“Murph!”

I turn to see Anna hurrying through the marble lobby toward me and, for a moment, I’m slightly taken aback by her appearance. She looks different. Normally she comes across as so put-together, so flawless. But today she looks tired, hungover, on edge, and a little disheveled. Maybe the wine at dinner last night has taken its toll. She closes the distance between us with her arms outstretched. I wasn’t expecting an embrace, yet here she is wrapping her skinny arms around me as if she’s known me for years.

“Oh my goodness!” She gasps a little breathlessly, pulling away and smiling at me, her eyes wide. “Thank you so much for coming on such short notice. You’re a lifesaver.”

I nod, looking around. It’s not as if I have much else going on—I blocked out most of my calendar this week to make their wedding cake—but I wasn’t about to let her know that, in case she expected me to be at her beck and call between now and Saturday.

Anna takes my hand, leading the way. “I think my wedding planner is going to kill me.” She laughs nervously, glancing back at me over her shoulder. “I’ve told her three different places where I want the cake table, but I keep changing my mind.”

I force a smile onto my face. “It’s really not a big deal,” I assure her, because it isn’t. Quite frankly I’m confused she’s even making it an issue. It’s a cake table, for Christ’s sake. “The cake can go wherever you—” I stop talking when we step through the double doors and into the grand ballroom, and I’m momentarily rendered speechless by the sheer beauty and opulence laid out before me.

Black silk hangs from the beams high up in the ceiling, draping overhead with a million twinkling fairy lights scattered in the darkness, giving the illusion of a clear night sky in the middle of the day. Strategically placed tables are dressed in stark white tablecloths accented by black and white striped table runners. Crystals hang from centerpiece vases, shimmering like diamonds as they catch the light. It really is quite magnificent. A little gaudy for my liking, definitely not something I would want, but still spectacular.

“Okay.” Anna drops my hand, turning to me as she begins walking backward toward the black and white tiled dance floor in the center of the expansive room. “I was thinking of having the cake here.” She indicates a space right beside the bridal table, looking to me with a tentative smile.

I shake my head. “No. Not a good idea. Someone is gonna get drunk, make a fool of themselves on that there dance floor. They’ll probably end up going head first into the damn thing.”

Anna looks from the dance floor, to where she was thinking of placing the cake, and back again. “You’re right.” She nods, cursing once under breath, and she actually looks disappointed in herself. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”