Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“We were talking a while ago about what our future might hold and how she wants to work—”
“Hence the charitable foundation?”
“It’s not like she doesn’t have the experience throwing parties or the education,” I bit out, not liking what Luc was insinuating.
He held his hands up. “I’m just making sure I am following along.”
“When the topic of children came up, she mentioned that I already had three grown children. She didn’t even know about your brother. She and Charlotte have been friends for years, and she had no idea he existed.”
“I’m not sure Amelia does either, to be honest.” Luc nodded.
“That’s exactly my point. I want that to change. I think it’s time he returned to the family.” I took a deep breath. “I put an alert on his passport so I would always know where he was, and if he went somewhere dangerous, I could have people watch him.”
“Bet he loved that.”
“He doesn’t know, but I know he flew into JFK this morning.”
“What are we going to do?” Luc asked.
“We?”
Just as Luc opened his mouth, a loud explosion came from the distillery.
We both turned to look just in time to see several more explosions go off, starting at the front entrance and going all the way to the tasting room.
The ground shook hard enough to make Luc and I both grab onto the cars, whose alarms were now wailing as people screamed.
Before I could blink, the roof over the tasting room collapsed.
Stella was still in there.
CHAPTER 36
STELLA
“Ithink we want to have an overt Irish vibe,” I said as we walked through the distillery. “I almost want to give it a pub-type feel, with different elements that really elevate it to the next level.”
“I don’t know how much we can really change to accommodate—”
“No,” I interrupted the man giving me the tour of the distillery. “The point is I don’t want to change anything. We’re going to add the party venue on top of what is already here. It’s something that we’re going to be able to put up very quickly, probably on the day of, and then disassemble it the next day and allow everyone to get back to work with minimal, if any, interruption.”
“I do like the sound of that. We do keep very strict timelines.”
“I understand that completely, and the last thing I want to do is to make this harder than it has to be or to disrupt the flow of your workers. Here’s what I’m thinking, and please feel free to add anything or let me know what wouldn’t be feasible.”
“Okay.” He looked at me like he was a little distrusting of what I was saying, and I understood.
But I really did want to make this work well for everyone.
“So, I’m thinking over there, where you have all of the barrels stacked, I want to make sure none of our guests can get to those. The last thing we want is an accident. So I want to encase that area in glass, making it decor. The barrels will not be moved. We’ll just put up the walls. Then it will be taken down immediately. In front of that is where I want to put the bar.”
“Did you want me to build a bar?”
“No. I actually have a contractor who is already aware of the specs of the room, so as soon as I tell him where the bar is going to go, he’s going to build it from wood reclaimed from old barrels. It’ll be fairly simple, it’ll look rustic, and the best part is that it will be built off-site, brought in, and then taken away.”
“That sounds great.” He really did look relieved.
“I’m thinking the dance floor is going to be where those large copper vats are. Is there anything that we need to make sure the guests can’t do, like locking down any controls or valves?”
“Yes, and I will have that taken care of before you and your guests start arriving.”
“Perfect.” I was so excited.
All of this was coming together so beautifully.
I wanted this party to be a success, to prove to not only Lucian that I was up to the task, but to myself too. I hadn’t even hired a party planner, just a caterer, and everything else was up to me.
“We do need to figure out where the DJ will be set up, and I also want to have a pedestal, somewhere Charlotte can play.”
“What does she play?”
“Charlotte Manwarring. She is a cellist. She is going to play a few bar songs but edge them up a bit. It will be her and one other cellist. I also want to set up a place for Amelia Manwarring’s students to auction off some of their work. We are going to make this party a full Manwarring event. Even Olivia is sending her best photographers to cover everything.”