That evening,they shared a candlelit dinner before going for another stroll along the beach. This time, Lucas asked Susie for a picnic blanket before they left, so they lay on the sand under the star-studded velvet-dark sky. Kendra’s leg was thrown over one of Lucas’s, and his arm was wrapped around her.
“I see the Big Dipper,” she said, squinting. “I think.”
“I thought the Big Dipper was over there.” Lucas pointed to a completely different part of the sky, and Kendra laughed.
“Okay, fair enough.” She rolled over so that she was looking at him instead of the sky. “So, I know your company is in trouble right now, but tell me, what’s it like being the CEO of a tech company?”
“It’s great,” Lucas said honestly. “Most of the time, anyway. It took years of hard work and sacrifice to get Omegron off the ground, and there were years that I wasn’t even cutting a salary for myself. But then, business took off, and now, when things are going well, I spend my time looking at the big picture and dreaming about new products.”
“Like phones and stuff, right?”
Lucas smiled in the darkness. “Yes, like phones and stuff. And computers, tablets, headphones — all those things.”
“And are they special? Omegron’s products, I mean?” There was a smile in her voice.
“Of course.” He chuckled. “We push the envelope on innovation. Our latest phone, which was supposed to release a few weeks ago, unfolds to the size of a tablet.”
“Really?”
“Really. Although how you haven’t seen any advertisements or news about it, I don’t know.” Lucas laughed.
“Hey, I’ve been really focused on wedding stuff lately. I’ve barely kept up with the news at all.” She was smiling in the darkness.
“Tell me more about being a wedding photographer. What do you do, exactly?”
“Well, my clients hire me for their weddings, as well as for bridal showers, reception dinners, and even engagement photos. I get to know my clients over a few meetings to figure out the aesthetic they want and how I can make that happen. Then I show up to the wedding covered in equipment, looking completely out of place, and run around for hours snapping photos of everything.”
Lucas could imagine her draped in camera equipment, her brow furrowed as she focused on getting the right shot. The mental image made him smile. “Do you have a favorite moment to photograph?”
“Definitely. The best ones are always the groom’s face when the bride steps onto the aisle, and the shots of the bride getting ready with her loved ones. Then, depending on the wedding and the couple, different things stand out.”
“Like what?”
“Are you really interested in this?” She smiled at him as she adjusted to use his arm as a pillow.
“Sure, I am.” Lucas would never have been interested in the ins and outs of wedding photography before, but he could have listened to Kendra talk about the speed at which paint dried or read the instructions for assembling an Ikea table aloud for hours. Hearing her talk about her passion was fascinating.
“Well, for instance, I had a client last year who got married in Alaska under the aurora borealis. The wedding was a huge production: they flew all the guests out at the beginning of the week and had activities for them every day, from dog sledding to hiking to scenic bus tours. The whole time, they were watching the weather and telling their guests to keep any night open so that they could have their wedding while the aurora borealis was overhead. It wasn’t happening. The bride got so worried. Finally, they agreed to get married on the last night anyway, aurora borealis or not. As we were getting set up, the guests spotted the first flashes of green above, but they all agreed not to tell the bride so that she could see it for herself.
“When she stepped out onto the aisle, with her arm in her father’s, everyone was expecting her to look up and see the aurora borealis, but she had eyes only for her groom. When she reached the end of the aisle, wearing a white hooded cape, the groom took her hand and whispered in her ear, and she looked up. Finally, she saw the green ribbon of the aurora borealis overhead, just like she’d dreamed. I captured that exact moment, while her groom whispered in her ear and she looked up with eyes full of wonder. ”
Lucas whistled. “I thought you were going to say something about first dances or photos with parents. I didn’t expect that.”
“First dances and photos with parents are magical, too.” Kendra smiled. “But that was unique.”
Lucas could picture the scene she’d described as easily as if it were playing out in front of his eyes. He could see the guests, probably bundled in blankets against the Alaskan winter cold, their eyes shining. He could see the northern lights dancing overhead. And he could see the bride, with her bright-green eyes and her curly auburn hair, her hood balanced on her head as she reached out to take Lucas’s hands…
He realized what he was doing and blinked to dispel the image. It was all too easy to imagine Kendra as a bride. Ashisbride. They’d known each other for only a little over a week, and he was already picturing a future with her. A far more serious future than he ever had.
Lucas needed to remind himself of why they couldn’t be together. And it wasn’t just because of his work. Kendra had been engaged, ready to get married, just a week ago. Even if they knew each other better, even if he were the kind of guy whowanted to get married and build a life together, Kendra wouldn’t want that, not so soon after her marriage had fallen apart.
“Can I ask what your wedding was like?” he asked. If he could picture Kendra with the man she’d been meant to marry, maybe it would be easier to let go of her when the honeymoon ended.
Kendra began to twist her hands together, and Lucas instinctively reached out to hold them.
“It was my dream wedding,” she said, and his heart sank.Of course it had been. “I had a beautiful white dress — I still have it, actually. It’s shoved in the back of our closet, because I couldn’t bear to throw it away. Anyway. My friends and family were there. It was on the beach, the skies were clear, and even the food was perfect. There were ice sculptures, three different cakes and a live band. But looking back, I wonder if I planned such a dream, over-the-top wedding because I was trying to make up for the butterflies I wasn’t feeling with Aaron.”
Happiness surged in Lucas’s chest, though he reminded himself sternly that he’d been trying to put distance between them, not feel closer to Kendra. Still, hearing again that she hadn’t cared that much about Aaron felt good.
