Ramsey’s hand slid into hers, and he urged her to continue walking, but she stayed rooted in place. There were a million planners in the city, and he had chosen the one who had worked with Bekah.

“Why?” she whispered.

She could see in his eyes that he knew what she was asking.

“She’s the best. You deserve the best.”

“But Bekah…”

“That was two years ago, Lexi. Bekah can’t dictate our choices.”

“Yet, you selected her planner.”

“I’m having you meet with the planner that she used, yes. She’s so popular that she books out two years in advance. Just the fact that she is meeting us is out of her normal schedule. But she likes me, and she likes my family.”

“Why does it always have to be about who you know?” Lexi asked.

“Because that’s the world we live in. I can’t help that my name holds influence. It just does. I don’t think you deserve anything less than Bekah on your wedding day. In fact, you deserve much more than her. I’m simply asking you to try this…for us. Please.”

“Fine,” she said, only because he was pleading with her.

A part of her just wished that something had changed during those two years since she had agreed to get back together with Ramsey. They were better but still, he hadn’t told her about the planner. How hard would it have been to just tell her?

It was probably as hard as it had been for her to just tell Jack she had gotten engaged, yet she still hadn’t.

That thought sprang her into action, and she moved forward down the hallway. The wedding planner had stopped at her door, pretending not to listen during the exchange. Lexi wondered how many other women had breakdowns and freak-outs during the earliest stages of planning.

Sherri ushered them into her immaculately decorated office. The room had soft sand-colored accented in varying shades of green and supplemented with plants to make the room feel more natural and inviting. Lexi and Ramsey took the seats opposite Sherri, waiting for her cue.

After giving a lengthy introduction about the company, Sherri turned the spotlight on Lexi. “What is your vision for this, Lexi? I’d love to know what your dream wedding looks like. I’m in the business of making dreams come true,” she said with a big toothy smile.

Lexi just stared at her. What did she want her wedding to be like? She had no idea. She thought most weddings were the same. She had been in a few, and they had been all right, but most had been expensive and rather annoying. She knew she didn’t want their wedding to be anything like what her friends had done—and absolutely nothing like Bekah’s. Lexi wasn’t really sure how to articulate that though.

Sherri waited for Lexi to say something. When she didn’t, Sherri asked another question, “Do you see this as a big event, small event, beachside, or intimate night wedding? We can do whatever works best for you. I know with the Bridges, the guest list tends to get pretty long, so it might be good to think local. Of course, it’s your choice though. I’m here to make your wedding a reality.”

“I don’t know,” Lexi finally answered. “I haven’t thought about it.”

“How long have you been engaged?” Sherri asked, turning her attention to Ramsey.

“Almost a month,” he answered immediately.

Sherri clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and then stood. “I have another idea. If you’ll follow me,” she said.

They left Sherri’s office behind and tailed her into a large open room with an oval table taking up the center and several large bookshelves filled to the brim with magazines, booklets, and folders.

“Feel free to have a seat. I think it might be better just to show you what we have done in the past, so we can get a grasp for your tastes.”

Lexi plopped into a chair and stared at the massive collection of books. How many weddings had they done? How much work really went into them?

“The first things we really like to focus on with clients are the date, the color palette, the number of guests, and the venue,” she said, picking out a big three-ring binder for each thing she mentioned. “So much of our design work is captured online for your viewing at any time. I’ve handpicked some of the company’s favorites for us to glance through.”

“Okay,” Lexi said softly.

Her palms started to sweat, and she had no idea why. Her palms never sweat. When she had been in gymnastics, she had never had to use as much chalk as the other girls for that very reason.

“Now, the date—I’m sure you’ve already discussed when you would like the wedding to be. At least a year out is ideal, but a season would do.” Sherri flipped to a page with a picture of weddings in each of the four seasons.

Sherri looked at her, but Lexi turned to Ramsey. They hadn’t discussed this.

“Summer?” Lexi asked, biting down on her lip.

“Or fall,” he offered.

“Summer or fall next year then,” Sherri said. It was clear that she was glad they were making progress.

The rest of the session went in much the same fashion. Sherri pulled out everything from thousands of different color palettes, to swathes of garments, to images of large weddings and small weddings and beach weddings, to massive cakes…and the list went on.

Her opinion was asked over and over again, and Lexi frankly didn’t have an opinion on much of it. The longer she sat there, the more her hands became clammy. Then, it got worse. The back of her neck felt sticky with sweat. Her forehead beaded. She felt her throat begin to close up as if it were swollen. Her stomach twisted like she might be sick, and it took everything in her to sit through one more question about her taste on anything.

Lexi pushed her chair back abruptly and stood. “I, uh…need to use the restroom,” she said. She twirled her hair around her finger and then threaded it behind her ear.

Ramsey and Sherri looked at her with concern in their eyes as Lexi extricated herself from the stifling room and rushed down to the restroom. She thought she literally might be sick, but the farther she got away, the better she started to feel. It was like the time when she had walked with Bekah into the jewelry store in the mall. Her whole body had protested.

She splashed some water on her pale face and tried to get herself under control. It made no sense that she was this tense from looking at color palettes. She even liked Sherri. She was straightforward but determined to figure Lexi out, even when she gave Sherri practically nothing to work with. But how would Lexi be able to get through this process if sitting in a wedding planner’s office made her nauseated?

She rested her head in her hands and held back the tears. She felt ridiculous and wished she could make it all go away. Why did she have to make this all so difficult? Chyna had been so enthused. All of this would be better with her best friend here to hold her hand and walk her through her anxiety. Every time she looked at Ramsey when she felt like this just made it worse, like she was letting him down.

Taking a deep breath, she straightened out her hair and walked back down to the room. Sherri and Ramsey were chatting calmly as if Lexi hadn’t just stormed out. He was always so collected with other people. They had their moments, but country club born and bred made him eternally polite. He never said the wrong thing. Sometimes, he would go on and on and on while he was getting his thoughts together or when she threw him off guard, but still…he always said just the right thing.

She swallowed her pride, knowing that she would continue to say the wrong thing on a pretty regular occasion, and stepped into the conference room. “Thanks for waiting for me.”

“Of course, dear,” Sherri said, leaning her hip against the table. “We were just discussing costs and such. Nothing for you to worry about.”

Costs. Nothing for her to worry about. That was for Ramsey to deal with.