Ari smiled. She glanced over to Reine, then at the card in her hand. She smiled again.
“Yes,” she told him. “I think now I’ll be just fine.”
Chapter 24: Aurora
There was a distinct pleasant rush to the day of a wedding she’d planned, Ari had to admit. Before she even got into the business, Sebastian would tell her about the adrenaline surge he got from an efficient wedding ceremony, followed by a flawlessly well-oiled reception afterwards. Ari hadn’t understood and didn’t understand until the evening of her first wedding, when — after the bride and groom had departed and the guests had dispersed into hotel rooms — she’d sat in the middle of the confetti-covered dancefloor, her blood singing and skin tingling.
Sebastian had been right. It was a rush like no other.
Stella and Corentin’s wedding day, however, was somewhat different. Corentin had been adamant about being married in an Icelandic cave, and Stella, who had clearly photographed too many traditional white weddings, highly approved of his unusual choice.
“Iceland in February will be cold and unpleasant,” Ari warned them, having done her research, but their minds would not be turned.
“The cave we’ve chosen to be wed in is perfect. It’s only a fifteen-minute walk across sand dunes, so accessible to all our guests,” Stella had argued. “Not that there’ll be many of those. We want it to be intimate.”
“Intimate but also close to the bowels of Mother Earth,” Corentin had added.
Ari had glanced at Sebastian, who simply shrugged.
“I’m sure we will manage it,” Sebastian had replied. “We’ve done trickier venues. But, just FYI, it’s best not to use the word ‘bowels’ on a wedding invitation. I’m sure you understand.”
Stella and Corentin wanted their wedding to take place in a little town called Vík, in a cave near the black sand beach. By the time their flight landed, and they’d made the three-hourcar journey to the small Icelandic town, Ari was wrecked. She’d hoped to hand Reine over to Tom for the night, so she could start work first thing in the morning, but he hadn’t been in his hotel room when she’d knocked on the door. Instead, Marnie had taken Reine’s hand.
“Where’s Tom?” Ari asked, immediately concerned, but also acutely disappointed. She’d wanted to see him and speak with him herself.
“He went for a walk,” Marnie replied easily, smiling at Reine. “Needed to clear his head, he said. He was in a bad mood all the way over here. I asked him why, and he said he didn’t get much sleep last night.”
Ari blushed bright red, but Marnie, whose eyes were only for Reine — and the little bag of make-up the child had brought — thankfully didn’t see.
“Well, when you see him, let him know that I—” Ari began, before chewing on her lip, falling into silence.Let him know what?she wondered.Let him know that I know he came back for me? Let him know that last night meant something to me too?
“Ari?” Marnie was suddenly all eyes and ears. Ari blushed again. She needed to talk to Tom, but not like this. Not through his mother, however well-meaning Marnie was.
Ari gave her a smile. “Let him know that, uh, I’ll be around to see Reine tomorrow.”
This wasn’t a big town, Ari reflected. If Tom was out walking, she would find him. She bent to give her daughter a kiss and a cuddle, before straightening and smiling once more at Marnie.
She took two steps towards her room, knowing she would need her winter coat to withstand the icy air outside, when Sebastian grabbed her arm.
“Where are you going?” he hissed, and Ari glanced up at him.
“To find Tom, to talk with him—”
“Not right now, we have a code red.”
Ari paused. “I don’t know what that means.”
Sebastian took a deep breath. “Name for me the three worst things that can happen the night before a wedding.”
“Groom takes off,” Ari replied, before she frowned, “but Corentin’s here. So, next is venue cancellation, but we’re here. So that only leaves...” Ari went pale. “No,” she whispered.
“Yes,” Sebastian nodded. “The airline lost Stella’s wedding dress.”
* * *
She would make the three-hour drive back to Keflavík with Corentin by her side. They decided not to tell Stella about her missing dress, but Corentin, who was sharing a connecting room with Tom, Reine and Marnie, overheard Ari’s whispered conversation with his mother about why she suddenly had to go back to the airport, and why she probably wouldn’t be back until the next day.
“I’m going to speak with Icelandair, see what they can do,” Ari had said hurriedly. “If worse comes to worst I’ll pick up an off-the-rack dress in Reykjavík tomorrow. Luis will do what he can with it.”
