She’d gone through her filing cabinet the previous night, looked up her divorce papers, found Leah’s name on them, confirming what she already knew in her heart. Her intention had been to give herself the evening to be angry. Leah Scott was the one who’d gotten Julia such a ridiculous settlement. Leah Scott was the reason Teddi had had no choice but to close not one but two of her three locations in order to pay Julia what she wanted—what she deserved, if you read the documents. Teddi was bitter. Absolutely, she was. Who wouldn’t be in her situation? So she’d gone home right after her meeting with the Scott sisters, Oxy-cleaned the hell out of the coffee stain in her favorite dress—another thing she’d likely lose, thanks to Leah Scott—and stomped around her house in the foulest of moods.
Yeah, still pissed. That was her first thought when she opened her eyes the next morning, so she’d allowed herself another day to just be mad. Preston had watched her stomp around the shop, speak rather curtly to her vendors, rip open her mail with more force than necessary. Smartly, he’d given her a wide berth, and when she’d come in the day after that, she was back to her old self again. A week had gone by. Two weeks. Teddi felt better, felt like her old self, finally.
Until today.
Because today, she would be seeing the Scotts again.
Really hoping any history you may have with my sister won’t affect our working relationship, Kelly Scott had texted her the day after they’d met last time. I feel like you understand exactly what I want for my wedding, so I hope we can continue to work together.
“I was kind of hoping she’d bow out,” Teddi had admitted to Harlow on the phone that night. “Like, she’d feel awkward and decide maybe it was better to find another wedding planner.”
“Except you can’t be turning away clients,” had been Harlow’s very accurate response.
“Exactly.”
“Can I say something you’re not going to like?”
“It’s adorable that you pretend I have a choice.”
“Funny. I just want to make sure that you know, if you need to blame somebody, blame Julia, not Leah Scott. She was just doing her job. It wasn’t personal.”
“I know,” Teddi said. And she did. She understood that. She also understood that it had been very personal for her.
And so, here she stood, behind the counter in her shop, piles of emails to return and calls to make, just minutes away from another meeting with the Scott sisters.
“You okay?” Preston asked as he made himself a cup of coffee from the Keurig.
Teddi saw the slight concern in his eyes. “Sure. Why?”
“Because you’ve been staring out the front window for about…” He checked the gold watch on his wrist. “Seventeen minutes now.”
Forced smile. Straightened posture. Teddi tipped her head from one side to the other, feeling the satisfying pop in her vertebrae. “I’m good.”
“Nervous?”
“A little, I guess. Which I hate.”
Preston crossed to the counter with the coffee and surprised her by sliding it across to her. It was in one of the to-go cups they kept a supply of. She grinned at him. “No spilling or dropping, okay?”
“What about throwing?”
“No throwing.”
Teddi sighed dramatically. “Fine. Fun killer.”
“It’s really okay. All right? It’s business. Income. Pretend they have dollar signs tattooed all over them.”
That brought a tiny bubble of a chuckle up from her lungs. “I’ll do that.” It had been a short and sweet pep talk, but it helped and she was grateful.
Through the shop’s window, she saw Kelly Scott slam her car door and hurry across the street toward the door. Maybe it would just be her today, no Leah. One could hope, right?
“Here we go,” Preston said, then took up residence behind the counter to take care of email and answer the phone while Teddi was busy.
The door swung open, letting in the chilly fall breeze that seemed to be the new regular thing lately. Kelly bustled in, smiling and cheerful, as she’d been both times Teddi had met with her, and Teddi really looked at her for the first time, noticed she was a shorter, slightly plumper, less sleek version of her big sister. While her hair was a touch lighter blond than Leah’s and her eyes were more hazel than Leah’s arresting green ones, their bone structure was similar—high cheekbones, rounded jawline—and you could tell they were siblings. Today, she wore comfy-looking jeans, a light blue sweater, and white Chucks. A picture of her sitting cross-legged on the floor reading to small children needed no conjuring. It just was.
“Kelly. Hi. How were the kids today?” Teddi greeted her client with a smile and an outstretched hand.
“A little wild,” Kelly said with a half grin. “Halloween is close and the excitement levels are off the charts.”
“I bet.” Teddi put away anything that wasn’t work-related. In a box. Marked it not important right now. Put it up on a high shelf in her brain. It was time for business. “Is Leah coming?” Oops. Okay, so that slipped out.
“Supposedly.” Kelly said it with the smile and acceptance of a person used to the tardiness. She took off her jacket and draped it over the back of a chair, then sat.
How did they plan weddings before the internet? Teddi asked herself that question almost daily. Even when she’d first started out nearly ten years ago, she’d had so much at her fingertips. Finding colors, choices, designs was super simple and there were too many, really. Luckily, most women planning a wedding—or who even hoped to eventually get married—tended to have a Pinterest board where they pinned anything and everything that sparked some kind of interest. Wedding gowns, bridesmaids dresses, tablescapes, venues, color schemes…it was all there for the scrolling. Part of Teddi’s research on a client was to check out her Pinterest board. Incredible how much you could learn about someone just from scrolling through the things she liked.
“Okay,” she said to Kelly as they settled in. Teddi slid her chair around so she sat next to Kelly rather than across from her. Touching the screen on her tablet, she said, “Let’s take a look at your Pinterest board.”
They’d been at it for about twenty minutes, scrolling, brainstorming, Teddi getting to know Kelly a bit better, when the door swung open.
“I know, I know,” Leah said. Her heels clicked on the floor and she crossed to the table and the empty chair on the other side of Kelly. She seemed breathless. A little frazzled. “I’m late. Not news. I’m sorry.” Annoyed with herself, definitely, Teddi could see that. Leah opened her trench, slipped it off her arms to reveal a smart black pantsuit with a silver silk shell underneath the jacket. Her blond hair was pulled partially back, the rest hanging down in gentle waves that cascaded over her shoulders. She took a seat, glanced up at Teddi for a split second, then quickly back down.
She’s as nervous as I am.
She could be wrong, but it seemed pretty clear that Leah had also figured out their connection and was a bit uncomfortable. Well, good. She should be. Vowing to make as little eye contact as possible—because Teddi was twelve, apparently—she instead watched Leah’s hands as she pointed to different things on the tablet Kelly held. How had she not noticed what beautiful hands Leah had? Small. Fine-boned. Her nails were manicured, the polish white—the latest trend, and it looked unexpectedly sophisticated on her. Oh my God, stop it! This is the woman who helped take two-thirds of your business!