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“I’m so pleased you’ve finally finished your degree,” her mother said with a smile. “I’m sorry it took you so long, but that’s water under the bridge.”
Pallas put her fork down and told herself to just breathe. Time would pass and she would get to leave. Or she could throw something or scream. That would work, too.
While Libby had paid for Pallas’s college in Southern California, there had been several stipulations. First, that Pallas maintain a B+ GPA. Second, that Pallas earn her own spending money. Pallas had gotten a job working at nearby Disneyland. She’d loved it so much, she’d taken on extra hours, and in her third semester, her GPA had fallen to a B-. Within hours of finding out, Libby had sent an email explaining she would no longer be paying for college, her dorm room or anything else. Pallas was completely on her own. Permanently.
With less than thirty dollars to her name, Pallas had been forced to return to Happily Inc and move in with a girlfriend while she figured out what to do. She’d eventually gone to work for Gerald at Weddings in a Box and had put herself through community college, then a state school. It had taken eight and a half years, but she’d done it. She was now the proud owner of a degree in finance.
Her mother looked at her. “I assume you’ve learned your lesson.”
“I don’t even know what that means, Mom.”
“That you won’t be foolish again.”
Pallas wanted to point out she’d simply gotten a C in geology. That she hadn’t been arrested, done drugs or even dated inappropriately. But there was no point. Libby wouldn’t care. The rules had been broken and there were always consequences. For everything.
“I’m pretty sure everyone but you is foolish every now and then,” she said instead. “Regardless, yes, I have my degree.”
“Excellent.” Her mother smiled. “Then it’s time. Pallas, I’m delighted to offer you a position here at the bank. You can start in two weeks.”
There it was. The one thing she’d wanted since she was a little girl. The chance to work here—with her mother.
Pallas waited for the wave of excitement or even a sense of satisfaction. Finally. Finally she would gain respectability. Stability. She would be part of the family legacy. She was thrilled. Really.
Or not. Because in truth what she felt was...nothing.
Her mother frowned. “What’s the problem? I thought you would be overjoyed.”
“I am. I appreciate the offer...”
“Do not say but to me, Pallas. I mean it. I’ve been waiting for this for almost a decade. If you hadn’t screwed around at college, you wouldn’t have wasted the last eight years of your life.”
“It was one C, Mom. Because I was working extra hours.”
“At Disneyland,” her mother said between clenched teeth.
“I loved my job there and I learned a lot. For the record, I don’t consider my life a waste, but thanks for the vote of confidence.”
Libby’s expression turned impatient. “Then what is your problem? You should be jumping at this opportunity.”
“I can’t leave Weddings in a Box in the next two weeks. I have weddings booked through September. I have employees who are depending on their paychecks.”
“Dear God, you can’t be serious. Are any of your employees full-time? Isn’t there someone else who can handle the weddings? It’s people getting married. How hard can it be?”
It was one thing for Pallas to wonder about making Weddings in a Box a success, but it was another to hear her mother denigrate the business. Her hackles went up and she went from mildly irritated to seriously annoyed.
“I owe Gerald,” she said, doing her best to keep her voice low and calm. “He left me his life’s work and I am going to do my best to honor his gift.”
“The man is dead. He doesn’t care one way or another.”
“That’s harsh, even for you.”
“It’s practical.” Libby’s brown eyes snapped with anger. “I absolutely can’t believe this. What is it about you, Pallas? You simply will not do what is expected. You’ve always been this way. Defiant. Stubborn. You get it from your grandfather.”
Something Pallas had heard her whole life. She found it difficult not to roll her eyes. Plus, she really loved Grandpa Frank, so where was the bad?
“So how long do you plan to keep that ridiculous business open?” her mother asked.
“You may not like what I’m doing, Mom, but that doesn’t give you the right to mock Weddings in a Box. It’s a legitimate firm that makes people happy. Even you should see the value in that.”
Libby pressed her lips together. “All right. How long do you plan to work there?”
“I’m not sure. As I said, I have weddings booked through September. I was thinking I would sell it then.” Maybe to Alan, not that he’d ever expressed any interest in owning the company.
“That’s a long way from now. I can’t promise there will be an opening then. Or ever.” Her mother’s stern expression returned. “This may be a one-shot deal, Pallas. Are you willing to give up everything you’ve worked for because of a worthless inheritance?”
And there it was—the Libby-like ultimatum. She shouldn’t be surprised. Or hurt. And yet...
“It’s not worthless to me.” Pallas still remembered how stunned she’d been to find out her boss had left her Weddings in a Box. She’d known they were friends and that he cared about her but to leave her the business—just like that—had been incredible.
“There will be consequences for this decision,” her mother warned.
“There always are.”
She looked at her plate and realized there was no way she was going to be able to eat anything.
“If there’s nothing else, I’m going to go,” Pallas said as she tossed her napkin on the table. “I’m sorry I’ve upset you.”
“You’re mistaken. I’m not upset. I’m disappointed. There’s a difference.”
A familiar one, Pallas thought grimly. Because she’d always been the disappointing child.
“Goodbye, Mom.”
Libby only sighed.
As Pallas walked back to her car she wondered why it was always like this between her mother and herself. No matter the circumstances, they clashed. Libby ended up disappointed and Pallas was left questioning the fact that she continually had to earn her mother’s love. Nothing was freely given. It wasn’t that way for Cade or any of her cousins, but it had always been like that for her. She had no idea why, and was equally clueless on how to get things to change.
CHAPTER THREE (#uff7f7b8d-4b40-54dd-bcf7-56373bc40896)
PALLAS WENT THROUGH a fast-food drive-through window on her way back to work. By the time she arrived, she’d finished her double cheeseburger and only had a few fries left. She tossed them in a belated attempt to be virtuous, then took the stairs to her office at a jog. As if that would burn off any excess calories.
“Mothers,” she muttered as she changed from her dress into jeans and a T-shirt. “What was God thinking?”
She tied her tennis shoes, then drew in a breath. She was restored to her regular self. The day would go on as if the unfortunate lunch incident hadn’t occurred. Pallas genuinely didn’t know what to do about Libby’s job offer. She’d earned her degree in finance because it was expected and required to go into the family business. Shouldn’t she be thrilled at the thought of working at the bank? It had always been her dream. Weddings in a Box was hardly making her a fortune. The sensible decision would be to sell it and start living a normal life. Only she just couldn’t seem to do it.
“I’ll decide in September,” she said aloud. “When the season is over. I’ll know what to do.” Assuming there would still be a job waiting with her mother. There was no way to know.
She went downstairs. The ballroom needed a good vacuuming and doing that would probably count as exercise. She would—
She turned the corner and screamed when she saw a man in the hallway.
The intruder turned and morphed into Nick. Pallas pressed a hand to her chest.
“What are you doing here?”
“I work here and have a key.”
Both were true, she told her rapidly thudding heart. “I forgot.”
“Which part?”
“Apparently all of it.”
He flashed her a smile. “Second thoughts on hiring me?”
“Gifted artist willing to restore my sad wooden panels for almost nothing above minimum wage? No second thoughts, although I do worry about your mental state. Not that I’m complaining about it. As long as you fall in the nonthreatening spectrum of crazy, I’m good with it.”
He chuckled. “I told you. I’m between projects and I’m excited to work on the panels. They need some serious love.”
She knew what he meant but had to admit the phrase “serious love” had her thinking of something other than wood restoration. She’d been without that particular brand of maleness for a long time now. Her lifestyle didn’t exactly lend itself to dating. For one thing, she worked weekends. For another, when guys found out she was “in the wedding business” they tended to get nervous.
To distract herself, she thought about how lucky she was that Nick was interested in helping her. What with him being talented and famous. Not that she knew more than the basic information. It wasn’t as if she’d actually seen his work in person. There had been lots of pictures online, but that was different than seeing the real thing. Maybe she should go to Atsuko’s gallery and poke around. Or not. Staring at what he’d created, complete with five-or six-figure price tags, would probably give her a heart attack.
“I came by to figure out what tools to bring with me when I get started tomorrow,” he added.
“You’re going to have to take them down, aren’t you?” She eyed the massive panels. “How is that going to work? And where will you put them?”
“I thought I’d move all the princess wedding props to the Roman wedding prop room and take over that space. My brothers and Alan will help me get the panels down and onto supports.”
“You’ve thought this through.”
“It seemed best to have a plan.” He hesitated. “You okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. You seem upset or something.”
Ack! Having lunch with her mother was starting to leave actual marks. “It’s nothing. Family drama.”
Nick stayed right there in the hallway, as if waiting for her to say more. She told herself to keep quiet, but then belatedly remembered she generally caved under pressure.
“How much do you know about the history of Happily Inc?” she asked as she leaned against the wall.
“I don’t know. It was founded and people moved here?”
She laughed. “Probably. I’m talking more recent history. Say the 1960s.”
“Before my time. Yours, too.”
“But not my grandfather’s.” She drew in a breath. “In the 1960s Happily Inc was struggling. My grandfather on my mother’s side owned a local bank. If the town failed, no one would pay back their loans and he would lose piles and piles of money.”
“Bad for anyone,” Nick acknowledged.
“Exactly. Being the kind of man who wasn’t going to let that happen, Grandpa Frank invented a story about a stagecoach full of brides-to-be heading for the gold rush in northern California.”
Nick frowned. “I know this one. The stagecoach broke down right here and it took several weeks for the repair parts to arrive. By then, all the brides had fallen in love with local guys and the stagecoach continued its journey empty. That’s where the town gets its name.”
Her grandfather would be so proud, she thought humorously. “That is the legend.”
“It’s not true?”
“It’s a total crock, made up by Grandpa Frank. The thing was, he not only knew how to make up a good story, he knew how to sell it, and to whom. It played very well in Hollywood. Several movie stars were so intrigued, they held their weddings in Happily Inc. The media followed and now we have this.” She waved her arm to indicate the building. “An entire town devoted to the destination wedding.”
“Built on a lie. Pretty slick.”
“He’s an impressive guy.”
“Still around?”
“Grandpa Frank will outlive us all.”
“I hope I get to meet him.”
“I’d be surprised if you didn’t.”
He nodded slowly. “There’s a family bank and you work here. That’s interesting.”
“You mean what’s a nice girl like me doing in a place like this?”
“Something like that.”
She told him the abridged version of her failure at college and having to finish putting herself through school before she could be considered for the family firm.
“Working full-time, it took a little longer, but I got there. I have officially matriculated.”
“Damn, you’re impressive.”
She blinked. That wasn’t exactly the reaction she was expecting. “I did what a million other people do every day.”
“You did great. So what’s got your mom all in a snit? You got a C. The world shouldn’t end.”
“She has a lot of rules.”
His gaze shifted to something beyond her. “Some parents are like that. They want things done their way.”
“Tell me about it.” Pallas thought of all her attempts to be her own person while still having her mother’s approval. For some reason she couldn’t seem to learn that those two things were mutually exclusive.
“I was supposed to go work in the bank as soon as I got my degree. Which I did last January. Then Gerald died and left me the business. I’ve been running it ever since. Now my mom has offered me a job and I don’t know what to do.”
