He laughed a little, admiration in his eyes. “Of course you do.”
She laughed, too. “Can’t apologize for being a perfectionist. But it’s a fun concept because we’ve figured out that we should time weddings so the guests arrive as the sun dips close to the mountains. If we know our light time, we don’t leave anything to chance.”
He turned to look out the French doors and the massive windows that offered up a full mountain view. “Like right now,” he said.
“Yep, and it lasts about a half-hour, though we’re at the tail end of that now—sorry, I was on the phone. After everyone’s seated and the wedding party is in place, if we time it right, I show up?—”
“The blushing bride,” he teased.
She smiled at that, loving that he thought of her like that at sixty. “I’ll probably be a little flushed,” she conceded. “But hopefully no one will notice because I’ll arrive at that verymoment when the sky and peaks are all awash with pink and lavender.”
“Oh, yes,” he said, nodding enthusiastically. “I know the moment you mean. It’s always a big hit on the sleigh rides.”
“See? You understand why we are trying to time the weddings around peak sun—which changes every month.” She rolled her eyes. “So, the sky and light is a moving target.”
“It’s brilliant, but I can see it could stress you out.”
“It shouldn’t if we learn the light time throughout the year. And we definitely know winter, so our wedding should be perfect. The sky deepens during the vows, turns to twilight when we walk down the aisle together, and then the stars come out for dinner, toasts, and dancing.” She grinned. “So, yes, I’m going to time the vows, the kiss, the walk, everything.”
He laughed. “I better make sure the vows I’m writing fit the light time.”
At the thought of him writing vows—again, something they didn’t do in round one—her heart lifted. “You take all the time you need, Jack. I want to hear every word.”
He reached for her, drawing her closer. “Good, because I don’t care about light time. But I care about you, so I’ll follow your rules.”
She gave him a light kiss. “Not rules, just…guidelines.”
He laughed and wrapped her into an embrace. “I just want you to be the happiest you’ve ever been, Cin.”
On a sigh, she melted into him, forgetting light time and guidelines and everything. “I am,” she promised him.
“So, what else do we do to test the light?” he asked.
Thinking about it, she turned to the trellis. “Maybe…shift the arch a few inches back to…”
“To make it disappear,” Jack said on a laugh.
“No, no, I am worried about Dominique, but you know what, honey?” She gave him a squeeze. “We’ll cross that bridge when the time comes. For now, let’s just try to get the light right.”
Jack turned her toward the windows, his arm still secure around her. “Little advice from the groom?”
“Of course.”
“The sun is going to do what the sun wants to do. You can’t control the clouds, the wind, the weather. Relax.”
Being told to relax always had the opposite effect on her, but she tamped down her usual reaction. “I will, I promise. But the light could be the viral shot that changes everything.”
“Or it could just be our wedding and not a production.”
She heard the slight strain in his voice and understood, but then, he didn’t realize the call she’d just completed. “I get that,” she said. “But I’m stinging. I just lost a potential bride, and it was because of social media.”
He winced. “Sorry to hear that.”
“It’s just one bride, but…somehow, our wedding got wrapped up in this marketing opportunity and I don’t want to conflate the two, but I’m just trying to think through the stuff that impacts Aisle Files first, then I’ll give my one hundred percent attention to our wedding.”
“Because our wedding will be shown to half a million followers.” He made a face. “And that’s important, Cin, but I also think we’d get that business by being authentic.”
He was absolutely right.
