Fool for You by Kelly Elliott
Emmerson
A LOT HAD happened in the two weeks since Landon threw up at Sweet Confections bakery. We had decided not to let Aunt Autumn throw us an engagement party as it just didn’t feel right, but we did have a huge family barbecue, which honestly was so much more fun.
Hailey was actually doing better than any of us thought she would. There was a time or two she broke down and cried right after the breakup, but the past week she had decided that fate had stepped in and stopped her from making a mistake. “Better to find out now versus when I’m pregnant with his child,” she’d said with a smile that had finally touched her eyes.
Landon had hired on a few more guys to help at the shop since they’d been getting so much more interest from people looking to restore their cars or trucks. Plus, Landon and I made sure that we spent every spare moment we had away from work together. The last two weeks were crazy but filled with so much happiness.
It was the busy season for me with a wedding every weekend, and the fall wedding planning was really picking up more. My business was going strong, and I was turning down potential couples nearly every day.
Today I was touring a venue with my clients, Tim and Miranda. It was an adorable place right outside of Hamilton. The couple who owned it had ten acres of land, where they had built a small church and a reception building that housed around two-hundred people. The church sat up on a hill that had a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view of the Hill Country. But it could only hold thirty-six people, which was a problem for Miranda, who wanted to have sixty people at the wedding ceremony.
“Why can’t we just invite less people to the wedding, Miranda?” Tim asked, annoyance heavily lacing his voice.
Miranda turned and glared at her future husband. “Less people? I’m already making an exception by only inviting sixty, and now you want me to cut that in half?”
“You could always invite more to the reception,” I stated from where I was leaning against a wall, trying to stay out of the way. I hated to interfere, but I was feeling sorry for the way Miranda was looking at Tim. I usually kept my thoughts to myself until either the groom or the bride asked for them.
Miranda sighed and then turned to face me. “I want to go and look at the venue you and Landon looked at last weekend; the one you talked about on Instagram.”
My mouth dropped open in surprise before I got my shit together, pushed off the wall, and cleared my throat. “Um, Miranda, that venue is not in your budget.”
The venue Landon and I had visited last weekend was another one of those places my clients didn’t really know about, and so of course I had to see it. After I’d posted the video of our cake tasting—cropping out the part where Landon threw up—everyone begged me to post more about our wedding planning. They loved how real the whole thing was and how I didn’t sugarcoat it to make it seem like everything had gone off without a flaw. It was real life, and people seemed to want real life. They couldn’t get enough of Landon’s humor, or the fact that he had wanted to move it along so he could simply eat the cupcakes. Even the owner of the bakery informed me that people had been stopping by to see the place where Landon Lewis lost his cookies…err, cupcakes…or to put in their own orders for cupcakes—and she had even gotten a few wedding cake orders.
Miranda folded her arms over her chest, and I actually waited for a foot stomp that fortunately never came. “I want to tour the Westington Ballroom.”
“What?!” Tim shouted as he spun around so fast he nearly fell over a pew. “The Westington? Miranda, there is no way we can afford that place.”
I drew in a deep breath and gave the owner of the current venue an apologetic smile. She returned one of her own, probably thinking I would need it with this bride.
The Westington was amazing. Not gonna lie. Even Landon thought it was nice. But it was also five-thousand dollars to rent it for a mere two hours. And that was just the reception hall. The chapel area was a whole other fee, just as expensive. And that didn’t even include the decorations or the food.
“Miranda, I think we need to have a come-to-Jesus moment,” I said with my best mom look. It was the phrase I tried not to use unless it was absolutely necessary. And by the way Tim was pulling at the collar of his shirt and turning white, this was one of those moments.
“To rent the reception area is five-thousand dollars for two hours. And that’s only to rent it. It’s another fee to use the chapel for one hour. Then you have all your catering fees, your decorating costs, the cakes, the dress, the tux, the honeymoon. Do you really want to pour every last dime into a venue that’s above your budget and, honestly, isn’t as beautiful as this place?”
Okay, it was way nicer than this place, but again…it was not in her budget.
“You told me when you first sat down in my office that you wanted a small, intimate wedding. I can pull out my notes if you need to be reminded that you originally told me no more than fifty people because you and Tim really wanted a nice honeymoon. If the chapel is a problem, we can lift the sides up and make it more indoor-outdoor.” I glanced over at the owner. “How many more people can we fit if we open it up to the outdoors?”
The owner smiled. “By making it an indoor-outdoor chapel, we can put out fifty-five chairs.”
Miranda let out a sigh. “That’s still five seats less than what we need.”
“You’re counting your bridal party, Miranda. They don’t sit at the ceremony,” I stated with a sweet smile.
Her eyes lit up. “Oh my gosh! That’s right! They don’t!” Turning, Miranda looked at Tim. “This place is perfect!”
When she ran and jumped into his arms, he mouthed “thank you” and closed his eyes as if saying his own internal prayer. I looked back at the owner, who lifted her brows and tried not to laugh or roll her eyes. It was one or the other.
After helping Miranda and Tim get their venue taken care of, we made plans to meet in three weeks for the cake tasting at, of course, Sweet Confections bakery.
By the time I got to my car and pulled out my phone, I was mentally exhausted. The last thing I wanted to see was a text from my mother asking me to dinner. All I wanted to do was go home and sleep for two days. But we had cancelled Sunday night dinner last weekend, so I guess this was my mother’s way of making up for it.
Mom: Dinner tonight? Noah will be here with Amy.
Sighing, I dropped my head back onto the seat of my car. I wasn’t sure why I felt this way. I loved dinner at my folks’ house, and I adored Amy. Plus, I hadn’t seen Noah in about a week or so.
I pulled up Landon’s number and hit Call.
“Hey there, beautiful. How did the venue search go?”
“Ugh. They picked the very last one, of course. But not before I had to talk the bride off of a bridge.”
Landon laughed. “I’m almost done here at the shop. We’ve been going and blowing all day; want to come over and we can order takeout?”
Lately we had been spending more time at Landon’s place than my own. So much so that Lady was now camped out at Landon’s and loving the dog door he’d installed for her spoiled ass. She had free rein, going in and out of the house all day. Next to where Landon worked, I had set up a small space with my laptop and a few other things I needed. I had a drawer in his dresser, a second set of toiletries that were now housed around the larger sink in Landon’s bathroom, and my dog had her own container of food just for Landon’s house. I had practically moved in with him.
“That sounds amazing, but my mom asked me to come over for dinner. Noah and Amy will be there.”
“Okay, not a big deal. I’ll order pizza or something.”
For some reason, him saying that made my chest ache. I was tired of not showing my affection for Landon in front of our families. I was tired of worrying about which lie I was going to mess up. I was tired of pretending.
“I want you to come to dinner with me.”
“Yeah, you gonna miss me?”
I could hear the smile in his voice and that made me smile. “I do miss you, and, well…I want to tell my parents the truth. I mean, about us. I want to tell them we’re dating.”
Landon remained silent for a moment. “Are you sure, Emme?”
“Do you not want to?”
“No! I mean, yes! Fuck, I want to shout from the rooftops that I’m in love with you.”
Heat radiated through my chest, and I was breathless for a moment. “I want to do that too.”
“Then let’s do it. Let’s tell your folks, and then we can swing up and tell mine.”
I giggled. “Okay! All I want to do is tell everyone how much you mean to me, and how happy I’ve been these last few weeks. They’re going to be over the moon!”
Landon laughed. “I also think they’ll be happy about it, baby.”
I swooned at his endearment, and then we made plans to meet up and go to my folks’ together.