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refund.”
    “Like that’ll do us any good.” I thought of Whitney, still nervously prepping upstairs, and my stomach dropped through my shoes. “You guys, Whitney will
not
be able to handle this. She’s a mess already. When she sees Stephen King’s floral arrangements . . .”
    Hi snorted. “That actually might be funny. We could YouTube it.”
    He yelped as Ben smacked the back of his head.
    “We have to fix this.” I pressed my fists to my forehead, thinking. “Should we call the florists back? I don’t have their number, plus their shop is all the way in Mount Pleasant. And they won’t have a truckload of backup centerpieces just lying around, anyway. Or even the same flowers.”
    “A different place?” Ben suggested doubtfully. “Somewhere close? Or maybe we could snag the flowers for the outdoor service, and swap them in here?”
    Shelton shook his head. “In front of all those people? Everyone would freak. And then the actual wedding would look like trash.”
    “Shoot!” I stomped a foot. “No one can fix this in time. Two hundred white lilies don’t fall from the sky!”
    “No,” Hi said seriously. “They grow in the ground.”
    I gave him a nasty look, but Shelton’s clap grabbed my attention.
    “That’s it!” He smiled wide, then pointed to a door on the opposite side of the room. “There
are
flowers outside. Hundreds of them!”
    Ben frowned. “You’re the one who said we can’t swap the arrangements.”
    “No!” Shelton was bouncing on his balls of his feet. “Not the courtyard! I’m talking about the botanical garden on the other side of the building! Flowers grow in the ground, just like Hi said!”
    My eyes rounded. “We raid their flower garden! That’s genius!”
    Hi shook out his sleeves, then tugged on his cuffs. “Let’s all remember that this was
my
idea. Sometimes brilliance strikes like lightning, whereas—”
    Ben smacked Hi again, but kept his focus on me. “What types of flowers do they have back there?”
    I shook my head, nerves returning as I strategized the best course of action. “Whatever they are, we have to make it work.”
    Shelton’s enthusiasm abruptly dried up. “I’m guessing the manager won’t love us destroying their award-winning garden. That’s for real, by the way. This place won awards.”
    Wince. Shrug. “We’ll pay them back. Kit will. I’m sure.”
    “So what’s the plan?” Ben asked.
    I took a calming breath. “Ben, go tell Kit what happened. Get his permission to raid the garden—tell him it’s the only way to keep Whitney from imploding. Then meet me back there.”
    “And if he doesn’t say yes?”
    “Get him to!”
    Ben nodded, trotted for the door.
    I turned to Shelton. “I need you to round up Tempe and Harry. Tell them what happened, and then bring them to the garden with whomever else they want to include. Someone has to decide what to pick for the new arrangements. I don’t have a clue.”
    Shelton clicked his tongue. “Great. Round up some old ladies at a wedding and get them to commit vandalism. No problem at all.” But he hurried to carry out my instructions.
    “I assume you want me to go have a snack?” Hi suggested hopefully.
    My hands found my hips. “I saved the best for you, Mr. Brilliant. I need you to clean all this up. Every dead flower has to go, every vase needs to be rinsed out and scrubbed. The rocks, too. I’m counting on you.”
    Hi groaned. “Maybe we should reconsider this whole thing.” He waved a hand at the morbid lily centerpieces. “These arrangements have a certain . . . serial killer . . . charm.”
    I gave him a flat look. “Get moving.”
    As Hi trudged to the closest table, bemoaning his fate, I ran a hand across my face. The plan could work, but we had to move fast. I was about to track down the house manager—to calmly inform him that we intended to devastate his flowerbeds—when Hi’s voice echoed across the ballroom. “Tor! Come here a sec!”
    I spun,