Chapter 1
Presley
I tap the steering wheel with my perfectly manicured nail as I sing along to the song blasting from the radio when I pull up to the office. I park my car next to my sisters’, then grab my iced latte and my new Yves St. Laurent bag. Putting my purse under my arm, I shut the door and take a look around, seeing the flowers starting to bloom on the trees. When my sisters and I decided to go into business together, we got the idea from our mom and aunt, who ran a small wedding planning business. But the three of us didn't just want to plan weddings. No, we wanted to be the best event planners in the business, and with that came the idea to build our own event space. We bought a huge piece of land and slowly built it up.
Our main offices were in a nice little bungalow we built with three offices upstairs where the bedrooms would be, and the downstairs was a little setup of things we have done along with pictures from all our events. I look off toward the right and see the food truck as well. The main thing that took the longest to build was the actual event building.
It looks like a barn from the outside, but once you get inside, you’ll find rustic wooden floors and exposed wooden beams that can be dressed up. It can fit up to five hundred and fifty people. Right behind the barn is a kitchen where the caterers can set up.
I smile, turning and making my way up the stairs. The sound of my heels on the concrete steps echoes in the quietness of the morning.
I grab the door handle, pull it open, and step in. The cold air hits me right away. Stepping in, I see Clarabella and Shelby standing in the waiting area. I take a big inhale. "You know what that smells like?" I smile, looking at both of them. They stand in front of me. Clarabella in blue pants and a white top. Shelby in white jeans and a silk pink tank top.
"Like you've had sex?" Clarabella says, looking at me. I glare at her, but she can't see since my black sunglasses hide my eyes. She brings her cup of coffee to her lips, trying to hide the smile behind it, but her blue eyes squint.
"No, asshole," I say, "it smells like wedding season."
"It smelled like cow shit when I drove up today," Shelby complains, her face grimaced. "But I guess I should see the glass half full."
"Oh, come on," I urge, lifting my glasses on top of my head. "It's sunny and beautiful outside." I point at the open shade as the sun shines into the office. "It's going to be a great day."
"I don't like this, Presley." Clarabella points at me. "Ever since you got into the Zen shit, it's like I don't even know who you are."
"It's not about being Zen. It's about looking for the good in the day," I say, walking down the hallway toward my office. I pass Shelby's and Clarabella's offices. Mine is all the way in the back with all the windows.
"I blame you," Clarabella accuses. I look over my shoulder as she glares at Shelby, who just stands there with her mouth open.
"Why me?" she shrieks and points at her chest.
"You got her that eat, pray, love bullshit diary," Clarabella says, shaking her head and turning to follow me into my office. "Tell me five things that made you smile today," she mimics one of the questions in the book. "Take a minute to tell us what went wrong but, in the end, didn't change the outcome." I chuckle at her as I walk around my desk, putting my iced coffee down on the coaster before walking over to the blinds and opening them to let the sun shine in.
"I got you the same one," Shelby points out. "And you stayed normal." They both walk into my office, going over to sit on the white loveseat I have against the wall that faces my desk.
"It has to be the sex, then." Clarabella looks at me, and I pinch my eyebrows together, admitting nothing. Trying to portray the cool collectiveness that I'm attempting to channel.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," I lie through my teeth. "I got up at five o'clock today." I sit down in the office chair. "After I worked out, I had my coffee and counted my blessings."
"She's broken," Shelby declares, looking at Clarabella while I laugh. "I broke her."
"I'm not broken," I say, shaking my head, and I wince when I cross my legs. Rolling my lips because it has nothing to do with the workout. Did I wake up at five o’clock today? I did. Did I do it to work out? Some would call sex the best workout you can get. Did I want to admit this to my sisters? Absolutely not. "Maybe I'm maturing." I grab the iced coffee and bring the cup to my lips. "I mean, I'm going to be thirty in a couple of months, after all."
"Oh, here she goes." Shelby rolls her eyes.
"Don't here we go." I hold up my hand. "We have so much to be thankful for."
"I'm leaving." Clarabella stands. "If she's going to go all eat, pray, love, I'm going to throw up that amazing breakfast my husband made me this morning." She mentions her husband, Luke, who is one of the best cooks out there.
"Okay, fine," I huff. "I'm just going to say it'll be nice to go into the wedding season with neither of you getting married." I smile. "It's less stress to not have to worry if the wedding is actually going to take place." I point at both of them. "Between Travis and his almost first wedding. To you becoming a legend for walking down the aisle and then fucking off." I point at Shelby. "And to you for being a runaway bride." I point at Clarabella.
"I wasn't a runaway bride," she huffs. "I left." I tilt my head to the side. "Quickly." I raise my eyebrows at her. "In a truck."
"Literally left the scene of the crime." Shelby gets up now, laughing. "Leaving the murder weapon behind."
"Well, she did leave with a different murder weapon." I chuckle at my pun and take another sip of the iced coffee. "He murdered her vagina with it."
"That he did," Clarabella admits. "He still does it." She smiles wide. "Now, are we going to discuss sex lives because if that's the case." She turns the tables on me and tilts her head. "How about you go first?"
"Don't you two have work to do?" I glare at her, then turn my glare to Shelby. "Isn't there a phone that you need to go and have sex on?"
Shelby rolls her eyes at me. "When your man starts traveling—"
"I don't have a man," I cut her off quickly.
"Okay, fine. If your 'friend'"—she makes air quotes—"travels, you tell me you won't have phone sex."
"You can go without sex for a week. You won't die." I lean back in the chair.
"Not when you have good sex," Clarabella states. "It's like a drug."
I roll my eyes. "You can both go now," I say, ignoring the way they snicker at each other as they walk out of the room. I turn on my computer and work on returning emails and phone calls. The three of us all deal with different aspects of the planning. Clarabella takes care of the food and drinks. Shelby does the decorations, and I meet with the couples and we go over scheduling of events. I look over my calendar and set two alarms on my phone for when I have to be ready for meetings.