Gulf Coast Wedding by Maggie Miller
Chapter Fifteen
Mia had to remind herself to breathe. This was possibly the most exciting day she’d ever been a part of. The inn was crazy with people everywhere and all kinds of stuff going on and she loved every minute of it.
She could tell her mom was a little flustered, but she was still holding it together, so all good there. Things would probably calm down a little too as the actual shooting started. It would have to. They couldn’t have people milling about while they were trying to take pictures.
Lilly brought Susanna into the breakfast room to introduce her. “Mia, this is Susanna Goldman-Ingler, the woman in charge of the article about the inn.”
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Goldman-Ingler.” Mia stuck her hand out. “Your jewelry is fabulous. Bakelite, right?”
The woman smiled as she shook Mia’s hand. “Aren’t you a clever cookie? How does someone your age know about Bakelite? And call me Susanna, please.”
“I helped my mom go through my aunt’s things and she had quite a collection of jewelry, including a good bit of Bakelite. I know about it because of what I learned researching those pieces for their value. It’s fascinating stuff with quite a cult following.”
Susanna raised her brows as she looked at Lilly. “I like this one already.” She turned to Mia again. “I’m always impressed with those who take the time to dig a little deeper. If you’re still interested in selling some of those pieces, I’d love to take a look.”
Mia nodded. “I can arrange that.”
Susanne pushed her glasses up. “You, my dear, are going places.”
Mia smiled. “To be honest, I’m already where I want to be, and I don’t plan on going anywhere else. Except to the beach.”
Susanna laughed. “You are perfection. I can see now why the rooms upstairs have such a youthful vibe. You know, since we’re being honest, I expected this place to be a little…” She hesitated like she didn’t want to complete the sentence.
Mia did it for her. “Dowdy? Quaint? Musty?”
Mia could very well imagine what a city dweller might think of a tiny little inn in a tiny little town in Florida. After all, Tourist magazine was here because of Aunt Lilly’s pull. Not because they were desperate to give pages to a place like this. The Sea Glass Inn was no exotic resort. Nothing like the kinds of places they usually featured.
Mia knew, because she’d been skimming past issues online.
Still smiling, Susanna shook her head. “You are far too perceptive, my dear, but I confess. I had a very different idea of this establishment, and I am delighted to be proven wrong. Now, why don’t you introduce me to the proprietress of this exquisite domicile?”
It took Mia a split second to translate. “You mean my mother, Georgia Carpenter. Of course, I’d love to.”
Thankfully, Georgia came out of the kitchen a moment later, saving Mia from having to escort Susanna into the midst of the mess they’d made earlier. “Mom, this is Susanna Goldman-Ingler, the woman in charge of the shoot. Susanna, this is my mother, Georgia Carpenter.”
Georgia put on her brightest smile. “Welcome to the Sea Glass Inn. I understand you’ve already had a tour of the rooms?”
“I have,” Susanna responded. “And I must say I am being tempted to make a reservation already.”
The side door opened, and Kelly and Griffin came in. Mia gave them a look but said nothing to interrupt the conversation.
“Wonderful,” Georgia said. “We’re so pleased to have you and your magazine here. And wait until you meet our chef, Coffee.” She gestured to the breakfast buffet that was almost complete. “He’s a genius in the kitchen as you can see. This is what our Sunday brunch will look like, although our everyday breakfast won’t be much different.”
“I am excited to shoot this. In fact, my team should be in any moment, and I want to start here, while this food looks its best. How long do you think it will be before you’re completely set up?”
“I’ll just go ask Coffee,” Georgia said. “If you’ll excuse me.” She went back to the kitchen.
“About that,” Mia began. “Can I get you anything to drink? Coffee? Juice? Mineral water?”
“Coffee, black, over ice, would be everything.”
“I’ll go get that for you. But first, I’d like to introduce you to my brother, the other part of our team.” Mia nodded at her brother to come over. As he walked toward them, she finished the introduction. “This is Griffin. He’s our paddleboard instructor and our in-house photographer. We anticipate a lot of weddings in our future, and as I mentioned earlier, he’ll be shooting those as well.”
Susanna looked a touch skeptical as she smiled at Griffin. “Lovely to meet you. Do you really think you’ll have that many weddings here? Not that it isn’t a lovely spot, but they’d have to be on the small side, wouldn’t they?”
Griffin just smiled. “Small is probably relative, but I can tell you that we’re not officially open and we already have two booked.”
“My stars,” Susanna said. “Color me wrong again. That is fantastic. And you give paddleboard lessons? Tell me about that.”
Mia let them chat while she slipped off to the kitchen to get Susanna’s iced black coffee. Coffee looked like he was ready to bring out the final trays with Georgia’s help. She glanced at him. “Is that the last of them?”
He nodded. “Just need to make my final touches and it’s picture perfect. You want to add some of those flowers that got delivered?”
Georgia nodded. “Yes. They were supposed to make three tropical arrangements to go against the back wall of the buffet. With the carved fruit you did, they should look spectacular.”
“I know which ones they are,” Mia said. “I did the inventory as they brought the bouquets in. Let’s get that buffet finalized then because she wants to shoot it first.”
Georgia took a deep breath. “Thank you so much, Coffee, for all of your hard work. We couldn’t have done this without you.”
He smiled. “Happy to help.” He smoothed a hand over his new chef coat. “And I look good doing it.”
They laughed as the three of them headed out, Mia with the iced coffee, and Georgia and Coffee with the final trays of food, which happened to be French toast and scrambled eggs.
She went straight to Susanna while her mom and Coffee got the flowers arranged. “We’re pretty much ready for the breakfast buffet to be shot, but obviously we’ll need to move all of the extra plants we’ve brought in.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Susanna said as she took the glass from Mia. “My team will move and arrange all of those. Why don’t you introduce me to your chef?”
“Absolutely. Come on over. I’m sure he’d love to give you a rundown of what’s on the menu, too.”
“Perfect.” Susanna glanced at Tyrone. “Take it all down.”
He nodded, his stylus poised over this tablet.
Mia made the introduction and Coffee, in his infinitely charming way, shook Susanna’s hand while smiling so brightly it was as if the sun itself was inside him.
She stared up at him, her small hand in his. “This is quite a spread you put out, Chef. Where did you learn to cook like this?”
“The Army, ma’am. Believe it or not, there’s more to a military breakfast than powdered eggs and dry toast.”
Susanna laughed. “I see that. I want to know what every dish is and if there’s something special about it that our readers should know.”
“Be happy to.” Coffee started explaining the menu to her.
Susanna seemed absolutely enthralled.
Mia went to stand with her mom and aunt. “I think we’re actually going to pull this off,” she said softly.
Both women nodded. Georgia exhaled in what seem liked relief. Aunt Lilly just smiled like she’d known it was all going to come together. And maybe she had. But they’d had a bit of crazy start that had made Mia worry just a little.
At last, Susanna came back over to them. She was smiling and shaking her head in what seemed to be amazement. “It’s too marvelous for words. However, I will endeavor to find some anyway, and hope to do it all justice.”
She took Georgia’s hand and looked into her eyes. “I cannot wait until our readers feast their eyes upon this gem. Everything I’ve seen so far has been more than I’d anticipated, and I love being wrong when it means our readers benefit. Brace yourself, my dear woman. Your house is about to be very full indeed.”
Aunt Lilly looked like she was trying not to laugh. “Thankfully, this article isn’t scheduled until the March issue, though. Isn’t that right?”
Susanna sipped her iced coffee. “It was. But a few production things changed and we’re fast tracking the article now. Especially since I’ve seen what a treasure this place is.” She smiled. “The Sea Glass Inn will now be our January feature.”