“That looks amazing,” Isla said. “I love the different sizes.” She walked up to survey the biggest photo, the one that took pride of place in the middle. “Is that their wedding day?” Imelda wore a simple shift dress and Edgar a suit with pant hems that sat just above his ankle, no doubt a borrowed suit in which he still managed to look debonair, despite its being stretched to fit over his lanky frame. It wasn’t their clothes you focused on, it was the light in their eyes. Happiness radiated from the picture – it gave me goose bumps, trying to imagine that they’d shared fifty years of wedded bliss from that day forward. Their separation in the war only made their reunion sweeter, for how lucky they must have felt when Edgar made it home alive… unlike so many of his friends.
“Yes, they were married in the chapel at Cedarwood,” I said. “See the lake in the distance?” I pointed to a patch of glittering water that was gray in the photo.
Isla’s eyes filled with tears. “They still look the same,” she said. “Sure, they’ve aged, but they’ve both still got those same smiles, like they’re sharing a secret.”
I slung an arm over her shoulder. Edgar and Imelda were firm favorites with everyone who worked here, not just for their graciousness in thanking everyone, and inviting them to their anniversary party, but because they were good, honest people, who made everyone feel like they mattered. “The secret is their love. Can you imagine knowing you’ve got someone on your side, no matter what, for the rest of your life?”
Micah stood just off to the side of Isla, and they exchanged a look, one of longing and hope. I moved away, not wanting to intrude on whatever was passing wordlessly between them. I could have been totally wrong, but I had a feeling there’d be another wedding at Cedarwood soon…
Kai sensed the moment too, and said, “Clio, could you help me in the lobby for a minute?”
Like children we dashed into the sumptuous room, and covered our mouths, giggling. Kai composed himself first. “Is there something in the water here?” he joked. “Sends everyone into a tizzy of romance?”
I nodded and said seriously, “Yes, I do a special love dance when there’s a full moon, and Gemini is rising in Taurus. Seems to be working so far.”
He shook his head and laughed. Gazing at Kai from under my lashes, my heartbeat sped up, but it was just the idea of love that caused it, the thought of having something like Imelda and Edgar. Or something like what was blossoming between Micah and Isla.
Maybe I was destined to be single? Perhaps the wedding planner who made other people’s wedding days perfect – and had the biggest dream-wedding board on Pinterest – wasn’t capable of love herself.
“I’m going to miss this place,” he said.
Kai had got the call the day before – another job awaited him in Vermont. He was leaving the day after the party. And after the Vermont job he was heading to San Francisco for a job over the Christmas period. I wanted to say so many things, to beg him to stay and help renovate the chapel and make me climb the godforsaken mountain… But I didn’t say a word, because what did we have? A friendship, and that was all. I had no claim on him and I couldn’t stop him from taking good, paying work for a whim of mine, much as I wanted to. “I wish you could stay.”
He cast his eyes to the floor. “I’ll be back one day to visit… and you won’t remember me, you’ll have so many faces passing through.”
Silence filled the space. As if I’d ever forget Kai.
“Let’s go back and hang the tulle from the ceiling,” he said eventually, his eyes not shining the way they usually did.
Micah and Isla were unpacking boxes of candles, ready to adorn each table. Isla jumped up when she saw me and inched over to the door, motioning me to follow. “I told him a few days ago,” she whispered. “You were right. About everything.”
I gave her a hug, and resisted the urge to jump up and down. “I knew it!”
“You know the offer you made?”
“About staying on?”
She nodded. “I’d love to, if it still stands. And not only because of Micah. I don’t want you to think I’m the type of person who clutches on to any man…”
I thought of her racing around the streets on her motorbike – she wasn’t the type to let a man dominate her. “I know that.”
“It’s more that I finally feel like I fit. I can stop running for a while and make friendships that will last, you know?”
I smiled, understanding she’d found a place to put down roots, to make a life with people she trusted, who wanted so much to be there for her. “I totally get it, Isla. And I’m so glad you chose us.”
“OK, I’d better get back to it.” She couldn’t hide her happiness, it radiated from her.
But it was all hands on deck inside, a flurry of activity, and I moved to help them, heart bursting for Micah and Isla.
I took the lengths of golden tulle from the trestle table; it was soft as silk in my hands. Kai carefully extended the ladder to the ceiling so he could bolt the fabric from the middle point, and we could drape it along sections of wall. Under the lights, it would shine luminously and break up the monotony of the wood, giving the room a touch of old Hollywood glamour.
I handed a section to Kai and he climbed up the ladder. “Here?” he asked, gathering the material.
“A little to the left… more… yes.”
With quick steps, he was back down the ladder, attaching the bottom half to the wall above the pictures we’d hung.
After double-checking the preparations I sent everyone off to rest and get ready for the party, and headed to my suite.
Upstairs, I ran a bath, figuring I could steal ten extra minutes to soak the anxiety away as best I could, before a long night on my feet. Though my limbs were heavy, I was full of energy. All the hard work had been done – and in this case, renovating the lodge thrown into the mix – and now we could enjoy the fruits of our labors, by making sure Imelda and Edgar had one of the best nights of their lives.
I undressed and stepped into the rose-scented bath, trying my hardest to relax, but my body wouldn’t cooperate, thinking of this and that I’d forgotten to do. Groaning, I climbed out, toweled myself dry and debated what to wear.
Eventually I decided on a navy-blue jersey dress that hugged my frame and gathered on one side. I stepped into a pair of wedges of the same hue, and applied makeup and a slick of gloss. I was eager to get downstairs, and didn’t bother with any more primping and preening. It was almost as though I could hear Amory’s voice. She’d be admonishing me for not making up my eyes, and fussing with my hair. I really missed her. We’d always hosted parties as a team, but I’d make her proud, doing this on my own in my dream location. My beautiful old lodge.
I gasped. Imelda was transformed, wearing a scarlet dress with a faux-fur wrap, and her shiny red heels. Her ash-gray hair had been set and fell in soft curls around her shoulders. Behind her, pushing the chair, Edgar was suited up, and this time I noted the hem of his pants covered his ankles.
I rushed to greet them. “You both look very dashing,” I said. “Imelda, you’re sparkling like a movie star.”
“A very old one.”
I bent to kiss her, and stood to shake Edgar’s hand. He was cold, I noticed, his hand clammy. “I’ll get the fires stoked up a little more. It’s freezing out tonight.”
“Thanks,