“You know we could never replace you,” Bree soothed. “You make the most amazing cream puffs on the planet. But remember, you’re the one that got pregnant. We wouldn’t be going through this if you weren’t going to be out for weeks at a time. And before that, you’re going to need help when you’re in your third trimester and can’t stay on your feet for sixteen hours straight.”

“That’s not going to be for months,” Amelia argued.

“We’ve got to start the process now, even though you’re still perfectly capable of doing the job.” Natalie put a hand on her shoulder. “Think about this with your businesswoman cap on, okay? If one of us was going to be away for weeks, we’d need to get a backup set up as soon as we could. Right?”

Amelia sighed. “Yes, I know. You’re right. It’s just hard.”

“Frankly,” Natalie continued, “we need to have a backup on standby for all our roles. With your pregnancy we have advance warning, but the blizzard snapped up Bree with no notice at all. Fortunately, we had Willie to fill in, but there’s nothing like that for the rest of us.”

“Maybe this will help with the vacation issue,” Bree said. “We’re all pretty burned out, but we’re booked solid until the end of next year. We need to be able to take time off. I’m going to want to go on a honeymoon after Ian and I get married. Gretchen has been dying to go to Italy for years. I’m sure there’s something you’d rather do than sit behind that desk and work every day, Natalie. Even if one of us just wants to lie on the couch for a week and binge on television, we can’t as things stand now.”

“How about this?” Amelia offered. “Instead of bringing in a catering company, why don’t we hire someone else to help in the kitchen? I didn’t realize how much help I could use until Tyler pitched in last weekend. We bring someone in, and then I can spend the next few months getting them trained and comfortable. Maybe we keep Bites of Nashville or one of the others on standby for big events, but there’s always someone from our team here.”

Natalie thought over her suggestion and nodded. “That’s not a bad idea. That way we always have one of our people with eyes on the product. Any ideas on a candidate?”

“I was thinking about Stella.”

“From the serving team?” Natalie asked.

Amelia nodded. On wedding days, a restaurant agency provided them with a team of servers to work the front and back of the house with her. Stella was one of the employees who was consistently sent over. She preferred working in the kitchen and had told Amelia she was about to graduate from culinary school in the spring. “She’s finishing school in May. That will give us all summer to get her up to speed. By the time my due date comes, she’ll do fine with smaller projects and managing the outside caterer if we need one.”

“Okay, I’ll get her information from the agency and we’ll bring her in for a chat.” Natalie started tapping on her tablet, capturing the important information. “Now, in the meantime, we still need to pick a backup caterer. I want to have someone on standby.”

“Yeah,” Gretchen said with a sly grin on her face. “One of us might up and go to London on short notice or something.”

Amelia’s head snapped up in Gretchen’s direction. London? Why would she say London? She and Tyler had discussed that very possibility two weeks ago, but she hadn’t said anything to them. Not even in casual discussion. “Is someone going to London?”

Bree snorted into her hand. “You are, dummy.”

Amelia’s eyes widened in surprise. “I am? Since when?”

“Since Tyler came by last Friday,” Natalie informed her. “Before he went into the kitchen to help you, he stopped by my office and asked about the possibility of taking you on a business trip with him. I thought it was nice of him to check before he broached the subject.”

Amelia felt the heat of irritation rise to her cheeks. Tyler had the ability to coax an emotional response from her faster than anyone else, for good and bad reasons. She should’ve known he was up to something. Things had been going too well. It had been over a week since the doctor’s appointment, and it had been smooth sailing. They’d enjoyed their evenings together, read baby books together, argued about names and laughed together. “Well, it would’ve been nice if he’d said something to me about it! Anyone care to tell me when I’m going to London?”

“Sunday,” Natalie replied.

It was Thursday afternoon. “This Sunday? You’re kidding, right?”

“No, he told me the date.” Natalie looked down at her tablet. “Yep, March 8. That’s Sunday.”

Amelia gritted her teeth together. This was so like Tyler—doing whatever it took to get his way without considering what she wanted or how she felt about it. “I’m gonna kill him. We’ll need a backup caterer because I’m going to be in jail for fifteen to life.”

“Are you mad?” Gretchen asked. “Seriously? Your husband wants to take you on a spur-of-the-moment trip to London and you’re upset about it? I can’t get a guy to take me on a spur-of-the-moment trip to Burger King.”

“I’m not mad because he wants to take me to London. I’m mad because he went behind my back and set it all up without asking me first.”

“That’s because you would’ve said no,” Bree pointed out.

Amelia sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “So what? It’s irresponsible of me to leave on short notice. I just took off time for my reunion, and as we’ve discussed, I’ll be out again in the fall. I shouldn’t take off more time just for the hell of it.”

“Tyler said he’d have you back Thursday night,” Natalie reasoned. “Technically, you wouldn’t miss anything. We’re not doing the cake next week. They’re ordering a cupcake display from a local vendor. But I think you should take the rest of the weekend off anyway.”

“Why?”

“You’ll be jet-lagged, for one thing,” Natalie said. “You’re not going to feel like working when you get back.”

“You also need to spend some quality time with Tyler,” Bree added. “The clock is ticking down on this relationship trial run of yours. You guys have been so busy worrying about renting a house and dealing with baby stuff. Going someplace romantic might be nice. Go and try to enjoy yourself. Roam the streets of London and let yourself fall in love.”

In love? Things had been going well, but somehow the thought of that still seemed ridiculous. Amelia did love Tyler, but she was pretty certain being in love was not going to be an option. There were only two weeks left. They were comfortable together, yes. And the sex had been...noteworthy. But love? Amelia had never been in love, but she figured it would take a lot more than a stroll along the Thames to get them there.

Nine

“I think I might be sick.”

Tyler snapped to attention, moving to Amelia’s side as they stood on the curb in front of Sotheby’s auction house. Her color looked okay, her cheeks pink from the chill of the early-March London air. “What? Are you nauseated again? There’s a trash can over there.”

Amelia smiled and took his hand. “Sorry, I didn’t mean I was really sick. The idea of all those diamonds and millions of dollars changing hands was just enough to make me ill.”

“Oh,” he said with a chuckle as relief washed over him. Amelia had seemed to be doing better with her morning sickness, especially since they’d arrived in London, so he’d been surprised by her sudden declaration. An auction of this caliber could be intimidating to a first timer. Some of the world’s greatest jewels and antiques passed through the doors of this auction house, along with the ridiculous amounts of money that went with them.

“I thought maybe the chocolate tea at the Landmark Hotel had turned on you. We ate so much I was miserable through half the auction.”

“Oh, no,” Amelia argued. “That food was amazing. The one at Fortnum and Mason yesterday was good, too. French macarons are my new favorite thing and I plan to master them the moment we get back home. I think they’d make a lovely item for a dessert display, especially in the wedding colors.”