‘The couple.’
Maddy nodded. ‘Yes, I guess. I suppose.’
Eva typed something on her tablet. Maddy tried to read upside down but couldn’t quite manage it.
‘Tell me about your fiancé,’ Eva said.
Relief flooded Maddy. This was safer territory. ‘Nice. Very supportive. We’ve been together twelve years.’
Eva nodded. ‘And what does he want?’
‘He wants me to be happy,’ Maddy said automatically.
‘I take that to mean that you’re the shot caller for the wedding?’
‘I suppose so,’ Maddy said, trying not to sound too pissed off about it. Eva probably met ten brides a day who would be positively thrilled that their future husbands were getting out of the way.
Eva watched her for a long moment. ‘What doyouwant, Maddy?’
Maddy froze. ‘Oh, um…’
She hoped Eva might jump in there, seeing that Maddy was struggling. But Eva simply waited her out. She was going to have to answer. Maddy’s hands twisted together. ‘I… I want it to be special,’ she said eventually. ‘Meaningful. Not too much. And I guess that’s it.’
Eva exhaled slowly through her nose, as though recalibrating.
‘All right,’ she said. ‘We’ll start with practicalities. Date?’
Maddy shrugged. ‘My mother thinks spring, but I don’t know.’
Eva’s stylus moved quickly. ‘Budget?’
Maddy said the number she’d decided on with Adam. Eva didn’t laugh out loud, so that was positive.
‘Guest count?’
‘Around sixty. Maybe seventy. My mother keeps adding cousins I didn’t know existed.’
A smile ghosted across Eva’s mouth. It was gone before Maddy could be sure she’d seen it.
They moved through logistics—venues, catering, timelines—Eva asking direct questions, Maddy answering vaguely and apologising often. At one point, Maddy knocked her coffee with her elbow, sloshing it dangerously close to Eva’s tablet.
‘I’m so sorry. I’m very sorry.’
Eva moved the tablet just in time. ‘You don’t need to apologise,’ she said, sliding a stack of sample fabric swatches out of Maddy’s spill radius.
Their fingers brushed. It was nothing. But Maddy felt a strange jolt run up her arm, unexpected enough that she nearly knocked the coffee again.
‘Here’s how this will work,’ Eva said. ‘I handle logistics. You make decisions. I will ask questions that may feel direct. My job is to create the wedding you want, not the wedding other people expect you to want. There are no right choices here. Just choose what you like.’
Maddy nodded vigorously. ‘Yes. But what if…’
‘What?’
‘What if I don’tknowwhat I like?’ Maddy asked nervously.
Eva’s lips parted.
‘Wedding-wise, I mean.’ Maddy leaned in confidentially. ‘What if…’ No. She couldn’t say it. She shouldneversay it.
