The Bouquet List Read Online Free PDF Page B

loves him more than anyone.”
    Lane pushed both hands into his trouser pockets and gave her a serious look. “How do you think things are with your parents?”
    Yasmin held one of the bars of Monty’s cage. “I don’t really know. They’ve always tried to keep any tension between the two of them secret from us, so I never know what’s the truth. I’ll Skype Mom shortly.”
    “Morning.” They both turned to see Grace Bennett, the Palace’s wedding planner, smiling as she walked past in a powder-blue suit.
    “Oh, Grace, this is Lane Griffiths. He’s come to advise on the changes to the restaurant. Lane, this is our incredible wedding planner, Grace. Here on a Sunday. We’re so lucky to have her. She works crazy hours.”
    “Nice to meet you, Lane.” Grace held out her hand. “No wedding today so I can catch up a bit. I’ve always loved your restaurants and can’t wait ’til your new place is open. I’m really looking forward to your ideas for the Palace . ”
    Lane shook her hand, and they had a brief conversation about people they both knew, the fortunes of the wedding business, and how wonderful Lane’s new hotel restaurant would be. Suddenly, it struck Yasmin that Grace was probably the sort of girl Lane usually dated. Well-groomed and well-connected, confident but singularly business-minded. She was the sort of dependable and consistent woman Lane would be instantly attracted to. And he wouldn’t be out of her league at all.
    “I’d appreciate you being involved in our decisions here, Grace,” Lane was saying. “After all, you’re the one who’ll have to make everything work.”
    “I’ll look forward to it,” she said. “Excuse me for now, though. I have an important flower plan to check on for tomorrow.”
    As Grace entered the office building and closed the door behind them, Lane turned to her. “Your dad says she does a great job here.”
    “Yes, she’s amazing. We’d be completely lost without her. She’s been here for about five years and manages all the day-to-day running of the wedding business now.”
    He nodded. “I’m taking all my best staff with me to the hotel. Good people are worth their weight in gold. I guess there are a few employees who’ll be worried that your parents aren’t here.”
    Did he mean that they must be worried that she was in charge when she really knew nothing about this business at all?
    “I guess. Grace is very aware of what’s happening, and Leo is family. Most of the others don’t know the full story yet, just that Dad’s gone to Greece to bring Mom home. I don’t want to tell them anything else just now so that we can keep things as stable as possible.”
    Lane set his hands low on his hips. “And that’s the way it has to stay. The last thing we need is staff deserting us or spreading any rumors about there being issues. When people are shelling out the sort of money they do for a wedding, they wouldn’t want any hint that things weren’t going to be absolutely perfect and uninterrupted.”
    Yasmin fingered the butterfly at her throat. “I really want to make a difference here, Lane. I’m not just doing this to kill time, or because I think it’s going to be a fun thing to have on my CV. I’m really committed to helping Mom and Dad put things back on track.”
    “I’m glad to hear it,” he said as he picked his briefcase up again. “While I know plenty about what it takes to run a good restaurant, and you’ve grown up in this place, I don’t think either of us has a complete enough knowledge about the way a successful wedding hall should work, so we’re going to need to utilize the expertise of people like Grace.”
    A few minutes later they entered the restaurant. As times had gotten tougher in the wedding business, her parents had decided to open it to the public when there wasn’t a wedding on—which was quite often these days. Her uncle Leo was an incredible chef, but had always deferred to her parents’ taste and