36. Chapter 36
Chapter 36
Spencer
T he morning of Daze and Sophie’s wedding dawns bright and beautiful except for one thing. Lis isn’t sleeping next to me. It’s in that moment that I make a decision, though I can’t do more than consider it before I’m up and getting ready for the day.
This wedding officially marks the end of wedding season. There’s still a couple weddings in the month of September and then a couple in October. But they’re not every weekend after this one. And there are no more fully booked weekends. But today, everyone is excited to see Daze and Sophie get married.
Lis stayed with her sister last night. We texted each other all night, but I miss her more than I rightfully should since we saw each other at the rehearsal dinner. And now that I’m fully moved in to my apartment, I can’t even watch for her to run past along the Seawall anymore.
I shake myself from my maudlin thoughts. It’s the most important wedding of the season and everything has to go perfectly. So I arrive early to make sure things are already operating smoothly. We’d done a lot of set-up the night before, including carting the big tents—that we all hope we don’t need—to the rooftop terrace.
Everyone is excited for this wedding. While it’s not anyone who actually works for Blue Vista, it still feels like a Blue Vista family wedding. Tina is already hopping around the kitchen—hours earlier than she needs to be—ensuring everything is prepped for the dinner later tonight. Vic and Adalie are sorting out the staff. Derek is working with a small team to get the alcohol stocked behind the bar. Even our new on-contract-photographer is here with a couple of assistants taking some test shots.
Sophie arrives first and I set her up in one of the rooms set aside for the bridal party along with her small entourage of her mother, her father, her maid of honour, and the hairdresser. I hand out flutes of champagne and then get back to my job.
They’d only changed a few things from the original wedding, a few decorations and a few flower choices. They’d lowered the guest count from the original two hundred to a hundred and twenty. Even with the changes, they still saved a huge chunk of money over what a wedding here would normally cost.
I’m pouring myself a cup of coffee when the front door opens and there she is.
I should go directly to the bride. That’s my job, after all. But first I have to kiss my girlfriend.
“I missed you,” I say after I kiss her.
She laughs. “It’s only been a few hours.”
“Too long.”
“And it’s going to be even longer,” Daze says, striding toward me. “We need to get ready.”
Lis rolls her eyes. “Miss bossy. She seems to think it’s her day or something.”
They slip their arms around each other, leaning together and it’s so beautiful to see how happy they are. Identical twins with identical smiles.
“Follow me to the rooms,” I say, leading the two women and their parents to the other space for the bridal party. “Sophie is already here with your hairdresser. Would you like anything while you wait? Champagne, mimosas?”
“Mimosas would be lovely,” Daze says as they settle into the room, hanging up dresses.
I nod. “I’ll let Tina know.”
Lis catches me before I can leave.
“We’re going to do our make-up now, so this is your last chance to kiss me before the reception.”
“That long?” I say, tugging her closer.
“I’m afraid so. Once the make-up is on, we can’t mess it up until after pictures.”
“Wouldn’t want that.” So I kiss her. Because what else can I do when she’s looking up at me with those beautiful blue-green eyes filled with love? When we finally break apart, I tuck a strand of rainbow-coloured hair—newly brightened at her recent hair appointment—behind her ear. “I’ll go get those mimosas. Four?”
“Yes, please,” she says before returning to her sister who is pulling out make-up and setting it on the counter.
When I return, I tell them to have fun today and if they need anything at all, to let me know. Then I get back to work. I check on Sophie, bringing her another round of champagne and letting her know everything is on schedule.
At the designated time, I’m waiting on the roof. Sophie is on one side behind a screen with her maid of honour. The guests are all seated and the photographers are ready.
Daze and Lis arrive and I position them behind a second screen.
The music starts and I watch Lis and Sophie’s maid-of-honour, Kelly, walk down the aisle together in very different dresses that are the same dusty pink.
Daze and Sophie hadn’t wanted to have one walk down the aisle to the other. So, once Lis and Kelly were in place, the music changed and the two brides stepped out from behind their screens, seeing each other for the first time. It was a perfect scene, Daze in her flowy dress looking like a fairy princess, Sophie in her fitted satin gown looking like a human princess. They blink away tears and link arms as they walk toward the start of their new life together. They stop under the pergola, decorated today with golden gauze and dusty pink roses.
I catch Lis’ eye as the ceremony begins and wink at her. She rolls her eyes at me, but she’s smiling, and I can’t help but wonder what wedding dress she might choose to wear. Would it be something like Daze’s or more like Sophie’s? Or would she choose something completely different?
The sun holds all through the ceremony. They take some pictures on the roof before walking across the street to take more pictures on the beach.
The crew rushes around, making sure everything is in place for the wedding party to return. I check on the bar and notice Derek staring at the other end of the reception hall, his face pale. I glance in the direction he’s staring, but I’m not sure exactly what he’s looking at. Or who.
“Hey, you all right, man? You look like you just saw a ghost.”
“Ava Caligan,” he says hoarsely.
“Who?”
“The photographer’s assistant. It’s Ava Caligan.”
“Oh, right. And who is Ava Caligan?”
“We dated. A bit more than eight years ago.”
“Dated? You? You don’t date.”
“Mm-hm. And she’s why.”
I look again, noting the woman with the camera taking pictures of the cake that Lis’ friend made and the decorations around the room. She has long brown hair caught up in a messy bun with a headband to keep bits of escaped hair out of her face. She has a camera bag slung over her back and is completely focused on her task.
“Are you going to go talk to her?” I ask.
“I don’t think so. We didn’t exactly part on the best terms.”
“What happened?”
His fist clenches at his side for a second before he visibly attempts to calm himself and relaxes.
“She told me to leave and so I left.”
If ever there was a statement that didn’t tell the whole story, it’s that one.
“Right. Well, if you’re not going to go talk to her, are we done with everything else?” I ask, hoping to get him to stop openly staring at the woman.
“Yeah. Everything is ready.”
He seems to snap out of his thoughts and heads back downstairs for something while I finish the last tasks before the brides return.
It’s possibly the most flawless execution of a wedding I have ever coordinated. Daze and Sophie set a table aside for me, Derek, Adalie, and Vic. The photographers join us and I notice the tension between Derek and the one assistant, Ava, though they don’t say a word to each other. They don’t even look directly at each other for most of the meal.
After dinner is over, someone taps my shoulder and I look up to see Lis, in her pretty pink bridesmaid dress with her rainbow hair tied up on her head in some elaborate style that I can’t begin to comprehend.
“I know you usually don’t like it when the bridesmaids hit on you, but I wondered if you’d make an exception tonight?”
I catch her hand and rub her fingers between mine. “I don’t know. It’s a pretty strict rule. I don’t break it for just anyone.”
“I understand. But maybe you’d like to dance?”
Sophie and Daze are out on the floor already, just finishing up their first dance as a married couple and other people are beginning to join them.
“I can’t say no to that.”
She tugs me with her and I wrap her in my arms, holding her close.
“You never did tell me who taught you to dance,” she says, smiling up at me.
“My mom. She told me that women wouldn’t be able to resist a man who could dance.”
“What if you were gay?”
I shrug. “I’m sure the same holds true for men.”
She laughs and rests her head against my shoulder as we sway to the music. The rest of the night is a blur of laughter and conversation. Now that my job is pretty much over until the cleanup, I just enjoy my time meeting more of Lis’ family, loving how she introduces me as her boyfriend. Loving the look in her eye when she says it even more.
When it comes time to throw the bouquets, Daze looks directly at Lis, points to her eyes and then points to her sister. Lis rolls her eyes in response but nods. Daze turns around and throws the bouquet over her head. It lands squarely in Lis’ hands as though they’d practiced this a hundred times. Everyone laughs and hugs Lis who looks at me with a helpless little shrug and smile.
The decision I made when I woke up that morning solidifies in my chest. As I watch her among friends and family, I start to make a plan.
#
As the months pass, Lis and I spend all our extra time together. So much, in fact, that she moves in with me at the end of November. We spend Christmas with her family and I’ve never seen people more happy to just spend time together. It feels the way a family should feel.
New Year’s Eve, Blue Vista hosts a party. My plan for the night is ready. I’d asked Vic if we could keep it low-key this year and just invite family and friends instead of selling tickets to the public. So instead of the maximum capacity of five hundred people, there’s only about fifty.
Derek claps me on the shoulder while Vic and Adalie come up beside him.
“It’s almost time,” Derek says. “Are you ready?”
While I’d kept the purchase of my apartment secret from my friends except Vic, I’d told this plan to five people. Three of whom were here tonight, standing right beside me.
I take a deep breath and nod, my gaze focused on Lis, laughing next to her sister on the other side of the room.
“Are you nervous?” Adalie asks.
“Not even a little bit,” I say with a shake of my head
“You’re that certain of her?” Derek asks.
“More.”
Vic nods in Lis’ direction, crossing her arms over her chest. “Prove it then.”
I check the time. Three minutes to midnight. I make my way over to where Lis is standing. In my peripheral, I notice a few other couples getting closer, getting ready for the countdown and the kiss as the year turns.
“Hey, firecracker,” I say when I reach her. “Come here.” I tug her against me and move us closer to the centre of the room.
“What are you doing?” she asks, giving me that smile. The I-know-you’re-up-to-something-and-I-want-in-on-the-secret smile.
I check the time once more. One minute to midnight. I kiss her hand and then drop to one knee. Lis gasps, her hands covering her mouth. A few people had been watching me move and in about half a second, everyone has fallen silent.
“Lis. I love you. I know it’s only been eight months since we met, but I’m as certain now as I’ve ever been of anything in my life. This has been the best year because it’s the one I met you. But I want next year to be better. Will you marry me, Lis? Will you say yes so I don’t have to spend a single second of next year not being engaged to you?”
Tears fill her eyes as I open the box. “Is that…?”
“Your grandmother’s ring.” The blue stone sparkles from its place in the box. “I asked your parents if I could use it to propose.”
No one around us speaks as we all wait for Lis to answer. She just stands there and stares at me. My heart is pounding in my chest as she leaves me in agony, waiting.
Derek starts counting down from ten and, as people join in, it occurs to me what she’s doing.
Eight.
“You’re going to make me wait until the very last second, aren’t you?”
Six.
“With a speech like that, how can I not?”
Five.
“You are terrible. And I love you.”
Four.
“I love you, too.”
Three. Two. One.
“Yes!” She launches herself toward me and I slip the ring on her finger, kissing her as everyone shouts, “Happy New Year!”
When we end the kiss, everyone comes over to hug and congratulate us. When Daze and Sophie come over to inspect the ring, Daze gives me a look.
“So you didn’t buy my sister an engagement ring?”
“Daze,” Lis says. “I love this ring. It’s perfect.”
“I know it is,” she says. “But I can still give him a hard time. He’s going to be my brother-in-law, after all.”
“Actually,” I say, pulling the other small box from my inside pocket. “You’re right. I didn’t buy an engagement ring. I bought this instead.”
I open the longer box to reveal a platinum chain with a clip on it.
“You forgot the charm on that necklace,” Sophie points out.
I fasten it around Lis’ neck and then remove the ring I’d just put on her finger. “I know you won’t wear rings while cooking. So I got you this, made specially, to keep it safe while you’re in the kitchen.” I clip the ring onto the necklace. “This way, you don’t have to take the chain off to put the ring on it. And it’ll stay safe, and right next to your heart.”
“Okay, that’s a little too sweet,” Daze says.
Lis is speechless. She just lifts the ring from her chest to look at it, tears standing in her eyes.
“I see you, firecracker. It doesn’t need to be one or the other. You can have both. You can have everything.”
She kisses me, pulling me against her. She breaks the kiss and whispers, “Take me home.”