business of Happily Ever Afters.
“Yes, I’m sure, Naomi,” Sadie said into the phone, nodding even though the harried bride on the other end of the line couldn’t see her. “All 120 poinsettias you ordered for the gazebo arrived this mornin’. I counted to make sure.” Twice.
Naomi exhaled a relieved sigh. “You’re a godsend, Sadie. A godsend. Have I told you that?”
Sadie laughed. “Not today.”
“I’m serious! I have no idea what I’d do if I didn’t have you helpin’ me with this. Brad’s so sick of my craziness.”
“I’m sure that future husband of yours isn’t sick of anything. And I’m always happy to be able to make things a little easier for you. You can call any time for whatever you need.”
“Well…”
Sadie’s lips twitched. “Was there something else you were wonderin’ about?”
Naomi blew out a sharp breath. “Would you think I was a total diva if I had you go over the schedule one more time?”
“Not at all,” Sadie said without hesitation, already pulling up the schedule she’d painstakingly created, down to the minute. “This is your big day, and we want to make sure everything runs smoothly for you.”
Timing was a challenge even under the best circumstances, but after planning almost fifty weddings, Sadie knew most didn’t come close to the best circumstances. Which was why she had the day detailed within an inch of its life. And also why she had Plans B through Z just in case A didn’t go off without a hitch.
She, once again, went over the schedule with Naomi, assuring her everything would be perfect for her special day before ending the call with a promise to check in again tomorrow. Sadie was so comfortable with the task now—both planning the day and dealing with the frantic brides leading up to it—that no one would ever guess she’d fallen into the job when she, along with her twin sister, Elise, had inherited the bed-and-breakfast at the ripe old age of twenty-five.
Three years ago, she’d still been fumbling through her life, trying to figure out what she wanted to do when she grew up. Yes, she had a business degree that had gotten her a job as an office administrator in town, but that hadn’t ignited any sort of passion within her. It had been a job, plain and simple. It hadn’t been until she’d planned her first wedding at the B&B—full of one mistake after another, but amazing nonetheless—that she could say she’d truly found her calling.
Of course, with as tiny as Havenbrook was, there was no way wedding planning alone—even when one included all events within that distinction—would keep her busy, but the inn itself was enough of a job to fill her days.
Elise rushed out from the tiny back office as she shrugged into her winter coat. “Okay, I’m outta here.”
Sadie’s brow furrowed as she glanced around the bustling inn. “Where’re you goin’?”
The inn was booked solid, as it usually was this time of year. The holidays were one of their highest-grossing seasons, thankfully allowing them to float by in the leaner months. But busy meant Sadie couldn’t do this on her own—although her sister definitely pushed those boundaries as much as possible. It wasn’t a secret that Elise didn’t love the inn like Sadie did. Sometimes she thought her sister would sell the B&B at the first opportunity.
Sadie would find a way to make it work on her own before she ever let that happen.
“I have that thing, remember?” Elise wound a scarf around her neck and fluffed her dyed black hair—so very different from their natural red. A tiny rebellious streak that had started shortly after her divorce.
If Mr. and Mrs. St. Charles weren’t sitting in the parlor, drinking their afternoon tea in front of the roaring fire only fifteen feet from where she and her sister stood, Sadie might have snapped back. Instead, she pressed her lips together and forced a smile. “No, I don’t. What thing?”
“I told you yesterday.”
She absolutely did not. “Tell me again.”
Elise rolled her eyes. “I promised I’d help Will get things set up for the tree lighting and parade this weekend. You know how frazzled she always gets during the holidays.”
That was certainly true. The festivities in Havenbrook between Thanksgiving and New Year’s were even more involved than their Fourth of July celebration, and Willow Haven—their cousin and event coordinator for the town—spent months coordinating that. That wasn’t a surprise, considering the Fourth of July lasted a single day and Havenbrook went all out every