“Today is not about you. Or me. This is about the bride and the groom. This is their moment. You don’t get to ruin it. Even if you might feel differently. When it is over, you can have a lovely talk with Phoenix, and I will understand. But for now, you will fix your dress, you will walk down the aisle and smile, and you will be the beautiful woman that I know you are, inside and out.” That was stretching it a bit, but with the way that Jasmine’s eyes warmed slightly, I had to hope that that was the right trick. “You can do this, Jasmine. You can show the world that you can handle anything.”
“He was mine,” Jasmine murmured.
My heart hurt for her, even though I was slightly cold inside when it came to love these days. Not that I was going to mention that. “But he’s hers now. And you said yes to the wedding. Be a good friend. Show that you love them both.”
“Fine,” Jasmine snapped and turned to follow Arabella.
“That was one disaster levied,” Emily whispered just by my side, and I nodded tightly.
“We’ll keep an eye on her.”
“I’ll do that since you have the other thousand things to do.”
I shook my head. “We’ll do it together. We have twenty minutes until go time. Time to go through our checklist one more time.”
We nodded at each other then went to work, fixing the maid of honor’s shoe and then the flower crown for the flower girl. The ring bearer currently had his finger halfway up his nose, so I helped wash his hands and anchored him to one of the groomsmen who could handle the kid. I walked from pew to pew, ensuring that each flower arrangement was where it needed to be, and as the minister nodded at me, a gentle smile on his face, I knew we were almost there.
So close.
Roy stopped me on my way to the bride and grinned. “Good job, Alexis.”
I smiled at the older man and shook my head. “Not yet. Almost there, though.”
“Of course, can’t put the cart before the horse and all that.”
“You sound more and more Texan every day.” I winked.
He let out a rough chuckle. “I try. Now, I’ll see you after the wedding. Save me a dance.”
I rolled my eyes, knowing Roy was happily married but was doing his best to try to get me out on the dance floor because apparently I needed to have a life. I had a life, thank you very much. It just didn’t have anything to do with weddings. Other than the fact that my entire life was weddings. Just not my own.
Once the wedding began, I had my eyes on every person that I could at the same time, narrowing them at Jasmine as she walked in her now full gown, Arabella’s magic to die for. Jasmine looked like a princess herself, a little manic, but didn’t ruin the wedding. And when Phoenix walked down the aisle underneath the blue skies—without a single cloud—I smiled and let out a relieved breath.
The first part was now over, now for the actual reception where things were just getting started.
My photographer was set up for photos, and I let Emily handle half of them when I ensured that the rest of the wedding guests were doing their thing in the reception. They were going for a buffet, so people could mingle and party about, and the dance floor would be rocking soon. First, though, we had a few other things to handle, and I was exhausted. I should probably sleep a little bit more before big weddings, but I had too much on my plate.
When the bride and the groom made their entrance, I smiled, and Emily wiped away a tear.
“They’re just so beautiful.”
“They are,” I agreed. I also didn’t think they would last long, but maybe they would surprise me. I liked when they surprised me. I wanted love to last, even though sometimes it didn’t, and it broke you.
Emily nudged me, and I looked over at her, shaking my head. “What? Is something wrong?”
“Look over atthem. All tall, dark, and handsome. And growly. I want to take a bite of that. Who are they?”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. One of the guests gave me a look and smiled, and I held back a wince. My job was to blend into the scenes, not to make noise and laugh. I had to be better than that.
I stared over at the two men with dark hair and blue eyes and frowned. I didn’t recognize them, and I had to wonder what side of the wedding they were from. I frowned, going through my mental list, but figured they had to be someone on the groom’s side since I didn’t know everybody by their face. However, they seemed to be brothers and were attractive, though I didn’t swoon like Emily seemed to be doing. Barely.
“Seriously though, who are they? And are they single?”
“You can find out after the wedding. We do not mix pleasure with business. You know that.”
Emily put her hand over her heart and mimicked it beating while she fluttered her eyelashes at me. “Don’t you wish we did, though?” she purred, and I shook my head before I met the gaze of the slightly older man. His blue eyes intensified and narrowed on mine before a shiver went down my spine. I swallowed hard, and broke the connection, and looked down at Emily.
“Not for us. You know that.”
“Spoilsport. But I suppose we have to get back to work.”
I swallowed hard and then looked back to where the man had been standing, only to find the space empty, and sighed. “Time to work. It’s what we’re good at.”
And I pushed the thoughts of the man with the blue eyes from my mind, knowing I had far more important things to worry about tonight.