It just couldn’t.
Thirty-Two
Eva arrived at Hawthorne Manor the day before the Kind-Morrison wedding for her final checks. It was early, the hum of the air conditioning and the distant drip of the fountain the only sounds. Eva liked it that way. She liked having the space to examine every detail without the chaos of guests, venue staff, and parents interfering.
She adjusted her clipboard under her arm, took a deep breath, and reminded herself this was just another walkthrough, another job. And she was really good at her job. She would give Maddy a perfect day, and all she’d remember in a few years was the day she married her husband, how smoothly it all went. The compliments from friends and family on what a wonderful day it had been.
Nothing concerning lips and massage tables.
Jen appeared suddenly, clutching a coffee. ‘Morning, boss. Ready to torture yourself with details?’ she asked, grinning.
Eva smiled dryly. ‘Let’s go.’
They moved into the banquet hall, Eva scanning the tables, imagining the flowers, the seating, the way light would spill across the guests. Jen followed, muttering over her notes, occasionally glancing at Eva as if readying herself for Eva’s inevitable discovery of a catastrophe.
But there was no catastrophe so far.
Oh no. Scratch that. Maddy was here.
She was standing at the other end of the room, in the middle of the tables, wearing an oversized brown cardigan, hair up in a quick ponytail, hands on her hips, looking around with a neutral expression. She looked great.
Seeing her there hit Eva like a jolt of electricity.
Maddy looked up, and they locked eyes over the tables. Eva almost smiled and then stopped herself. Then she realised it was weirder if shedidn’tand let her mouth just get on with whatever it wanted to do.
‘Eva,’ Maddy said, smiling, her eyes filled with horror.
‘Hi, Maddy,’ Eva replied, trying to affect calm and overshooting it to the extent that she sounded slightly drunk.
‘I didn’t expect to see you here,’ Maddy said lightly, though Eva caught the tremor in her voice.
Eva forced a shrug. ‘Well, I’m contracted for a day-before walkthrough.’
‘Oh. I guess I missed that.’
‘Mm.’
A horrible silence cropped up. Maddy jumped to fill it. ‘I thought I ought to come, take an interest. I mean,moreso. Obviously, I was alreadyveryinterested.’ Her eyebrows shot up.‘In mywedding.’ She was pink now. ‘I meant that I wanted to be proactive. I thought I should be.’
Eva decided to put Maddy out of her misery. ‘That’s what you pay me for,’ she said with a half-smile. ‘But we can do it together.’
Maddy nodded and gestured around the room. ‘Let’s start with the tables.’ They moved together, shoulders accidentally brushing as they walked, and the faint contact made Eva acutely aware of every detail about Maddy. The curve of her body underneath that ludicrous and adorable cardigan, the tilt of her head, the subtle warmth radiating from her presence.
Jen trailed behind, oblivious, scribbling in her notebook.
‘Do you think the DJ will have enough space?’ Maddy asked.
Eva checked her calculations. ‘As long as he doesn’t bring his smoke machines. Which he promised not to.’
Maddy leaned in over her tablet, close enough that their shoulders brushed again. They both ignored it. ‘Have we thought about the acoustics?’ she said. ‘With all that glass, won’t the sound just bounce everywhere?’
Eva looked at her in surprise.
‘I’ve been doing some research,’ Maddy said apologetically. ‘Reading up on common, er, errors. Which, obviously, you wouldn’t make.’
‘I might,’ Eva said. She didn’t know why she’d said that. Talking up her human inclination to error wasn’t really on brand.
But of course, there were plenty of mistakes available to make, other than acoustically. If you weren’t careful.
