“So, how’s Paris?” I asked when we were settled in, folding one knee over the other under the table.
“Beautiful as always, but we don’t have a lot of time to sightsee when we’re there.” Claudia grinned. “Soon we will, I hope. The Moore brand is starting to take off, so we might have a bit more time in the future to introduce Jaxson to the City of Light.”
“That’s awesome!” I congratulated Claudia, genuinely thrilled for her success. In the past, she had been so worried - worried for her mother’s estate; her brand and the future of her child. Now, everything was falling into place.
“Maybe we can all make a trip to Paris sometime,” Elena suggested. “Claudia, you could show us around! And we could go shopping and visit the boutiques that carry your brand.”
“You don’t need to go shopping in Paris to find my clothes,” Claudia pointed out with a chuckle. “You’re best friends with the owner! Besides, both of you would make perfect marketing opportunities. Elena, you’re the wife of a billionaire CEO, and Tammy, you plan weddings. I bet people ask both of you where you get your clothes all the time.”
“Maybe sometimes,” I admitted. I did consider myself a fashionable person, and I found it important to dress to impress. Besides, I liked having my own personal style - it makes shopping so much easier when you already have an idea of what looks good on you.
But right now, I had more important things to think about than fashion. Claudia just brought up wedding planning, which gave me the perfect opportunity to jump in and mention my woes. “About planning weddings,” I began, then stopped. Now that I sat here opposite my two listening friends, I wasn’t sure how to do this. Neither woman had any idea that anything was amiss with my business. “Well, I’d actually like to ask both of you for advice on that.”
Claudia and Elena exchanged glances, then Claudia spoke. “I don’t think either of us knows much about planning weddings, even though we’ve both had one…”
“Not with planning them!” I backtracked hastily. A waiter approached our table, plates of food carefully balanced on his arms, and I collected my thoughts while he passed them out. “I meant that I’d like to ask for advice on clientele. ‘Cause I’ve been planning a lot of weddings, but notextravagantHamptons’weddings. You know, weddings for people who actually live here.”
Claudia frowned. “That’s odd, considering that this is the Hamptons, and you have a pretty impressive portfolio.”
“It’s not really that odd,” Elena interjected, and I realized that she understood the difficulty I faced. “I used to dog sit for an insanely rich couple occasionally - that’s how I met Riker, actually - but I only got those jobs because my boss recommended me to that couple, and then they recommended me to others. If I had been just anybody, I wouldn’t have gotten any of those jobs.”
“Exactly,” I agreed, relieved to have someone validate the issue I had discovered while doing business in the Hamptons. Knowing that it wasn’t just me who felt that way, made me feel a little better - even if I didn’t know what to do about it just yet. I leaned forward to explain, “Cliquey is the word we can use to describe the locals… like the ones who hired you to watch their dog. They’re not likely to search for someone new. They just ask for recommendations from all their wealthy friends.”
“So you need connections, then… basically?” Claudia connected the dots. “You planned Zeke’s and my wedding, though, right? Is that not something you can…” Her lips pursed, cutting off the rest of her sentence as her excellent business sense brought her to the same conclusions I had come to when I asked myself the same questions. “Oh, I see how that might not help. It was too small, and Zeke and I haven’t been in town much.”
“And that’s not your fault at all,” I hastened to assure her. “You have your brand to think of. And your mother. And your baby,” I added, an image of that adorable, plump-cheeked face putting a smile across my face.
“Maybe, but we could have planned something a little bigger and more public,” Claudia disagreed.
“Absolutely not. My number one goal is to give every client the wedding they’ve always dreamed of, and for you, that was a small wedding with your best friends and close family.” I smiled warmly. “I would never have dreamed of trying to convince you to change your wedding for my benefit.”
Claudia reached for my hand and returned my smile. “I know.” We all went back to our food for a moment, then Claudia spoke again. “Well, let’s see. We have to figure out how to get your name tossed around in the right circles, right?”
“Exactly,” I agreed, my spirits restored already. Three heads were way better than one, and my awesome friends had immediately put their heads together to help me with this quandary.
“Riker and I can get remarried,” Elena joked, drawing chuckles all around the table. “But really, Riker might be able to help. He spends more time in New York City than the Hamptons, though.”
“That’s why I waited so long to talk to you both,” I admitted. “I don’t want to take away that time. I’m really looking for advice more than anything, I think. You’re both married to billionaires, so I was hoping you might have some insight into that circle.”
“The Hamptons Peak would be a good place to start,” Elena suggested. “You can smell the wealth when you walk into that club. It’s exclusive, but one of us can get you in. Maybe you could turn on some of that Tammy charm and meet someone who can help?”
I tapped my manicured nails on the table. That was a good idea, actually. If I wanted to plan extravagant weddings for the locals, I needed to go where they hung out. “What is it?” I asked Claudia, suddenly noticing my friend’s thoughtful gaze.
“Uh…” Claudia fiddled with a piece of onion that had fallen from her sandwich. “You remember Nate?” She winced when she saw my expression. “Sorry. Of course, you remember him, that’s a stupid question. Anyway, the reason I’m bringing him up is because Nate is good friends with Riker and Zeke - they’re kind of a buddy trio. They all hang out at the Hamptons Peak every Thursday, and, well… you already know Nate. I’m sorry if that is kinda confusing.”
I was starting to understand what Claudia was getting at, but since I still had a bit of work to do in taming the flood of memories that had assaulted me at the mention of Nate, I let her continue without comment.
“I realize that you two didn’t exactly part on good terms, but that was a long time ago, Tammy. Nate is basically a celebrity here in the Hamptons. He played for -”
“The Lexington Colonels, I know,” I interrupted. Realizing my voice was a bit harsh, I let my feelings out in a gusty sigh. “Sorry. I know it’s silly to carry a grudge this long.”
Elena looked from me to Claudia and then back again. “I get the feeling there’s a story here that I don’t know.”
“Yeah,” I confirmed. “It’s not a very long story, though. Nate and I dated when we were in high school in Somerset, Kentucky. Then he just up and left for college without saying so much as a goodbye. It was, uh…” I took a moment to swallow the remnants of the past hurt. “It was unexpected.”
“It was a jerk move,” Claudia agreed, “but like I said, that was a long time ago. Don’t you think it’s time to leave the past in the past? Especially when Nate might feel a bit guilty and regretful for what he did… I want you to think about that for a sec before you answer.”
I shrugged. “I really don’t know what to think about Nate anymore.”
