The Best Laid Plans

“I was telling Kendall I really have to get back to work. Charlie just wants to help out. He’s my friend. Be nice.”

“Be nice? I’m always nice. That doesn’t answer my question. What is not a good idea?”

“Gotta go. Tell Kendall I’ll call when I get home.”

“Don’t you—” Max hung up “—hang up on me,” Emma said to no one. She turned on her sister. “What was that about?”

Kendall swallowed hard, a sure sign she was about to lie. “Nothing. He’s worried this wedding is going to take on a life of its own.”

“And Charlie is supposed to do what? Keep me from letting things get out of control?”

“No,” Kendall insisted. “We appreciate everything you’re doing. We’re both swamped and there’s no way we could plan a wedding without help.”

“But?”

“But nothing. I know you. You are going to give me the best wedding a girl could ask for. But even without planning it, this is overwhelming. Bear with us, okay?”

There was still something her sister wasn’t saying. Maybe Kendall believed in her, but Max was another story. Emma was going to show both of them. She was going to help them have the wedding of their dreams, with very little stress to show for it. Even if she had to share credit with Charlie Fletcher.

* * *

AFTER GOING BACK and forth about where to meet, Charlie and Emma settled on the Chi-Town Chilly Cow Ice-Cream Shop or, as Emma and her sisters called it, the Triple C. It was an Everhart family favorite.

“I’ll take a double scoop of the blackberry with some fresh strawberries and a small squirt of whipped cream.”

“You are definitely a woman who knows what she likes, Nightingale,” Charlie said as he continued to study the menu board.

“I’ve been here a few times,” she explained with a smile.

The young man behind the counter made Emma’s sundae and went to ring her up. She stopped him before he entered anything into the register.

“Oh, I’m Lucy Everhart. There’s a note back there that says I get all my ice cream free.”

Lucy had helped the original owners by pushing them to go organic and making the Triple C extremely profitable in the Lincoln Park area. As a thank-you, the owners told Lucy she would get free ice cream for life. Only, Lucy didn’t eat ice cream, organic or not. She didn’t do dairy. Emma didn’t see why someone shouldn’t benefit from Lucy’s good fortune.

Charlie looked amused but didn’t give her up. Instead, he tried to get in on the action. “Does that free deal cover the ice cream for friends of Lucy Everhart, as well?”

Emma licked some whipped cream off her spoon. “Sorry, Charlie. The discount is for me and me alone.”

“Aren’t you a Lucky Lucy?”

“Oh, I am,” she said, diving into her sundae.

After he paid for his treat, the two of them settled in a booth in the back of the shop. Emma had brought along a notebook to jot down whatever ideas Charlie was here to share. She already had a binder full of all her own ideas separated into categories—ceremony, reception, bride, bridesmaids, groom, groomsmen.

She started with her thoughts on day and time. Charlie thought having the wedding on a Friday was brilliant. She flipped the page to the reception ideas, all of which Charlie felt were amazing. She figured he wouldn’t have much of an opinion about what the women wore but told him what she was thinking in regard to the tuxes, and Charlie was happy to wear whatever.

Basically, Charlie had no opinion at all. He thought everything Emma said was fantastic. It didn’t seem to matter what idea she proposed; he liked them all. It strengthened her belief that he was here to spy, not to actually help.

“You really put a lot of thought into this,” Charlie said, flipping through the binder. “Do you only plan weddings? My dad’s retiring in June and my sister wants to have a party for him. We could use someone as organized as you to get the thing off the ground.”

“I’m not a party planner. I love my sister, and the last time she got married, I was in college and had no time to be much help.”

“It’s cool that you and Kendall are so close. I come from a big family, spread out all over the country. I can’t remember the last time we were all under one roof.”

“Maybe you will be for your dad’s retirement party,” Emma suggested.

“Maybe. Having all my sisters together can sometimes be more trouble than it’s worth. You and your sister seem to get along better than mine ever did.”

“Did you guys grow up in Chicago?”

“Northern suburbs, near the Wisconsin border. Ever been to Six Flags Great America?”

“Only every summer until I was about twenty.” Going to the amusement park once a year was one of her favorite childhood memories. Emma loved roller coasters and rides that made her stomach drop. One advantage to being so tall was getting to ride them with her sisters even though they were older than her.

“I grew up just a couple miles away. Worked there in the summers when I was in high school.”

“Wow, that makes working at the grocery store as a teenager seem really boring.”

“It was a pretty fun job. The best job I ever had, though, was at a pancake house while I was training to be a paramedic. My pancake-flipping skills are top-notch. I make perfect pancakes.”

This was why everyone found him so endearing. His quirkiness was a refreshing change from guys who spent all their time telling a woman how much money they made and how fast their car went. Emma liked that he wasn’t really full of himself and his attitude toward life in general was always so positive.

“I’m impressed by this, honestly,” she said. Emma had grown up in a house where her father made pancakes for the girls every Sunday. The first batch was always a mess and every pancake was usually burned on at least one side.

“But enough about me. Let’s talk about you,” Charlie said.

“Aren’t we here to talk about Max and Kendall’s wedding?” The point of this meeting was making less and less sense as it went on. She had let him distract her from their reason for getting together.

“Yes. Let’s talk about the wedding. Are you bringing a date?”

“What does that have to do with the wedding plans?”

Charlie shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I wasn’t sure if the maid of honor and best man should bring dates or not. I was thinking of coming alone so I don’t shirk any of my responsibilities.”

She was beginning to believe he had no ideas. That this whole meeting was a setup so he could report back to Max. “Well, I do plan on bringing a date, and I will still make sure everything goes off without a hitch. Max has nothing to worry about.”

“Oh, yeah. I mean...” He shook his head. “I wasn’t implying you wouldn’t be able to help. Max isn’t worried, either.” Charlie’s face fell. “So you’re bringing your boyfriend or something, huh?”

Emma blew out a frustrated breath. “I thought you said you had some ideas for this wedding. Isn’t that why we’re here?”

“It is. I do,” Charlie insisted, finally dropping the Twenty Questions. “I was thinking about the boys.”

“The boys?”

“Simon and Aidan. It would be nice if we found a way to include them in the ceremony. My oldest sister did this thing at her wedding. It was a second marriage for both her and my brother-in-law and they both had kids from their previous relationships. So, instead of lighting a unity candle, they had the kids come up and they all filled this vase with different-colored sand. It symbolized the blending of the two families into one. The boys would like that, don’t you think?”

That was actually a really good idea. So good, Emma couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it herself. She’d totally forgotten about incorporating the boys into the ceremony aside from having them be ring bearers. She wrote down the sand-art idea in her notebook.