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Maxine nodded slyly. “Yes. Way. And he’ll be the biggest client your aunt ever secured. God rest her soul.”
“Wow. I don’t believe it. But wait a minute. Isn’t he like, ninety?”
“Not quite. He’s seventy-six.” Maxine paused for a moment. “But he looks fit for his age and does scuba diving and stuff like that. Oh, this dude is young at heart. He’s got the body of a forty-nine-year-old. You know—like Joseph Pilates had.”
Lucy leaned back and relaxed in her soft-leather seat of her executive chair. Finally. A safe wedding. So, what could they do for a sweet elderly man and his equally senior bride? Perhaps they were both widowed and wanted a second chance at love. Maybe Dream Weddings could set up a romantic, authentic forties-style old Hollywood wedding theme from the era of the silver screen. That would be appropriate.
“Have they chosen a theme?” Lucy asked eagerly.
“Fun Birds!”
“Huh!” Okay, Lucy did not see that one coming. “Fun Birds?”
Maxine nodded emphatically. “It’s sort of like Angry Birds, only it’s not!”
Lucy could not imagine two seventy-something-year-olds having a Fun Bird wedding. “Okay, you’ve lost me. Exactly how are we going to do this?” Lucy leaned forward in her chair and pressed her elbows on her desk.
“Well, the bride wants to meet her groom at the altar by way of a human-sized slingshot.”
Lucy thought she was going to collapse. “Just…how old is this bride?” Or how young?
“Forty-six.”
Lucy flopped back in her chair and placed her palms on the edge of the desk. She pinched her lips to either stifle a hysterical laugh ... or a hysterical cry.
“Okay.” She nodded and hunched her shoulders. This was about the couples. This was about granting wishes to happy couples. “Okay,” she said again quietly.
“Are you sure you’re not having a meltdown?”
“Yep. Yep. I’m…sure. I think. Have fun at the dentist, Maxine. See you in the morning.”
“Um. Tomorrow is Saturday.”
“Right. See you Monday, Maxine.”
Maxine grinned and got up slowly. She grabbed her iPad and coffee and proceeded to walk about but paused at the door. “You know, Lucy. For what it’s worth, I’m proud of you.”
“You are? Why?” Lucy asked.
“For not contesting Chris’s will. She was an odd one at times but this business meant the world to her. She was able to make dreams come true for people just like her, I guess. You’re sort of cool. I thought you were some prude Miss Proper who was going to sell this company to the highest bidder and here you are…” Maxine seemed as if she was going to be teary-eyed but Lucy could tell she was only teasing her. “Doing your best to make this work. Kudos to you, girlfriend.” She strode out of Lucy’s office.
Lucy smiled and shook her head. She glanced at the clock on her computer screen and it was almost four-thirty in the afternoon. The young receptionist outside her door would be leaving soon, too. Lucy continued her aunt’s tradition of letting employees leave earlier than five o’clock on Fridays.
Just then the receptionist buzzed her office.
“Yes, Darla?” Lucy called out over the speakerphone intercom.
“You have an appointment, Lucy.”
“I do? I thought I was all clear for the afternoon.” This was the last thing Lucy wanted to hear. She was looking forward to going home early on this Friday after a hectic week at the office and soak in a nice aroma-therapy Epsom salt-soothing bath, sipping champagne to celebrate that she was still alive after a crazy week. Heck, just celebrating breathing.
“You have a Mr. Antonio Romero here to see you,” Darla answered back over the intercom.
Antonio Romero? Antonio Romero? Lucy glanced down at her notepad. Holy shit! The seventy-six- year-old tycoon with the Fun Birds themed wedding!
“Right. Please send him in, Darla.”
“Will do.”
Lucy straightened out her skirt, which had ridden up while she was seated. She looked as if she’d just worked a busy workday but she knew how respectable she needed to look for her clients, especially the elderly ones who were used to prim and proper back in the day. When the door swung open, Lucy’s jaw fell wide open.
