Page 8 of Bride Games

Emma groaned. “Don’t remind me. I’m still embarrassed.”

“It was cute.”

Emma opened her laptop and clicked a few keys. She had already bookmarked a few of her favorite invitation samples when she was in planning mode for her best friend’s almost-wedding last year. Well, semi-planning mode since she had mostly forgotten to do every item on Paige’s list. Emma turned the screen so Eli could have a better view. “First things first. I suppose we should discuss colors. Maybe flowers too.”

“I’m already out of my league.” Eli barely concealed a grimace. “This is not my expertise. Not even close.”

“I’ll walk you through it.” As Emma scrolled, she pointed at several designs to get a feel whether they’d go with traditional, modern, rustic, or even a fanciful look.

Meanwhile, Eli’s eyes widened, as if he were a deer in headlights. “I’m terrible at this kind of thing. Other teachers always help me decorate my classroom. I’m not exactly creative, nor crafty.” Wincing, he added, “Fanciful? I don’t even know what that means. Why don’t you just do this? You’re good at it.”

Emma cocked her head. “Nada. It’s our wedding. Notmywedding. I thought we could, I don’t know, do this together.” In spite of herself, her voice wobbled.

“Babe, I’m sorry. I don’t want you to think I’m not interested.” He held her face in his hands and gave her a soft kiss. “I love you so much; I can’t wait to get married.” He paused. “It’s just that I’m terrible at planning things. Really terrible.”

“Are you kidding? You turned my backyard into a magical forest for your proposal. You’re great at this.”

“Again, Lucy helped. The fairy lights were her idea. I came up with the photos, but I don’t know the first thing about flowers, nor colors.” Sighing, Eli added, “Also, sorry in advance but my favorite color is orange. Nothing goes with orange.”

“Orange?” Emile stifled a giggle. “That’s your favorite color? Seriously?”

Shrugging, Eli said, “Afraid so. I can change it.”

Emma gave Eli a playful nudge with her shoulder. “No, you can’t change your favorite color, silly. If it’s your favorite, we’re using it.”

“Do you hate orange? I bet you do.” Eli scrunched his nose. “Not many people like orange except for the Denver Broncos or the Cincinnati Bengals—or maybe people who own an orange juice stand.” Shaking his head, Eli added, “Honestly, it’s a weird color, isn’t it? I don’t know why it’s my favorite.”

“It’s fine. I don’thateit. I just—” Emma vacillated while choosing her words carefully. “I’m thinking about what would be a good color combo with—” She covered her mouth with a pillow as she suppressed another giggle. “Orange. Okay, let’s do thisstrategically. Let me find a color chart.” Emma chewed on her bottom lip as she googled a chart, hoping a decent color would complement orange. Staring at the pie chart, her face lit up. “Lucy’s favorite color is pink. I mean, pink all day, every day.”

“No kidding. She never seems to tire of that color. It’s cute. Maybe she’ll be a prima ballerina someday.” Eli glanced at the color chart while Emma stared at the screen. She brightened as she pointed toward the colors. “Hot pink looks good with orange. Really good, actually. In fact, I think that’s the color combo that Dunkin’ Doughnuts uses—or maybe that was just a skit during that Ben Afleck Superbowl commercial one year.”

“Now, you’ve really lost me.” Eli squinted at the screen. “I know the two team colors I mentioned—because orange—but Paige is the football guru. I’m more of a golf kind of guy.”

Emma turned toward her fiancé. “You play golf? I never knew that.”

“Mini golf.”

“Okay, so I’m marrying a comedian.” Emma turned back to stare the screen and color chart. Sitting up straighter, she asked, “Where did we meet?”

Eli looked at Emma as though she were addled. “Uh, in my classroom when I was Lucy’s teacher.”

“I know that. Back when you were engaged to what’s her name. Then, you resigned from Appledale so you could date little old me.” She kissed Eli’s cheek. “Where did we meet after your disappearing act?”

“Oh. The sunflower field.”

“Exactly.” Emma placed her hand on Eli’s leg. “We must have sunflowers in our wedding. That’s what brought us together after your breakup.”

Eli covered her mouth with his. After their warm kiss, he said, “Now, my favorite color is yellow. I’m amending it.”

Emma went back to scrolling, keeping one hand on his leg. “Orange and yellow go well together and hot pink, eh, not sure about that combo but the pink would make Lucy happy. Those are all really bold colors, but I think all three could work together. We’ll have some greenery too, and white, of course.” She leaned back on the couch, crossing her arms. “What do you think? You like?”

“I don’t like them. I love them. But I love you.”

“I love you more.” Emma pulled up a different website. “We should decide on the style of invitations we want.”

Eli stood and stretched. “You’re a taskmaster.”

“I know but the time will fly by. We have to decide how fancy we want to get. Do you want a classy or casual wedding?” Emma studied the screen with the intensity of a brain surgeon.

---