Max recognized the it’s-out-of-my-hands approach and knew she intended to turn him down. He wished her luck with that.
“You’ve been planning weddings since before you could walk.” Joey didn’t even bother with an attempt at humor. “I thought you were supposed to be good. One little wedding shouldn’t be that big a deal.”
“In case it slipped your notice, Joey, I’m already planning one little wedding. That’s the reason I’m here.”
“How in hell could I not notice?” he scoffed. “Weddings and funerals. You don’t bother coming home for anything else.”
There was a collective gasp, and Joe growled at his oldest son. Lily Susan didn’t visibly react—she was too skilled to let emotion bleed through her lovely veneer—but Rosie stepped into the breach with evasive maneuvers as she returned from the kitchen, where she’d been refilling a gravy boat with sauce for the manicotti.
“Lily Susan, if you help Max with the wedding, you’ll have all of us to assist. I’m sure everyone would look forward to spending some time with you. Isn’t that right?”
Nods and enthusiastic consents all around.
“I appreciate that, but everyone has a life. And the time constraints will make the planning a challenge, not to mention that the couple isn’t here. That’s going to complicate things further. There’ll be a zillion decisions and interviews and fittings—”
“I thought you specialized in destination weddings.” Joey wasn’t helping the cause with his hostility. “At least that’s what your website says.”
Lily Susan frowned. “Destination for the wedding, Joey. I consult with the couple in person.”
He apparently didn’t have an answer for that, and Sarah, who was positively scowling, must have kicked him because he winced then glared at her.
Lily Susan seized her chance with both hands. “Please let me explain. There will be decisions that need to be made about every tiny detail before I can arrange anything. If the bride and groom aren’t available, then I have nothing to work with.”
“You’ve got Max.” Joe waved a hand Max’s way. “Raymond and his fiancée asked him to take care of those sorts of things. Isn’t that right?”
“It is.”
Lily Susan fixed her gaze on him, an eyebrow arched. “Jamilyn asked you to try on her wedding dress so the seamstress can fit it, did she?”
At the mention of Max trying on a wedding dress, Jake howled with laughter and got the older cousins going.
“I want to see that,” Caroline’s son Brian said. “Bring a camera.”
“Make it your profile pic on Facebook,” Joey’s daughter suggested.
“Daddy lets me polish his nails,” Madeleine informed the table proudly.
“Pop Scott, you going to let Camille paint your nails?” Jake snickered. “That’s what good stepdads do.”
“Oh, yeah,” Camille chimed in. “Luscious lilac will go perfect with your dress uniform.”
Riley rolled her eyes, but Scott shot a look at his soon-to-be stepchildren and said, “Thank you, Max.”
“No problem.” He ruffled Madeleine’s silky hair.
Lily Susan grinned at her niece. “Camille, we’ll discuss Pop Scott’s polish color once he decides whether he’s wearing his dress blues or a tux. Or his chaps and cowboy hat. I don’t have a clue. Yet.” She spread her hand in entreaty, her expression transforming as she shot Max another glare. “This is exactly what I’m talking about. More decisions come up with the fittings and menu tastings and everything else that makes up the sort of high-profile event Max wants. We’re talking about a wedding at Overlook.”
Rosie set the gravy boat in front of her daughter. “You’ve always wanted to set a real wedding there, ever since you were a little girl. This sounds like the opportunity of a lifetime.”
“That’s true, but not if I have to divert my attention from Riley and Scott. I won’t sacrifice their special day.”
Lily Susan thought fast on her feet. She kept her cool, sounded completely reasonable with her arguments. Max also noticed that she hadn’t yet mentioned her vacation or her need to rest. In a way, he almost wished he could give her the time she wanted. Then he’d have time to figure out why he was suddenly thinking of ways he might help her relax.
But his interests weren’t the issue here. His brother-in-law needed a wedding and Lily Susan was the perfect person to plan one. Not only did she have expertise, but she’d also guarantee press—an essential element to launch a political campaign.
Joe shot Max a commiserating look. They’d known this wasn’t going to be an easy sell. “Of course you can’t sacrifice Riley and Scott’s wedding, honey-bunch. But you’ve got nearly four weeks to plan theirs and you seem okay with that. Why can’t you hang around a few extra weeks to plan Raymond’s?”
Lily Susan finally put two and two together. She’d been set up and knew it.
“Okay, people. Listen to me.” Her tone was all about corralling crowds to get things done. “I get that I haven’t been home in a while. I’m sorry. I won’t make excuses, but I will promise to make more time from now on. I hope you’ll take me at my word. I want to help out Max. Truly, I do. But you’re asking the impossible. The difference in work between planning an intimate family wedding for sixty guests and a high-profile, five-hundred-plus guest list is staggering. I won’t take on an event I can’t do well. And when I offered to look into my local office, Max didn’t like my suggestion.”
Max shook his head. “I want the Wedding Angel.”
He didn’t say another word because he recognized a few things at that moment. First was that Lily Susan didn’t like her family pressuring her on his behalf. She also didn’t have a clue about how worried they all were about her. About why she was distancing herself. About how she was handling a very public breakup a mere month before she would have tied the knot.
Max also didn’t think she realized how determined her family was. Now that they’d gotten her home, they intended to do whatever it took to keep her here for as long as possible.
“Max, this wedding needs professional and careful attention. Not a rush job.” She eyed him stoically. “You need to trust me on this. The press will be all over it.”
“That’s exactly why we need you.”
She made a frustrated noise. “What happened to visiting, as in spending my time catching up and not working?” She dropped her face into her hands.
No one said a word.
Lily Susan didn’t look up.
The silence lengthened.
Jake was the first to give in. He rubbed the back of her neck consolingly. “It’s okay, Aunt Lily Susan.”
Joe caved next. “Honey-bunch, will you promise to give it some thought before you say no? This is important. And if you stay longer, we’ll have time for that visiting you’re wanting.”
She lifted her head and ruffled her nephew’s hair, her poise firmly in place. “If I promise to think about it, you’ve got to promise to accept my answer whether you like it or not.”
“Deal.” Joe must have decided he’d pushed enough. For now.
They’d reached a truce. Max noticed how relieved she looked—it wasn’t obvious but it was there if he looked closely. And he didn’t mind looking.
Rosie jumped in to salvage the meal. “I’m sure Lily Susan will do whatever she can