All's Fair in Love and Las Vegas

Chapter Fifty-Nine

        We went back to doing wedding research, still cozied up. I nodded at the screen, saying, "A getaway carriage would be cool."

        "We can do a carriage," he said.

        I gasped. "Really? Like a princess?"

        "You can be a princess for our wedding," he said, nuzzling my nose. I giggled, delighted by this development. "Thank you, Prince Charming."

        "Of course," he said, grinning.

        I yawned, which unfortunately was a dead giveaway for being tired. Grayson looked at me, then looked at the time. "Sweetheart, it's late, you need to go to bed."

        "But our wedding!" I protested sleepily.

        "Will still be there when we wake up in the morning," he said firmly, setting his laptop down on the nightstand. "Do you need to brush your teeth?"

        "I already did."

        "Okay then. Goodnight, Jacks," Grayson said, pecking my cheek and pulling the blankets over both of us. I fell asleep almost immediately, wrapped up in his cozy embrace.

        The next morning was our preparation. Grayson led me to the conference room, going full-on Answell. He plugged in his laptop and we started working, determined to make the most compelling presentation in the history of presentations.

       "What time did you ask her to come?" I asked, working on my own computer.

        "Eleven," he said distractedly, staring at his screen.

        I swallowed. A half hour left. A half hour to get the wedding of our dreams and convince the most stubborn person I knew.

        The clock struck eleven and the doors instantly opened. I did not like how punctual Laura was. She was on time down to the millisecond.

         Grayson adjusted his tie. "Hello, mother. Please, have a seat."

         "I don't know why on earth you two called a meeting about the wedding. We just changed the venue, but other than that I thought we were all ready," she said, daintily sitting down at the end head of the table.

        "Jackie and I were talking and we were actually hoping to make some minor changes," he said professionally. "We thought we should give you a short summary before solidifying them."

        "Yes, a good idea," she agreed. Meaning she would've killed us had we not run it by her.

        "Excellent, let's begin," Grayson said, grabbing the clicker-remote. I stood next to him, smiling and looking like the ultimate bride.

        Grayson shot through all nineteen of our new ideas and changes. He went fast, so fast that I almost missed some of them, but he gave hard facts and showed benefits. For instance, root beer floats are aesthetically pleasing right now. Also they're the best drink in the world, but that wasn't hard evidence. 

        As I sat to the right of Laura, watching as Grayson presented, I chewed my fingernail. There were two reasons I chewed: the first being that I was worried she would reject everything and go back to her cold, ruthless ways.

        The second was...well, Grayson being all professional and business-like was kind of hot.

        Mentally, I scolded myself. Not only was our relationship meant for business purposes, but I was also running out of time with him. We had less than a month before our scheduled flight home from Tuvalu. We would spend that flight legally divorced, drop the bomb about it all being a sham, then Grayson and I would say our goodbyes and I would go back to my cozy, unexciting life in Arlington. Until that day, I needed to be working on letting go of him.

        But ugh that suit and tie just look so good on him.

        "Jackie!"

        "Huh?" I asked, mortified at my own behavior. 

        Laura was staring at me, her blue eyes wide with horror. "Surely, you can't approve of all this!"

        My heart sank. "Grayson and I came up with all these things together," I offered halfheartedly. Maybe the cuteness would hypnotize her.

        "Are you two delusional?" she said, standing and walking over to the roll-down screen. "Potato soup? This isn't the nineteenth century! We're not peasants!"

         "Okay, we can scratch the soup," Grayson said quickly, deleting that slide. 

         "All of it! Well, except the carriage. That is a nice touch," she admitted. I raised an eyebrow; I thought she would've said it was too tacky.

         Grayson deflated, like a leaky balloon. "All of it?"

         "Yes, all of it!" Laura was practically hysterical. "The flower petals won't do–we have to have the rice. It's imported from India, from one of the wealthiest rice producers in the world. It would be distasteful to be rid of their rice. And the root beer floats! This isn't a child's birthday party. And you want glitter at the tables? I thought we agreed on gold dust!"

        "Mother, you see–" Grayson tried.

        She put up her hands. "No, I won't hear it. Grayson, love, I raised you better than this. You should know why we had things the way they were. It was perfect, and it still will be. You can have your carriage, but the rest of it is absolutely unacceptable."

        With that, she took her clutch from the chair and waltzed out, her heels clicking on the marble and echoing for a minute. Grayson and I stood in silence, unable to believe how badly it had gone.

        Putting on a brave face, I smiled feebly and said, "We got the carriage. That's something."

        "No, Jackie, don't do this to me right now," he said bitterly, closing his laptop and shutting down the projector.

        "Do what?" I asked, feeling angry. Laura was the one to be mad at, yet he was blaming this on me?

        "Do that thing," he said, shaking his head. "Where you pretend things are so much better than they are when it's awful. Aren't you ever upset? Aren't you ever willing to get angry and beg the universe for a little bit of grace?"

        I was quiet.

        "Jackie, you're sweet, really, and you're kind, and loving, but it's so hard to see you sit back and let your dreams get crushed because you don't want to fight back," Grayson said, his tone pleading.

        "Well, I don't see you fighting back," I said softly.

        His gaze softened. "That's because I'm scared she'll take it out on you."

        "That's my reasoning as well."

        He laughed harshly. "Jacks? I don't care. She's already destroyed my life. She's just holding my future over my head, and for what? For grandchildren? For a daughter-in-law she can torment? I'm so close to giving her that illusion that for this next month I just don't care. I will give her every reason to hate me. I will serve potato soup at my wedding. Screw her."

        He stormed out, leaving me alone in the conference room. I stared after him, more worried than angry. Grayson always kept his cool; to see him this upset was concerning.

        "I'll check on him later," I said to myself. Give him time to cool off.

        For now, I needed to figure out where one would find a carriage. And horses.