Other Plans

Chapter Two

"You are a difficult woman to get to."

I looked up from my coffee, wishing the billowing steam would've thickened as Josie plopped in the seat across from me, Mathilde on her tail.

"Even my sister couldn't get you to stay put," Mathilde continued. What did she want me to say? It's so great to see you after all these years. I've done well for myself, after you assured your son I wouldn't amount to anything.

"I'm sorry," Josie mouthed. I smiled, knowing none of this was her fault. Mathilde waved to someone who entered the coffee shop, the gold bracelets dangling from her thin wrists clinking with her movement.

"I want you to meet someone," she informed. "Hopefully, Roxy can persuade you."

Pressing out the wrinkles in my skirt as I stood, I tried again to explain how, per my email, I had told Mathilde we were declining her business. It was a professionally written document, but she brought the personal right back into it.

"When Roxy gave me a list of wedding planners," Mathilde told me, pausing to kiss the cheeks of a young woman who joined her, "your name popped right to the top. Who better to help plan the wedding of the century?"

The nerve. I felt blood drain from my face, staring at the enormous rock weighing down the woman's hand.

"You must be Roxy?" I clarified, asking the petite brunette dressed almost exactly like Mathilde. Fur coat, designer heels, pristinely curled hair. "Congratulations on your engagement. I'm sorry, but," I motioned to Josie, "we can't take on a wedding of this size right now." By size, I meant the depth of how it would've broken me.

"My fiancé left it up to me," Roxy explained. "He's always doing that." Blush painted her cheeks, while color drained from mine. "See," she elaborated, despite every non-verbal cue I could think of to suggest we were not planning her wedding, "he's abroad, then back for our wedding, and then we are off together. That's why it has to be fast, but I'm not settling on quality."

"Nor should you," Mathilde huffed in agreement. "Everyone will be there. When I say that, Violet," she turned to me, "I mean everyone. The mayor, the governor; you name them and they will be sitting in an aisle watching my darling boy wed this wonderful woman."

"Don't we have to meet a client in," Josie swiped her phone screen, "fifteen minutes?"

I loved her attempt to lie, but Mathilde wasn't having it.

"Miss Daly," Roxy pleaded. "I'm willing to pay a million dollars for just your services."

Josie's eyes were like saucers.

Trying not to break a tooth as I clenched my jaw to stifle my raw nerves from creating a catastrophic implosion, I packed up my bag and nodded to Josie before clearing my throat and addressing Mathilde and Roxy.

"That's very generous of you, but we still aren't able to accept. Good luck." And my dignity is priceless. I couldn't believe they thought I could be paid off, that they could put a monetary amount on history, or that I would even fall for that. I sure as heck didn't need to, because I'd made more than that in a year, and I was fine. Everything was and would be, because there was no chance in hell I would plan a wedding for Roxy-would-be-Bennett.

When Josie and I were a block away, the weird tinge in my chest dissipated. The further we got from the café, the more clear my thoughts were.

"Thank you for your help back there," I told Josie. "I keep personal out of professional, but—"

"She called you by name." Josie peered at me from the side of her eyes when we approached a stoplight. "You know her, don't you?"

A sprinkle of snow danced in the air, and we crossed the street once the light changed.