Black Rose

Fifty Five

"You never told me what the colors of the wedding will be." Lydia said, as I sat across from her at the same restaurant as our last sit down.

"Baby blue, white and black. I saw the most beautiful dress online a few days ago and the color just reeled me in." I chirped, pulling out my phone to show her the picture I saved.

"Oh, that is gorgeous." Lydia agreed. "It has an "I'm going to prom" style, which is different and rarely used in weddings today."

"And that's exactly why I want it." I put my phone away. "Good news. My family agreed to be in the wedding and there will be other people attending, so two hundred people will be present."

"That's what's up." Lydia nodded. I shook my head at her unprofessional use of language, but it didn't bother me. She's being herself and if she gets the job done, I don't care how she talks or act around me. "How was your trip by the way?"

"It started off rocky. My uncle's wife didn't like me the second I walked in the door and her daughters were right there with her. Had my Mammaw not intervened, we probably would've turned Dallas upside down."

"Who is we?"

"Me, Kelsi and Venus."

"It was that bad?" Lydia queried, enjoying the drama.

"Yeah. My aunt basically called Venus a whore without actually saying she's a whore and Venus let everyone at that table have it."

"Damn, wish I could have been there to see that. Venus doesn't seem like she'll hurt anybody."

"She won't unless you really piss her off."

"Well, if that's how your trip went, I'm excited to see that they will still be coming to support your big day. A day we need to get back focused on." She reminded me. "Ok, let's talk venues. We can't get anywhere without a venue. Do you have one in mind?"

I shook my head no. "I was hoping you had any suggestions. Raine declined every place I came up with. He said they weren't spacious enough and I don't know any other venues.

"The Vineyard Country Club is actually in your city, Naples. They recently renovated the place and they've added a huge ball room on the west end. We can hold the wedding there and the reception can be on the south end."

"Will it hold two hundred people, tables, a place for the food and a DJ booth?" I queried. This place needed to meet these requirements since time is winding down faster than I thought.

"It's enormous, Mel." Lydia assured me. "You can have two extravagant weddings at the same time and wouldn't notice."

Sighing in relief, I couldn't thank Raine enough for hiring someone who cares about our day. "You are truly a life saver, Lydia. I was up at one in the morning, googling the best places for a fall wedding." I admitted embarrassingly. Raine doesn't ask for much of me, but this day is just as important to him as it is to me and if he doesn't approve of the venues I presented to him, it's my mission to find the perfect spot.

"This is why I'm here, remember. And it's crazy how the wedding is literally set for the first day of fall."

"Hmm." I mumbled. "I didn't think about that."

"Alright, let's talk, what I think is every bride and groom's favorite part of planning—the food."

Out of nowhere, Raine appeared standing next to me with a smirk on his face while rubbing his hands together slowly. "Now, you're talking my language." He claimed the empty spot on the seat next to me, taking my starburst slushy.

"When did you get here? How did you know where we were?" I interrogated him.

"Venus and Venus. She gave me a lift here since food happens to be my expertise and the most important part of the wedding to me." I gave him an "oh really" look and he corrected his mistake quickly. "Aside from marrying you, baby."