round table making a list of everything they needed to arrange for Shelly. Poppy, Sunny, and Misty were also there and eager to pitch in.
Carlotta was at home contacting local family members to invite them. She and Sterling were planning to set sail for the coast of Mexico within a few days, but they were dropping everything to celebrate with Shelly and Mitch.
“Shelly has already done enough here,” Ivy said, taking in the flowers that surrounded them. “Except that she’ll have to make another bridal bouquet. I gave the one Shelly made to Rachel to take with them. The rest of today should be as relaxing as we can make it for Shelly.”
“How about sending her to the spa in the village?” Sunny suggested. “They can do her hair and makeup, too.”
Ivy pressed her lips together, considering this. “Shelly might love a massage. Maybe someone can pin up her hair, so it’s not always falling from her messy bun.”
“But then she wouldn’t be Aunt Shelly,” Poppy said. Everyone laughed.
Poppy crossed off a line on her list. “We won’t need those stuffy nameplates Eleanor ordered on the dinner table.”
“Shelly wants everything outside,” Ivy said. “At the moment, the weather looks fairly good today for the ceremony and the dinner afterward. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.”
Anything could happen at the beach, from gusty winds to storms that rolled in from the ocean, sweeping across the coastline. Not today, Ivy hoped.
She went on. “Marina from the Coral Cafe is contracted to cater the dinner, so I’ll call her to see if she’d like to do that for us. Her sister Kai and Shelly are friends.”
Poppy jotted a note. “I’ll have my brothers come early to move the tables outside. Rocky and Reed can do it in no time, and I’ll oversee the table linens and place settings. We can put out the flowers, too. Aunt Shelly created a placement plan that I can use.”
Sunny raised her hand. “Count me in on the tables and flowers.”
“How about a minister?” Misty asked.
“Bennett said Mitch is taking care of that,” Ivy said, checking that off her list. “We should be on the lookout for someone named Brother Rip.”
Misty tilted her head. “What kind of a name is that for a pastor?”
“Bennett says he’s a surfer-turned-minister,” Ivy said. “Rip is short for riptide. Something about an old surfer nickname.” She made a note on her tablet. “And the photographer is a friend of Shelly’s from New York. Mom and Dad are going to pay her for Shelly and Mitch instead.”
Misty tapped her cast. “I can’t do much, but I can shadow the photographer and make sure she gets the right shots of family and friends.”
“Perfect,” Ivy said. “You’re down for that.”
“What about the rings?” Sunny asked.
They all looked at each other. “That’s up to Mitch and Shelly,” Ivy said. “I don’t know if they’ve made any arrangements, but they don’t need them to get married. They can choose rings later if they want.”
Ivy drew a finger down her list. “About parking…I’ll have to tell Charlie that the York wedding is off. We won’t need them.” As soon as she said that, she remembered something else. “We have to tell Darla. Mitch will want her there, but he’s so busy. I don’t want us to forget her, especially since we just reached a peaceful co-existence.”
The room fell quiet, and no one volunteered.
“I suppose that’s my place,” Ivy said, putting a star by Darla’s name. “I’ll find out if the guys have invited her. Bennett is helping Mitch figure out what to wear right now.”
Misty frowned. “What is Aunt Shelly going to wear?”
“That’s going to be a surprise.” Ivy could hardly wait to show Shelly what she had in mind. Her sister could still wear the white swimsuit and beach wrap she’d teased about, but Ivy hoped she’d at least think about what Louise at the Laundry Basket had created.
With only a few hours to spare, everyone went to work. Ivy thought about how fortunate they were that Churchill had paid them in full and didn’t care what they did with everything left over. She wondered how many other times he had paid for Eleanor’s misdeeds. After her initial outbreak, the woman seemed repentant. Ivy hoped so, for Rachel’s sake.
When her mother arrived, Ivy hurried downstairs to meet her.
“Where is our bride?” Carlotta asked.
“I’m so glad you’re here. Shelly has been on the phone, and I think she’s trying to decide what to wear right now. Remember the wedding