Chapter 7

Seven

Aria

A fter texting Finn last night, I fell asleep quickly. Knowing that he was worried about me made me feel safer despite the noise from the neighboring apartments and the occasional fight in the parking lot.

I woke up early, showered, and headed over to the venue. The Lances were getting married at one of the historic inns, and the reception was at a nearby restaurant. It wasn’t my favorite location. I preferred outdoor weddings, and Lily’s place was the perfect spot.

We’d have to deal with guests of the hotel and tourists outside. It made things more difficult. The building was historic, so the rooms were small. It was perfect for a smaller wedding, but the Lances had gone over their list many times, and I wasn’t clear on the final count.

I didn’t want to let Gia down. She’d tasked me with handling the logistics, which meant seeing to the number of chairs in the ceremony room and the seating chart. It had been stressful but exhilarating at the same time. She was trusting me with something. If I did a good job, maybe I could do more.

As I was counting chairs for the ceremony, Harper came up to me with her tablet. “The bride added more people to the guest list this morning.”

We almost always referred to our clients as the bride and groom when they weren’t around. It just made everything easier. “You’re kidding me.”

“I wouldn’t joke about that.”

I looked around the room, my mind racing, trying to figure out where we could fit a few more people.

“What’s wrong, ladies? Did the baker make chocolate cake instead of vanilla?” Finn asked.

Harper gasped. “Why would you even say that?”

I glared at him. As a group, we were superstitious. We didn’t like to suggest bad things happening. It was bad juju.

Finn looked from Harper to me, an easy smile on his face. “You guys are too easy.”

In the past, I would have come up with a good retort, but instead, I enjoyed the crinkle of Finn’s eyes when he smiled.

Finn raised a brow. “Really? Nothing from our resident sunshine?”

“We’re trying to figure out where to put the new people on the guest list.” I bit my lip, ignoring how his calling me sunshine made me feel gooey inside. He might have meant it to be a criticism, but it didn’t feel like it when he said it in that teasing voice of his. The one I wanted to sink into.

“It’s tight in here,” Finn remarked after looking at the setup.

“How many are we talking about?” I asked.

“Fifteen.”

Fifteen didn’t sound like a lot when you were talking about an outdoor wedding. But there was no chance we could fit more chairs in this room.

“You could put them in the hallway and have them stream it to their phones,” Finn said.

“That’s not a bad idea if we were talking about a church service, but this is a wedding. Everyone should have the same experience,” I said, my shoulders tight with tension. I was hoping this wedding would be smooth so that Gia would believe in me. If I could figure this out, maybe she would. “Are there any other rooms that we could switch the ceremony to?” I asked, trying to stay calm.

Harper scrolled through the images of the space on her tablet and tilted the screen toward me. “There is one more, but the hotel said there was an extra charge to use it. Honestly, they’d probably have to pay for both rooms at this point.”

“Can you check with the hotel and then run the extra charge by the bride’s father?” He was the one making the final decisions and writing the checks.

“Sure thing, boss.” Harper saluted me and walked away.

“Crisis averted,” Finn said as he set his guitar case against the front wall where he’d be performing.

I let out the breath I’d been holding. Maybe, just maybe this would work out. I went over to the spare room to gauge the size. It would be better, but we’d need to move the chairs and the arbor Harrison had already set up.

“You need help moving furniture?” Finn asked from the doorway.

I hadn’t even realized he’d followed me as I’d been so focused on the space. “I might. Don’t go far.”

He winked at me. “Don’t worry. I won’t.”

He slipped out of the room, and I was left wondering why I felt that wink between my legs. It was like my entire body clenched at the movement. I forced myself to focus on the space, imagining where the chairs would go, until Harper showed up. “Good news. They’re on board with moving the ceremony.”

“That’s great.” Phase one was completed. Phase two was moving everything. “Get everyone who’s free to the original room and ask them to move the chairs. Find Harrison for the arbor.”

“You got it. You’re rocking this, girl,” Harper said cheerily as she flew out of the room. She was a good complement to Gia’s more serious management style. She was only supposed to be managing the schedule and logistics, but she’d taken to helping on-site too.

There was something about the day of the wedding. It energized me. I loved the excitement, the anticipation, and that moment when the wedding march started, and everyone stood. It never failed to give me goose bumps. But my favorite moment was when the groom saw his bride for the first time. Almost everyone looked at the bride, but I gauged their relationship by the look on the groom’s face.

I wondered if Finn ever thought about what he was missing when he said he didn’t want to get married. It was more than the ceremony and the reception. It was having that one person who was always by your side and at your back. Marriage to me was love, safety, and security. The knowledge that I’d never be alone again.

I shook my head as Finn came in with the first chairs. “Where do you want these?”

There was no teasing lilt to his voice. Everyone knew how serious it was to change rooms at the last minute. We needed to make this happen quickly. We didn’t want the guests arriving to chaos.

I pointed to the back of the room. “Start there.”

I counted off how many chairs we could get in each row, leaving room for the aisle runner. Finn probably thought weddings were a bunch of fluff, but there was math and meticulous planning involved. And even if he didn’t think it was important, it was to the bride and groom and to their families.

Whenever I doubted myself, I remembered that the bride and groom would remember this day forever. It was more than a picture on the wall; it was one of those special memories. I just hoped I’d get to experience it one day too.

Gia had been busy with the reception room, but I was sure Harper ran the change past her before she took it to the bride’s father. She arrived just as we’d gotten the chairs moved, and Harrison and Finn were carrying in the arbor.

“You moved the ceremony?” Gia asked.

“The bride added fifteen more people, and we were already stuffed in that room. It wasn’t spacious enough for the ceremony.” It would have been hot with everyone in there. The ventilation wasn’t the best in these old buildings.

Gia scanned the space and then said, “I agree. It was the right move. It probably should have happened before they added the fifteen people, but they didn’t want to pay extra.”

“Harper said the bride’s father okayed it.”

Gia smiled. “I find that on the morning of the wedding, the purse strings are a little looser. They are so happy, and they want the day to be perfect. Money worries seem to be forgotten.”

The tension that had been tight between my shoulder blades eased. “That’s good.”

“You did a good job thinking on your feet. This room was always the better option for them. Sometimes it’s hard to see it until everything is set up.”

Gia’s praise buoyed me for the rest of the day.

By the time the reception was in full swing, my feet were killing me. Gia had left with strict instructions to relax because I’d need to supervise the cleanup.

I found a small sitting room that no one was using, kicked off my shoes, and sat on the cool leather couch. I closed my eyes and prayed for a few minutes of peace. My face was sore from smiling, and my feet were tired of being scrunched into those shoes. The late nights and early mornings were catching up to me.

When a knock sounded on the doorframe, I startled.

Finn stood in the doorway, a wide smile spreading over his face. “Sleeping on the job?”

I sighed and swung my legs off the couch so he could sit next to me. “I’m taking a break. Gia’s orders.”

“Lucky you,” Finn said as he rested his arm over the back of the couch.

The only light in the room was the streetlight outside. It was quiet. I couldn’t hear the din of the reception at all. “Are you being sarcastic?”

Finn shook his head. “I don’t know how you do it. When I’m done with my set, I can leave. But you’re here from setup until cleanup.”

The admiration in his voice made my stomach flutter. “I’m happy to have this job.”

“I’m not saying you’re not. But it’s okay to be honest with yourself, if not me. It’s a hard job. You run around all day, doing everyone’s bidding, cleaning up all the fires all while wearing those heels.” He pointed a finger at my neglected shoes. “You must be exhausted.”

I laughed, pleased he saw me. I wondered if he’d been watching me. The thought sent goose bumps over my skin. “I am.”

His head fell back. “I kind of want to take a nap.”

“Is Paisley at her mom’s?”

Finn straightened slightly, his fingertips brushing my bare shoulder. “I dropped her off on the way here. We have a shared custody agreement, but we work together so that I don’t need to get a sitter on a Saturday.”

“You get along with your ex?” From my experience, that was unusual.

“I do, but to be fair, we were never serious. It was a good relationship, but I think we were friends more than anything else. When she got pregnant, I wanted to get married. Looking back, I think it was so I could see my daughter every day. I grew up in a divorced family, so I knew how that was. But Naomi was the one to tell me it was a bad idea. We weren’t compatible, and now, she’s happily engaged to her boyfriend.”

“That’s good to hear. I feel like I see the other side of that story more often than not.”

“We have a great co-parenting relationship. I hate that Paisley has to go back and forth, but I think we make it as cohesive as possible. We don’t fight. We talk out any parenting differences and try to make it work.”

“That’s commendable.”

“I never thought I’d be in a serious relationship or get married, so to have a child is kind of amazing. I’m happy it happened. Paisley’s probably my only shot at this.”

“At parenting?” At his nod, I continued. “You don’t think you’ll ever meet anyone else you could have kids with?”

He moved so that his elbows rested on his thighs, one long leg rested against mine. “You know I don’t believe in that happily ever after stuff.” Then he gave me a heated look that told me exactly what he’d be up for.

Even though I wasn’t that kind of girl usually, my breathing was erratic, and warmth spread through my body. “I remember. I guess I just don’t understand it.”

“Why don’t you tell me why you believe so strongly in love.”

I laughed, some of the tension between us easing. “That’s easy. My parents are so in love. Despite all their hardships, they always had each other. They always said, ‘No matter what happens, we have each other.’ ”

“That’s sweet.” His words were genuine, and his eyes were intent on me, as if what I had to say was important.

“They’re an amazing example of what love should be like. I’ve seen and heard the other side of it.”

“What do you mean?”

I shrugged to downplay the seriousness of it. “In my neighborhood growing up, the houses were close together, and we could hear which couples were fighting.” It was more than simple arguments; it was closer to the physical fights I heard in the parking lot of my apartment building. It had been scary to hear when I was a kid because you occasionally heard a smack of flesh hitting flesh.

He straightened, stretching his neck, first one way and then the other. “Yeah, I grew up with a lot of fighting. Except it was in my house. Both of them. You don’t marry and divorce multiple times without some arguing. I think my parents enjoyed the turmoil.”

My nose scrunched, remembering how the smacking of flesh made my stomach hurt. “Kids don’t, though.”

“I agree. That’s why I want to do right by Paisley.”

I reached over to touch his thigh, the muscle bunching under my palm. “You are. She’s a well-adjusted little girl.”

Something sparked in his eyes, but I couldn’t look away, and I didn’t move my hand. Everything fell away—my responsibilities, the wedding, and Gia’s expectations—until it was just me and him. He moved closer, seemingly waiting for a response from me.

I squeezed his thigh as if touching kept me anchored in this moment with him. My heart rate picked up in anticipation of his lips touching mine.

Footsteps sounded in the hall just outside the door, and I snatched my hand back. Finn stood and looked out the window. If anyone looked inside, it would appear that we were taking a break from the wedding.

When the footsteps continued down the hall, we both let out a breath.

It wasn’t the right time or place, and Finn was the wrong guy for me.

He didn’t want anything serious, and I wouldn’t be distracted by a man again. The things I wanted out of life were too important. I had to remember where I came from and where I wanted to go.

“I should head home.” He turned to face me.

“And I should get back in there.” I didn’t want anything to go wrong while I was taking a break. I shouldn’t have let my guard down with Finn.

He moved toward the doorway, and I wanted to call him back, to pull him back into that moment where it seemed like he was going to kiss me. But that would be reckless and stupid.

He paused in the hallway. “You deserve to be happy. To find someone you could love.”

Was he saying that he wasn’t that guy? I’d already come to the same conclusion, but it hurt to hear him say it. Did he think of himself as unlovable or unworthy? His parents’ legacy wasn’t his, but before I could ask, he was gone.

With a jolt, I realized it was one of the first times we’d had a real conversation outside of my visits to his house. We hadn’t argued about my views about weddings and marriages. Instead, he’d said I deserved to find happiness.

His words created a pinprick of light in my chest that spread to every part of my body, fanning out until I felt hopeful. I’d find the guy meant for me, and whatever this thing was with Finn, it couldn’t go any further than coworkers and boss-employee. It would violate Gia’s rules, and besides, Finn didn’t want the same things out of life. It would be a mistake to think I could be the girl to change him.

Maybe we could be friends, but nothing more.