Alexa stood, as did Abigail. There was a hug between the women, like they’d been through something they couldn’t quite explain. Tomorrow would tell.

Chapter 23
The Strategy

The Mother of the Bride
The Mother of the Groom

As Alexa stormed up the front walk of Ming’s house the morning after the cancellation, Abigail looked out the window and knew something was happening. Alexa looked like a woman on fire: fiercely determined and, honestly, smoking hot in an unexpected white jumpsuit with a deep V neckline. She could really pull off almost any look with her height, Abigail admitted to herself, regretting she hadn’t packed more resort wear and less navy blue. The knock on the front door pulled her back to the business at hand, undoing the wedding. Isn’t that why Madison Meadows had arrived at ten on the dot, summoned by Alexa? They had a wedding to unplan.

Abigail, coffee in hand, opened the front door, informing everyone in the house who might be interested, “Alexa has arrived!”

Quick greetings were exchanged by the assembled team, which included Ming, Sarah, and Madison.

“I’ve been up most of the night and I’ve made a decision,” Alexa announced. “We are not canceling the wedding. I don’t care what my daughter said on that call last night. Or the fact that she isn’t returning any of my texts right now. Yes, we need to give them the time and space to work this out. But we cancel nothing.”

Abigail could almost hear Alexa’s voice say, “Do you understand?” even though she didn’t actually say it. So did the wedding coordinator, because the look on Madison Meadows’s face read one part terror and two parts “Amazing!”

Ming burst into a round of applause. “That is how you plan a wedding!”

The line made no sense, like the throwaway tagline on an action-movie poster, but Ming really sold it and it riled up the team.

“I’m all in,” Abigail declared, a phrase she usually only used to indicate her dedication to neighborhood beautification projects.

“Go, MOB. Go, MOG,” Sarah singsonged while doing her best running man.

“Tell me what you need, Ms. Diamandis. I’m at your disposal. We’ll plan the wedding like it’s . . . actually going to be a wedding,” Madison vowed, clearly picking the intentions of the woman paying her fee over the intentions of the bride.