Page 88 of Love Off-Limits
She fell in step beside me as I headed down the porch steps. “Have I said thank you already, Tyler?”
I shot her a sideways look. “A few times.”
She bit her lip. “I just...I’m not sure I deserve this kindness from you. I mean, of course you’ll be paid. Handsomely, I’m sure. The Ethans are generous. I expect they’ll even add in a bonus since you filled in so last minute—”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I said as I slowed my step. The view of the pavilion was perfect from where we stood. “I still have to do a good job.”
“You will,” she said simply. “I know you will.”
By the time the ceremony started, I’d started to relax. I’d never filmed a wedding, but I was never more at home than when I was behind a camera, and that made it easier to fall into it. To find the story the Ethans wanted me to tell. After the ceremony, I captured footage of the wedding party working with the photographer, of the guests milling about with their cocktails while they waited, of the event staff resetting the pavilion to be the dance floor during the reception, of the sun sinking into the hazy blue of the mountains in the distance. Then there were the dinner toasts, the first dance, cutting the cake, and when I could swing it, tiny question-and-answer sessions with Tall Ethan, and as many members of the bridal party as I could sequester away for five minutes of chatting.
By the time the evening was over, I was exhausted but felt fairly confident I had enough footage to put together a video that just might mean something to the happy couple.
And theywerehappy. It was hard not to feel hope after spending an entire evening filming them as they basked in the love they had for each other and the love their family and friends obviously had for them. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen one couple morecelebrated.
Olivia found me as I was packing up the last of my equipment. Most of the guests had gone home. A few lingered by the bar; another couple still stood on the dance floor, swaying to the sounds of John Legend coming out of somebody’s cell phone since the deejay had already packed up and left.
“Please tell me you got footage of Tall Ethan dancing with his three-year-old niece,” Olivia said.
I smiled. “Yeah. I did. That was pretty special, wasn’t it?”
“So special.”
“Do you always attend the weddings you host?”
“One of us does,” she said. “Me or Perry or Calista. But this was an enormous wedding. The biggest one we’ve ever had. All three of us were here just to make sure everything happened smoothly.”
“Looks like you pulled it off.”
“Yeah. A few hiccups behind the scenes with the food, but I’m pleased with how things went. And that’s largely because of you, Tyler. I don’t know how to thank you for today. Truly.”
“It’s fine. I was happy to help. Plus, it felt pretty good to be behind a camera again.” I picked up my camera bag and slung it over my shoulder.
“Will you drive to Charleston tonight?” Olivia asked.
“Actually, I think I’m going to grab a hotel in Silver Creek long enough to finish editing. Just in case I need to grab a little more footage of the farm.”
Her eyes widened. “So close?”
“It’ll probably only take a couple days to comb through everything and put a video together.”
She nodded, her expression, for once, unreadable. “Do you want...” Her eyes dropped to the ground, and she took a deep breath like she was gearing up to say something important. “Do you want me to recommend you to people? To people who book the farm? You did good today. I’m sure there are other events that—”
I took a step backward. “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t think so.”
Her shoulders dropped. “Oh. I guess I thought...”
“I loved what I did here today. And I think the Ethans will like it, too. But honestly, Olivia, if you need time away from me, I can’t keep coming back here. I can’t...bearound you. Not when I can’t...” I sighed. Not when I couldn’t be with her.
“So you won’t pursue a potential career opportunity because of me?”
“I won’t pursue a potential career opportunityherebecause of you. It hurts too much.”
“But I guess I just thought since we have so many weddings here, and it’s so close to home for you, it might be a good place—”
“Olivia,” I said, cutting her off. “What are you trying to do here?”
She closed her eyes and pressed the heels of her hands into her temples. “I don’t know. I just...the thought of you leaving...of never seeing you again...”
