Chapter 30
‘Are we sure this is a good idea?’ Toni whispered on the morning of the wedding as they made their way down the corridor to Sophie’s door, pots and pans and a cow-bell in hand.
Ginny was still in a haze of sleep and endorphins after waking up in a pleasant tangle of arms and legs. Although she’d tried not to wake Rhys, she inevitably had and he’d protested her departure with mumbles against her skin about how good she felt.
For something that wasn’t even a situationship, the tenderness was too powerful. He thought he wasn’t capable of letting someone all the way in, but she’d got an engrossing close-up image of him this week.
‘What?’ she asked, when she realised Toni was waiting for an answer. ‘Oh, yes, of course. Sophie told me all the traditions were important.’
Kira crossed her arms. ‘I doubt she’ll say that at—’ she checked her watch ‘—6.28 on the morning of her wedding day. Not to mention all the other guests.’
‘We’re lucky it’s not the height of summer, or we’d be waking her at four,’ Toni said with a wince.
‘Sunrise isn’t until nearly seven-thirty-ish anyway,’ Kira pointed out.
‘I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be before sunrise or before it gets light,’ Ginny said apologetically. ‘There’d be no point in it at all if we didn’t get it right. But we have lots to do, so we might as well wake her and get on with it.’ She raised her cow-bell.
But when they were standing at the door, they all hesitated.
‘Oh, fine!’ Kira said, lifting her spoon and slamming it onto her saucepan with a clang. ‘Wa-a-a-ake u-u-u-up!’ Clang.
Ginny shook the cow-bell, glad she’d bought the souvenir the day before in Klausen so she had something to make noise that wasn’t quite as offensive as kitchen items.
A door down the hall opened first, Sophie’s brother-in-law frowning darkly.
‘Sorry!’ Ginny mouthed. ‘We’re waking the bride. It’s tradition.’
‘You’re waking my children!’
‘I was already awake!’ she heard Eliza insist.
A twinge of alarm made her glance down the hall to her own door just as it opened to reveal Rhys looking tousled and sleepy. Zipping across the hall, she yanked the door closed before anyone saw.
When she turned back, Sophie’s door was open, but it wasn’t the excited bride in the doorway, it was Andreas, in his underwear, his hair wild.
Ginny swore, clapping a hand over her eyes. It was a rough wedding if it was 6.29 in the morning and she was already breaking out the ‘f’ word.
‘What are you all doing here?’ he asked.
‘Uh, it’s the waking of the bride or something like that,’ Ginny explained, still shielding her eyes as she hurried over. ‘Brautwecken,’ she said, pronouncing the word carefully. ‘Your sister told me about it. It’s supposed to stop the evil spirits creeping in at dawn.’
‘Brautwecken,’ he corrected her pronunciation with a huff, then grumbled something under his breath, that included the word ‘Caro’ in a less-than-complimentary tone. ‘I notice she didn’t come herself.’
‘Perhaps it also helps the grumpy spirits creep out at dawn,’ Ginny quipped.
‘What are you doing here?’ Kira countered. ‘And put some clothes on. You’re scandalising Ginny.’
Sophie appeared in the entryway behind Andreas, rubbing her eyes. ‘What’s going—?’ She froze. ‘Andreas!’ Her tone was sharp. ‘You were supposed to go to your parents’ place! Shit, it’s our wedding day and you’re still here!’
‘Don’t look at her!’ Ginny ordered, yanking on his arm to pull him into the corridor, then dropping it again when she remembered he wasn’t wearing much.
‘It’s a bit too late for that now,’ Andreas growled. ‘It’s not going to ruin the wedding.’
‘You’d better get some clothes on and go,’ Sophie said with a sigh.
He was still grumbling as he stalked back into the room, grabbed a pair of jeans that were over the back of a chair and started pulling them on.
Ginny stepped back and leaned on the wall to wait, sharing a concerned look with Toni.
‘I am sorry, Schatz,’ she heard Andreas say. ‘Is it really so important to you?’
‘It’s what we agreed,’ Sophie replied, her tone pained. ‘I thought we were doing things properly. All your traditions and all of mine.’
‘We are doing things properly. I just didn’t realise—’
‘You realise now. I’ll see you soon, okay?’
He appeared at the door, his brow dramatically folded, but he turned back to press a kiss to her hair, dipping his head to her mouth and slipping his arms around her waist. Sophie seemed mollified when he reluctantly pulled away, giving her a final kiss on the cheek.
Kira followed him down the hall, giving him a swipe on the arm. ‘It’s 6.32 and you’ve already pissed her off?’
‘I didn’t want to sleep at my parents’ place when she’s here!’ he grouched in return.
Sophie peered after them. ‘That’s not the explanation he gave me,’ she mumbled. ‘I don’t know what to do with him. We’re going to need a therapist on speed dial. How am I supposed to know what he feels unless he tells me?’
Ginny threaded her arm through Sophie’s. ‘A therapist and lots of good friends,’ she said. ‘I hope you don’t mind we woke you.’
Sophie hesitated over her answer, making Ginny’s stomach dip, but she gave a wan smile. ‘I can’t complain about traditions when I’ve just taken Andreas to task for not observing them, can I?’
Kira sauntered back to them, her hands in her pockets. ‘She’s awake. What do we do now? It’s 6.34.’
‘I hope you continue that timekeeping for the reception. That’ll be super helpful,’ Ginny joked.
‘I’ll be right on it for the speeches,’ Kira said with a chuckle, sending a stab of nerves through Ginny.
She’d never had to deliver a bridesmaid speech and the words she’d written several weeks ago felt more uncomfortable the longer she thought about them, now she was faced with the reality of saying them aloud.
‘There is only one answer to your question though,’ she said to Kira. ‘Coffee.’
Downstairs they met Gabri and Cillian, putting away breakfast plates.
‘Ah, the bride! Good morning, Sophie,’ Gabri said with a smile and a kiss on each cheek.
‘I will be back with your bouquet later. But now, Cilli and I are going to decorate the church, while you ladies make yourselves beautiful – more beautiful than you already are.’
‘You two are totally in the honeymoon phase,’ Kira said to Toni out of the corner of her mouth.
‘Actually I think Gabri is just like that,’ Ginny contradicted her.
‘Thanks, Gabri,’ Sophie said warmly. ‘I can’t wait to see your work, as always.’
He stepped close to Toni and pressed a kiss to her lips. ‘See you later.’
‘You two get to smooch, but Mattia’s still getting his beauty sleep for his performance at the ceremony,’ Kira grumbled. ‘Whoops, sorry, Ginny,’ she said with a wince. ‘I forgot about your dating ban and…’
Ginny tried to muster a convincing scowl so Kira would have no idea she’d received her share of kisses already this morning. Her friend seemed to swallow it.
When they were sitting around a table by the radiator – the fire wasn’t lit, since none of the staff was on duty yet – with coffees from the machine, Sophie leaned heavily on the table and asked, ‘Was I too hard on him? I did say he could come in last night.’
‘It’s your wedding,’ Kira said with a shrug, sipping her steaming coffee. ‘You can do what you want.’
Ginny laid a hand on Kira’s arm. ‘Aw, you’re getting the idea of the work of a wedding planner.’
She scowled at Ginny. ‘You’re treating this wedding like an expedition, following all the guidelines and keeping the team in line.’
‘I’ll take that as a compliment.’
‘At least I know there are enough hands to run the ship while I’m on maternity leave,’ Sophie said with a sigh.
‘Oh, sweetie,’ Toni exclaimed, wrapping an arm around her. ‘You’ll be with us in spirit.’
‘I don’t know what I’m going to do, honestly,’ Sophie said glumly. ‘Everything’s changed so fast.’
That was autumn for you, Ginny thought wearily.
‘But that’s not a topic for my wedding day.’
Ginny was beginning to understand how many topics had to be avoided at a wedding. For too long, she’d believed her own propaganda. Love conquered all. A grand wedding day would provide good memories to last a lifetime. Marriage was a celebration and expression of love.
She thought she might have planned to say one or two of those sentences in her speech.
But for this wedding, hastily planned and imperfectly executed by this motley, endearing crew of unlikely colleagues, where the couple already joked about needing therapy – those clichés didn’t capture the bewildering marvel of their stubborn commitment.
‘No, today I don’t want to focus on the difficulties. I want to hear gossip,’ Sophie declared, jarring Ginny out of her introspection. ‘That’s normally your job, Ginny, but today, you have to tell me everything.’
Toni’s slurp of surprise interrupted what would have been a pin-dropping moment. ‘What’s this?’
Ginny swallowed her mortification with some difficulty. It was extra dense when peppered with remorse. ‘Uh, I don’t really think—’
‘It’s not like Ginny to hold out on us, but I have no idea what you’re talking about, Soph,’ Kira said. ‘She’s the only single person at this wedding.’
Ginny eyed her. ‘Remind me why I like you?’
‘No, there’s one other single person,’ Sophie said, flashing a smile. ‘It’s just the Great Heart effect making you forget to count the emotionally unavailable man as single.’
She should say something, steer this conversation out of the danger zone, but she was too much of a mess to work out what to say.
‘The Great Heart effect?’ Kira repeated with a snort. ‘Is this a joke? I know there are weird vibes between Ginny and Rhys, but gossip?’
Sophie choked on her decaf, spilling the liquid over the side of the mug as she set it down.
After a few more splutters, she managed to croak, ‘Rhys? Where did you get that idea? They barely tolerate each other! It’s Laurie she’s having a super casual “nothing” with.
’ Sophie gave Ginny a wink and didn’t seem to notice that she was fervently wishing she could paint a background on her face and disappear.