Delilah #2
I hadn’t attended a wedding at the Phillips House venue since Lacey tied the knot with Bodie a couple of years back.
That wedding hadn’t gone as planned and I hadn’t had a reason to go to any of the others they’d held since.
I’d heard about what went on out there between the historic house they’d turned into an event center and the giant warehouse on the property that had been repurposed as a blank slate, ready for whatever dream wedding a potential bride could come up with.
For the butterfly wedding, they’d rented giant white tents.
The wedding was going to be held outside, in the beautifully landscaped grounds, then the butterflies would be released before the guests moved into the tents for the reception.
I wanted to pay extra-special attention in case I got any ideas for the wedding barn, although I couldn’t imagine holding events on a grand scale like this.
Lacey didn’t want to miss a single opportunity to showcase Ido in a romantic light, so she met us at the front door when I arrived with Delilah on my arm.
“I’m so glad you could make it.” Lacey pressed an air-kiss to both of Delilah’s cheeks. “Come on in. Let me show you around before the festivities start.”
“Are you sure we’re not crashing the wedding?” Delilah asked.
“Don’t be silly. The bride said she’d be honored to have you here.”
Delilah let out a breath. “I just wanted to check. Oh, and have you seen my mother?”
Lacey shook her head. “She was here earlier but I haven’t seen her for a little while. Do we need to wait for her before I give you a tour?”
“No, she’ll catch up if she’s interested.”
I hadn’t been inside the Phillips House since Lacey had gathered several of the local business owners to discuss her plans of turning our little town into a wedding destination. The whole house had been redone, restored to what I imagined was its original glory.
“This is amazing.” Delilah voiced the same reaction I felt. “How long did it take to renovate this space?”
“A few months. We were on a bit of a time crunch.” Lacey walked through the lower level, pointing out pieces that were original to the house. By the time she led us through the two upper levels, the wedding party had arrived and taken over the second-floor bedrooms to make final preparations.
“How many weddings have you had here so far?” Delilah asked.
“Too many to count.” Lacey stopped by the front door. “I can look it up and get you that information if you need it.”
“I was just curious. But it might be fun to share that on social media. Gives you some legitimacy if you’ve got the numbers to back up your claim of being the most romantic place in Texas to tie the knot.”
“Wait, you’re posting about your experience in town on your social media accounts?” I asked.
“She’s got her own hashtag for the contest and everything,” Lacey squinted at me. “I thought you knew about that.”
“No, I’m pretty sure I didn’t.” Not that it mattered much. I didn’t even have any of those online accounts. I had no need to tell the world what I planned to eat for dinner or how I felt about social issues. If someone wanted to know, I’d rather have a face-to-face conversation.
“Well, you ought to check it out.” Lacey held out her phone. A recent post from Delilah featured a picture of the Hampton barn, where we’d watched that movie a few weeks ago, and had over five thousand likes.
I blinked hard, and the number grew by ten. If and when we did move forward with the wedding barn idea, I’d need to get up to speed on all of that. I almost groaned at the amount of work ahead of me. Maybe Delilah would be willing to help me get started since she obviously knew a lot about it.
“I’ve got to go check on the wedding party.” Lacey tucked her phone back into the pocket of her dress. “Y’all feel free to head outside and find a place to sit. We should be starting in just a little while.”
“Thank you so much for the tour. I’d love to walk around outside and get some pictures of the gardens.” Delilah looked up at me.
“Sure, let’s do that.” I held the door for her, breathing in a whiff of her perfume as she passed by.
“I can see why so many couples choose Ido for their wedding.” Delilah turned right at the bottom of the steps, taking the path that led to the garden where the wedding would be held.
“Lacey’s done a fantastic job. She pretty much saved the town by coming up with the idea of focusing on weddings.”
“I read something about that in the information Mr. Plum gave me. Ido used to be known for a big stationery company, didn’t it?”
“That’s right.” I walked under an arbor covered in some sort of climbing vine. No need to get into the scandal surrounding the downfall of the Phillips family business. I turned the conversation. “It sounds like you’re pretty good at that social media thing.”
She leaned over to snap a photo of a butterfly resting on a large orange bloom. “It comes with the territory. One of my responsibilities with this contest is to post pictures of my experiences. Hopefully, it will make more people aware of what each town has to offer.”
“That’s smart.” I nodded, wishing I could ask for help with putting together some ideas for the wedding barn. But I wasn’t ready to talk to her about that quite yet. I still wanted to keep it to myself so she wouldn’t be swayed one way or another when it came time to make her decision.
“I’ve also started ramping up the marketing for the new company Stella and I are working on . . . the one I told you about with my mentor, Monique. Stella hired a publicity company to do the launch and everything, but I’m handling the day-to-day posts.”
“I wouldn’t even know how to get started.”
She turned to me and put a hand on my arm. I could feel the weight of her touch, even through the layers of my long-sleeve dress shirt and the suit jacket. “I’m sure you could figure it out, it’s not that hard.”
“Thanks.” I stopped myself from sliding my hand into hers and pulling her close.
As Delilah moved around the garden, snapping pictures of flowers and groups of smiling wedding guests, the music began to play. “Should we find some seats?”
“You pick.”
“We’re not really part of the official guest list. Let’s stand at the back.” She headed toward an area off to the side, behind the rows of chairs.
I followed, my chest burning as I watched the gentle sway of her hips. My fingers tingled with the memory of having my hands on those curves just a few days ago.
She stopped at a bench that had been set up at the edge of a path that wound through the garden. “How about here?”
“Works for me.” I waited for her to get settled, then took a seat next to her, my hip brushing hers on the narrow bench.
“What a gorgeous dress.” Delilah smiled as the bride took a spot behind her bridesmaids. “She looks so happy.”
I glanced from the nervous excitement on the bride’s face to see the calm, confident stance of the groom, who waited for her at the end of the aisle. Delilah gripped my arm as the bridesmaids finished trailing down the aisle. The crowd stood for the bride, and the swell of the wedding march began.
I couldn’t help myself. My fingers found Delilah’s and tangled with hers.
She gave my hand a squeeze as the couple took their places under a wooden arbor covered in flowers.
The officiant asked the guests to be seated.
Delilah didn’t break our grip. Not while the couple said their vows.
Not when the tiny ring bearer handed over a satin pillow.
Not when the couple kissed for the first time as man and wife.
I had been to a fair number of weddings in my life, but for some reason I seemed to watch this one unfold through new eyes.
Instead of watching a couple of strangers pledge their love to each other until death, I couldn’t help but wonder how it might feel to be the one standing there, in front of my own friends and family.
Pledging my love to one woman for the rest of my life.
Then I looked down at the woman next to me. She met my gaze with an emotionally charged look of her own.