AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jane nodded as she grabbed the coffee and then sat back in her seat, looking quickly down at her own clothes. Her sister thought she was crazy for spending so much money on clothing, but she knew she wanted to dress the part here at The Oxford, and clothing was important to her. Today she had opted for a DVF wrap dress that she had been able to find at Nordstrom Rack at a discount. Every time she wore it, she felt beautiful because it was such a luxury piece.
“Thank you for this,” Jane said, holding up the coffee. “I was actually going to text you to see if you could meet up today. I spent some time yesterday creating a master wedding list and timeline for us,” she said.
“Oh, good,” Austin remarked, knowing that this list was important to Jane because she had mentioned it to him about a dozen times. “But, actually, I hate to do this, but we have a slight change in plans. I came to tell you that Molly is coming to town.”
Jane shot Austin a confused look. “Molly? Molly McKee?”
“Yes,” Austin nodded with a smile. “We connected last night and she felt it would be a good idea to come here and do a food and wine sampling, as well as look at the space to help her make decisions for Kat and Mike.”
Jane started to feel herself heat up. “So she called you about the wedding plans?”
Austin, sensing Jane’s tone, quickly tried to put the fire out, “Not about the wedding. She called to catch up since we didn’t have time to do it on the call the other day. As we were chatting, she mentioned that after the video call she thought it would be a good idea to make a quick trip here on her own and make some decisions on the spot since time is so tight.”
“OK…that’s probably not a bad idea,” Jane added, trying to keep herself on an even keel.
“I didn’t go behind your back,” Austin said abruptly, “if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Jane looked at him, knowing she wasn’t doing a good job of masking her frustration. “It’s not that…”
“Oh, it’s not?” Austin asked, semi-amused.
“It’s just that they’ve already been here, toured the place, and fell in love with it. I just worry that with Molly coming here we might end up with more work to do.”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Austin stated. “She said she wants to come and be able to head back to L.A. right away with solid choices for Kat and Mike.”
“For what? The menu?” Jane asked.
“Seems like it, yes,” Austin answered. “All I know is that she wants to come out to The Oxford to check out the food, wine, space, and layout, and check out some of our vendors, so it will help make decisions easier for her.”
Jane took a deep breath, “When is she planning on coming?”
“Sunday and Monday,” Austin answered.
“Austin, that gives me today and tomorrow to work on things to show her.”
“You do have me here to help,” Austin replied with an amused look. “Come on, I’m not going to drop the ball. Just tell me what I can work on today to get ready for her.”
Jane wanted to scream. She didn’t need this kind of added stress this weekend.
“Is there a way to make this work?” Austin asked, looking at Jane and seeing that she was obviously stressed by this news.
“A way to make it work? Yes…” Jane replied. “It’s just a tough weekend because we have several events going on here.”
“Well, what can I do?” Austin asked in a serious tone.
“Have you ever worked through a wedding here from beginning to end?” Jane asked curiously.
Austin looked at her, knowing he couldn’t lie, “No… not from beginning to end.”
“OK, well then… we have two weddings here tomorrow and it would be good if you could be here so we can walk through set-ups. It will give you an idea of the kinds of things we need to have ready and set for Molly when she comes. It will also give you a chance to see how we handle these things from start to finish.
“This way you can help me answer any questions that Molly might have. I do have the food preferences that Kat and Mike gave me when I showed them the menu during their initial tour. We can have Molly sample those items. Also, while she’s here, we can show her ideas for flowers and entertainment, and nail down the number of guests, things like that.” Jane’s head was spinning, but she was trying her best to stay cool. This kind of attention to detail was why she was so good at her job. Being so organized meant she could handle any kind of pressure.
“Maybe it’s a good thing she’s coming,” Austin said, trying to lighten the situation.
Jane had to admit he was right, but it still bugged her that Austin knew Molly was coming before she did. It would have been nice if Molly had emailed or messaged the two of them about wanting to come.
“Let me give you a copy of the master list so you can review it today and become familiar with the things we need to secure while she’s here with us.”
