What Goes Around Comes Around Read online

  “That’s my girl. So, then to bring you up to speed, Edward and Marly want different things for the wedding. She wants small and simple, he wants big and fancy. Olivia is happy no matter what, and Jasper is neutral and probably just wants it all to be over with.” Gertie maneuvered herself around a can of paint and nodded at the young man dipping a brush into it to touch up the already vibrant white walls.

  “Anyway, Marly’s original venue was The Marquis. The one that had the bad fire a few weeks ago. Marly has a few things that survived the fire that she will be sending over to us.”

  “Okay.”

  “The rest of the items you will either need to buy or get from storage. It’s up to you to keep all the parties happy and stay within the limited budget.” Gertie slowed and leaned toward Veronica. “That Edward sure is a tightwad. With all his money, you’d think he’d spend more on his only son’s wedding. But what can you do?”

  Veronica shrugged. She didn’t have fond memories of Edward and wasn’t surprised to find out he was cheap.

  “Easy stuff! You can handle that, right? We are under the gun here with only nine days to pull this whole thing off.”

  “Of course I can handle it, no problem.” Veronica hoped Gertie didn’t detect the slight tone of panic in her voice. She reminded herself to make sure to actually write things down next time. Things had moved so fast this morning she’d forgotten to take any notes, not that there had been much to take down. It had mostly been about Marly not wanting Veronica to coordinate the wedding.

  “That’s what I like to hear. The rest of the information is on your desk. I’ll check back with you later today.” Gertie wheeled off toward her office humming.

  Veronica continued down the hall, starting a mental list of everything she needed to do. She was thrilled to have this job. She’d never technically been an “event planner” before, but she had coordinated the entire cooking show where she had met Gertie. Apparently she’d done well enough to impress the old woman.

  And before that, as Jasper’s assistant, she’d had to organize and coordinate plenty. She could do this. At the show and working for Jasper, she had always been behind the scenes. Now she would actually get credit for her work, whether it was good or bad. She was determined it would be amazing.

  Her stomach growled, and she paused briefly, looking around trying to remember where she had seen a small break room that contained a few vending machines. It was her first day working in the building, and she’d barely had time to set up her office before the meeting.

  At the top of the stairs, she found the door with “Break Room” on it and pushed it open slowly. The room was immaculate, and Veronica smiled as she pictured Gertie telling whoever was responsible for keeping it clean that it needed to be spotless at all times. Gertie ran a tight ship, and a very clean one at that.

  The floor was black tile shot through with white specks. Cherry-red-lacquered cabinets ran along half of one of the walls. Veronica opened a few of the doors. They were stocked with coffee and teas, ramen noodles, even some cans of tuna fish, in addition to Styrofoam cups and paper plates.

  The full-size refrigerator and sink were both much nicer than those in Veronica’s apartment. The long, gold-flecked white granite countertop had nary a crumb on it, and housed a toaster, coffee machine, and microwave. Comfortable-looking black leather barstools were situated around four pub tables of dark cherry and granite. The room looked more like something from a glamorous house than an employee break room. Gertie treated her employees well.

  She walked toward one of the vending machines, its contents calling out to her from behind the streak-free glass. She pored over the options, her eyes lingering on the familiar brown package of M&Ms that she had chosen hundreds of times before. Not this time. She had lost close to forty pounds after leaving the island where the cooking show had been taped, and she intended on keeping it that way. Even though she wasn’t as thin as she had been when she had worked with Marly, she was getting there.

  She pushed the buttons for a Peppermint Patty, and it glided effortlessly out of the machine. Peppermint Patties were a good choice—lower in fat and fewer calories. And they were just as satisfying. She picked it up, peeled back the silver wrapping, and took a small bite out of the round minty chocolate.

  Harper Sullivan peeked over the railing at the top of the stairway, making sure that no one was on their way up to the break room. She had discreetly followed Veronica upstairs to meet her. She was curious after all the things she’d heard from her Uncle Tanner. Could the woman really be that bad?

  Harper loved her uncle more than anyone. He was all she had left, and after everything he’d been through, she knew she should cut him some slack. But she also knew he could be a bit dramatic.

  She cautiously pushed open the door to the break room. Her eyes fell on Veronica standing in front of the vending machine, and she tried to feign surprise.

  “Oh, hi! Sorry to barge in. I’m Harper, nice to meet you.” She extended her hand and waited while Veronica juggled her cell phone and a Peppermint Patty, so she could shake hands.

  “Hi, I’m Veronica. Veronica St. James. It’s nice to meet you.”

  Harper smiled, giving Veronica a quick once-over. Uncle Tanner had said she was stick thin and sickly looking. Was this the right Veronica? This woman was curvy and definitely didn’t look sickly.

  She wore a top-notch designer suit, and her dark blond hair, which had been pulled up into a ponytail on top, fell past her shoulders. She had high cheekbones and large velvety-brown eyes. Her face was a bit thin. Maybe that’s what Uncle Tanner had meant.

  “This is a great break room, huh? Gertie went all out on it, that’s for sure. Those cabinets are stocked with coffee pods for the Keurig, and there’s a bunch of tea in the other ones.” Veronica pointed to the wall of cabinets as Harper looked around.

  “So how many people work here?” Veronica asked.

  “Did you just start?” Harper pretended she didn’t already know it was the woman’s first day.

  “Yeah. First day.”

  “I haven’t been here that long either. Well, I guess none of us have, but it seems there are a lot of employees. I’m not sure how many exactly. I’m psyched we have our first wedding. I heard the bride is some fashion designer and the groom is her boss, or something weird like that. Her original venue burned down two weeks ago. Can you imagine that happening?” Harper clenched her fist, digging her nails into her palm to stop the nervous babble streaming from her mouth. She was actually pretty introverted, so talking to a stranger like this was a bit out of her comfort zone. Still, it had to be done if she wanted to keep her promise to her uncle.

  “Yeah, it’s definitely going to be a challenge to throw a wedding together in nine days, but I’m sure we can do it. How do you know Gertie?” Veronica asked.

  “Oh, I work downstairs.”

  Veronica’s face twisted a bit, and Harper immediately knew that she needed to say something more to avoid answering her question in further detail. Her uncle had pulled some strings to make sure she’d been hired to take inventory and sort through all of the crap Gertie had bought from other venues, as well as be a gofer. But she didn’t want Veronica to know that.

  “So what do you do here anyway? I saw you earlier in a meeting, I think?”

  “I’m the event planner. I work with the bride and groom, plan things out, you know.” Veronica crumpled up her candy wrapper and tossed it into the trash.

  “Oh, cool! So you get to plan all the stuff, huh? So you aren’t worried about the wedding? I mean, having to pull things together so fast and all,” Harper asked.

  “I think it will be fine. It’ll be a lot of work, but Gertie is counting on me. Besides, I know some of the stuff that the bride wants survived the fire at the other place, so at least I won’t be starting from scratch. She can still use the same photographer and band, so I won’t have to deal with that.”

  “You probably have to have a lot of meetings and wo
rk pretty closely given the limited amount of time.” Harper hoped it didn’t sound as though she was fishing for information.

  Veronica nodded. “The bride, Marly, is supposed to come by the day after tomorrow to look at a few things Gertie has in-house, like the linens and centerpieces. I just hope we have something she likes.”

  Veronica spoke as if she didn’t like Marly that much. Hadn’t Uncle Tanner said that Marly and Veronica were good friends?

  “Yeah, people can get worked up over this stuff. Even if they are normally really nice,” Harper said, hoping her comment would entice Veronica to say more.

  “Yeah, and when they aren’t nice to begin with…” Veronica let the sentence trail off, apparently realizing she’d said too much.

  But Harper had heard what she needed. Maybe Uncle Tanner had been right about her.

  Harper leaned toward Veronica conspiratorially and lowered her voice. “I know. Some girls just turn into total bitches, especially if they are prone to that. And here I heard that the couple was like some power couple or something. You’d think that would make anyone act nice.”

  “They are. The perfect power couple. But with a strict budget. But not strict enough that she couldn’t drop the dough to design her own wedding gown with one of those over-the-top boutique wedding shops.”

  “Well, that’s one less thing you’ll have to deal with.” Harper had an idea. “Is that the shop on East Lowe Street?”

  Veronica scrunched up her face. “I’m not sure. Maybe. Anyway, I gotta run. It was great to meet you. I’m sure we’ll see each other around.”

  Harper watched Veronica leave. She’d seemed nice at first, but Uncle Tanner was right. Veronica definitely didn’t seem happy for Marly. What kind of a mean person wouldn’t be happy about helping to plan a friend’s wedding?

  Then again, given what had happened with Harper’s own wedding, she could see how weddings in general could make one cranky. Maybe Veronica had a sob story like Harper’s.

  She glanced down at her phone, her chest constricting when she saw there was no text yet from Tanner. Her parents had been killed when she was just a toddler, and Uncle Tanner and Aunt Emily had opened their home and their hearts to her. She owed him, but she wasn’t so sure about some of the things he’d asked her to do here.

  She sat on one of the barstools, family duty warring with her sense of right and wrong. But then she remembered how despondent her uncle had been when his fashion company, Theorim Designs, had failed. That company had been the only thing that had pulled him out of the depression he’d sunk into after Aunt Emily died.

  Tanner had told her that Veronica and Marly were responsible for the company failing. She didn’t know what they had done to cause the company to collapse, but they both deserved what they were about to get.

  3

  Back in her office, Veronica kicked herself for opening her big mouth in front of that girl, Harper. Lucky she hadn’t actually said all of the bad things she’d been thinking about Marly in her head out loud. It wasn’t smart to bad-mouth the client, even if the person you were talking to seemed sympathetic.

  She’d have to be careful about what she said to people. She needed to act professionally and didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize this job. Especially when it came with this nice corner office. As a secretary, she’d never had her own office. She’d always been relegated to a desk outside the boss’s plush digs. But the office Gertie had given her was nice and, even though not very large, it was bright and cheery, with rows of windows on two of the walls.

  The office furniture wasn’t too shabby either. Like everything Gertie did, it was top-notch, right down to the contemporary glass-top, cross-base desk and turquoise accessories. Gertie had thought of everything—an ergonomic desk chair and two white leather club chairs for guests. Like everything else in the mill, the floor was hardwood, most of which was covered with a vibrant turquoise-and-silver rug. There was even a large potted plant, some kind of ficus tree or something. Veronica just hoped she’d remember to water it. Or did Gertie have someone who did that?

  She sat down and opened the file for the wedding that Gertie had left on the desk. Gertie had made it very clear to her earlier that morning that no money could be spent until Veronica put together a budget and got it approved by the finance guy.

  Grabbing a highlighter, she started to go through the items. Hm... this wouldn’t be so easy. Marly wanted a very simple reception, almost too simple. Edward wanted the opposite. And Edward was paying for the whole thing but wanted to spend no more than sixty-thousand! Who could pull off a wedding like this for that small amount?

  Veronica wondered if The Marquis had been able to arrange a wedding with that budget. Maybe they’d burned their own venue down in frustration. It was her problem now, though, and she needed to ensure both Marly and Edward were happy.

  Edward wanted lobster and filet for dinner options. Marly had asked that it be chicken or fish. Edward wanted a champagne fountain. Marly stated “absolutely no champagne fountains.” Oy, this was starting to get stressful. She would have to tread very lightly to ensure she didn’t upset either of them.

  Her hand automatically reached into her pocket, and she fumbled around for her lip balm, applying it without even thinking. She’d picked up the new habit when she had started to diet. Any time she started feeling anxious or nervous, she applied the balm instead of reaching for something to eat.

  She made a list of Edward’s criteria for the reception on one side of a piece of paper and a list of Marly’s on the other side. They had actually agreed on a few things, and she crossed those off. Now she just needed to figure out how to make them meet in the middle with the rest and stick to Edward’s budget.

  She decided to tackle one of the larger costs first, the flowers. Marly wanted simple and nothing flashy, too bright, or bold. Edward wanted a variety. They had already met with a florist months ago when the original venue was booked, but it looked as if nothing had been finalized for the actual arrangements.

  Edward had placed a deposit with the florist. According to the notes, O’Rourke’s would be paying the remainder because Gertie wanted her venue to be all-inclusive. That meant Veronica had to stick with the same vendor. Too bad, because she knew they were expensive. Then again, she didn’t have to use them for all the florals. Why not use the deposit money for the bouquets and make up some of the budget on the centerpieces and the rest?

  She conducted a few searches on her computer for photos of floral arrangements and came up with an idea for the flowers: lavender roses paired with daisies. Simple yet elegant. And fairly inexpensive. Marly had made it clear she didn’t want a lot of different flowers. Edward had insisted there be a variety. Technically two could be considered a variety. At least she hoped she could make Edward see it that way.

  Next up, the special place cards Edward wanted for each table. This should be easy. A simple white china with gold lettering. That would satisfy Marly’s wish for something simple. Maybe Gertie even had something suitable on hand. She’d have to get down to the storage area to check. Worst case, she could order them and have the delivery expressed on short notice, though doing so would drive up the cost.

  The longer she worked on the proposal, the more optimistic she felt. In fact, she felt downright happy, something she hadn’t allowed herself to feel in a long time.

  Helping Marly and Edward almost felt… right. Is this what it felt like to be a nice person? Veronica wasn’t sure. She’d spent most of her life angry and bitter, always plotting someone’s downfall.

  But she didn’t want the crappy childhood she’d had to define her life anymore. Gertie had shown her that it didn’t have to be that way. She’d shown her that no matter what your limitations, you could succeed, and that no matter how many times others tried to knock you down, you could get back up.

  For the first time in Veronica’s life, she felt pride in herself. It sucked that there was so much stress given the time frame, but she knew she co
uld do it. Gertie wouldn’t have hired her if she didn’t think Veronica could pull it off, and she was going to make sure she did!

  She got back to work with renewed determination, transferring her scrawled-out numbers onto her computer and adding up the figures carefully. Once she finished, she leaned back in her chair and rechecked the budget, a feeling of joy bubbling up inside her. This just might work. She had compromised on a few things but had given Edward and Marly most of what they each requested while not spending a penny more than Edward stipulated.

  She hit the print key, then stood up slowly and stretched. Walking over to the printer, she grabbed the papers, shoved them into a folder, and wrote “West/Kenney Wedding” on it. She wanted to take this to finance immediately for review and approval so that she could start ordering. There was no time to waste.

  She hurried into the hall and then stopped short. Now, where was his office again? Gertie had been moving so fast when she had shown her around earlier that morning that it had all been a big blur. She knew the office was on the same floor, so maybe she could find it.

  She walked slowly past each door, stopping when she saw one that had a “Finance” sign on it, with the name “TJ Flannery” under it. That’s kind of an unprofessional name—TJ—she thought. Whatever. As long as he knew how to crunch numbers, it didn’t matter what he called himself.

  She knocked.

  No answer.

  She glanced at her watch. Dang! It was almost six thirty. The guy was probably gone for the day.

  Didn’t that figure! She needed that approval pronto, and here the guy was leaving work early. Okay, well, it wasn’t actually early, but… didn’t he know they had a looming deadline for this important client? Hopefully Gertie hadn’t hired a slacker to take care of the finances. That would make Veronica’s job more difficult.

  With a sigh, she placed the paperwork in a hanging wall file holder next to the door and left, satisfied with her first day on the job. She sure hoped this TJ guy started work early.