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“What about this?” Steven pointed at a medley of green leaves in a bowl. Leaning forward with his fork, he speared one and brought it to his nose, sniffing it, a move he immediately regretted as the sour scent of vinegar burned his nostrils. “What is this?”
“They call it spinach surprise.” Rose wrinkled her nose. “None of us are brave enough to try it.” Her face morphed into a sweet smile, but he wasn’t fooled. “You should do the honors.”
I suppose I do owe her. Grimacing, he spooned some onto his plate. He sniffed it again, and the strange combination of vinegar and spice irritated his sinuses. Here goes nothing. After taking a tentative bite, he assessed the flavor. The vinegar came through pretty strong, but overall, it wasn’t bad. He detected garlic and some sort of creamy substance.
When he looked up, Rose and Lanie were leaning forward as if waiting to see whether he would keep the strange food down. Carissa had a hand over her mouth, probably hiding a smile. With a shrug, he took another bite. “It’s not bad, but I’m not sure I’d want to serve it at a wedding.”
Rose groaned. “Why is this so difficult? If we’d gotten married in Baltimore, we’d have more options for catering.”
Carissa put a hand on her arm. “But you’d pay far more for the experience. I know you want everything to be perfect, but remember, people are coming to see you and Steven get married. As long as you feed them something, they’ll be happy.”
With a pout, Rose pulled a salad toward her. “This is Caesar salad. It’s boring, I’ll admit, but at least it’s something most people enjoy.”
“Maybe you could have a small salad bar where people could make their own,” Lanie suggested.
“That’s a good idea,” Steven agreed. “And then they can put whatever color of vegetable they want on their plates.”
Rose smiled, her eyes lighting up. “I love salad bars at restaurants. I’m sure it’ll be a big hit.”
“That’s settled.” Carissa tapped away on her phone. “What were you thinking for the entrée? You said steak, but what else?”
Several different dishes sat before him—chicken, shrimp, crab cake, and pork chops—and he sampled each. The savory chicken was a tad on the dry side, and he could only imagine how much worse that would be after sitting over a chafing dish. Crab cakes made sense for a summer wedding in Maryland, but not everyone was a fan of seafood.
“How many entrees are we paying for again?”
Rose rolled her eyes at Lanie. “Typical male. Doesn’t pay attention to the details.”
“Hey!” Steven protested. “I’ve got a lot on my plate.”
“You sure do.” Lanie pointed at his literal plate and laughed.
“The package you picked includes three entrees,” Carissa said. “One of which needs to be vegetarian.”
Next, he tried the shrimp. The sweet-and-spicy marinade appealed to him but not as much as the crab. After all, the brackish water of the Chesapeake ran through his veins, and blue crabs were practically the state mascot. He reviewed the vegetarian options: wild mushroom risotto, three-cheese ravioli, and meatless lasagna. No matter what they chose, it would be some sort of pasta.
After a moment of contemplation, he tried the mushroom risotto. Good but not quite what he wanted. He sampled the rest of the vegetarian options. The cheese ravioli was better, but the lasagna somehow managed to taste just like it would with meat.
“My vote is for steak, crab cake, and the meatless lasagna.”
Rose frowned. “I was partial to the three-cheese ravioli myself.”
“The lasagna tasted just like the real thing to me.” Steven shrugged. “But I’m not a vegetarian, so I’m not sure that’s the goal.”
Carissa laughed. “Unfortunately, we don’t have time to bring in a vegetarian for their opinion, so why don’t we look at it from a price perspective?” After a quick glance at her phone, she continued, “According to the PDF they sent us, the ravioli is cheaper than the lasagna.”
“Then let’s go with that.” Between starting a business and trying to pay off his student loans, Steven hoped to curb the growing wedding costs as much as possible to avoid adding to their already strained finances.
Carissa finished tapping into her phone then stood. “Lanie, would you mind coming with me to talk to the caterer? While we’re gone, you two should try the cakes.”
Once they were alone, Steven leaned closer to Rose. “I know I complained about the expense of a wedding planner, but she sure is making this easier.”
Rose pressed her hand to her chest. “You have no idea. I can’t imagine what I would do without her. She’s managed to keep everything on schedule, which has stopped me from losing my mind.” She shook her head. “Why is wedding planning so hard?”
He rubbed her back. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around as much as I promised I would. But now that it’s summer, I’m hoping things at the firm will slow down.”
Leaning back in her chair, she raised a thin black eyebrow. “I’m not holding my breath.”
“I know I keep saying that, but between Sandra and Leslie, I feel like I’m starting to get a handle on things.”
