Page 47 of A Winter Wedding Adventure
‘But I’m fine alone,’ Kira insisted. ‘I don’t know why this stuff is suddenly getting to me. Too many weddings!’ Too many reminders of her biggest mistake.
‘Maybe I’m in the wrong job,’ Ginny moaned.
Kira glanced at her with an indulgent smile. ‘You are in exactly the right job.’ Considering all Ginny’s hard work to make everything perfect, Kira thought it might be wise to warn her about her slip-up with Mattia. ‘I should probably tell you about something that happened today. I have this irrational fear I’m going to ruin the wedding, when you are so amazing at this and you’ve put in so much effort.’
Ginny’s grin was back in an instant, giving Kira the strangest urge to hug her. She really was under the influence of this wedding drug, thinking about hugging and kissing and handsome, clumsy opera singers.
Before Kira had a chance to continue, Ginny said, ‘It’s just frustrating that I go to so many weddings, but I can’t even get drunk and snog the groomsman!’ Her laugh echoed through the room once more. ‘Reshma would kill me!’
Kira’s smile faded. What would the head of I Do Destinations have to say about Kira’s lack of professionalism over the past two days? Mattia wasn’t technically a groomsman, but she had snogged him, as much as using that word for that kiss made her wince.
She would just have to make sure it didn’t happen again.
‘What did you want to tell me?’ Ginny asked when she’d recovered from her fit of laughter.
‘Uh—’ Kira’s mind raced. ‘Mattia nearly collapsed in the sauna and I saw him naked.’
‘Oh, my God, is nowhere safe for that man? Was he at least naked with Carla?’
‘No such luck,’ Kira said flatly.
‘How am I going to look after him tomorrow while you’re off razing the slopes?’
Kira eyed her. ‘Razing the slopes?’
‘Isn’t that what you cool kids say?’
‘No.’
Ginny shrugged. ‘Oh well, have fun anyway. Maybe you’ll get your jitters out of your system too.’
Kira opened her mouth to protest, but she did feel kind of jittery. Maybe that was why she’d kissed Mattia. Wedding stress. Nothing more. Nothing to lose her job over.
‘But don’t worry,’ Ginny continued. ‘You can’t ruin the wedding. The only people who can do that are the bride and groom – and maybe the weather, but that’s not a person.’
19
Kira’s frustration awoke in full force the following morning as she drank a coffee and scrolled through various weather reports, while pretending she wasn’t urgently looking out for Mattia.
She wished Ginny had never said anything about the weather. While it was possible the wedding planner had been right that Kira couldn’t ruin the wedding – even if she was awkward around the guests and had kissed the singer – the spectre of heavy snowfall hung over her consciousness as profoundly as the guilt at kissing Mattia.
No matter which way she looked at the reports, taking the group off-piste for a more adventurous tour was too dangerous today.
Managing risks, planning contingencies and dealing with sudden changes in conditions were part of her professional skill set, but the knowledge that she was heading for the slopes with a man who was supposed to get married tomorrow weighed on her.
With a pent-up sigh, she closed down the browser, tapped on the green telephone icon and scrolled to Andreas’s number.
‘Hello?’
Tugging the phone from her ear in surprise, Kira bit back a grumble before forcing herself to respond. ‘Uh, hi Sophie.’
‘Is everything okay with the Lee-Martinelli wedding?’
‘Yes, for Christ’s sake!’ she snapped. Kira could almost hear Sophie blinking on the other end of the phone call. ‘This isn’t about the wedding. It’s about skiing, which is why I called Andreas.’
‘Oh, I— Of course. Sorry, Kira. I’m just nervous about this one. We haven’t used this venue before and winter weddings have a few more variables – even before we add skiing.’ Kira could hear the grimace in Sophie’s voice.
‘Ginny is working on the wedding variables and I’m in charge of the snow-related ones. Can I talk to Andreas? I assume he’s there with you.’
