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“Their fifth!” Ari practically screeched.
“Wow. This dude is absolute trash,” Dionna said. “But the studio has already wrapped up filming. What do they plan to do? Shelve the film and hope the fury dies down?”
“They’re taking these claims seriously, and they should. Nick’s agent and PR firm have already dropped him like a radioactive rock, and the studio is yanking him from the film. I support the decision one hundred percent. But that means we’re going to have to reshooteveryfreakingscenethat handsy jerk was in. And since he was the leading man, we’re practically reshooting the entire film.”
“I’m so sorry, Ari. And I’ll do whatever I can to help. Should I call the wedding planner and try to get this rescheduled?” Dionna reached into her leather WANT Les Essentiels vertical tote bag and pulled out her planner.
“No! Don’t!”
“Why not?” Dionna surveyed the current date. “This is supposed to be an exploratory trip to make decisions about your wedding. Seems pretty important for the bride to be here.”
“We’ve already rescheduled twice. We can’t afford to put this off any longer.”
“But the wedding isn’t until June,” Dionna reminded her.
“And it’s already the end of February. Not much lead time in the wedding industry. We’ve pushed this as far back as we can. Icannotcancel these meetings again. They must go on as planned,” Ari insisted.
“Without the bride?” Dionna asked incredulously. “Is Xavier going to video call you to make every single decision?”
“About that…” Ari’s expression reminded Dee of Lucille Ball’s whenever she had to deliver bad news to her best friend, Ethel Mertz, onI Love Lucy.
“There’s more bad news?”
“Ex won’t be there either,” Ari said sheepishly.
“Why? This ishishometown.He’sthe one who wanted to get married here instead of in LA.” Dionna was still miffed that Ari had broken tradition and moved the wedding to the groom’s hometown instead of hers.
But where they got married actually mattered to Ex, whereas Ari’s only concern was that their wedding be spectacular. Ari considered moving the wedding a peace offering to Xavier’s family who seemed less than thrilled about their son marrying into Hollywood. A small sacrifice for the man she adored.
It was sweet, sure. But it made planning the wedding complicated. Especially now.
“I know, sweetie,” Ari cooed, employing the same voice she’d used to talk Dee into questionable decisions since the two of them had met and become best friends in middle school. “But the European book tour forThe Silenceis going really well. Xavier’s publisher wants to extend the tour and they’ve lined up several talk show appearances.”
“But this has been planned for weeks,” Dee said.
“Which is why he’d intended to turn them down. But now that I’m not able to make the trip, we thought he might as well ride this wave while the book is hot. You know how fickle our industries can be, Dee. I need you there. No one knows me better than you. You always know exactly what I’m thinking before I’ve said a word. You know what I like and what I don’t. You’re the perfect stand-in for me. I even trust you to handle the tasting menu. If I need to make tweaks later, I can. But at least we’ll get things started.”
Dionna tapped the end of her fountain pen against her planner as she mulled over her friend’s words.
“Ireallyneed your help on this, Dee,” Ari said. “There’s no one else in the world I’d trust to do this. Not even Sasha,” she said of her younger sister. “Pretty please. I’ll even let you pick your own maid-of-honor dress.”
That got Dionna’s attention. She had been terrified her friend would put her in a sleeveless, backless dress that bared her navel.
“Deal,” Dee said before Ari could change her mind.
“Thanks, Dee. You’re the best friend a girl could ask for.”
“Let’s see if you still think that after the wedding. Because while I do know you like the back of my hand, I can’t say the same for your fiancé.”
Ari grinned a little too wide. “Don’t worry, babe. Got that covered.”
Dionna groaned, not liking the mischievous twinkle in her best friend’s eyes.
“You’re really backing out of this thing?” Tripp Noble asked his cousin Xavier as he pulled out of the driveway of The Noble Spur—the ranch Tripp’s family owned and had run for four generations. “You’re not getting cold feet about the wedding, are you? You can be straight with me.”
Tripp and Ex had been thick as thieves as mischievous boys growing up on The Noble Spur together. But Ex had left Royal long ago. He’d dreamed of being a famous author—and he’d done just that. In fact, he’d become more successful than either of them could’ve dreamed.
Xavier had lived all over the country and currently called Los Angeles home. Yet, the two of them remained close. Still, it’d been a while since they’d seen each other in person. So Tripp had been looking forward to spending time with his cousin.
