You Say It First

She released the skirt and crossed her arms under her breasts. The full curves seemed to swell toward him, which made it difficult to think about anything but walking over and pulling her close. What he would do after that wasn’t totally clear. Mostly because there were so many possibilities—there was no way to pick just one.

“I always worry when we go outside the box.”

Her words were so at odds for what he was thinking that it took him a second to respond. “What do you mean?”

“There’s a menu the brides get to pick from. All the things we offer. This time it’s different.”

“How? Don’t you usually coordinate colors with the wedding party?”

“Yes, but not this much. She wants weird things. Matching horses and other things. There are packages. I understand them. But when people want to...”

“Color outside the lines?” he offered.

“Something like that. I get nervous. I’m not like you.”

“In what way?”

“You’re an artist. You’re trained to see possibilities. The unexpected. I’m too sensible for that. I always colored inside the lines. I like the lines.” She winced. “Oh, no. I was going to say ‘I like the rules’ but I won’t. I refuse to turn into my mother.”

An interesting assessment but one that made sense based on what Alan had told him about her. “You’re saying you’re not spontaneous or fanciful, but you throw weddings for a living. By definition, you’re fulfilling people’s dreams. That’s a little outside the box.”

“Maybe. I just worry that when we try different things, something will go wrong. A wedding is a big deal. I want everything to be perfect.”

“You can’t control every aspect of what’s happening.”

She smiled. “I can sure try.”

“Sometimes the mess-ups are the best part. It’s where the magic happens.”

“I’m too pragmatic to believe in magic.”

“Now you do sound like your mother.”

Pallas’s mouth dropped open. “You can’t say that. You’ve never met her.”

“You told me all I need to know.”

She drew in a deep breath, which was a hell of distraction.

“I want to say you’re wrong, but you’re not. It’s funny, I was just thinking about this last night. I’m Libby’s daughter and sometimes she’s the voice in my head. I’d love for that to change, but I don’t know how. It wouldn’t be so bad if it was a good voice, but mostly what I hear from it is disappointment.”

“Tell the voice to shut up.”

She smiled. “Good advice. I’ll try it next time.” She tilted her head. “It’s funny how we’re all so different. I have a twin brother—Cade. He and I are so completely different. He never wanted to go into the family business. I know he loves our mother but he never worried about making her happy. He always did his own thing.”

“You envy that.”

“I do. I hate disappointing her but I can’t seem to fall into line. It’s not a comfortable place to be. I envy Cade’s ability to simply be his own person.” She wrinkled her nose. “You know, now that I think about it, a lot of my friends are creative. Violet made this. Silver has her business and it has a creative side.” She wrinkled her nose. “Natalie’s a super gifted artist.”

“Natalie Kaleta? Our Natalie?” The part-time office manager-slash-artist from Willow Gallery?

She nodded. “Have you seen her work?”

He thought about the large pieces Natalie did—paintings, but using paper and found objects instead of paint. They were bright and textured and offered an optimistic view of the world.

“She’s very talented,” he said.

“Right? I’m surrounded by you artistic types. Maybe I should let that rub off on me instead of paying attention to my mother.”

“Does Weddings in a Box help?”

“Mostly. I like what I do. I like the variety.”

“As long as they stick to the menu.”

She grinned. “Yes, the menu is our friend.” The smile faded. “There are challenges. I’m not in the best financial shape, but I’m working on it.”

“Do you pass on costs to the wedding parties? If they want something off the menu do they have to pay for it?”

“Sure. They buy a package. Anything extra is on them.”

“Then why not offer crazy things? Make them pay for it. With the right markup, you’ll increase your profits.”

She shifted from foot to foot. “In theory,” she began.

“But?” he asked, doing his best not to smile, because he got it. On the one hand, Pallas knew exactly what to do to make her business more solvent. On the other, the thought of making changes made her uncomfortable.

“Some of the things the brides want are unreasonable.”

He raised his eyebrows and waited.

She sighed. “This black-and-white princess wedding. She wanted zebras.”

Nick thought about the grazing animals by his brother’s house. “The ones from the animal sanctuary?”

“That’s them. Zebras. Can you believe it?”

“You told her no.”

“Of course. I looked into it and I just can’t. According to the Library of Congress zebras can’t be domesticated. They’re unpredictable and are known to attack people. To be domesticated, animals must meet certain criteria. They have to have a good disposition and shouldn’t panic under pressure.”

“Has the Library of Congress ever met a cat?”

She laughed. “I didn’t ask. My point is zebras aren’t going to work at a wedding.”

“Sure they are. Just put them in a pen somewhere and have someone watch over them. The bride pays, you make money. It’s a win-win.”

“It must be nice to simply be able to do as you please.”