Sally walked off toward the art gallery, and James stood by the car for a few more seconds before getting in and driving away. Get out of his comfort zone? How in the world was he going to do that? He needed time to come up with a plan.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Why did they all have to check in at once?Jane thought the next morning as she dodged angry aunts and chatty cousins in order to register all the guests who had come for the wedding.
Thankfully she had Andie here to help because Jane doubted she would have been able to referee the argument going on between the bride’s feuding great-aunts.
“I willnotstay on the same floor as her!” Aunt Birdie, a plump woman in her mid-seventies wearing a red polyester pantsuit, crossed her arms over her chest and glared at a shorter woman with a salt-and-pepper bun, who was wearing a pair of navy stretchy pants and a blue flowered shirt.
“Well, I’m certainly not staying on the floorbelowyou!” Aunt Gladys huffed.
“Ladies. Would you like some fresh-baked cookies? We can figure out the room arrangements over here.” Andie herded them off to the corner of the foyer where Brenda had set out snacks for the guests’ arrival.
“Are they gluten free?” Birdie asked. “I’m allergic to gluten.”
Jane turned her attention back to the registrations. The feuding aunts were the least of her worries. She wanted to get the rest of the guests lingering in the foyer checked in before the bride’s mother arrived.
The mother, Marilyn, had called earlier to say she’d be checking in around ten thirty and stated in no uncertain terms that she was expecting a full inspection of the premises shortly after she arrived. Judging by her demanding tone, Jane wondered if all the bridezilla’s demands had really originated with the mother, as Andie had guessed from talking to them on the phone. Then again, the apple might not fall too far from the tree, and she could be dealing with both a bridezilla and a monster mother of the bride. She just hoped everything they’d done would pass muster.
Brenda came whistling out from the kitchen as Jane finished the last check-in. At least Brenda was enjoying the influx of guests. She’d been happily cooking muffins, breads, and cookies all morning to feed them.
“Well, it’s nice to see the inn teeming with guests again,” she said as she filled the coffeepot and adjusted the pastries on the tray.
Jane simply smiled at her.
“Boy, that was a challenge getting those two feuding aunts into satisfactory rooms, but I managed to do it. Guess working with difficult antique clients paid off.” Andie picked a snickerdoodle off the tray. “Itisgood to see the inn full, though.”
Jane wasn’t so sure. “Paying guests are always nice.”
The crunch of tires on the driveway signaled the arrival of a black sedan. A woman stepped out. She wore a hat with large flowers on it, dark sunglasses, and an expensive Chanel suit.
“Is that the bridezilla?” Brenda whispered.
Jane wiped sweaty palms on her slacks. “No. Worse. It’s her mother.”
Marilyn Lambert sailed into the foyer, looking over the tops of her sunglasses to appraise the three of them then whipping them off to look around. Her gaze fell on the tray of snacks, and she muttered something that sounded like “pedestrian.”
Brenda took in a deep breath. No doubt she was preparing to give Marilyn a piece of her mind, but Andie pushed her back into the kitchen before a fight could break out.
Jane stepped forward and held out her hand. “Welcome to Tides. I’m Jane Miller.”
Marilyn gave a limp handshake. “Marilyn Lambert. The place seems... adequate. I’d like a tour of the wedding venue after I check in.”
“Of course. Let me get you situated, and then I’ll be waiting down here for you.” Jane moved behind the desk, dread building in her chest. Pleasing Marilyn Lambert was not going to be easy.
Jane got Marilyn checked into her room and then checked on Cooper, who she’d put in her office in order to keep him from getting underfoot while the guests were arriving.
Andie poked her head in. “Everything going okay?”
“Yes. I’m meeting Marilyn downstairs after she freshens up.”
“Need help?”
“Maybe you could help keep Cooper out of sight. It might be best to keep him from running around trying to greet all the guests.” Jane would have liked to pawn the job of showing Marilyn around off on Andie, but since she’d been the one to originally book the wedding and talk to Marilyn and Courtney, she felt it was her responsibility.
“Of course.” Andie clipped the leash to his collar. “I’ll make sure he stays to himself.”
Jane got to the foyer at the same time as Marilyn.
