I stood there, continuing to listen. He might have been attractive, if not for the sneer on his face, I thought.
“For god sake’s, Mom,” he said. “We’ve taken a huge hit on the wedding venue ever since that business with Holly Bishop.” He took off his cap and scrubbed a hand through his blonde hair. “Don’t tell me to calm down! I bet you she and her family are behind this somehow…You know they are. They probably hexed us or something.”
I set the herbs I’d been about to purchase back down. I couldn’t believe the man—who I surmised was Diane’s son—was standing there out in the open and bashing both my cousin and me.
I’d be damned if I’d give them any of my business, I decided. There were other garden centers in town. I left the cart where it was and walked away.
“Excuse me, Miss?” The man’s voice called out to me.
I stopped and slowly turned to face him. I spotted a nametag attached to his polo shirt. It read: Erik McBriar. Bingo, I thought.
“Can I help you find anything?” Erik had ended his call and was slipping the phone in his back pocket.
I looked down my nose at him. “Why, no thank you. I’ve decided to take my business elsewhere.”
His eyebrows raised at my accent. I could practically watch the wheels turn in his head, and saw the precise moment when he figured out who I was. “You overheard me.”
I nodded. “I sure as hell did, sugar.”
“People who eavesdrop may not like what they hear,” was his comeback.
I popped a hand on one hip. “I wasn’t eavesdropping, Mr. McBriar. You were shouting into the phone.” I tossed my head and headed for my car.
“Wait a damn second,” he said, rushing forward.
I spared him a glance from over my shoulder. “By the way, you can tell your mama that the ‘snooty Southern wedding coordinator’ will do her level best to try and find a different venue for the bride and groom who hired her.”
His nervous expression was most satisfying. I walked to my car, started it up and left the rude Mr. McBriar standing there with a look of shock on his face.
“There are other places in town that might work for the rustic theme Caroline and Lee are after,” I said, thinking out loud as I drove. “I’ll head back in to town, grab a coffee and brainstorm at the coffee house.”
Caroline and Lee only had eighty wedding guests, that smaller guest list would allow me more options. I blew out a long aggravated breath. I simply had to find the perfect venue…today.
I replayed the whole scene in my mind as I drove back to town. My temper was on a nice rolling boil as I thought back over the outrageous things Erik McBriar had said about my cousin…and then it hit me.
I’d automatically thought of Holly as my cousin…and had reacted protectively. It was a hell of a jolt to realize that I’d begun thinking of the Bishop girls as my family. Not relatives, but family.
With the import of my discovery sinking in, I parked in front of the coffee shop and walked in. I was pleased to see that the line was short, and I ordered a cappuccino and took my seat.
Janelle, the manager brought it to me a few moments later. “How goes everything?” she asked.
“Hey, Janelle.” I smiled when I saw she’d added a biscotti to the saucer of the oversized cup. “It’s going.” I considered her as she stood there. “You seem to have your finger on the pulse of this town. I was wondering…would you know of a local venue for a small wedding for under one hundred guests, that would have a rustic or vintage feel?”
She raised her brows. “Besides the McBriar Farm Wedding barn?”
I resisted the urge to curl my lip. “Exactly.”
“Ooooh.” Her eyes lit up and she took the seat across form me. “I smell gossip. Gimme.”
I cleared my throat against a chuckle and struggled to keep a neutral tone of voice. “I recently viewed the McBriar barn…”
“And?”
“And I’m not sure it has the right, atmosphere that my bride and groom are looking for.”
“Did you speak with Diane McBriar? She runs the wedding part of the business.”
I nodded. “She was one of the people I spoke to.”
“You must have run into Erik.” Janelle’s eyes narrowed. “He’s a real piece of work, and he hates the Bishop family.”
“Why on earth would he?”
The bells over the coffee shop door tinkled. “Here’s the person who can best answer that for you.” Janelle said, smiling at someone over my shoulder. “Hey, Holly.”
I shifted in my chair and saw Holly standing in a beam of light. The bright sunshine backlit her hair, and the long strawberry-blonde curls shimmered around her shoulders. “Hey there, Janelle.” She shifted her eyes to me. “Good morning, Maggie.”
Janelle stood and held out her chair. “Have a seat. Maggie has something to ask you.”
Holly smiled, passing Janelle a list of coffee orders. “For the office at the museum,” she explained.
With a nod, Janelle accepted the list. “I’m on it,” she said, moving behind the counter.
“What’s up?” Holly asked, smoothing the skirt of her long pink dress as she sat with me.
“Do you have a few moments?”
She brushed her curls away from her face. “Sure, I’m out making the coffee run for the office at the museum.”
“I went to view the McBriar wedding barn today for some clients of mine…” I trailed off as Holly’s shoulders stiffened.
“How’d that go?” she asked casually.
“Not well,” I said. “I had a run-in with the owner’s son.”
“Erik.” Holly blew out a long breath.
“He was less than pleasant, and he appears
