Mrs. Hannafort gripped her elbow, her face showing deep concern. “But what’s the actual date? Where are you having it? Have you sent out the save-the-date cards? Have you put together the guest list?”
Lily found herself glaring at Noah like she was drowning and he was the life preserver. She didn’t even know when the Saturdays in June were. “Oh, I forget. So many dates swirling around in my head right now.”
“It’s whatever that last Saturday in June is.” Right then and there, Noah upped the ante. Lily bugged her eyes at him, but the look on his face said he was winging it as much as she was.
“Neither of you knows the actual date?” Enough confusion crossed Marcy’s face to cause Lily more than a little worry. Surely she and Noah were sending mixed signals right now.
Lily grabbed Noah’s arm and cozied up to him, digging her fingernails into his biceps for good measure. If she was going to suffer, he could, too. “You mean June 28. Remember?”
“We haven’t settled on a location yet because we haven’t decided how big the guest list should be. We’re still making up our minds. Lily has been so busy at work,” Noah said.
This is my fault? “Noah won’t admit it, but he’s the real reason we haven’t made any decisions. He’s very hard to pin down.” Although he had no problem pinning me down last night.
Marcy’s face appeared positively horrified. “No. No. No. Lily, darling. This will not do. You hardly know the date of your own wedding? And you haven’t picked a venue yet? We need to straighten this out right away.” She turned to Noah and stuck her finger in his face. “And you need to stop being so indecisive. No bride wants to deal with that. If she wants your two cents, you give it to her.”
“Right. Of course.” Noah looked as though he’d never been scolded so harshly in all his life.
Marcy shook her head. “I swear you two are exactly like Annie and Brad. You need to take this more seriously. Chop-chop.” She popped up onto her tiptoes and waved down her husband, who headed right over. “Luckily, I have an idea.”
Lyle set his hand on Marcy’s shoulder when he reached them. “Looks like we’re having a real confab over here.”
“I was talking to Lily and Noah about their wedding. It’s June 28 and they don’t have a venue yet. What if they did it at the Grand Legacy? And we could use the wedding as part of a publicity plan in conjunction with announcing the joint venture between Hannafort and Locke? Sort of like we used this weekend to have our soft opening of Key Marly.”
Lily could see the gears turning in Lyle Hannafort’s head and that scared her right down to her bones. “My darling, you are a genius. I love it. We’re going to have to light a fire under the lawyers if we’re going to get the deal done that quickly, but you know me. I don’t like to sit around and wait. Plus, I can just see it. A big, fancy Locke family wedding at the newest beauty in the Hannafort Hotels stable. I think it’s a fabulous idea. Lily? Noah? Would you be up for that? It’ll get the deal going on a quicker timetable.”
“Yes,” Noah blurted. “Absolutely. It’s a wonderful idea.”
“Maybe we should talk about it first?” Lily asked, giving Noah’s arm an extra hard squeeze.
Marcy shook her head at Lily while a sweet but condescending smile spread across her face. “I know you’re nervous, darling, but trust me. You need to make these decisions now or you won’t have your dream wedding. You only get one shot at this.”
Or two, if you’re me. Lily did not like this scenario at all. Pretending for a weekend was one thing. This was an entirely new level of deception and lying, all tied up in a bow called mental anguish. Could she do this? Noah shot her a look that said he was sorry, but she’d better fall in line. She hated it when he looked at her like that. She had no good answer for it. She scanned Marcy’s and Lyle’s faces and forced herself to see her nest egg. Her secure future. Everything she’d worked so hard for over the last two years. If this meant the deal happened faster, she and Noah could break things off before the actual wedding happened, and hopefully it wouldn’t have to be that big of a deal since everything would be easily canceled with the Grand Legacy.
“I’m sure Sawyer will be pleased.” Lyle reached over and patted Noah on the shoulder. “And to think I almost pulled out of it after seeing that silly video. Now I know what a good guy you are.”
“Then it’s settled,” Marcy said. “And I want to donate my services as wedding planner. Lyle and I will be back in New York in a few days and we can start working on it then.”