Page 18 of Some Kinda Romance

He even offered me a few smiles every so often as the meeting progressed, gently interjecting to remind his mother of points she’d told him to take note of. “You said you liked the yellow, but you wanted to bring it in with the lighting, remember? Like warm lighting rather than a yellow color scheme for the napkins and such?”

She blinked hard, then shot him a thankful smile. “Yes, of course. I meant to say that. I love the yellow and the warm tones, but I don’t want the wedding to resemble a field of sunflowers. Is there a way we can do that? Use warm tones and colors without it being tacky?”

I nodded. “Of course. Let me ask one of our event experts to do a mock table for you with warm white lighting in the room. I have some ideas that I’ll have set up for you on the day, and you can play around with them until you’re happy?”

“Excellent,” she said excitedly. “I just don’t want the day to feel cold or sad, you know? I want everyone to walk in and feel our love. I want them to bask in it and to know we’re truly joyful to be starting our lives together.”

On instinct, I glanced at Dash to see how he felt about them starting their lives together, but he gave me another small smile and my heart skipped. He was leaning back in his chair, his posture relaxed and his arms folded casually over his flat stomach. Clearly, he wasn’t as tense today and I couldn’t help wondering if he was finally softening toward me.

Either way, our meeting was going surprisingly well. Diana explained a bit more of her vision to me, even throwing in a few jokes. “We may be getting on in years, but we’re not ancient. We want upbeat. We want fun. We want a freaking wedding party to remember.”

Dash groaned. “She means that. They’ll be keeping you up long after us younger folk have gone to bed.”

“Don’t you know it,” she teased as she looked at him.

I chuckled, really enjoying their company today. The rest of our meeting went as well as the first part, and to my surprise, between the jokes, the banter, and the vague ideas, we actually managed to make a few decisions too.

Diana and Richard said goodbye when we were done, both hugging me before they left, but Dash lingered for a moment. Standing in the center of my office, he suddenly turned toward me, the expression on his face neutral. He slid his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels.

“I just wanted to say that you’re doing a great job,” he started, his gaze sweeping from one of my eyes to the other and back again as he nodded. “I know I’ve been hard on you. I just…”

He trailed off, those dark eyes conflicted as they stared into mine. I wanted to agree with him. To tell him that he’d made this process just about unbearable so far, but as I looked back at him, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

“That’s okay,” I said softly. “I understand.”

That was what it all came down to. I really did understand. “I lost my parents ten years ago and not a day goes by that I don’t think about them. Miss them. Wish they were here. I’ve tried, but I can’t seem to imagine what it might’ve been like if they hadn’t gone together. If one of them were to have gotten remarried after the other had passed.”

For a long moment, he didn’t say anything, but eventually, he nodded and a tiny hint of a smile ghosted across his lips. “You get it then.”

“I really do.”

Nodding some more, he finally pulled his hands out of his pockets and moved to the door. “Goodbye, Serenity. I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah. See you soon,” I responded.

Then he was gone, but I saw him casting one last glance at me over his shoulder before he shut my door behind him.

I slammed back in my chair, covering my face with my palms and letting out a mewl into them. “Why was that just a dream?”

I gave myself exactly five seconds to ponder it, but then it was time to get back to work. Dash would be there, an unwavering presence at the back of my mind, but I had other clients than the St. Clairs, and they deserved my attention too—even if it was difficult to focus with the memories of my dream hovering so close that I saw them every time I closed my eyes. Even if it was only to blink.