Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly by Marie Bostwick

Author:Marie Bostwick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2023-05-30T00:00:00+00:00

Robyn held up her hand, interrupting my story.

“Wait, wait, wait. Let me make sure I’m getting this straight: this stuck-up Yankee won’t book a wedding at the lodge unless we pave the parking lot, double the size of the patio, update the bathrooms, create an outdoor chapel, buy two hundred and fifty folding chairs, and a ginormous white tent?” She started laughing. “I am so sorry I missed that meeting. I’d have loved to see you tell him where to catch the next bus back to Boston.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Except I didn’t. I took his fifty percent deposit and said we’d see him in August. We’re going to use his money to turn the lodge into a first-class wedding venue.”

Robyn stared at me for a second, as if she was waiting for the punch line.

“You’re serious, aren’t you? Wow. Will the deposit really cover everything?”

I took a breath. “No. I’m putting up the rest myself.”

“What?” Robyn gasped. “You were saving for a down payment. And you still don’t have a job. Esme, you can’t. That money is your security! Your future!”

Her reaction pulled me up short. I wasn’t used to Robyn saying something that sounded . . . well, so much like what a mom would say. Her concern for my welfare was unfounded, but also kind of sweet. For a second, I was filled with unfamiliarly warm and fuzzy feelings toward my mother.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” I assured her. “With Alex out of the picture, I can’t afford to buy a place anytime soon anyway, so I might as well put my savings to work. Not only will this event put us in the black, it could open up a whole new business model so you’ll never have to sell the lodge. Weddings can be very profitable.”

“This one won’t be. You’re spending the profits before you even start.”

Robyn made a scoffing sound and I felt my jaw clench. So much for warm fuzzies.

“For once in your life, just once, could you not be the person searching out the cloud in every silver lining? This could turn out to be a good thing,” I said, urging her to envision the possibilities. “Everybody knows you’ve got to spend money to make it. And it’s not like I’m just throwing my money down a hole. I’ll get it back after the wedding. It’s just a loan.”

“It could be a hole,” Robyn said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I sure don’t think it’s a business model. How many people will want to get married at an old, rundown fishing resort? The only reason Martin Moneybags and his bride are having their wedding here is because the country club got flooded. You can’t count on that kind of thing happening all the time, Esme.”

“By the time I’m done, it won’t be rundown,” I said, sweeping my arm toward a flower bed that I’d spent all morning weeding, frustrated by her constant negativity. “And maybe I won’t need it to happen all the time, maybe once is enough.

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