From This Moment by Sean D. Young Read Free Book Online Page A

voicemail and Gwen had schedule three people to come in to meet with Ivy for next week. New clients made her happy, but she didn’t want to sacrifice quantity for quality.
    After she got home, she took a leisurely shower and then laid down for a nap. Once she got up, she felt refreshed and ready to work.
    She pulled out Lauren’s green folder and started reading from the first page. Ivy wondered if the woman truly expected to have everything she listed be a part of her wedding or if they were just wishes.
    Glancing at the list of ideas for the ceremony, dresses, invitations, decorations, reception, favors and cake, Ivy knew it all couldn’t be done in three weeks. Most of it didn’t even go together.
    Ivy was certain that she and Jonathan could come up with a cohesive and spectacular alternate plan that would please Lauren just as much.
    Ivy slipped on a pair of navy blue slacks and white pullover sweater. She liked walking barefoot in the house, so she didn’t bother to put on any shoes. As she slipped her diamond studs in her ears, she heard the doorbell.
    She walked to the door, quickly smoothed out the wrinkles in her pants, and looked through the peep hole to make sure it was Jonathan.
    She opened the door and stepped aside so that he could enter. He was carrying several large brown paper bags. She removed one of them from him arms to relieve him.
    “Something smells good in here,” she said, sniffing the bag as she walked through the great room to the large eat-in kitchen.
    “I had no clue the kind of take-out you like, so I hope you eat Chinese.” He placed the bag on the granite countertop.
    “Sure, I like Chinese food.” Ivy reached inside the cabinet to retrieve a couple of plates. She sat them next to the food.
    “I thought we’d work in the kitchen since it’s the biggest table I have. We can work better if we can spread things out.”
    “Aren’t you hungry?” Jonathan asked, removing the cartons of crab rangoons, shrimp egg foo young, shrimp fried rice, beef and broccoli and shrimp with garlic sauce from the paper bag.
    “I’m starving. It’s been so busy today, I don’t think I even ate lunch.” Ivy retrieved two large table spoons from the drawer and handed one to him.
    Jonathan spooned a generous amount of shrimp fried rice onto his plate. “I was over at Marc and Rose’s last night and she told me business has been hectic with all the phone calls and clients coming in for appointments.”
    “When I entered that contest, I did so because I wanted the world to see how good I was at wedding planning,” she said as she opened the lid on the carton of beef and broccoli. Licking the brown gravy from her finger, she continued. “I never thought people would be contacting us so quickly. We haven’t even taped the first episode and the phones are going crazy. I just want to make sure we keep things in perspective and don’t move too fast. Trying to accommodate everyone and losing the quality of work we’ve been known for isn’t an option for me. That’s our staying power.” She put a little of everything on her plate and went to the table with it.
    Jonathan followed her. “I totally agree. People can tear you down faster than they can praise you.”
    Ivy had disassembled Lauren’s portfolio and had placed the information in two sections. One was for the ceremony and the other was for the reception. In all there were twenty-three pages.
    She picked up a page and glanced at the food choices she requested for her reception. “I think you should take a look,” she suggested to Jonathan, handing him the white sheet of paper.
    Jonathan studied the lengthy list. “I see she wants appletinis as her signature drink.” He continued to scan the list. “This is a lot of food. She has three peppercorn strip loin, braised smoked beef brisket, smoked salmon, grilled salmon, the list goes on and on.”
    “We should suggest doing food stations instead of a sit-down dinner. The guests can choose