“Metaphorical,” Audrey said, waving a dismissive hand. “Or real. I don’t know. It’s like you said. The spectacle.”

“We can do spectacle,” Alexis said confidently. “And we can do doves, too. Real ones. Though I should warn you, the level of spectacle depends on the timeline. Have you two talked dates yet?”

Clarke watched Audrey’s wide smile dim as reality set in. There wouldn’t be a timeline, there wouldn’t be a spectacle, because there wouldn’t be a wedding.

“We’re still sort of mulling things over,” Clarke said quietly, realizing they needed to nip this meeting in the bud before things got out of hand.

“Of course,” Alexis said immediately. “There’s absolutely no need to rush into anything, and this was only an initial consultation. There’s no pressure to commit to me or the Belles or a date today.”

The wedding planner stood to indicate the meeting was over. “The only thing I want from you two right now is for you to go out to dinner and just enjoy being engaged. There’s plenty of time for the other stuff. I’ll give you my card, and if you decide to go with the Belles, I’d love to hear from you when you’re ready.”

Relieved, Clarke and Audrey stood, and Audrey took the card Alexis pulled out of a white cardholder on the desk, slipping it into her bag.

“Just one more thing,” Audrey said, “and you can totally say no. Would you mind if I took a picture on the steps in front of the Wedding Belles plaque on the porch and posted it on Instagram? I’d tag you guys, if you have an Instagram account. Or not. Do you have a policy on that?”

Alexis’s eyebrows arched. “I’m a businesswoman. My policy is that having the Audrey Tate post a picture of the Wedding Belles is better than any marketing budget.”

“I just want everyone to know how fabulous you are,” Audrey said as Alexis walked them to the front door. “And I can’t believe how hungry for Manhattan wedding details my followers are. My engagement rate has gone through the roof since I started talking about wedding stuff.”

“There’s a lot of mystery in it for such a big industry,” Alexis agreed, opening the front door. “Brides are so used to being sold to. I imagine there’s absolutely room in the marketplace for someone to show the process of planning a wedding without any agenda beyond peeling back the curtain a bit.”

Audrey handed Clarke her phone as they stepped onto the porch. “You know what to do.”