AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Grace hesitated. “Ten thousand dollars?”
“Make it twenty,” I said, hoping to ride the momentum since it felt like she was coming around. “And any other expenses you may have, clothes, shoes.”
“I can meet with you in person to discuss, but I make no promises,” Grace said. “Tomorrow at three in the afternoon. It’s the only opening I have this week.”
I found that very hard to believe. She knew I was in Europe and that I would have to drop everything and leave immediately if I wanted that appointment.
Grace was trying to get rid of me again.
Or she was trying to complicate my life.
“Verdana is over six-thousand miles away,” I said.
“Well then, you’d better get going,” Grace said, hanging up on me again for the third time.
“That woman has quite possibly lost her mind,” I said.
I shook my head in disbelief, then took another big gulp of my beer before I glanced out the window again.
“It was a good effort on your part,” Dante said. “Back to square one, then?”
“On the contrary . . .” I turned to him, ready to take the biggest gamble of my life. “Get the plane ready. We’re going to California.”
Chapter Two
GRACE
The Next Day . . .
My once lively office now felt like a ghost town, littered with broken dreams, unpaid bills, and an empty canister of See’s Candies Almond Royal chocolate bites. The only thing missing was tumbleweeds, but knowing my luck, they would blow through the front door at any moment now.
I sat at my desk, staring at the almost-empty inbox on my laptop screen. I hadn’t received a new email in three days, unless I counted the free dessert offer for my birthday from California Pizza Kitchen or the message in my spam folder from a very generous Nigerian prince.
Two prince imposters in twenty-four hours.
How did I go from being the most sought-after wedding planner in Southern California to rock bottom in fewer than three months? I really needed to stop dwelling on what happened and focus on drumming up new business.
My best friend Cristina would tell me to forget about the past, to chin up, and to manifest my future by visualizing what I really wanted. She’s the champion of pep talks, which I try to absorb as best as I can to keep myself from slipping into the pit of despair.
“Knock, knock!” Cristina beamed as she entered my office.
“Hey,” I said. “What are you up to?”
“I just happened to be in the area and thought I’d pop in to say hi.”
Cristina “just happened” to be in the area every single day this week, though I knew she was simply checking up on me. I honestly don’t know what I’d have done without her support. We’d always been there for each other. Like last year, when I had done the same for her during her ugly divorce. That’s what friends were for, to help us pick up the pieces when living our lives felt more like a losing round of Jenga.
Cristina plopped down on the edge of my desk, then leaned over to glance at my laptop. “What are you working on?”
I sighed. “Today’s the day I beg catering directors for potential clients.” I gestured to the list of names and phone numbers I had laid out. “I need to call these wedding venues.”
“I still think you should call back that prince,” Cristina said. “He could be your fairy godfather!”
“He’s nothing but a scam,” I replied. “European royalty would not call to request my disaster-magnet services after seeing those viral videos online.”
She refused to accept my response. “Prince Oliver believes in second chances, remember? He obviously wants to help make the world a better place. And you just are the lucky recipient of his kindness and compassion!”
I couldn’t help smiling. “I can’t believe how gullible you are.”
