Chapter 33
‘When I was writing this speech, I thought of myself as some kind of avenger,’ she began with a self-deprecating tilt of her head, sharing the titter of laughter in the crowd.
Rhys wanted to put his camera down and just watch, experience what this moment could be without distancing himself from it.
‘I would be the defender of sentimentality,’ she continued drily, ‘reminding the guests – and my colleagues at Great Heart Adventures – that love is something to be earnestly celebrated and ardently wished for.
‘You know Plato told a story that said humans used to have four arms, four legs and two faces. But these superhumans were too fast, so the god Zeus split them in half to weaken them. The result was that all humans longed for their other half, continually searching for the one who completes them.’
She left a pause for the guests to glance indulgently at Sophie and Andreas.
‘But in truth, Plato didn’t mean that at all.
He gave those words to a character, a fictionalised version of the playwright of Greek comedies, Aristophanes.
And Plato was in fact making fun of this point of view, which just makes me realise that the teasing between I Do and Great Heart is part of literal millennia of banter about love and relationships. ’
Rhys stared at her, a smile taking hold of his mouth, completely out of his control. She was charming and clever and gentle and half the room was probably in love with her as well.
‘The scene where Aristophanes tells this story is basically one big piss-up and he spends far too long explaining how the sexual organs were initially in the wrong place so these pitiful people had to make babies with the grass instead of each other, which I think gives you the tone of this supposedly sentimental speech about soulmates.’
She glanced at Sophie with a wicked smile, her stud twinkling in the soft lighting.
‘Now Sophie’s panicking, wondering what I’m going to say, but don’t worry. I’m still not going to make any ball-and-chain jokes. Although I didn’t mind this one Lucas told me: Marriage is like a long bath – if you keep it warm, you can stay in until you’re wrinkly.’
Looking down at her notes as the wedding guests chuckled, she rubbed her hands together nervously before continuing.
‘But even if it’s the case that there’s no such thing as one perfect soulmate for each person, when we look at Sophie and Andreas, it’s impossible to deny that love can make us incredibly stubborn.’
Another murmur of laughter.
‘Despite breaking up the first time they were together, a great connection drew them back to each other – with the determination to do things better this time. I’ve learned a lot from watching Sophie and Andreas navigate the sudden changes in their relationship, while valuing that connection they share more than anything else. ’
She hesitated, biting her lip. ‘And this week of celebrations turned out to be something quite unexpected.’
Rhys lowered the camera, holding his breath.
‘What a privilege it has been to plan the wedding of my best friend.’ Her voice shook.
‘Sophie is the most genuine and honest person, and all of the preparations meant so much more to me that I started to see that being real is more important than being perfect. And I know Sophie sees that too, or she wouldn’t be with Andreas. ’
While the guests laughed at her joke, she took a desperate sip of water and dabbed at her eye. He captured the image with a click, knowing she was the only one who’d ever see it.
‘We make jokes like that one, or about conjugal arguments, unflattering metaphors for marriage, because there is some truth in them. It turns out that love itself isn’t perfect.’
The room was so still, the sound of Eliza’s dress crinkling as she wriggled was loud in Rhys’s ear.
‘It shouldn’t be perfect,’ Ginny clarified.
‘We love the way we are, with all our flaws. Perfect is a sanitised version of love that’s comfortable and manageable.
Now, as a wedding planner, of course I want my clients to be comfortable on their wedding day, so I suppose it was an advantage professionally that…
I had no idea how uncomfortable love really is. ’
Rhys was vaguely aware of his mouth dropping open, but he couldn’t bring himself to close it. He couldn’t do anything but stare at her and listen to her dumbfounding words to the soundtrack of his own pounding heartbeat.
‘Love brings out our weaknesses and our fears, causes us to hurt each other. Love isn’t always healthy and it doesn’t always work out in the end.’
The last part was said so quietly, Rhys wasn’t sure if the people at the back of the room would have heard. But he heard it.
‘What we’re celebrating here is not the rather surprising love between Sophie and Andreas, although I’m so proud of you both for the way you put each other first. We’re here to bolster the two of you for the future and give you hope that, with the support of each other and your friends and family, this deep and uncomfortable love will continue to be a bright light in your lives. ’
A murmur of soft agreement greeted that statement.
‘But also,’ Ginny continued, ‘so many moments are fleeting. Some moments change everything in a single heartbeat. I can’t stop time, as much as I wish I could for such a great party – after I’ve finished the speech, because no one wants a time loop of this,’ she added.
Rhys thought he wouldn’t mind.
‘I can’t say what will happen in the future.
I have very high hopes for Sophie and Andreas and little Lieselotte or whatever name you settle on.
’ Ginny’s smile was cheeky as she said it, but faded again almost immediately.
‘But we’re here for this moment, together.
And I’d rather be happy for a little while than not at all. ’
She gave a little hiccough and pressed a knuckle to her trembling lips. He wanted to snatch her away, protect her. But no, he was too proud of her, standing in front of the crowd and bringing meaning – so much meaning – to the day’s proceedings.
So much beauty she’d brought into his life.
She’d made him think differently about himself.
She’d drawn things out of him he’d never thought another human being could want from him.
She’d been his camera, a lens on the world to give him a fresh perspective on life.
He was deeply uncomfortable with her for exactly the reasons she’d listed.
Because he was most likely in love with her. Because he’d rather have had these few days than not at all.
He belatedly realised he should have been taking photos of Sophie and Andreas, but his hands felt clumsy and he wasn’t sure he could see anything other than Ginny right now. He managed to snap some shots of Sophie throwing her arms around her bridesmaid, both of them bawling in earnest now.
Andreas took his turn to give Ginny a hug, after grumbling, ‘Trust you to make my wife cry on our wedding day.’
Ginny’s response was a wild smile. She peered around Andreas to catch Sophie’s eye. ‘Did you hear how he said “my wife”?’ she said in a mock whisper. ‘I think I need to go…’ She gestured to her face. ‘Back in a minute.’
She strode towards the double doors, painfully vulnerable and impossibly beautiful. At the last minute, she glanced back, finding him with no effort. That was all it took.
He waited less than a minute before following her.
Ginny was certain the adrenaline had dissolved all of her molecules into pure fizz.
She was breathing hard, even though she wasn’t walking quickly.
It was done. Her speech was over. She felt certain every one of their friends would realise she’d fallen in love with Rhys, but she couldn’t have delivered the earlier version, idolising her na?ve understanding of love and marriage and guarantees of forever.
He’d watched her the whole time. She’d felt his gaze, known he was taking in every detail of her, as he always did. And now he was coming after her and she’d hear what he thought of her veiled confession.
She beckoned to him as she raced for the spiral staircase heading to the roof, then she took off at a faster pace, grinning as he gained on her. Bursting out into the fading light of Sophie’s wedding day, she turned and slung her arms around his neck, stretched up on her toes and kissed him.
In less than a second, his arms were crushing her and his mouth was open on hers, amplifying the adrenaline as they shared it. The connection flowed effortlessly as his hand drifted up her spine to her nape.
‘You spoke so beautifully,’ he murmured between kisses. ‘You do everything so beautifully. I can’t take it.’
She knew how he felt. If she asked to see him when they got back to England, maybe that would settle her down a little. The way he touched her, his thumb under her ear, suggested he might just agree.
‘I meant all of it,’ she said, hoping he understood what she truly meant: I love you. She’d broken the rules of their liaison, but he was breaking them too, kissing her as though he needed her in order to breathe. ‘When I was talking about what I’ve learned this week it was… about you.’
Did his eyes light up? She wasn’t sure; certainly he studied her with an urgency she hadn’t seen before.
‘I’m glad we… did this,’ she continued when he didn’t say anything.
His forehead fell to hers in a pained kind of closeness that was trying to pull her heart out. ‘Me too,’ he said, pressing another hard kiss to her mouth.
She couldn’t remember what she wanted him to say, she just held on tight as the kiss slowed and deepened until she needed air and her legs wouldn’t hold her.
She hoped now that she’d proven to him that she could handle his flaws.
Would he agree to give this thing between them a chance to grow into something more solid?
She didn’t care what that looked like. She didn’t need a diamond ring or promises in a church.
She just wanted to keep him in her life – preferably her arms.
His hands came up to frame her face and she discovered all the romantic films couldn’t come close to capturing the reality of the person she loved holding her like this. ‘Ginny, I—’
Scuffling footsteps sounded on the stairs and Rhys wrenched away so fast, the air rippled through the soft material of her dress and she teetered after him.
He shot an arm out to steady her at the waist, but dropped it again when Andreas’s friend Lucas appeared at the door, followed immediately by a frowning Sophie.
Ginny rushed forward, taking her friend’s hands. ‘Hey! What’s going on?’
‘They’ve stolen me, apparently,’ she replied with a wry smile. ‘Another tradition. They’re going to ransom me back to Andreas or something – involving more schnapps, I’m guessing.’
Marco appeared behind her, holding up a bottle of beer in salute before taking a sip.
‘I suppose it’s an appropriate place to be stolen to,’ Sophie commented, looking out at the darkening sky over Bruneck.
The city was nestled in the confluence of three valleys, the mountains in between defining its position and the strategic importance of this hill in the past. ‘What are you doing up here?’
‘Um, just…’ completely losing my heart.
‘Ginny thought we could get some sunset shots up here. I was just checking it out.’ His voice was steady, while Ginny was worried she’d start speaking Icelandic all of a sudden, her head was so scattered.
‘We’ll have to see how quickly Andreas negotiates for my freedom.’
The ‘kidnappers’ had thankfully also stolen Sophie’s matching fluffy jacket and she wrapped it more closely around her against the breeze. Rhys lifted the camera, which was hanging on its strap across his torso.
‘Shall I?’
‘Take a shot with Ginny and me.’ Sophie wrapped an arm around Ginny and tilted her head until their updos were touching. ‘It was a beautiful speech, sweetie. Everyone’s talking about it.’
‘Oh, I…’ Ginny wasn’t sure she wanted to know what they were saying.
‘Are you sure you’re okay?’
Ginny nodded a little wildly. ‘Just the adrenaline after the speech. Does Andreas know where they’ve taken you?’
‘I don’t think so. They smuggled me out through a service passage. It would have been fun except I am incredibly hungry.’
‘Oh, I have something in my—’ She cursed. ‘I don’t have my bag. How about I go and get it for you?’
‘No! You’re all hostages,’ Lucas declared. ‘See how long it takes him to notice you’re gone.’
‘It kind of feels like an actual hostage situation,’ Ginny commented in dismay.
‘Do you want a beer?’ Marco asked Ginny with a smile.
‘Okay, not quite a real hostage situation,’ she said drily as Rhys accepted a bottle, popping the top off against the wall of the tower.
‘I think we should let Rhys go off duty from now,’ Sophie commented, holding up an imaginary bottle for him to pretend to tap his against. ‘No need for any sunset photos. You’ve been working him hard enough.’
He choked on his first sip, clutching his chest and spluttering until he got his breath back.
‘You’re probably right,’ Ginny said carefully.
Sophie peered at something below Ginny’s line of vision. ‘I don’t know what you’ve done to your lipstick, but you might need to fix it before we go in.’
Ginny’s gaze flew to Rhys’s mouth, to find him already rubbing his thumb over his lips. She couldn’t see any traces of her lipstick, but she panicked inwardly anyway. There was something in Sophie’s expression that worried her.
‘It’s not as heavy-duty as advertised,’ she mumbled.
‘Not as…’ Sophie repeated thoughtfully, her brow drifting lower and lower. She glanced at Rhys and Ginny’s stomach twisted in a knot. ‘You two weren’t planning photos up here, were you?’