most amazing wedding possible, so if you want champagne available to your guests ahead of time, then that is what you’ll get. I’m just saying to think about it before you spend the money.”
“You’re right,” Hanna told her. “What is it called? Gilding the lily? I just want everything to be perfect. I think I’m getting nervous because it’s such a big deal.” She wrinkled her nose. “Don’t take this wrong, but I wish Graham and I hadn’t started down this path. The whole big wedding, theme thing. I’m super excited about everything we have planned and we love that Jasper’s using our wedding for his book, it’s just we’re kind of quiet, stay-at-home people, so this is a lot out of our comfort zone. We want our wedding to be significant to us and not just a big party.”
“I totally get that. What you need to tell me is if you’re just talking or if you really want to cut back on some of the things you have planned. We’re about to reach the point of no return on a lot of things, so now is the time to decide.”
Hanna briefly covered her face with her hands, then sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m being neurotic.”
“You’re not. You’re spending a lot of money on a single day and while it’s traditional, it’s not exactly your style. Of course you’re second-guessing yourself.”
“Thank you for understanding. I don’t mean to be difficult.”
Renee smiled. “This is not the least bit difficult. Trust me. A three-hour conversation on the different shades of ecru and which one works the best for table linens is difficult.”
“Thank you for saying that, even if it’s not true.”
“I wish it weren’t, but I was there for every second of it.”
“Okay. Then I’ll accept my nerves as normal.” She looked at the papers spread out on the table. They were printouts of the various elements that would be at the wedding. “I love it all. I don’t want to get rid of anything.”
Renee was used to brides having varying levels of freak-outs along the journey from proposal to ceremony. Hanna’s was nowhere near noteworthy.
“Think about it. You still have a few days to change your mind on nearly everything.”
“Thanks. I appreciate how calm you are.” Hanna picked up her glass of water. “How did you and Jasper meet?”
The question was unexpected. Renee thought for a second. “We both live in town. Technically he lives on a mountain, but close enough. Happily Inc is small so eventually you run into everyone. We have mutual friends. It wasn’t an actual meeting so much as at some point I knew who he was.”
“How long have you been going out?”
Ack! Renee knew she couldn’t say they weren’t really going out in the conventional sense. They were, um, what? He would say they were in a relationship and she was still comfortable with not defining anything although she had to admit the man got to her in ways she wouldn’t have anticipated.
“I didn’t mean it to be a hard question,” Hanna teased.
“It’s been a couple of months now.”
“The beginning is always fun. I remember when Graham and I were first together. We were crazy about each other from the start.”
“How did you meet?”
Hanna laughed. “We were waiting in line for a movie. Black Panther actually. We each went with a group of friends who left us to hold their places in line while they got Starbucks. They were gone forever and we started talking.” She sighed happily. “It was just one of those things. We sat together at the movie, we went out to dinner after and by the end of the weekend, we were in love.”
She looked at Renee. “I’d never felt like that before. Not really. I was so sure he was the one and he felt the same about me. We really fit, if that makes sense. When my family makes me crazy, which is a lot of the time, he talks me down. When his twin sister expects too much from him, I’m a buffer. It works.”
“That sounds lovely. You’re going to have a wonderful wedding and a long, happy marriage.”
Hanna’s expression turned troubled. “I hope so. I worry about that. Graham comes from a long line of people who stayed together forever, but not me. My parents have each been married and divorced four times. I can’t tell you how many stepbrothers and sisters I have. My older sister has already been divorced once. She’s engaged again and we can all