“And on time,” Ty added, who’d never made an effort to hide his desire for a very smal wedding. But like most grooms, he’d caved to the desires of the bride.
“You’re welcome.” She looked at her watch. “In about five minutes, Shiloh wil invite everyone to meet you in the Rainier Room.”
“Could you do it now?” Ty asked, but it was more of a demand than a question.
“Not everyone is through eating,” Faith protested.
“I don’t care. You’re tired.”
“You can’t expect everyone to just get up and leave.”
“Mention the open bar,” Ty suggested to Autumn. “They’l trample over each other to get to the free liquor.”
Autumn laughed as she rose. She buzzed her assistant and told her to mention the open bar when she invited the guests to join Faith and Ty in the other room. As she moved from behind the bride and groom’s table, her gaze landed on Sam, where he sat charming the pants, or more appropriately, the thongs, off the Playmates. They laughed and touched his shoulder and looked at him like he was a god. There had been a time when the sight of Sam with a beautiful woman or two would have carved out her heart. When she would have wanted to curl into a bal , but those days were long past. He could do what he wanted. As long as he didn’t do it in front of her son. Which she suspected he did because he was an irresponsible horn dog with jock itch on the brain.
She moved from the room as Shiloh picked up the microphone and made the announcement. She checked and rechecked her list. The cake was ready to be cut, the band ready to play, and the two bartenders ready to sling drinks. She had a few moments and ducked into the ladies’ room. As she washed her hands, she looked at her face in the soft lighting. Growing up, she’d hated her red hair and green eyes. Al that color against her pale skin had been too much, but she liked it now. She’d grown into her looks, and she liked the woman she’d become. She was thirty years old, had an event-planning business that al owed her to pay her bil s and raise her son. The child support she got from Sam more than covered the expense of raising a child. It al owed her to pay cash for her home and vehicles and take vacations. But at the same time, she knew that if she had to, she was financial y able to take care of Conner on her own.
She dried her hands and opened the door. The economy always affected her business, which was why she’d expanded it to encompass a variety of events instead of just limiting herself to weddings. She was currently planning a Wil y Wonka birthday party for twenty ten-year-olds for next month. Getting al the props and vendors for the party had been a chal enge, but fun. Not as much fun as weddings. Planning weddings was what she loved best, ironic given her past.
She moved down the hal through clumps of wedding guests making their way to the Rainier Room. There were a lot of beautiful and wealthy people at that night’s event. There was nothing wrong with that. Autumn made her living catering to beautiful, wealthy people, as wel as those on tight budgets. She enjoyed both, and as she knew al too wel , wealthier didn’t always mean easier. Or that the bil was paid on time. As she passed Sam, he separated himself from a group of his teammates and a few of the Playmates.
“Autumn. Do you have a minute?”
She stopped a few feet in front of him. “No. I’ve got thirty seconds.” They had a son, but she couldn’t imagine what they had to talk about. “What do you need?”
He opened his mouth to answer, but the cel phone clipped to her belt rang, and she held up one finger. There was only one person in her phone with that “Anchors Aweigh” ring tone, her brother, Vince. And Vince wouldn’t cal unless there was a problem.
“Hey, Carly just phoned,” he said. “She’s sick and can’t watch Conner. I have to be at work in half an hour.”
It was stil too early for Autumn to leave. She moved to a quieter spot in the hal and said, “I’l cal Tara.”
“I did. She didn’t answer.”
Autumn ran through a metal list of options. “I’l cal his day care and see if they’l take him… Crap, they closed a few hours ago.”
“What about Dina?”
“Dina moved.”
“I guess I can cal in sick.”
“No.” Vince had only had this latest job a week. “I’l think of something.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. Sitter problems were difficult for every single mother. The odd hours of an event planner turned those hours into a nightmare. “I don’t know. I guess you’re going to have to bring Conner here, and I’l have one of my workers entertain him for a few hours.”
“I’l get him.”
Autumn looked up over her shoulder. She’d forgotten about Sam. “Hang on.” She lowered the phone. “What?”
“I’l get Conner.”
“You’ve been drinking.”
He frowned. “Obviously, I’l have Natalie pick him up.”
Natalie. The “personal assistant.” Autumn didn’t have anything against Sam’s latest “assistant” other than she thought it was ridiculous that he cal ed his girlfriends “assistants.” She shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“Is this real y something to fight about?”
Conner could either go to his dad’s with the “assistant,” a place he knew, or he could come to the Rainier Club and hang out until she could take him home. On the surface, the decision appeared to be a no-brainer, but she liked Conner with her at night. She slept better knowing h