Page 66 of An Italian Wedding Adventure

As soon as she saw Elena, the manager, coming out to meet her, a world of worry in her tight expression, Sophie suspected her wind-down time wouldn’t be coming as soon as she’d hoped.

She was thanking her lucky stars that Lily and Roman were so happy and easy-going an hour later as she juggled a stack of pizza boxes with the receipt clutched between her lips. A voice called out from behind her.

‘Looks like I arrived right on time.’

Sophie stumbled, feeling the boxes slide, her thoughts racing forward with the image of them taking a nosedive and ending up crumpled on the ground in a fragrant pile. But before any of that could actually happen, another pair of hands steadied the precarious pizza tower – unmistakably large hands, with a braid of leather around one wrist.

‘I thought your weddings were supposed to be gourmet events. I would come along for takeaway pizza. Oh, here. Let me help you.’

Instead of him taking the pizzas, as she’d expected, he snagged the receipt out of her mouth and prompted her with a look.

‘We had a problem with our usual restaurant,’ she mumbled, her lips dry. ‘They had an electrical fire yesterday. No one else could accommodate such a large group at short notice, so they opted for pizza rather than splitting up.’

‘Do things like this happen a lot?’

‘They happen,’ she snapped, ‘but not a lot. What are you doing here?’

‘Paperwork,’ he said, brandishing a sheaf of print-outs. ‘We need release forms on file.’

Sophie stopped so suddenly, the pizzas slipped again and she staggered drunkenly in an attempt to right them. ‘Are you going to help me? Or is balancing a tower of pizza boxes all on my own a skill you think I need to master for my own good?’

He stopped short and she had to turn to look at him. With an alarmingly perceptive spark in his eye, he slapped his release forms on top of the boxes and then took the whole stack from her, capturing her arms briefly against his.

‘You asked for help,’ he observed. ‘Well done, Sophie.’

‘Give me a break,’ she muttered. ‘You could have told me you were coming with paperwork. I need to know these details. What if we hadn’t been here?’

‘I’m sorry I forgot to tell you.’

Sophie’s misgiving swelled. Lily and Roman’s wedding was the first of its kind for I Do – or for Great Heart Adventure Weddings, she should try to remember to say. She hated that she had no idea what other problems might crop up.

‘This wedding has not started well,’ she groaned.

‘It’ll finish well.’

‘I bloody hope so.’

Andreas shrugged, rattling the pizza boxes and making Sophie’s heart leap in alarm. ‘They’ll get married and it’ll be their wedding – whatever happens. It would be boring if everything went to plan.’

She scowled at him. ‘That’s easy for you to say.’

‘I thought weddings were all about the emotion.’ His voice was gentle and it put her off balance because she hadn’t expected it.

‘You’re right, which is why you’ll cry like a baby when they promise to always be partners on life’s adventure.’

His footsteps stalled for a second, as though the words had touched him, but when she glanced up, his expression was doubtful. That was better – familiar ground. ‘Is that really the wedding vow?’

‘One of them. Do you know how difficult it is to write wedding vows thatdon’tsound like something out of a Christmas movie?’

His brow was thick. ‘I’ve never watched a Christmas movie.’

‘That figures,’ she mumbled, opening the door for him.

‘Hey, ähm…’ He paused. ‘Do we need to talk? About this morning?’

‘This morning? No,’ she said quickly.

‘Are you… Do you mind that I’m here?’

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