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Touché. It wasn’t like Jack didn’t envy Kyle and his brothers just a little bit, but some men weren’t cut out for settling down. Jack didn’t have it in him to be domesticated. His father would simply have to accept sooner or later that watching TV with the little woman and changing diapers was not in the cards for Jack.
Chapter Two
“Don’t look back until I tell you.” Adjusting the light meter on her camera, Siobhan glanced in the direction of the impatient groom.
Normally, Siobhan would be the assistant and backup photographer for her friend Marilyn’s wedding photography biz, but when Marilyn tripped down a flight of stairs two days ago unpleasantly snapping her ankle, Siobhan was promoted to main photographer for today’s wedding of Mindy and Chad. Not wanting to disappoint Marilyn, or the bride, Siobhan needed to get the shot perfect. This was the photo that every bride loved. Capturing the groom’s reaction when he first saw her in her wedding dress.
The brick arches under the canopy of massive trees outside the church was the best setting for bridal photos she’d ever seen. So far all the solo photos of the bride were going to be amazing. Especially the ones by some exotic plant that had the bride squealing when she’d seen it the first time. Now it was up to Siobhan to capture the arched background, the exotic plant, and the groom in a single shot.
“How much longer?” Chad stretched his neck, knowing better than to mess with the perfect bow tie that had taken the wedding coordinator longer than it should have to set straight. “It’s hot out here in this monkey suit.”
“Another moment, I promise.” She had to bite back the urge to remind him the only options in a Texas summer were hot, hotter, and hottest.
Since the last-minute assistant that was supposed to be helping Siobhan was a no-show, setting up the shots and moving the equipment around was taking longer than she wanted. At least the bride stood waiting in the air-conditioned vestibule with the bridesmaids. No need to risk melting the woman of the day or ruining the perfect hair and makeup that had taken hours to get right. Using the elbow of her long sleeve black shirt, Siobhan wiped at her brow, longing for an Irish summer instead of this Texas oven. With a wave of her arm, she silently signaled the maid of honor to bring out the bride.
This whole process would have been so much easier had she not been doing the work of two people. She couldn’t mess up this photo, she was sure it would be the cornerstone of the couple’s wedding album. Or wedding website since no one printed albums anymore. Everything was stored on the cloud now.
Stepping away from the camera, she’d carefully set up, she hurried to where the bride stood.
“Where do you want me?” Mindy asked softly.
“Right here.” Carefully glancing up at the sun and turning the bride to the right angle, Siobhan took an extra minute to make sure the hair, veil, and flowers were literally picture perfect.
“Is it time to look?” the groom called out without turning his head.
“No!” Siobhan and the bride shouted in unison before giggling at the unexpected synchronization.
“He’s anxious to see you. That’s a good sign.” Siobhan winked at the woman. No need to relay that the man simply wanted out of the heat.
A last second check of the camera to record the video of their first look at each other, and the camera for the still photos, she studied the screens of both. It was time.
She clicked on the video. “Turn around, Chad.”
With her other camera in hand, she clicked away as she captured the magic of the groom seeing his bride in her dress for the first time. Chad’s eyes turned misty and his nervous stance relaxed.
“Well?” Mindy’s smile was stiff and her voice quiet. Poor thing was so nervous.
“You are the most beautiful woman on this earth.” Chad’s voice cracked ever so slightly.
The bride’s smile bloomed, the groom brushed his thumb across her cheek and whispered something only Mindy could hear. The sparkle in the couple’s eyes was everything a photographer could ask for. The moment captured on film was as priceless as Siobhan had hoped it to be. Marilyn would be proud of her.
Since it would be dark when the ceremony was over, the couple had opted for doing their formal photos now beforehand.
Chad took Mindy’s hands. “I’m so happy to be marrying you today.”
“I love you,” the bride whispered back, leaning in for a kiss.
“None of that now.” Siobhan waved a hand at the couple. “We have photos to take before the guests inside revolt.” She’d put in a last-minute text to her sisters for some help, but everyone in the family was tied up. So far, so good. At least the bridesmaids were trying to help when they weren’t laughing and joking about.
The first batch of photos went off without a hitch. Everyone cooperated and the blissful couple managed to keep their hands to themselves. Now came the new effort, moving the entire entourage to the church steps. Just a few photos and the main show could begin.
Siobhan turned off her equipment. Two of the bridesmaids helped to carry the bride’s train as she walked up to the church steps. Siobhan shrugged one camera onto her shoulder, but she couldn’t get a good grip of the second one. There was no time to make two trips; they were dangerously close to behind schedule. So much so that she actually considered pulling a stranger off the street to help. She didn’t even want to think how she was going to pull off the next few hours. “One shot at a time,” she muttered, and reached for the equipment bag again, still muttering, “one shot at a time.”
At the back of the air-conditioned church, Jack sat scrolling through his phone. The pew wasn’t what anyone would consider comfortable, but there wasn’t anything else to do until his date was done with photos.
Connie poked her head into the church from the vestibule. “You doing okay?”
He waved a hand. “I’m great.”
