Page 53 of A Winter Wedding Adventure
Ginny ended the call with a grumble and Kira checked to see that her charges had fastened their seat belts before she pulled out of the car park, the tyres spinning out once or twice as she manoeuvred. Even with, the glass was pelted with snow and traffic inched along the narrow road through the valley.
When she’d parked safely in the usual spot by the stream, she released a huff of relief, peering grimly up at the mountainside. How different it looked from two nights ago when she’d arrived with Mattia. If he’d stepped out into this snow and twirled, his tailored trousers would have been soaked up to his knees and his fancy leather shoes would have resembled snow cones.
But she was struck by how vividly she remembered him standing under the lamp, his long, fine coat whirling around him as he held his arms out. If Christian hadn’t left her so publicly that day, if they’d gone through with everything as planned… Her skin prickled and she shook off the feeling.
‘Stay there,’ she ordered the three men as she shoved open the car door. ‘I’m going to check on the others at the chapel.’
‘Alessandra will kill me,’ Joe moaned, his tone pained.
‘If you didn’t want her to see you like this, maybe you shouldn’t have got yourself into this state.’
‘She’s seen him in worse,’ Rav commented with a laugh.
Kira glanced doubtfully at him. ‘And she still wants to get married?’
Rav’s smile died and Kira cursed herself for nudging the can of worms open a little more. She did not want to talk to Rav about this, not when Joe’s words had made her think of her own past from a different perspective.
‘I’ll be back soon.’
Battling her way to the chapel, the first thing she noticed was a satin banner with gold lettering that she assumed was supposed to be fixed above the entrance, but was currently flapping in the wind. Catching the loose end, she tilted her head to read Joseph and Alessandra, Always and Forever 31.12. There were numerous discoloured patches where snow had soaked the material. She hoped it would dry pristine.
With a frown, she untied the other end to save the splotched ribbon from further damage before tomorrow. If the weather didn’t improve, not only the decorations would suffer. She hoped Alessandra had chosen a pair of white snow boots to match her dress.
After the comments about bride fog, her increasing reservations about the bridal couple and the knowledge that Mattia had been left in charge, Kira grasped the door-handle hesitantly, wary of what she’d find inside.
But when she spilled into the tiny wooden chapel, tracking clumps of snow with her, her mouth swung open in surprise. Outdoors, there might be a storm raging strongly enough to herald the apocalypse, but inside…
The air was warm and scented with pine and orange and a hint of spices. The overhead lamp was off and only wall sconces complemented the muted daylight struggling through the windows. The soft ambience seemed to show up the gold and silver touches everywhere Kira looked. The simple, wooden pews were artfully draped in white; tiny bouquets of flowers with a single twig of pine decorated the ends. And at the front of the church, an effusion of flowers and leaves where she could already imagine Joe and Alessandra standing to face each other, a matching dusky rose in Joe’s buttonhole and a floral coronet with a long veil for Alessandra.
She gulped. It was almost enough to convince her that Ginny was right and this wedding would go ahead come rain or shine – or catastrophic snowfall, in this case.
‘Kira! What are you doing here? Did something happen? Where’s Joe?’
She nodded quickly. ‘He’s fine.’ At least he would be, once the substances were out of his system. ‘Nothing happened. It’s not very pleasant up there in this weather.’
To Kira’s surprise, Alessandra laughed. ‘My mother tells me rain on a wedding day is auspicious. I believe it must be doubly true for snow. Come and take a look at… everything!’ Alessandra’s smile was bright with excitement and Kira was not looking forward to bursting her bubble.
‘Alessandra this is… a wonderland!’ She wasn’t even being sarcastic.
Tonya turned from where she’d been looking out of the window, wine glass in hand. ‘A winter wedding wonderland!’
Kira glanced warily at her glass, wondering if two members of the wedding party would need to sleep off their morning drinking.
The door behind Kira flew open on a flurry of snow. She jumped out of the way as the tall form of Mattia shuffled into the church backwards, Carla trailing behind him with a giggle. He turned with a flourish, a wide smile on his face – which dimmed as soon as he saw Kira. Ouch. Just when she’d thought she might belong in this picture, even if only as the adventure guide and wedding dogsbody.
‘Everything okay?’ he asked.
‘We found pizza!’ Carla announced, taking the enormous box from Mattia’s hands.
Alessandra lifted her nose and her eyes widened, rushing to the door. ‘Santo cielo, I am suddenly starving! What time is it?’
Carla laughed. ‘Matty said you’d be hungrier than you thought.’
As if on cue, Kira’s stomach creaked in complaint. She willed away the blush of embarrassment at the inappropriate rush of jealousy she was experiencing. How utterly ridiculous.
‘Kira?’
She obviously still wasn’t used to the sound of her name in his voice – the rich, low syllables and the lilt of the ‘r’ in his accent. The tone that sent her thoughts instantly to kissing in cupboards and secret, meaningful looks.
