Page 82 of The Perfect Deal

“Nothing.” She gave me a sheepish grin, so I waited. “We’re doing wedding stuff.”

I wanted to read a lot more into that than I probably should have. “Yep. For our best friends.”

I thought I saw her face fall slightly as she nodded. “That’s true.” With that, she got out of the car and I wondered what the hell I’d said wrong, but she reached for my hand as we walked into the building, so I let it be. It couldn’t have been that bad if she still wanted to hold hands with me.

Inside, people were eating breakfast at little tables. This wasn’t just a caterer, they were also a restaurant, and it seemed like they were pretty busy. We strolled over to the checkout area in the back and waited a few minutes for a woman to come over.

She looked a little frazzled, like she was about to pull her gray-streaked dark hair out. “Can I help you?” At least she managed a smile.

“Good morning. I’m here to check on the Briar-Johnson catering menu. I’m Liberty, and this is Joshua. We’re part of the wedding party. The bride had a little bit of concern over the vegan options.”

“Oh, yes.” The woman’s face somehow grew more tense with each word coming out of Liberty’s mouth. “As I explained over the phone, we had a slight mix-up with the appetizers, but it’s been rectified now. I assured the bride that we would have the vegan options she asked for in the correct quantity for the wedding. Everything is going according to schedule, and there’s no reason to worry.”

“That’s wonderful.” Liberty’s mouth curled up at the edges in a knowing smile, as if to say she knew how Poppy could be when she thought something might be going wrong. “I’m so glad to hear that. You’re the owner?”

“That’s right. I’m Mildred Benson,” the woman replied, seeming to relax a bit as she saw that Liberty was going to be reasonable.

Liberty offered Mildred her hand. “So nice to meet you. I’ll let Poppy know that we double-checked with you and everything is fine. We appreciate your time. It seems you’re very busy, so we’ll get out of your hair.”

Mildred shook Liberty’s hand, so I offered her mine as well, which she took. Her grip was firm. “I know how stressful weddings can be. I assure you, we will be there on time with the correct menu items, as promised.”

“Wonderful. Poppy and Landon will be so thrilled. Have a wonderful day.” With that, Liberty turned to walk out the door, and since my hand was still in hers, I went along, wondering if I’d missed something or if it was truly that easy.

Back in the car, I asked, “Do you think that everything will really turn out all right?”

“Yes. My brother hired the best caterers around. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, but they called right away to let Poppy know they had it under control. They probably shouldn’t have even called her, but they wanted to be transparent. Anyway, that’s handled. Now, let’s go check on the flowers and cake.”

I went along with her on her other stops, watching in awe as Liberty handled everything smoothly. I was the businessman, or at least, I thought of myself as one, but she was the powerhouse when it came to making sure everything was as it should be. By the time we returned to her house, we knew everything was under control.

Just a few days later, the night before the wedding, I found myself once again in Landon’s house, this time with Luke as the three of us reminisced about old times in preparation for the upcoming nuptials. “I hope the girls are having fun over at Poppy’s house,” I said, my eyes moving in the direction of the house across the street where I knew the girl I loved was hanging out with the woman Landon was about to marry.

“I can’t believe you’ll be married tomorrow,” Luke said, shaking his head.

“I can’t either, but I also can’t wait.” Landon grinned at both of us.

“Do you remember that day in the park, when we were playing catch, and Poppy and Liberty showed up? What were we, like eleven?” Of all our childhood memories, that day was etched in my mind like none other. It was the day that I realized Landon loved Poppy more than anything, that he would even throw his best friend under the bus in order to impress her.

“Of course, I remember that day,” Landon said, a thoughtful expression on his face. “How could I ever forget it?”

“The two of you make an amazing couple, and whenever I see you together, I think about my own future and how blessed I’d be to have a love like that in my life someday.” Luke looked a little teary-eyed as he spoke, and I found myself getting a little misty as well.

Raising my glass, I said, “To true love.”

The other guys clinked their glasses against mine. “To true love.”

We all drank to that. As the whisky burned my throat, I wondered if someday I’d be the groom and Landon would be the best man. I had no idea what the future held, but I sure hoped that would be the case.

And I already had the bride in mind.

EPILOGUE

LIBERTY

Ihadn’t realized just how bright my yellow dress was until I put it on and stood next to Poppy wearing all white. She looked gorgeous, of course. All of us bridesmaids paled in comparison to the radiant bride, but that was okay. This was Poppy’s day, a day for her and my brother to be celebrated by all of their friends and family.

Poppy was doing her best not to cry as I helped her put on her mother’s gown. She’d had it taken in a bit, though her mother had always been a slender woman. Poppy was slightly taller, and her waist was so tiny, the dress had had to be altered to accommodate that. As I slipped the top button into place, I sighed and took a step back. “You look incredible,” I told her.

“Thank you, Liberty.” Poppy fanned her face, trying not to let the tears fall. The makeup artist had taken forever making sure everything was perfect. Neither one of us wanted to mess it up.