Page 5 of Another June with You

Keely was interrupted then by the caterer with a question about serving the food. “I’m sorry, Shannon. I have to take care of this. But we will continue this conversation.” She tucked a loose blonde curl behind her ear and pointed at Shannon. “Later.”

Shannon moved to a nearby table, removed two Canon 5D MK II cameras from her bag, and attached a telephoto lens to one and a fixed width lens to the other. With one camera around her neck and the other over her shoulder—allowing her to switch quickly depending on the situation—she was ready to go.

The location was lovely. A large banquet room set high on the property of the John Ball Zoo. Floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides gave a sweeping view of the surrounding treetops and a glimpse of downtown Grand Rapids, not to mention killer natural light.

The room was abuzz with conversation. She fixed her lens on Micah and Chase talking and snapped a few shots as they laughed. She loved capturing the candid, unplanned moments, and the raw, real relationships between people. Those pictures told more of a story than any posed photo ever could.

She moved about the room, getting more shots of the guests—an elderly woman holding hands with a little girl, a small group of women laughing hysterically, some older men seriously discussing their golf games, or politics, or both.

As she circled back around the room, Keely sauntered up to Chase, whose eyes lit up at his lovely fiancée. She captured the loving way they gazed at each other and the second they came together for a tender kiss.

The sweet moment tugged at her heart. If they had been together for eight years and still looked at each other that way, then they were sure to last. Would she ever have that with someone? She glanced in Micah’s direction. Maybe she’d had her chance and blown it.

Keely’s sister, Becca, the matron of honor, moved about the room then, corralling everyone to the tables. With her sleek blonde tresses and petite frame, she looked more like Keely’s twin than her older sister.

Once everyone was seated, Chase stood and laid his hand on Keely’s shoulder.

“On behalf of myself and my beautiful bride …” He smiled down at her. “We want to thank you all for coming to this little ‘welcome to town’ brunch. Some of you have traveled a great distance, and we appreciate you being with us for the next few days leading up to the wedding. This has been a long time coming—”

“Amen!” Keely’s father piped in.

Laughter filled the room.

“Thanks for that, Bob.” Chase cleared his throat and adjusted his tie. “We’re very excited to start our married life together and to have you here with us to celebrate.”

Someone tapped their water glass with a fork, which started the clinking of glasses throughout the room.

“Save it for the wedding,” Chase cried.

Keely stood and slid her arms around his neck. “Speak for yourself.” And she planted one on him.

Shannon grinned as she pressed the shutter release, knowing she had captured one of the cutest moments of the day.

Keely came up for air long enough to tell everyone to enjoy brunch, before she went back to kissing Chase again.

Shannon captured more of the guests’ reactions, turning the camera on Keely’s parents, who were all smiles, then to Chase’s parents. His dad’s grin was wide, but his mom wore no expression at all. She sat completely straight-faced, her eyes devoid of emotion. Shannon wondered if something was wrong with her—maybe an illness—or if she was just that unpleasant.

The group settled to a light chatter as they feasted on french toast, waffles, and home fries and sipped on mimosas, coffee, and tea. Shannon continued to move about the room, photographing the flowers on the tables, the food, the drinks, the servers. She captured everything she could.

A hand on her upper back startled her.

“Come sit with us.” Keely gently nudged her.

“Oh, that’s okay. You don’t have to feed me. Especially after I put you so behind schedule.”

“Nonsense.” Keely took her arm and led her to the main table, where she retrieved an extra chair and made Micah move his chair over, so she could squeeze it in next to her own.

Real subtle, Keely.

Shannon took a seat and set her equipment on the floor by her feet, keeping one of her cameras in her lap in case she needed to capture something quickly. Her senses were immediately assaulted by Micah’s cologne again. It was so unfair that he still smelled—and looked—so good after all these years. Couldn’t he have just gained weight and let himself go, even a little bit? But then, part of her knew that even if he had, she would still feel something for him.

Keely passed the french toast her way while Chase motioned for a server. Next thing she knew, a plate piled high with toast and a hearty helping of home fries was set in front of her. Micah placed the syrup bottle on the table by her plate. She swallowed hard. None of this was good for her. It was definitely not on her list of approved foods. But she felt embarrassed to say so.

She lifted her glass of water to Keely to avoid taking a bite of all the sugar in front of her. “To the future Mr. and Mrs. Pennington.”

Everyone at their table lifted a glass and toasted to the couple.

Shannon was thankful to be included at the main table, but she hoped nobody would notice if she didn’t eat much of the heap of food before her.

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