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CHAPTERONE
Charlotte Sutton stood in front of her new storefront window and smiled. Because You Said Yes was no longer a dream but a reality. Whoever said you couldn’t make pretty with a bit of lipstick hadn’t met her or her bag of tricks. She took an old, abandoned storefront on Main Street and, with a little elbow grease, paint, and decals, turned it into a dream bridal planning boutique.
It was the first time she’d created something of her own. The first time she wasn’t handed an opportunity. The first time she took a chance on herself. It was also the first time she’d put everything at risk—her home, her savings, her reputation. She was a damn fool, or maybe a genius. Only time would tell.
She walked inside and breathed in the scent of lavender. It was supposed to be a calming scent, but her hummingbird heart hadn’t gotten the message. She walked past the wall of linens and the table of handmade papers to place her bag under the counter. She turned on the crystal lamps and picked a stray blonde hair from the plush chair where she hoped her second client would sit and plan their perfect day.
She questioned why she thought she could start a bridal shop. Perhaps it was due to Emmaline’s wedding turning out beautifully. She knew she was getting older and could not make a living peddling beauty products and makeovers forever. The last job she had was doing Mabel Pickleby's makeup for her funeral. While Mabel didn’t look a day over ninety, despite being a hundred and five when she passed, Charlotte didn’t want her future to be less alive than her clients.
A knock at the door startled her, making her jump a few inches off the glazed concrete floor.
“Come and open the door.” Her best friend, Emmaline, held a tray of coffees and a Cricket’s Diner box in her hands. It was hard not to think of her as a Brown, but since her wedding to Miles she was now a McClintock. “I come bearing gifts.”
Charlotte knew she could count on her friends to join her on opening day. She wouldn’t be allowed to open her doors and chew her fingernails to the nubs, worrying about how she would pay her next loan payment.
Her heels tip-tapped across the floor in a sharp staccato sound as she made her way back to the door, turned the closed sign to open, and swung the door wide enough for Emmaline and her box to clear the entry.
“Welcome to Because You Said Yes,” Charlotte said in her sweetest voice. “Let me help you before you drop those drinks and put me in debtor’s prison with everything the coffee will destroy.” This wasn’t a discount wedding shop. While she’d do her darnedest to get the best deal for her client, high-end was where her tastes sat and where she wanted to dabble. Nothing in her shop was standard. If a person could afford a planner, they could afford the pretties. Why be average when you could be extra?
Her mama used to tell her she could marry a rich man as easily as a poor man. Hell, her mama had married wealthy twice. One union lasted about six seconds, but the second a lifetime. Charlotte had never found any man worth marrying. They simply didn’t offer enough in exchange for a life sentence. But she loved a good wedding and opening Because You Said Yes would allow her to repeatedly experience the wedding of her dreams or someone else’s.
“What did you bring?”
“Cricket made you Mexican wedding cookies and a fresh pot of chicory coffee.” She leaned in and whispered, “It’s that private stock she keeps in the back for her special friends.”
Charlotte took the tray of coffees and set them on the counter. “It better not be that cat poop coffee she’s always trying to get us to drink.”
“It’s not. That’s called Kopi Luwak.”
“It’s cat shit coffee, no matter how you brew it.” She took the lid off the cup and breathed in the steam. Not that she didn’t trust Emmaline, but she wouldn’t put it past Cricket to trick her into trying something new. “Why do we have four cups?” After smelling the chicory, she deemed it safe to sip. The bitter grounds mixed nicely with her anxiety as the warm liquid eased down her throat to hit like a ball of acid in her gut.
“Because we’re expecting company. This is a big deal and requires a celebration and all celebrations include your friends.”
Just then, the door opened, and in walked Marybeth, looking like she was going to a funeral in her mostly black Chanel suit.
“Did someone die?” Charlotte said a silent prayer that no one in town had passed today. She made sure to pick a good day to open her business. It wasn’t a Friday, the 13th, or one of the historically unlucky days of theyear. It was a simple Wednesday in September. Though she’d missed the summer bride frenzy, she hoped that people would continue to marry throughout the year as they always did and choose her shop for planning their perfect day. Since weddings took months to organize, she was in the perfect position to snag all of next summer’s brides.
“Not yet, but after we celebrate your beginning, I’ll visit your neighbor. She’s taken a turn for the worse and nearing the end.”
Charlotte only had two neighbors. One was Dr. Robinson, and the other was a woman she hadn’t had time to get to know. “Who’s taken a turn for the worse?”
“Chloe Richmond.” Marybeth stared at her like she’d lost her mind. “You know, the woman with breast cancer who has a sweet little girl named Ivy? She’s not going to make it.”
Charlotte nearly dropped her coffee, but Emmaline took it from her hands as it tipped. “My neighbor is dying, and I didn’t know it?”
“In your defense,” Marybeth started. “You had a lot going on this summer with Brie and Emmaline. When you put your mind to Because You Said Yes, you’ve thought of nothing since. You’re like a dog with a bone.”
“And it’s about time,” Emmaline added. “No one deserves a happy ending as much as you do. You’ve always put others first.”
“Right, but I’ve got a dying neighbor, and I didn’t know it.” There were many things Charlotte was, but inconsiderate was not one of them. She was the model for Southern hospitality. Why hadn’t she spent more time getting to know her neighbor? She couldn’t even place her face. There was some recollection of a young girl running along the beach, but that could have been anyone’s child. “Give me one of those cookies so I can sweeten the sour feeling in my stomach.” What was going on with her? In her attempt to find a slice of happiness for herself, she’d turned into someone she didn’t know. She’d done things she promised she’d never do, like hawk her house to the hilt, bury herself in debt, and take risks with her future. She wasn’t a risk taker, and there were things an intelligent woman should never do. Maybe starting over at fifty should be one of them. “I’m an awful person.”
“No, you’re a woman finding her way to her true self.” Emmaline walked to the wall where a beautiful wedding dress was draped perfectly over a mannequin. “Are you sure you didn’t win the lottery? This dress alone had to cost ten grand.”
“Twelve,” Charlotte said with pride. It was the only dress she had in the store, but it was the dress of her dreams. She promised herself on day one that her business would reflect her dreams and the weddings she planned would be for her clients’. As she looked around the shop, it was everything she’d find on her dream day, from giant white magnolia blossoms to the custom beaded gown hanging on display.
“How did you afford this?” Emmaline let her fingers run over the beaded bodice before she turned to face Charlotte.
“My first gig was a smash.” She’d never tell her friend that she gave her everything at cost. Emmaline’s wedding wasn’t about making money, but about gaining courage. “Did you ever find your shoe?” She shuddered to think what that dog had done with her friend’s left shoe. She’d never heard of a dog with a shoe fetish, and certainly not one who could differentiate between left and right, and only stole the left ones.
