Lucy grabbed her old-fashioned notepad and braced herself to take notes.
“Okay, shoot,” Lucy prompted Maxine.
“Right now, we have Debbie and Luke.”
“And their wedding theme is…?” Lucy asked, taking another sip of her coffee.
“Mob-style wedding.”
Lucy spewed her coffee all over the desk.
“Girl, you okay?” Maxine got up and immediately went around the table to pat Lucy on the back as she choked.
“I’m good,” Lucy said after she composed herself. “Mob. Style. Wedding?”
“Yeah, it’s supposed to be a popular theme in Vegas.”
“Yeah, and this is so not Vegas. We are not, repeat, not, doing a mob-style wedding!” Lucy could hardly contain herself. Maybe she was in the wrong business. All she could think of was more injury, a gun going off in the wrong place. Not to mention…
“Mob-style weddings are not romantic! I’m sure the mob doesn’t do Mob. Style. Weddings!”
“Oh, really now? Do you know of any gangsters, Lucy?”
Lucy narrowed her eyes and scowled. “Okay, fine.” Lucy had to remember that she was in the business, however odd, of granting the dream weddings to their clients. However nightmarish they may seem. She dropped her pen on the desk beside her notepad and began rubbing her temples again. “I’m in the wrong business, Maxine. I believe in granting dreams to couples but…I can’t help but thinking this is going to be more of a nightmare than a dream. What if things go wrong?”
“Honey, they only want to use props, not real weapons.”
“Well, I figured as much, Maxine. That’s just not the point.”
“Listen, I’ve got to be heading out soon. Got a dentist appointment and I don’t want to miss this one.”
“Okay, who are the other wedding contracts?” Lucy asked quietly sucking in a deep breath. Breathe, Lucy. It’ll be okay. Just breathe. You are granting wishes here. It’s not about you, it’s about these wonderful people who want a chance at a happily-ever-after. And who could fault them, right? Maybe a little thing called…fate!
“Well,” Maxine continued, leaning back in the chair with a grin. “Crystal and Randy, who still don’t have a theme, but they want us to decide.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
For some reason, Lucy felt a small sense of relief. She thought of doing a risk-free romantic celebration.
“If you want, I can take that one over.” Maxine raised a brow with a wicked grin on her face.
“Okay, Maxine. I know it’s always been your dream, so…” Lucy breathed in then exhaled calmly. “We’ll do that one together. Okay?”
Maxine frowned. “Fine.”
“What’s the timeline on these?”
“Well, the mob-style is in two months and the unknown one is in two and a half months.”
“Great!”
“We’re not done yet, hon.”
“We’re not?”
“Nope.”
Maxine suppressed another wicked grin.
“Okay, Maxine. Cough it up.”
“Antonio Romero, that wealthy real-estate tycoon.”
“Romero? Romero Realty? No. Way.”
Maxine nodded slyly. “Yes. Way. And he’ll be the biggest client your aunt ever secured. God rest her soul.”
“Wow. I don’t believe it. But wait a minute. Isn’t he like, ninety?”
“Not quite. He’s seventy-six.” Maxine paused for a moment. “But he looks fit for his age and does scuba diving and stuff like that. Oh, this dude is young at heart. He’s got the body of a forty-nine-year-old. You know—like Joseph Pilates had.”
Lucy leaned back and relaxed in her soft-leather seat of her executive chair. Finally. A safe wedding. So, what could they do for a sweet elderly man and his equally senior bride? Perhaps they were both widowed and wanted a second chance at love. Maybe Dream Weddings could set up a romantic, authentic forties-style old Hollywood wedding theme from the era of the silver screen. That would be appropriate.
“Have they chosen a theme?” Lucy asked eagerly.
“Fun Birds!”
“Huh!” Okay, Lucy did not see that one coming. “Fun Birds?”
Maxine nodded emphatically. “It’s sort of like Angry Birds, only it’s not!”
Lucy could not imagine two seventy-something-year-olds having a Fun Bird wedding. “Okay, you’ve lost me. Exactly how are we going to do this?” Lucy leaned forward in her chair and pressed her elbows on her desk.
“Well, the bride wants to meet her groom at the altar by way of a human-sized slingshot.”
Lucy thought she was going to collapse. “Just…how old is this bride?” Or how young?