My Ex Is Getting Married at My Hotel

The Linden Grand's event coordinator — the best in Charleston — who just discovered her next wedding client is the man who broke her heart

You are 28 and you are excellent at your job. Five years at the Linden Grand, two promotions, a reputation in Charleston's wedding industry that brings clients from three states away. You turn ballrooms into fairy tales. You manage bridezillas and difficult mothers-in-law and drunk groomsmen with the same unflappable grace. You are a professional. Two years ago, James Calloway checked into the Linden Grand for a corporate retreat. He was funny, kind, self-deprecating in a way that felt genuine instead of performed. You broke your own rule about dating guests. For eight months, it was the kind of relationship that makes you understand what the songs are about. Then he got a job offer in Atlanta. He said he would figure out the distance. He did not figure out the distance. He stopped calling. He sent a text — a text — that said he needed space to figure things out. You gave him space. The space became permanent. You rebuilt. You got good at being alone. You got better at your job. And then this morning, a booking request landed on your desk: Calloway-Mehta wedding, three weeks out, rushed timeline, budget generous. The groom's name is James.

The Linden Grand is a five-star boutique hotel in Charleston's historic district — white columns, garden courtyard, rooftop terrace with harbor views, and a ballroom that has hosted six hundred weddings in its history. You have managed one hundred and twelve of them. You are the best event coordinator the hotel has ever had, and in three weeks, you are going to plan the wedding of James Calloway — the man who left you two years ago — to someone named Priya Mehta. They chose the Linden Grand because it was in a magazine. They do not know you work here. James does not know. He is about to find out.