Page 52 of A Winter Wedding Adventure
Kira’s heart thumped in her chest as his words brought Christian to mind – again. But there was a difference this time. She hadn’t had the chance to try out a different life, but what if the one she had was the right one? What did that mean for what Christian had put her through?
She still couldn’t bear the thought of the same happening to Alessandra.
‘Joe, do you think you’re going to remember this tomorrow?’
‘God, I hope not,’ he said with a grimace, clutching his stomach.
‘Well, I’ll tell you again when you’ve sobered up. Whatever this was today, whatever is going on in your mind, if you don’t show up tomorrow and sign on the dotted line, I’m going to throw you off a cliff.’
A smile twitched on his lips. ‘I didn’t think adventure guides were supposed to do that.’
‘Adventure guides who are also wedding planners can, and I most definitely will do it. Don’t even think of abandoning Alessandra there, after everything she’s put into the arrangements. Divorce later if you have to, but do not leave her standing there.’
He cracked an eye open and she bit her lip, afraid she’d said too much, too strongly. ‘“Go through with it now, divorce later” is your pep talk? You’re not a very good wedding planner, you know.’
Joe was joking, she suspected, but his words still hit right on target. ‘No, I’m not,’ she agreed tightly.
21
Conditions were just as poor down in the valley as at the top of the mountain and Kira grimaced as she shepherded the groaning, bleary-eyed groom through the car park at the ski area to the minivan, through ice and slush and a layer of fresh snow as thick as whipped cream on an apple strudel.
What a week for a wedding. If Alessandra believed in bad omens, there had been a ton of them. Kira was without a doubt the most awful wedding planner in the history of the profession. Instead of Ginny’s perky helpfulness, she was brooding just as darkly as the groom.
Leaving Hugh and Rav to get him settled into a seat, she took out her phone and called her colleague.
‘I am never a winter wedding ever again,’ Ginny said instead of a greeting. ‘It took me an hour to get here. Google told me twenty-six minutes. Google obviously thinks I am a competent driver in snow. I thought Google was supposed to know more about us than we do about ourselves. It should have fucking known.’
Kira would have laughed, if she weren’t so strung out herself. ‘You’re on your mistletoe mission? Where are the others?’
‘Yes, I’m in Mayrhofen collecting the damn greenery. And that’s another thing. The florist is so busy, she’s still binding up the bunches, so it’ll be at least another hour before I’m back. Alessandra and the others are decorating the chapel. I left Mattia in charge.’
‘You—’ Kira choked.
‘What else could I do? Alessandra has bride fog.’
‘Bride fog, jitters, existential crises – I think weddings must be a kind of mental illness,’ Kira muttered.
‘We’re just in the “mental illness” phase of the preparations. It happens every time.’
Kira cursed under her breath. ‘I’ll head to the chapel to check on the others.’
‘Wait, you’re done skiing already?’
‘Yep,’ she said in a clipped tone. ‘We’re done. I can’t see a thing up there and Joe… needs to get back to Alessandra.’ He could be the bride’s responsibility and not Kira’s.
‘Aw, that’s sweet. It’s probably a good idea, since Alessandra was spacing out a bit. It’s claustrophobic having the whole wedding party around all the time and they should probably talk before tomorrow.’
Kira’s stomach churned, remembering Joe’s words, Ginny’s strange ideas about nurturing doubts and the precarious state of this entire event. ‘What if they talk things through and call the whole thing off?’
‘That doesn’t happen in real life,’ Ginny insisted. ‘If they got this far, it’s the real thing.’
Kira gritted her teeth, desperate to contradict her, but she knew she’d wish the words unsaid again, if she uttered them. ‘All right. But don’t you worry anyway. You get the mistletoe; I can handle a few guests and a lot of snow.’
‘I am soooo glad to have you here,’ Ginny gushed, making Kira swallow a sigh.
‘Even if it takes you three hours, drive safe, okay? Your hire car will have winter tyres, but there might be chains in the boot, if you feel really insecure.’
‘That’s assuming I can work out how to put the chains on.’
