Rosemary walked briskly back up to the main house, shaking her head as her mind processed what had just happened at Elizabeth's studio. Viola had always been a little crazy, jealous of her younger sisters but Rosie never thought her cousin would act this way. She felt bad denying Viola her dream wedding at their venue but she knew they would never get any peace while planning it. She was certain Viola would be a Bridezilla and with her team also planning Elizabeth's wedding, they needed to have the least amount of stress as possible on them.
Rosie walked into the kitchen of the main building and found Abigail at her desk, reviewing her plans for the weekend weddings while something yummy was baking in the oven. "Hi Abigail! What smells so good in here?"
Abigail looked up from her desk and smiled at Rosie. "Hi Rosie. I saw Viola was down at Elizabeth's and I know how things can be when the two of them get together. I decided to make Elizabeth's favorite treat to cheer her up. Do you know what was going on?"
Rosie rolled her eyes and grimaced. "Unfortunately I do. Viola is getting married and she wants the wedding to be here the last weekend in June." Rosie left it at that as she knew Abigail would have a good guess as to what happened next.
"June? This June! Is she out of her mind? Wait! Don't answer that. She is out of her mind!" The ladies looked at each other at the same time, rolling their eyes towards heaven, as if looking for strength.
"Yes, this June. Elizabeth tried to explain we have weddings already booked for that weekend; that they have been on the schedule for over a year now but that didn't matter to Viola." Rosie finished the story but left out the part about Elizabeth and Jack.
"Unbelievable! It seems though there is more to the story."
"There is but I can't tell you about it now. Elizabeth asked if we could get the tribe together and have dinner tonight. She has some news for us."
Abigail watched Rosie's expression and could tell whatever the news was, it was wonderful. She wondered if Jack had proposed. She wanted to dig for more details but she held herself back. She would find out soon enough. "How about I make a run to the store and get ingredients for Elizabeth's favorite comfort food meal. I know Jack loves it too."
"Pot roast? That's perfect. I sent Jack and Elizabeth out to spend some time together. As you will find out later, the meeting with Viola was very trying and I thought Elizabeth needed to regroup. I am going to tell everyone to be here by 7 but if the dinner could be ready for 8, that would be perfect."
"No a problem at all. I will make some appetizers to serve as well."
"Wonderful! I have to go make some calls, so I will see you later."
"Sounds good. I'm going to head to the store. Do you need anything?"
"If you could pick up some of the yogurt I like, that would be great. I noticed this morning I am running low."
"Will do."
With that, they parted ways. Rosie made it back to her office and sank wearily into her chair, exhausted from the ordeal with her cousin. She rested her eyes for a few minutes then picked up her phone and texted Faith and Clara, letting them know the plans for dinner. She was going to call Dottie so she could share Elizabeth's news, but first she wanted to talk to Lee. He could always help her calm down. She dialed his number and waited for him to pick up, hoping he wasn't in a meeting or at a job site.
"Hi, Honey. Is everything ok?" Lee asked when he answered. He was concerned because Rosie rarely called him at work.
"Oh, Lee. It's been a very strange day here. I needed to hear your voice to calm myself down."
"Hang on a second. I'm going to step into my office." Rosie listened to him walking up the steps to his office building, then heard the wheels of his chair squeak as he sat down and pull he chair closer to his desk. "What happened, Honey?"
"Viola showed up at Elizabeth's today."
Lee shut his eyes and groaned softly, hoping she wouldn't hear it. He knew the headaches Vi caused Elizabeth and Rosie, and now understood why his wife needed to hear his voice. "What did she do now?"
"She got engaged last night and stopped by Elizabeth's to tell her."
"And demand that Hope Valley Weddings host her day, no doubt." Lee replied. "I'm guessing there is a bigger problem with it for you to get so upset."
"Yes. She wanted the wedding to be here, the last weekend in June."
"What? This June? As in 2019?" Lee asked and a second later, he heard Rosie make a noise, which confirmed to him that he was correct. "There is no way she can have the wedding then. You have those dates book, since last year, if I recall." Lee always made it a point to know what was going on with the wedding business as he tried to help out as much as possible. He may not remember who was getting married on what dates but he knew the schedule almost as well as Rosie did and that most weekends in the summer were booked. "What happened?"
"Viola went to see Elizabeth first." Rosie was so grateful she had a husband who understood about her business and her crazy family. "Elizabeth told her no, that the weekend has been booked for a long time. That didn't matter to Viola. She was under the impression that being the sister and cousin of two owners of the business guarantees her a wedding whenever she wants it, no matter another couple has it."
"I can guess what happened next. She brought up how family comes before business."
"You win the prize turkey, Lee." They both laughed. "Anyway, they got into a pretty big fight over it. Poor Jack, who had stopped by to have lunch with Elizabeth, was way out of his element, having never met Viola before.
Lee groaned again. He had a pretty good idea what Jack was going through right now. He had met Viola in a similar way. He made a mental note to pull Jack aside this weekend and have a chat. "Is there more to the story?"
"Yes." Rosie finished filling him in, leaving out the part of Jack and Elizabeth getting engaged "I gave Elizabeth the afternoon off so she could collect her thoughts. I sent her and Jack out for a late lunch and to spend some time together. They do have some news they want to share with our group so we are having dinner tonight. Abigail is making pot roast" Pot roast was one of Lee's favorites too.
"Yummy!" Lee exclaimed. "So what's the news? Did Jack finally pop the question? He mentioned to me a couple of weeks ago he was thinking about asking her soon."
"Lee Coulter! You knew Jack was planning this and you didn't tell me?"
"Rosie, calm down! I knew Jack was wanting to propose I just didn't know when. It's a surprise to me that he proposed the in the last few days. I promise I will act surprised tonight."
""I guess that's ok that you didn't know the exact date Jack was popping the question." Rosie giggled on her end of the line. Lee laughed too. "He asked her last night. They had already planned to tell all of us tonight but Elizabeth knew if any of us saw her today, we would see her ring. So she put it on a chain and wore it around her neck. It came out from under her shirt while Viola was there."
Lee put his head down on the desk and lightly banged it. "Oh Lord. I can just imagine what happened next. She blew up didn't she?"
"Yes. She accused Elizabeth of choosing the date she wanted and that she was rude for not offering to give it to her. She then called her father and Elizabeth went to call me but I had already seen that Viola was there and walked in Elizabeth's studio in time to hear Viola on the phone, demanding that Uncle William drop his business and come to Elizabeth's."
"He must have been thrilled about that." Lee sarcastically replied.
"He sure was." Rosemary replied, in an equally sarcastic voice. "Uncle William sided with us but not before my lovely cousin slapped Elizabeth across the face. In front of Jack too."
"She what?" Lee clenched his fists. Elizabeth was one of the sweetest people in the world and she certainly didn't deserve being hit, even by her crazy sister.
"She continued to claim Elizabeth was stealing her thunder and that she had convinced William to take her side. Then she hit her."
"Oh heavens! I better pull Jack aside tonight. I'm sure he is a bundle of nerves right now, just as I was after meeting her."
"That's a good idea, Honey. He was pretty upset that Viola slapped Elizabeth. I think he was getting ready to arrest her if Uncle Will hadn't stepped in."
"All I can say is, thank goodness you and William were there. Even though I know you must be so tense right now. How about I give you a massage tonight before going to bed?"
"I was actually thinking about soaking in a hot bath with you, but a massage works too. Thanks, Babe."
"You're welcome, Honey." They talked a few more minutes before Lee had to end the call to go to a meeting.
Feeling much better after her chat with Lee, she dialed Dottie's number and waited for her to pick up.
"HI Rosemary! What's up?" Dottie sounded very chipper from her end of the telephone line.
Rosie cringed. It sounded like the wedding plans for Dottie's niece were going well and she hated to have to tell Dottie about the scene with Viola but it needed to be done. "Hey, Dottie. Sounds like the wedding plans for your niece are back on track."
"Yes they are. Peace has settled upon my family once again, thanks to our contacts in the wedding business. How are things at home?"
"Well, there is good news and bad news."
"Ok. Give me the good news first."
"Jack asked Elizabeth to marry him and she said yes!" Rosie felt her heart flutter with excitement for her friends.
Dottie squealed on her end. "It's about time! I'm so happy for them! After we are finished, I will call her to congratulate her."
"Better hold off on that. The bad news is about her as well."
Dottie took a deep breath, wondering what could have gone wrong. "That sounds ominous, Rosemary. What happened?"
"Jack proposed last night. Only you and I from the business know for now. We are gathering everyone together tonight to discuss it. The problem is, Viola got engaged last night too." Rosie left it at that, since Dottie has witnessed Viola at her worst too.
Dottie groaned. Groaning was a popular noise that day. "Let me guess, she wants us to handle her wedding. I can just imagine what kind of Bridezilla behavior we are going to have to deal with."
"Yes, she wants us to handle the wedding, the last weekend of June."
"I'm hoping you mean in 2020 because we are booked for this year." When Rosemary didn't answer her right away, Dottie realized what the problem was. "She wants it this year?"
"Yes! She went to see Elizabeth first and dropped that bombshell on her. Elizabeth tried to explain that weekend had been booked for ages and we couldn't break the contract, but Viola would have none of that. She insisted that because she is the sister and cousin of two of the owners we can go against our word to our clients and give her the weekend she demanded."
"No, No, No!" Dottie murmured. "Unbelievable, that woman is. What happened next?"
"They got into a fight. Jack walked in after a while. The whole debacle was a shock to him since this was his first time meeting Viola."
"I can just imagine."
"They went back and forth about it for some time when Elizabeth suggested calling me down to settle things. Apparently that made Viola angrier and turned abruptly near Elizabeth's desk, knocking over some paperwork. Elizabeth bent over to pick up the papers when her engagement ring, which she had put on a chain so she could keep her news a surprise to us, popped out from underneath her shirt."
"Oh, Dear Lord." Dottie put her hand over her eyes, already imaging the scene that happened next.
"You said it, Dottie. Viola saw the ring and blew up. She accused Elizabeth of stealing that weekend from her.
"What? Even though I know that weekend has been taken for some time, I know Elizabeth would never pick a summer wedding. There is just too much going on and if we are going to host the wedding of one of our own I know she would pick something off season."
"Exactly! Of course, that didn't matter to Viola, She saw it as Elizabeth steeling her thunder. She immediately called Uncle Will over even though he was in the middle of a business meeting. Elizabeth was going to call me but I had seen Viola show up so I made my way down to Elizabeth's. We waited until Uncle Will showed up. Things got dicey from there. Uncle William agreed with us." She told Dottie the rest of the story.
"Poor Elizabeth. What should be a happy day turned into a disaster. I'm glad you cancelled her appointments for the rest of the day and suggested she spend some time with Jack. She needed to clear her head."
"I think the time away will be better for her and we know how quickly she can regroup." Rosemary took a sip of water. "Dottie, I have been thinking about a possible date for Jack and Elizabeth."
"I have been too. Tell me yours first."
"Well, since we never book weddings over Thanksgiving weekend so we can spend time with family, what if we changed things up this year and have their wedding then? We have plenty of room in the house of family to stay here if they want. We can have them all over for Thanksgiving dinner then have the wedding on Friday or Saturday."
"Rosemary Coulter! You read my mind!"
"Really?"
"It's perfect. That week is slow since we don't have anything planned. There will be plenty of time to do all the final details. The only thing that would be a problem is our happy couple would have to postpone their honeymoon until January but I think they will agree to that."
"Exactly! In my way of thinking, if we don't have it that weekend, they would need to wait until January to get married but I have a feeling they won't want to wait. Depending on what date they decide, we could give Elizabeth a couple of days off and send them on a weekend get-a-way for their wedding night."
"Great minds think alike, Partner."
"I will talk to them tonight after they break news."
"This is exciting! Planning a wedding for one of our own. It will be different for sure. I imagine she is going to want you, Faith and Clara in her wedding party. It will be interesting to see how we can handle working and being in the wedding."
"I'm sure she will have parts for you and Abigail too. Planning this wedding will be a test but I know we can pass it."
"So do I, Rosemary." Dottie agreed. "I hate to cut this short because there is so much to talk about but I have to go to the dress shop for the last dress fitting. Call me tomorrow to let me know what Elizabeth and Jack say about the wedding date."
"I will, Dottie. Talk to you soon." Rosemary put down the phone and looked at her schedule for the rest of the day. She had a potential bride coming in at 4:30 for a tour of the grounds. Looking at the time, she realized she only had less than an hour to get some work done. The Viola debacle took up most of her afternoon. She grabbed her file for one of this weekend's weddings and began to review it, only to find her thoughts drifting towards ideas for Elizabeth and Jack's big day. She took a deep breath and put herself back in work mode while she waited for her last appointment of the day to arrive. There would be plenty of time to discuss wedding plans that evening.