Page 32 of The Wedding Twist

She retreated to the office, where she gave herself five minutes to regroup, fix her hair, and pep talk herself into making this wedding a social media sensation.

Focus, she willed herself. Every moment for the next eight or more hours demanded that she be at her best.

When she entered the great room, the officiant had just arrived and was organizing her paperwork at a table near the window, and the bottles of Veuve Clicquot were perfectly chilled and ready to tip into the waiting crystal flutes for the toast immediately following the ceremony. The jazz trio, a Keystone Ridge staple who were still playing weddings well into their eighties, were adding light background music as Kurt and the newest groomsman mingled with the other guests, awaiting the arrival of the bridesmaids, mother-of-the-bride, and the bride herself.

The nice thing about a small wedding was if they started a few minutes late or early, no one would mind. It felt relaxed and easy, unlike trying to ignore the force of attraction Jack was radiating from where he stood over by the fireplace. Celeste decided she’d better check on things upstairs to make sure there wasn’t any last-minute drama to attend to.

The door to what would be the newlyweds’ suite tonight was open, and Celeste approached slowly, listening for any bickering or harsh words or, worse, a full-on meltdown. But what she came across was a very tender moment between the bride and her mother as Victoria fastened a necklace around her daughter’s neck and then stood back, beaming with pride as Kassie fingered the delicate stone. “Thanks, Mom,” she murmured. “I love you.”

They embraced, and Celeste swallowed the small lump that had formed from witnessing something so lovely and pure. No matter how many weddings they hosted and how much bickering, drama, and disagreement that came up, there was always a moment that reminded Celeste why she loved days like this.

Kassie looked stunning. She wore a halter-style ivory silk gown with a delicate transparent crystal overlay that hung from her shoulders all the way down to where the fabric lightly grazed the floor and twinkled in the light like she was wearing little stars from head to toe. Her dark hair was pulled back into a tight bun, allowing her pretty features, which the makeup artist had highlighted expertly with the “evening” look, to be the main event. The diamond necklace that she’d just been gifted pulled the look together perfectly.

“You look absolutely gorgeous,” Celeste said when it seemed appropriate to enter the room. She looked around at the bridesmaids and the mother of the bride, who also looked like they’d stepped out of the pages of a high-end bridal magazine. “What a beautiful necklace.”

Kassie adjusted the stone around her neck. “It was my mother’s,” said Victoria. “She gave it to me on my wedding day.”

Celeste braced herself for Kassie to make a comment about how that marriage had ended up, but instead she hugged her mother again.

“It’s perfect,” Celeste said. “You all look perfect. What a beautiful family.”

The bridesmaids wore pale green dresses in three different styles but all made with the same fabric, which glowed in an iridescent shimmery gold. Victoria was a picture of elegance in a long navy gown, accented with gold jewelry and a sizable emerald ring on her right hand.

Celeste nodded to the clock on the bedside table. “We’re about ten minutes out, if you think you’re ready,” she said. “I wanted to see if there’s anything else you need.”

“Just a selfie with you,” said Kassie. “You’ve been amazing!”

Celeste grinned. “Of course,” she said, joining the group as Kassie angled her phone and caught them all in the camera’s frame, the photographer quietly snapping photos in the background while stepping over the various clothing items, shoe boxes, and shopping bags that littered the room. Celeste made a mental note to return to the room during the reception and tidy up so that the newlyweds didn’t return to a complete disaster.

“Victoria, once we see you at the bottom of the stairs, Kurt will come and escort you to your seat. You’ll hear the beginning of Pachelbel’s Canon, then you two”—she nodded at Melissa and Siena—“will have your escorts as well. Kassie, your father will be ready for you at the bottom of the stairs. Good luck!”

Celeste left the women with the photographer to take some shots of them receiving their bouquets and rejoined the rest of the group in the great room.

All the men looked handsome in their suits, but when Celeste found Jack, perched on the arm of the large camel leather couch, the soft light from the fireplace flickering in his dark eyes, she took a sharp breath in. He was irresistible.

A clean shave accentuated the sharp line of his jaw, and his thick wavy hair was pulled away from his face and tucked behind his ears.

Despite her best efforts, she indulged in some revisionist history that had her kicking the door to his suite closed when she’d been fixing his suit, standing so close she’d been breathing in the pulse-quickening scent of his aftershave, reveling in the feeling of his gaze on her.

If she’d tipped her chin up ever-so-slightly, she knew he would have kissed her again.

The bride was about to make her appearance, but Celeste was having a hard time focusing on much else than what it would feel like to be alone with Jack again. Try as she might to dismiss his outdoorsy inclinations, there was something primal and strong about them at the same time. The fact that he could rock a suit like this was too distracting.

Focus.She stared so hard at her clipboard she was surprised she wasn’t boring holes through it. When she glanced up again, Jack was looking right at her, a sexy half smile dancing on his lips, his gaze dripping with desire, like he knew exactly what was playing out in her daydream and was picking right up where she’d left off to let the rest of it unfold in his mind.

She returned his smile, then tore her eyes away from his perfect face. She steeled herself. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’ll invite you to take your seats,” Celeste said to the group as the groomsmen and father of the bride moved to the back of the room and the jazz trio shuffled their sheet music for the traditional wedding procession.

Jeff stood by the window with the officiant, fiddling with his cuff links as he shifted from one leg to the other.

Celeste glanced toward the back of the room at Jack, who was chatting good-naturedly with Kurt. Apparently whatever he was saying was very funny. For someone who allegedly hated weddings, it didn’t seem like he was having such a terrible time.

When Melissa gave Celeste the signal from the top of the staircase, she nodded to the jazz trio. It was showtime.

The band started to play, and after Victoria took her seat, Melissa and Siena were escorted to their places by Kurt and Jack.

It seemed like every guest in the room had their phones out, capturing images of the bridal party and then the smiling bride as she took her father’s elbow, her eyes misty as he kissed her on the cheek. Kassie would have lots of photos to choose from.

Celeste and Jeannie moved to the space near the staircase as soon as the wedding processional had cleared the hallway. They wanted to be on hand if anything was required of them but far enough in the background that they weren’t intruding on the intimacy of the event.

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