Chapter 23
“Mom, we don’t have to have every single detail planned this far ahead of time,” Jade said with a smile.
Margie waved a hand. “Nonsense. If we get everything planned now, we can relax later.”
“I feel like you’re never going to relax,” Jade countered.
Claire patted her on the shoulder. “I don’t think that your mom was built to relax.”
Margie chose to ignore them. It was supposed to be the bride – or in this case, the brides – who were anxious about the wedding. For some reason, Margie had gotten herself so stressed out that she was now the subject of ridicule!
She’d invited Jade and Morgan over for brunch and some light reception planning. She would’ve invited Tiffany, too, but Tiffany’s response to a previous invitation was, “If I show up on the day of the wedding and no one is there, and there’s no food, I will not complain.” She claimed that all she cared about was her dress and her husband, but Margie didn’t believe that for one second.
Some place card samples had just arrived in the mail, and Margie brought them out after serving brunch. The ladies were passing them around as Margie watched, feeling totally in suspense.
It wasn’t fair; she couldn’t help it. She wanted the wedding to be perfect, and since she was so involved in the wedding industry on the island, she felt like she knew all of the best vendors – the best food, the best cake, the best flowers, the best photographer!
Well, the best photographer was obviously Morgan, but she couldn’t do the pictures since she’d be a bridesmaid.
After securing all of those contracts, Margie felt like she was on a roll. She couldn’t stop thinking about and planning the wedding.
No detail was too small. Maybe she should get new table cloths for the dinner? She’d been putting off repainting the barn, but wouldn’t it be nice if it had a fresh coat for the wedding? And the wedding favors! They had to go to the mainland for the favors, much to Jade’s dismay.
The list went on and on, and though Margie knew that she was at risk of finding ever smaller details to obsess over, she couldn’t help it. She was excited, she was happy, and most of all, she was determined to make the day magical for her girls.
Margie was just about to ask opinions on the color of the place cards when Jade’s phone went off.
“Hello?” Quiet for a moment. Jade nodded. “Okay, sure. Yes, Biggles is perfectly fine. Don’t worry about him. Okay. Take care.”
Margie sat down across from Jade. “Who was that?”
“Uncle Mike. I’m taking care of Biggles for him.”
“Why? Where is he?”
Jade shrugged. “I don’t know. He said he might have to go away for a few weeks and he dropped Biggles off. I don’t mind, he’s a sweet dog. And he kind of likes me!”
“I knew that you were watching him before, but that was weeks ago. Has he been back since?”
Jade shook her head. “I don’t think so. Why? Is something wrong?”
“Maybe he’s just spending a lot of time with his friend Lynn,” Claire said, a smile on her face.
Morgan interjected. “I’m sorry, Mike has a friend? How did I not know about this?”
“He has been ignoring me recently…” Margie said. “I assumed that it was because of his…you know, love life, too.” She drummed her fingers on the table. “This is something different. He’s up to no good.”
Claire laughed. “You mean like a criminal?”
“Worse.” Margie let out a sigh. “He’s probably trying to catch criminals by living amongst them.”
“He does like doing that,” Morgan said, nodding.
Margie turned to Claire. “Have you heard from your friend Joe, the attorney?”
She shook her head. “Not a peep.”
“What’s this?” asked Jade. “Uncle Mike got an attorney?”
