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“The bride doesn’t need to help.” Robin looked aghast at such a thing. In Eloise’s opinion, the more hands they had, the better.
“She’s going to wear gloves so she doesn’t scratch herself.” Madeline exchanged a glance with a dark-haired woman who reminded Eloise more of herself than the other women. “This is Julia Harper. We used to run the Lighthouse Inn together.”
Julia waved her hand, and Laurel’s chair scraped as she said. “I know you guys. I thought I did.” Her whole face beamed with light. “One of you has a sister named Annie.”
“That’s me,” Julia said, her head tilting to the side. “How do you know Annie?”
“We met her at The Holiday House.” She gestured to her and Robin. “When we went last year with Heidi. Remember, Robin?”
“I remember Annie,” Robin said slowly. “She’s a nurse, right?”
Julia smiled. “Yep. In Chatham.” She said the last two words with Robin.
Eloise marveled at how small the world could be sometimes. She smiled at the women there, another couple of them brunettes like her. “I’m Eloise,” she said, stepping forward to shake hands with one nearest to her.
“Tessa,” the woman said. “I think I know one of you too. I’m going to be working with her at Friendship Inn.”
“Clara,” several people said together, including Eloise.
“Yes.” Tessa smiled and glanced to the woman beside her. “Clara Tanner.”
As if on cue, the door opened again, and Clara entered first, then held the door for her daughter and her mother. They approached the group, and Jean went right over to Lena, took her hand, and helped her blend easily into the group.
“Tessa,” Clara said with surprise. “What are you doing here?” She surveyed the group as if something nefarious was going down, but Eloise had learned that that was simply how Clara operated—at least in the beginning.
She’d thaw and open up as time went on, but she actually liked to keep people at arm’s length.
“Maddy is one of my best friends,” Tessa said. “We’re here to curb the wedding emergency.”
“So are we,” Alice said. She smiled at the group too and shook a few hands as she added, “I’m Alice Rice. Welcome to the cove.”
“I live here now,” Tessa said. “On Sanctuary.” She smiled around and then finally indicated the woman at her side. “This is my sister, Janey Forsythe.”
“And we brought an excellent baker, Helen Ivy,” Julia said. “She’s going to finish up the wedding cake tonight and in the morning.”
The older woman—maybe even more aged than Kristen, who was nearly seventy-nine-years-old—beamed sun rays out of her bright blue eyes. “How early can I get into this building?”
“We can be here from eight to eleven,” Robin said. “Then we have to leave until six. The wedding is at seven, and we have the beach until ten.” She exchanged a glanced with Maddy, who was smiling with what felt like everything she had.
Eloise could feel her gratitude streaming into the air, and she wasn’t surprised when Maddy stepped into Robin and hugged her again. “Thank you so much.” She stepped back and cleared her throat, nodding to everyone gathered round. “To all of you. It really does take a village to pull off a wedding in only eight days.”
“That it does,” Robin said with a laugh. “All right, everyone. Pick a buddy and show them what we’re doing with the vases. I’ll take Maddy and put her on wreaths. Okay?” She clapped her hands, which reminded Eloise of a football coach, and turned into Maddy. They started talking, and Eloise met Tessa’s eyes.
“Want to be my buddy?” she asked.
Tessa grinned and nodded. “Yes, I do.”
Eloise started showing her how to group the flowers. “It’s not rocket science,” she said. “Robin and Mandie couldn’t get anything shorter than these, though, so we have to clip all the stems. Some of them are a little bent and they don’t like being un-bent.” Eloise manhandled the bouquet she’d been working on. “So we kind of stab them into the stones until they sit right and look good.”
Tessa nodded, and Eloise went with her to get more supplies. “We have to make corsages from these too, but Alice is the master at that.” Eloise gave Alice a smile as she went by. “Or Laurel. They’re more delicate with their hands.”
With more women in the room, the talking increased, but Eloise didn’t mind. Tessa wasn’t terribly talkative, and Eloise asked, “How long have you lived here?”
“Six months,” Tessa said.
“Do you like Sanctuary?” Eloise cut a flower stem and put it in the vase. Too short. She set it aside to give to Laurel to make a corsage with.
“Yes,” Tessa said. “I love it.”
