1
‘Here you can see the way we’ve planned the chairs for the ceremony to capture the sunset. I’ve sent this diagram to Donatella at the hotel and it’s not too different from our last wedding on the island, so she knows to have staff available to help set up the seating. I’ve printed all of this and got it bound into a book for you, but it’s all on the tablet as well, including the master contact list.’
Toni fumbled to accept the slim tablet. Taking in the barrage of information her friend and colleague was rattling off, as well as maintaining enough hand-eye coordination to not drop a device that was worth more than all of the electronics in her entire household, was about as much as she could handle.
The Falkirk-Mason wedding would be even more of a challenge.
It was difficult not to compare herself to the put-together wedding planner. Sophie-Leigh had subtle highlights in her blonde hair, a well-cut jacket that was just the right side of casual and a serene, unflappable smile for brides.
Toni had a low-maintenance bob, a two-minute make-up routine and a constant buzz in the back of her mind, hoping herson was coping well with the longer hours she was working these days.
Being a single parent had changed the wiring of her brain permanently.
‘I know you’ll do brilliantly,’ Sophie said with a tone of finality.
‘I don’t know about brilliantly, but I’lldo,’ Toni joked. ‘And Reshma is coming out two days before the wedding to help, so I’m sure nothing can go wrong.’
Nothingcouldgo wrong. Sophie was pregnant, with a host of tests due and results to study. Her busy schedule of weddings had been thinned to a handful of important ones.
‘That’s kind of how I feel about motherhood,’ Sophie said through her teeth.
‘That’s all anyone feels about motherhood,’ Toni quipped ruefully. ‘How are you doing? I kind of assumed you’d pin me down to… talk some time.’
Sophie’s heavy sigh made Toni regret broaching the subject. She hadn’t exactly looked forward to that ‘talk’, but since she was the only mother among both of the teams at Great Heart Adventures and I Do Destinations – unlikely and reluctant partners in the adventure weddings business – she was willing to offer support.
Work commitments had meant Sophie had had to share the news of her pregnancy quietly in the team earlier than usual and she seemed nervous, but Toni understood she’d always wanted a child, so those nerves would resolve.
‘I’m so tired all the time. It’s frustrating. And this is before he or she actually comes out and wakes me up at all hours. I should feel fortunate I didn’t have morning sickness, I suppose. Did you have a rough time?’
Honestly, Toni didn’t remember, but it was too soon to burst Sophie’s bubble with the realities of motherhood, and her friendwouldn’t be doing it all alone anyway – unlike Toni. ‘Oh yeah,’ she replied lightly. ‘Terrible.’
‘I’m not good at change,’ Sophie groaned. ‘And I’m worried I’m too old for this.’
‘Nonsense. Lots of first-time mothers are over thirty-five these days.’
‘You know I count as a geriatric mother?’ Sophie said, scrunching up her nose. ‘What about geriatric fathers? Andreas is forty-one, but nobody seems to care about that.I’mthe old one.’
Toni wasn’t sure if she was supposed to laugh or not. She went with not. It seemed safest.
‘How is Andreas holding up? He hasn’t been around the gym much.’ Her old friend – herhusband’soldest, closest friend – was the father of this surprise bundle of joy and to say parenthood was an unexpected role for Andreas to find himself in was an understatement. The surly mountaineer had been staunchly opposed to all forms of family but the most necessary, until he’d finally given in to his feelings for Sophie.
Sophie’s sigh this time was more of an ‘oof’. ‘You know Andreas. It was like hitting him over the head with a rock when I told him, especially since we hadn’t exactly finished the babies discussion. I made a mistake with malaria tablets for that wedding in Madagascar and then this happened. But after he wrestled with his unexpressed emotions for a week, he turned right around and insisted we start planning a wedding. Who wants to think about a wedding at a time like this?’
‘That does seem like a lot. You’ll be a family whether you’re married or not and you don’t want a half-arsed wedding.’ At least, Toni suspected Sophie wouldn’t want a half-arsed wedding. Toni’s had been a brief civil ceremony in a dark and draughty town hall in Austria eleven years ago, just before her new husband left for an expedition – not that she wanted tothink about her own ill-fated wedding right now, when she was two weeks away from organising someone else’s happy day.
After the merger between her employer and I Do Destinations, organising wedding travel had become part of Toni’s job, but she’d never had to travel herself to attend one – until now.
‘Exactly!’ Sophie agreed rather aggressively. ‘I never thought I’d be trying to convince Andreasnotto get married, but at least he’s dealing with the news constructively, which is more than I’d dared hope for at the beginning.’
‘If you want to meet up when I get back?—’
‘Toni, you’re an angel for offering and, out of desperation, I imagine I’ll take you up on it, but right now, you have a week of holiday to enjoy and then a wedding to run – flawlessly.’
Toni wasn’t sure if that was a vote of confidence or a threat.
‘Are you sure it’s okay that I’ve tacked this holiday onto the beginning?’
‘Of course! We’ve all done it, although usually, it’s better the weekaftera wedding, not before. More relaxing.’
