“Actually, all the details,” Skylar interjected.
Nodding, Josie agreed. “All the details, then I think we could potentially know by the end of the week if we can make it happen for you.”
Beside him, he heard Mia’s soft gasp of surprise, and he knew she had only been humoring him because she didn’t think it could happen. But now that it seemed like a very real possibility, he wanted to make sure he wasn’t forcing her into something she honestly didn’t want.
Ignoring the planners, he turned and gave Mia his full attention. “I don’t want you to feel any pressure here. If this isn’t going to make you happy or it’s going to stress you out too much, just say the word and we’ll go back to our original plan for the summer. I know you’re on a deadline, and the holidays are always chaotic, but…”
She placed one slim finger over his lips. “I’m always on a deadline and I always take off over the holidays. But knowing that we can be married by the end of the year? I can’t think of anything I’d rather do more.” Her eyes shone with unshed tears and Austin swore he had no idea what he had ever done to deserve her. She was far too good for him, but he loved her more than he thought possible.
Kissing her finger, he asked, “So we’re doing this?”
She nodded giddily. “I think we are!”
Together, they faced Skylar, Leanna, and Josie. “Okay,” he said. “Where do we begin?”
Austin considered himself to be a somewhat organized person, but when they started rapid-firing questions at him, he knew he was way out of his element. Glancing at Mia, she must have read the panic on his face and thankfully took pity on him.
Holding up her hand, she was very diplomatic about her approach. “One question at a time, please.”
Skylar spoke first. “Venue. Do you have one picked out?”
“My cousin Mason had his wedding at a hotel down in Wilmington that was right on the beach,” Austin explained before glancing at Mia. “You and I went there for dinner a couple of times, remember?”
Nodding, she looked at the planners. “It was lovely.” Pulling out her phone, she did a search for it and showed it to the women.
Josie wrote down some notes before asking, “What about dates? If we can nail that down, I can get on the phone with the hotel right now and see what’s available.”
Everyone took out their phones and looked at their calendars, and Mia asked for the week before Christmas. “I don’t want to take anyone away from their holiday celebrations, and the thought of spending Christmas as a married couple–perhaps on vacation in Hawaii–sounds wonderful.”
Austin agreed.
Josie rose and walked away from the table to make the call to the hotel while Skylar moved on to the next item.
And the next.
And the next.
Had he known all that was involved, he probably wouldn’t have come up with this idea of fast-tracking the wedding. However, now that they were here, he figured he needed to see it through and see what they could come up with.
Invitations, flowers, photographer, videographer, cake, dresses, tuxes…he was on the brink of waving the white flag when Josie finally returned to the table.
“Okay, they have Sunday, December 19th available, surprisingly. However, it would have to be an early afternoon wedding,” Josie said with a big smile. “Will that work? We have fifteen minutes to get back and confirm that we want it.”
Austin and Mia exchanged glances and nodded. “Book it!”
Josie nodded and got up from the table again.
For the next two hours, they did more than he thought possible, including offering to book an appointment for Mia with a bridal shop to look at gowns.
“The girls at Enchanted Bridal can really help you better than any other shop I know of,” Skylar assured them. “On such short notice, you’ll be dealing with buying off the rack, but I can guarantee they’ll find the perfect dress for you.”
Leanna–who was the baker of the group–held up her phone. “I can call and make the appointment for you. Do you know when you want to come back to Raleigh?”
“Um…let’s say next weekend. This way, I can bring my maid of honor with me.” Then she gasped.
“What? What’s the matter?” he asked.
“Well, I was going to have a bigger bridal party if we had more time, but now I think I’ll only ask Sydney.” She frowned. “And then you’ll only need a best man.” Another pause. “And Jackson won’t be here! Your baby brother isn’t going to be at our wedding, Austin! He’s going to be offended!”
Things were spiraling quickly.
“Venue is booked!” Josie announced as she sat back down. “They’re emailing the contract over, and since we’re just at the eight-week time, they’re going to need payment in full. We’ll also need to talk about menus. They’ll hold the banquet room with the payment, but then everything else will be done on a separate contract unless you want to bring in your own caterers?”
“Um…”
“Let’s start small,” Leanna said. “You know that I do cakes, but that doesn’t mean you have to use me.”
“We have a fantastic bakery back in Magnolia,” Austin explained. “I think Mrs. Henderson would be devastated if we didn’t use her for our cake, don’t you, Mia?”
She nodded. “Definitely.”
“Okay, so then you’ll handle the cake,” Leanna went on, making notes. “And if I can offer a suggestion…I say let the hotel handle the food. It will be easier at this late of a date, and since you’ve already gone to an event there, you’ve got an idea of what they offer.” She glanced at Josie. “Ask them to send the menu over with the contract so we can possibly hammer that out today, as well.”
Mia gripped his hand tightly as they moved on with as much of the plans as they could handle in one day.
Two hours later, they walked outside and let out sighs of relief.
“That was…intense,” Mia said, looking around.
All Austin could do was nod.
“So, you ready to head home?” she asked. “Maybe we can grab some dinner first. What do you think?”
They were walking to their car when Austin stopped and gently pulled her into his arms. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For doing this. I have to admit, I came close to having a panic attack in there at least three separate times. I even thought of calling it all off and going back to the summer plans, but…” He shrugged. “It seemed like everything was falling into place and I took that as a sign that maybe this is what we’re supposed to do.”
“I know what you mean. There were definitely a couple of scary moments, but then it was like you said, everything fell into place. It seems weird how it’s working this way, but I’m not going to question it.” Standing on her toes, she kissed him softly on the lips. “So, where did we land on dinner?”
An idea came to him.
“There was a mall not too far from here,” he began as he caressed her cheek. “What would you say to going and buying a change of clothes for us both and spending the night here in Raleigh? We can find a nice hotel, order room service, and celebrate a successful day.”