Chapter Seven
Nash
It’s possible Nash had died. There was no way this was real life.
They had a few moments of downtime between the getting-ready photos they quickly snapped of the groom and groomsmen, and taking pre-ceremony photos of the couple, and he and Rory spent it trying to down some semblance of a meal. Nash kept energy bars in the outer pocket of his camera bag since days could get long, but there was no reason to skip the opportunity for real food on a day as busy as this.
Even if it meant wasting the twenty minutes they had to themselves doing something other than kissing Rory.
They sat at a table in the main dining room, a sandwich each in front of them, pressing their knees together under the table as they went through the shot list on Nash’s phone. If they had to delay figuring out…whatever they were doing together, Nash was grateful it was for something that took his whole brain. Wedding days went quickly, even if they did take it all out of him.
“Oh, Sam texted back,” Rory said, laying his own phone in front of Nash. It was the photo he’d taken of Nash and one of the flower girls, and Sam sent back heart eyes.
Rory hadn’t mentioned the cracked lens yet. That was something they could figure out when they got home.
Sam
Don’t know why I was worried for a moment. You two have it under control. Can’t wait to see the photos when you get back! I’ll stop distracting you. Thank you again!
He wanted to ask Rory what they were going to tell Sam about the two of them, but they hadn’t figured out what they were going to tell each other.
Rory, on the other hand, looked completely unbothered by not having defined guidelines to whatever relationship they were in the middle of developing. He took another bite of his sandwich and beamed at Nash, pressing his leg more firmly against Nash’s. And suddenly, it didn’t matter what Sam thought.
Nash loved shooting first looks. It was unbearably sweet, especially in a different-gender couple when the man cried. He would always prefer a first look to having that same moment during the ceremony. It was more intimate, and it took a lot of the pressure off of capturing this moment during the ceremony. It also gave the couple an opportunity to not have to tone down their reaction. A man might not want to cry in front of all of his wedding guests, but with surprising frequency, grooms were more than happy to cry in front of their bride and a couple photographers.
They met the groom in a secluded place a short walk from where the bride got ready, and Nash distracted him and madesure he was looking in the opposite direction from where the bride would be walking up.
“Are you married?” Bailey, the groom, asked him. He was a happy, jittery nervous. Nash knew before Olivia showed up that Bailey would be a crier.
“I’m not,” Nash said, seeing Rory and Olivia in the distance coming toward them. He’d photographed weddings where he wasn’t sure if the two people getting married even liked each other, and the whole experience was uncomfortable. These two were on the far other end of the spectrum.
“I hope you find someone you love as much as I love Liv.”
Behind him, Rory beamed at Nash.
“Me too,” he agreed. Rory helped Olivia fuss with her dress to get it to drape perfectly, and Nash instructed Bailey to keep his eyes shut tight until Olivia tapped him on the shoulder. Nash stood just far enough away to get the two of them fully in frame, and Rory stood next to him, film camera in hand.
Nash gave Olivia a thumbs up, and she tapped Bailey on the shoulder. He gasped as he spun around speechless for a moment, hands covering his mouth.
“No one has ever looked as beautiful as you do,” he said, taking her hands. Like clockwork, a tear slipped down his cheek.
“Don’t make me cry too,” she said. “I want the makeup to last through the ceremony.” Bailey laughed, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket to dab at his tears.
“I can’t believe we get to do this today.”
Nash kept hitting his shutter button, capturing the surprise, the love, the excitement. He’d done this for long enough for his thoughts to wander as he took photos. Someday, maybe he and Rory would have a moment like this. A tear-worthy first look before their own wedding. He shot a glance to Rory, camera in his hand, his normally messy hair somewhat tamed for the occasion, and felt light for the first time in Italy.
He was getting ahead of himself, but after years of photographing other people's weddings, he’d never spent time thinking of what his own might look like.
But now…Rory.
“Okay, team!” Rory called. “Let’s go get some fun shots!”
Olivia’s dress was lacy and ivory, and simple for a wedding dress. Some brides wore ball gowns, but this was the opposite of that extreme…fluffiness. Nash didn’t know the words to describe dresses, but it left her free to walk around the grounds without the worry of a train or excess fabric.
The day was bright and colorful, as Florence spread out around them. The sky was clear except for wispy clouds that were set-dressing. Just enough to have something pretty hanging there.
“You lucked out on weather,” Rory said, as they got to the first photo spot. It was a classic powder-blue convertible the venue owned for photos. It had been pulled out of the storage garage where it lived and parked on one of the gravel roads, so Bailey could pretend to drive off into the metaphorical sunset, and Olivia could sit on the back.
“This is so silly,” she said, holding her bouquet up in triumph.
“It’s cute though,” Rory promised, as Nash snapped photos. He couldn’t help the way his eyes kept finding Rory in his periphery.
Olivia and Bailey made the social aspect of taking these photos easy, and Rory filled in any gaps when Nash didn’t know what to say. They had to take a golf cart to the fountain, then out to the vineyard, where both the bride and groom confessed they didn’t know much about wine. The four of them agreed you didn’t have to know about it to enjoy it.
The nervous pre-ceremony energy kept smiles on their faces as Nash and Rory made it through their shot list, careful toget candids as well. The ceremony was the most nerve-wracking part of the day, but after seeing how he and Rory worked together, he wasn’t as worried. It would be fine.
