Page 1 of The Other Plan

CHAPTER ONE

JENNA

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“A little higher!” I shouted up to my assistant, Cameron. He rose on his tiptoes, lifting the sparkly white lights farther up onto the branches of the tall oak tree casting shadows over the manicured lawn.

He peered down at me from the ladder and wrinkled his brow. “This is as high as we’re going. Any higher, and you’ll need to alert the airport that I’m in the way of any incoming planes. This is plenty high.”

With a fake pout, I gave him my best puppy dog eyes and gestured with my fingers. “Just a little bit higher?”

His brown eyes narrowed as he huffed. “Higher? Or is it that you just want to check out my ass some more.”

Shrugging, I smiled and gestured to the perfectly round behind inside his trendy blue designer pants. “Well, it’s a nice one. Can you blame me?”

“If I fall, this is workman’s comp. Just remember that.”

“You got this!” I gave him a thumbs-up as he stretched a little taller. His long, lanky arms reached their full extension, and he grunted as he managed to hook the end of the light strand over the limb.

“Got it!” he shouted, but the force of his excitement almost caused him to topple off. Cameron grabbed the top of the ladder for support, then looked down at me with wide eyes while he swiped his stylish brown hair from his forehead. “Whoops.”

“Be careful!” I called up, clutching my chest. “I need you and all your limbs this week. It’s all hands on deck.”

He started down the ladder and glanced over his shoulder. “Maybe you should have thought of that before you asked me to string the freaking twinkle lights up on the moon.”

When he hit the ground, I stepped over and wrapped my arms around him, straining to reach up around his neck. “You know I love you, boo. You didn’t break your neck, and they will look gorgeous. See?”

His gaze followed my pointing finger to the intricate strands of lights. Though they weren’t turned on yet, I could envision them twinkling against the dark sky. When I saw his lips twitch and tighten, I knew he could picture them too. After being my wedding assistant for four years, our visions had merged into one.

Cameron cocked his head, pursing his lips while he surveyed the lights. Finally, he smiled. “Okay. Valid. They are gonna look killer.”

I bumped him with my hip. “I told you it was worth that little extra effort. The Bronson’s are going to love it.”

“They better. The budget they have for this wedding could keep you and I marinated in margaritas on a beach in the tropics for at least a decade.”

Snorting, I turned back and jutted my chin at the waterfront mansion towering over the expansive property. “This weekend ‘cabin’ in Door County only gets used a few weeks a year. If you think this place is nice, you should see their other properties around the country. They make this one look like a shack.”

And I’d seen almost every one of those properties. I’d met Aunt Tilly, the matriarch of the Bronson family, at a fundraiser when I was just starting out as a wedding planner eight years ago. We’d hit it off over too many mimosas, and she’d hired me to plan a baby shower. That meeting had started a love affair with this family that had taken me around the globe.

Aunt Tilly loved my planning skills so much she would regularly fly me out to design other events, fundraisers, showers, and family weddings. This would be the fifth wedding I’d coordinated for her. It was always an amazing experience to handle events for her family, not to mention the perks of getting to use some of their vacation houses as a “tip” for my services.

But the large commissions or the paid vacations didn’t make working for the Bronson’s such a huge part of my life. They had become like family to me, and even though Aunt Tilly demanded perfection and extravagance for every event, she also gave me free rein to bring my creative vision to life. And doing as I pleased with an unlimited budget was an event planner’s dream come true.

These extravagant events helped me build a beautiful house in Fish Creek and pay it off before turning thirty last year. Between the Bronson’s several over-the-top events every year and the twenty other Door County weddings I did each season, my small company had become quite profitable. But no matter how busy I got, the Bronson’s events always took priority for me.

“You still need to take me and Louie out to their house in Aspen for skiing. You promised.” He stuck his finger in my face, and I batted it away.

“You’re right. This winter. I promise. I’ll take you both to celebrate your cohabitating. But I’m not playing third wheel while you guys make out all day. You two can get all snuggled up in the hot tub, and I’ll go find a hot ski instructor to play with.” I shimmied my shoulders, causing Cameron’s grin to grow.

Cameron had met Louie at a wedding I’d planned for my clients, Ellie and Liam. The two had hit it off and long-distance dated with Louie in Chicago and Cameron here. But now that things had gotten serious between them, and Louie’s two best friends from Chicago had decided to move up to Door County six months ago, Louie was making the big move too. Cameron was over the moon excited. Despite my happiness for Cameron, he was one of my last single friends. With him settling into a serious relationship, it left me as the last woman standing.

Jenna Parker, party of one. Your table is ready.

“Aw, yeah, girl. I may be a taken man now, but that doesn’t mean I won’t want to help you pick out some mountain hottie.”

He held up his hand, and I slapped it too hard, then cringed from the sting. “Ouch.”

“Yeah. That was a little much.” Sucking the air through his teeth, he shook out his hand.