was expecting. She smiled. “Are you asking for yourself?”
“You know I’m not.”
“Just checking. You might have met your one true love in the last few days.”
His gaze turned knowing. “I had someone on my mind, so no. Tell me what you do?”
“When a couple decides to hold their wedding here, I help them with as much of the wedding as they want. We provide a full service venue. We can arrange catering, bar service, flowers, an officiant and anything else they might want. In addition we have the unique ability to create nearly any kind of theme wedding the happy couple is looking for.”
He nodded. “Say I want a movie wedding. American Graffiti. Do you know it?”
“I’ve seen it before. It’s what, the 1960s? I’m kind of picturing the movie Grease, so I’d have to watch American Graffiti again to get the details right. We’d take liberties with the clothing. Some kind of poodle skirt bridesmaid dresses could be cute. We could do food from a diner for sure. Maybe a play on burgers and fries. Silver could come up with some fun cocktails—all variations on classics. You’d want a cutout of that white Thunderbird for guests to take pictures in. 1960s music, for sure. Oh, we could get a bunch of 45 records and use them in lots of different decorations. Maybe around the base of the centerpieces, or hanging from the ceiling. I think themed custom cookies would be terrific, too. If the groom was willing, we could really play on the poodle skirt idea and have poodles made out of flowers. And a soda fountain would be fantastic. Oh, we could do ice cream–based adult beverages. That would be unique and the guests would love it.”
He stared at her. “You came up with all that in a minute.”
“Probably more like five, but yes. Jasper, that’s what I do. I might know what a bride wants before she comes in but often I don’t. I need to be able to think on my feet.” She leaned toward him. “Once we picked a direction, we would discuss who’s providing the vendors and where she is in her process. Oh, we also need to know how long we have. Less time makes things frantic, but more time means decisions get changed again and again and that can be stressful for all of us.”
She paused. “I can keep talking, but I’m not sure what you want to know.”
“Me, either. You’ve given me a lot to think about. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. This is for your book, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Maybe. I don’t know. I’m having some problems with one of the characters.” He frowned. “Why aren’t you married?”
She hadn’t seen that question coming. “Excuse me?”
“Why aren’t you married? You’re smart, you’re sexy and—” He glanced over his shoulder and lowered his voice. “I happen to know you’re dynamite in bed.”
She felt herself flush. “Thank you and that is off-topic.”