Chapter 6
‘And the flowers are in the room? With the alcohol-free champagne? Can I just go up and do a final check before she arrives?’
‘Of course.’ The hotel manager, Trina, was unfazed by Ginny’s barrage of questions. ‘Everything was done according to your instructions. Come up and I’ll show you.’
Dragging her own suitcase and dress bag, Ginny trailed Trina to the lifts, Kira following with her tatty rucksack, and up to the honeymoon suite.
It was an airy space, with wooden accents and floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the lake, but Ginny’s gaze zeroed in on the details: a bouquet of roses and proteas, a hamper of local specialities – no mouldy soft cheeses – the mini-bar stocked with a good selection of non-alcoholic beverages and a carton of milk, as Ginny had requested.
Ginny was a firm believer in champagne and just because Sophie was pregnant, didn’t mean she should miss out.
She took in the extra pillows and noticed there was even a selection of moisturising creams in a glass cabinet in the bathroom.
‘It’s wonderful, thanks. We have a very special bride, one of our own team. She’s used to working all of this out for other people, so I want to make sure she enjoys all the details too.’
‘Anything else you need, just ask,’ Trina said.
‘Oh, the most important thing.’ Ginny rummaged in her handbag, retrieving a decorative tin of proper tea she’d brought from England. She set it by the kettle, giving Trina an apologetic smile. ‘English tea is just a little different from everywhere else. I’ve brought her favourite blend from home.’
‘Here comes her car now,’ Kira said from her position by the window. As they hurried back to the lift, Kira leaned close and said out of the side of her mouth, ‘You’re making Sophie sound like a bridezilla.’
Ginny swallowed a sigh. ‘I hate that word, as well as the rest of the misogynistic stereotypes around weddings.’
‘O-kay, that’s me told,’ Kira said with half a smile.
‘But it’s precisely because Sophie is not being picky about the details that I am. Sometimes I worry she’s not… I’m sure it’s nothing.’
‘You still need to finish that sentence,’ Kira prompted.
The doors to the lift opened with a ding and they stepped back into the lobby. ‘Sophie loves weddings,’ Ginny explained. ‘I know she tries to be sensitive to Andreas’s fears and warped sense of responsibility, but she truly loves weddings.’
Kira frowned. ‘I know. I was there for the one she officiated at Lake Garda. She made it really special.’ She glanced at Ginny. ‘Don’t interpret anything from that. I’m not going to catch the bouquet.’
‘Damn, I’ve been planning that for so long,’ Ginny joked. ‘But do you get what I mean? She’s distracted with the pregnancy, I know. Her anxiety must be through the roof, but I thought she’d be more enthusiastic about her own wedding.’
‘Her second wedding,’ Kira pointed out.
‘The first one doesn’t count. She told me it was just in the register office with his parents as witnesses. This is it – right? She and Andreas are so perfect together. As perfect as you and Mattia.’
Kira mimed vomiting and earned a poke from Ginny’s elbow.
‘I’m just scared she’ll regret being so distracted and wish she’d thought of some detail down the line, so I’m trying to make sure every box is ticked.’
‘I wouldn’t worry so much,’ Kira said gently. ‘Sophie knows it’s the marriage that’s more important than the wedding.’
‘But that’s exactly my point! It’s the marriage we’re celebrating, the love.’
The look Kira gave her was wary. ‘Maybe you’ll understand when—’
‘Do not say I don’t understand because I’ve never been in love,’ Ginny replied through gritted teeth. ‘You’re the one who’s completely besotted with someone you never would have expected to fall for.’
‘I know.’ Kira grimaced. ‘I sicken myself.’
The sliding doors swished open, cutting off anything more Ginny might have said.
She probably should take Kira’s advice and stop worrying, but her spidey sense for other people’s emotions had been vibing more and more loudly about this wedding and the only thing she could do was redouble her efforts.
She skipped to the doors and wrapped her arms around Sophie.
‘It’s wedding week!’ Hugging her friend and colleague was different these days, since Sophie was now nearly seven months pregnant and had the belly to match.
The wedding would still be in good time before the baby came at Christmas and Ginny was inclined to believe the autumn wedding would turn out to be a stroke of genius and not only necessity.
Sophie’s smile was bright and gratifying. ‘Ginny, this place is perfect. I can’t believe how quickly you managed to pull all of this together.’
‘Oh, Tita, Kira and Toni all helped loads.’
‘You’ll have to put this hotel in the file. The lake is just stunning, surrounded by mountains – and it’s so quiet.’
Ginny had vague memories of the looming slopes from their drive from Innsbruck airport, but she couldn’t have described the lake in any detail. Now that Sophie mentioned it, the silence was remarkable.
‘Remember you’re a guest too,’ Sophie said, giving her hand a squeeze.
‘And you’re a bride!’
Sophie’s laugh in response was indulgent and Ginny’s thoughts returned to what Kira had said about the marriage being more important, but that wasn’t an excuse to skimp on the celebrations. Surely Sophie wouldn’t think that. She was probably just tired.
‘Where’s Andreas?’ Ginny asked.
‘He went to pick up Rhys from the train in Brixen.’
Ginny frowned. ‘He came on the train? What about all the equipment?’
‘I don’t think he has too much – he doesn’t need much. He’s used to travelling light. Maybe… don’t question him about that, when he gets here?’
‘I wasn’t planning on asking him anything when he gets here,’ she replied, giving herself a kick when she realised she’d said that too emphatically.
‘I thought you’d worked things out after the… incident,’ Sophie said carefully. ‘I mean, I don’t expect you’ll ever be best friends, but I thought you were going to give him some help at the ceremony.’
‘I—What? What kind of help?’ She’d made every effort to push Rhys from her mind over the past few weeks. She’d even succeeded some of the time.
‘With his face blindness,’ Sophie continued. ‘You might need to point out who everyone is. It’s going to be so difficult for him, this whole week of friends and family, all wearing different clothing from usual.’
Ginny blinked, trying to run back Sophie’s words so she could listen to them again. Understanding took a moment, but when it dropped, it landed with a fresh blush of embarrassment.
Was she supposed to know about this? Did he think someone had told her? She wanted to take out and examine each of her interactions with Rhys under this new light, but more important for now was convincing Sophie she’d known all along.
‘Oh, yes, of course. I’m going to stick to him like glue, make sure he knows who’s who and doesn’t get disturbed from his… art.’
For a moment, she was terrified that Sophie could tell how her thoughts scrambled and her heart pounded every time Rhys looked at her.
Except… was he even looking at her? What did he see in her face? Oh, God, maybe some of the times she’d found him looking at her, he’d simply been trying to work out who she was.
She’d had it all wrong. Ginny, who prided herself on being able to read people and empathise with them, had got Rhys entirely wrong. He’d been telling the simple truth at their last meeting: she made him nervous.
It was terrible, how her stomach sank at that thought. She’d quite possibly made a fool of herself – every single time they’d met.
‘Maybe not like glue, Ginny,’ Sophie said with a laugh. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yep, completely fine,’ she replied, which was a brazen lie.
After helping Sophie’s sister, Tash, stow the wedding dress safely without her four-year-old daughter, Eliza, getting sticky hands on it, Ginny hovered in the lobby, ticking guests off her list. It was probably an unnecessary roll call.
There was no schedule for the day and the rest of the staff of I Do were off duty, including her boss, Reshma Bakshi, who was ensconced in a corner of the lobby talking to Willard Coombes, the founder of Great Heart Adventures.
Talking ‘business’ again, as they seemed to do more and more often, even though the merger was fully operational now and Ginny couldn’t imagine what practical matters they had to discuss.
Reshma had firmly denied there were any romantic undertones, even if her foot did seem very close to his under the table.
Ginny was probably oversensitive to these suspicions, with her dating ban entering its third month. For two full months, she hadn’t been on a single date. Not a kiss, not even an arm around her at the cinema – nothing.
Which was fine. She was working on being less self-absorbed and thinking of others, like Sophie and Andreas – and Rhys, she added to herself with a wince, since she’d got him all wrong.
If she was honest with herself, she was standing here waiting to see if she’d interpret anything different in his manner, now she knew he couldn’t recognise faces.
She was hoping it might improve their odd dynamic.
They’d managed a whole conversation back in August in Bath – well, kind of. Perhaps there was a constructive working relationship to be had after all. She hoped so, now that she knew she’d have to help him with the guests.
She’d initially assumed Sophie and Andreas would opt for a small wedding, somewhere off the beaten track – like the mountaintop nuptials that had brought them together.
But no, they were marrying in the little chapel where Andreas’s parents had also tied the knot, up on a hill overlooking golden vineyards and lush apple farms in South Tyrol, the German-speaking corner of northern Italy.