Diary of a Single Wedding Planner (Tales Behind the Veils Book 1) by Violet Howe

wouldn’t even consider it. She wanted a white cake. I suggested perhaps she could do the larger layer in white with the smaller second layer in chocolate for Jerry. Nope. She didn’t want a dark cake. I could tell Jerry was a little peeved, but he said okay and she seemed determined, so I let it drop.
    Jerry pretty much checked out from that point, a little irritated but overall bored. Until Joanna told the pastry chef she wanted Gerber daisies on the cake.
    “No,” he said. “No daisies. I want roses on the cake. Red roses.”
    Joanna turned and looked at him like he had two heads.
    “Red? Nothing in this wedding is red,” she said.
    “I want red roses.” He issued the challenge.
    Joanna crossed her arms and slid one knee over the other, her left foot bopping up and down as it dangled. “First of all, you know I hate roses. There are no roses in this wedding. I am having Gerber daisies in purple, orange, pink, and yellow. No roses and no red!”
    “The last time I checked, this was my wedding, too. And she ”—he pointed to me as I shrank from him—“said you need to consider my opinions. My opinion is I want red roses on this damned cake. And I want it to be chocolate.”
    “A wedding cake is not chocolate.” Joanna clenched her teethed and hissed the words. “That’s not what people expect when they see a wedding cake. Nor will they expect to see red roses on the cake when there’s no red anywhere else at all. And no roses!” I sensed perhaps there were other sources of tension that had nothing to do with cake.
    “Well, I didn’t expect to go into debt to marry you!” Jerry shouted. “I didn’t expect to be told to ask my brother to be my best man instead of Chuck, my best friend since third grade. I also didn’t expect half of my family to not be invited so your mother could invite anyone who’s ever been related to her. Or that I would be guilted into wearing a white tuxedo, which I think is ridiculous. So if I have to deal with all that shit I didn’t expect, then I think people will survive seeing red roses on a chocolate cake. If you want me to be standing there waiting for you at the altar, then this cake will be chocolate and have red roses.”
    Joanna’s mouth dropped open and then closed. A couple of times. She looked like she couldn’t decide whether to kill him or cry.
    I tried to think of something to say but struggled.
    “Um. Um. Maybe you could compromise and have red Gerbers. Then it would be the color Jerry wants and the flowers—”
    “No. Red roses and chocolate cake.” Jerry set his jaw as he spoke, glaring at Joanna with such venom that I seriously questioned if we would even make it to the wedding day. Much less how long they might make it afterward.
    Joanna stared back at him for a moment. Then, in an almost imperceptible surrender, she blinked back whatever moisture might have gathered and nodded.
    “Okay. Red roses. Chocolate cake.” Joanna turned to her rather uncomfortable pastry chef, and the cake was ordered.
    I doubt Jerry honestly gave two hoots what color the flowers were on the cake. But something obviously made him feel like he needed to take a stand and be heard.
    We get such a small glimpse into people’s relationships in my job. We see the big day. The plans that go into it. The emotions surrounding it. But we don’t see the behind the scenes. How they treat each other when no one is looking. How their relationship really ticks.
    I wonder what Cabe and Monica were like when it was just them. By themselves in Seattle. What was their behind-the-scenes like? What the hell happened to make her just take off? I mean, obviously she had some things going on with her sexual identity. I certainly didn’t see that coming from the time I spent with her.
    But why would she let him move to Seattle and marry him if she was wrestling with her own demons? It just doesn’t make sense.
    Cabe said in Seattle Monica was never home. When they were here, she couldn’t