Healed with a Kiss (Bride Mountain 3)

Alexis could have stood there a while longer, just watching him on the ladder. It was a pleasantly moderate Saturday afternoon in mid-April, so he wasn’t wearing a jacket, just jeans and boots and a navy T-shirt that bared his strong arms and molded to his broad back and chest and shoulders. She could pretend to be simply monitoring his work, but that would just annoy him, and she had too many other things to do before the guests began to arrive. She made herself turn away.

“I’m glad we caught that mistake,” Kinley said with a shake of her head. “It’s not that the pale blue would look so bad with the other colors, but that isn’t what the bride wants.”

Alexis shrugged. “Considering how late we’re running with everything else today, if that’s the worst problem we encounter, we’re lucky.” There had been a series of minor glitches that day, beginning with an unexpected April shower that morning that had delayed setup of some of the decorations, but fortunately had passed quickly.

Alexis always fretted when brides were determined to hold outdoor weddings in these unpredictable spring months, but all she could do when they insisted was to make as many contingency plans as possible and try to satisfy her clients’ wishes. Though she’d been busy with several indoor affairs, this was the first outdoor event she’d supervised since she’d returned from Seattle two weeks ago tomorrow. Thank goodness. April had brought several spring storms with it, twice bordering on severe weather that would have made outdoor events impossible. At least this afternoon had turned out nice once the early shower passed.

Kinley let out a little sigh. “It’s been a crazy few weeks around here. Seems like we’ve been putting out one fire after another, but maybe it’ll ease up a little when the weather stabilizes. Let’s hope that’s soon. Those storms last week had Logan pacing the floor for fear we’d lose shingles or trees.”

Alexis didn’t say, of course, that she knew that already. She and Logan had been too busy to get together since they’d returned, but they’d spoken several times by phone. She knew he was ready for spring storms to pass into the more typically stable summer weather.

To be perfectly honest, she was the one who’d kept them from getting together. Yes, he’d been busy, too, especially with the storms and the resulting cleanup, and she had been heavily scheduled for both daytime and evening appointments during the past two weeks, but probably there’d have been time to spend a couple hours together if she’d tried hard enough. Instead, she’d found herself making excuses, putting him off with assurances that they would get together soon. Not because she hadn’t wanted to see him, but because she’d wanted it a little too much. Paradoxically, the more she’d missed him, the more concerned she’d been about seeing him again.

She had practically ached for him during those first days after she’d returned from Seattle. She’d found herself reaching out in the night to touch him, or waking with the expectation of seeing his face on the pillow next to hers. She shouldn’t have gotten that accustomed to sleeping with him after only three nights, should she? She had decided that perhaps a little distance between them would help them get back into their previous routine, which had worked so well before. After all, it was always an adjustment to get back to real life after a particularly nice vacation.

Logan hadn’t questioned her excuses that she’d been too busy to get together, especially since he, too, had been kept on the run, but she’d sensed his growing impatience. Maybe it was time to spend a couple hours together again, just to make sure nothing had changed. Or maybe to acknowledge that too much had changed to continue as they had before.

“Anyway,” Kinley went on, oblivious to Alexis’s inner turmoil, “with everything that’s been going on, we still haven’t a chance to get together for lunch. Maybe sometime next week?”

“I’d like that,” Alexis replied, though she couldn’t help but be aware of the pitfalls of spending time with Logan’s sister.

“Curtis!” Logan called from behind them. “These lights aren’t getting any juice. Check the plugs.”

Alexis grimaced. She didn’t even want to know if there were new problems.

Kinley patted her arm. “Logan will take care of it.”

“Yes, I’m sure he will.”

“I know we’re a little behind because of the rain this morning, but don’t worry, we’ll be ready.”

Alexis glanced over her shoulder, watching in relief as the tiny pastel lights wound into the garland over the gazebo opening suddenly came on. Whatever Curtis had done, it had worked. The florist employees were busily attaching the nosegays to the aisle chairs now, and a few members of the wedding party who’d stayed at the inn last night were chattering up on the deck, their anticipation building. She was accustomed to the chaos that preceded even the most serene ceremony, so she wasn’t overly concerned, though she didn’t like cutting it this close. “It’s looking great.”

Seeing her looking his way, Logan gave her a quick thumbs-up, then went back to work.

“He’s been in a little better mood since Bonnie made him take a vacation,” Kinley commented, following the brief exchange. “He’s being very mysterious about where he went—we think he just enjoys making us crazy that way—but Bonnie thinks maybe he went to Las Vegas.”

“Oh? What makes her think that?”

“He went there once with some friends a few years ago for a bachelor party, and he had a great time. He’s always said he wanted to go back sometime.”

He’d never mentioned Las Vegas to her, Alexis mused. She wouldn’t have thought the deliberately, outrageously tacky tourist town would appeal to him. Despite how intimate they’d been, he could still manage to surprise her.

“Curtis!” Logan bellowed from behind them.

Kinley placed a hand on Alexis’s arm and kept walking. “Of course, he is still Logan. The mellow mood he was in when he came back from vacation has been sort of wearing off.”

Alexis cleared her throat and tried to think what to say. Fortunately, she didn’t have to come up with anything because her phone rang and she had to attend to her business. Only later did it occur to her that Kinley hadn’t revealed her own guess as to where Logan had spent his vacation.

* * *

Darkness was falling and the wedding party had arrived when Logan checked the grounds one last time. From where he stood by the fountain, he could see the whole wedding setting. The gazebo looked good, rising proudly from the gardens and illuminated by meticulously placed lights. The musicians and their instruments were in place on the gazebo floor, just starting the first romantic number. The garland draped over the arched opening where the officiant, bride and groom would stand glowed softly with pastel pink, yellow and green—no blue—fairy lights. More lights twinkled among flowers and ribbons on the chairs at the ends of rows, in baskets and pots of flowers lining the path. Candles were being lit as he watched, and the ushers were taking positions to escort early-arriving guests to their seats. He glanced at his watch, noting that the wedding was supposed to start in exactly twenty minutes. There was no more

he could do until it was over and he would start taking down what he’d spent all afternoon putting in place.

Concealed in the shadows outside the glow of lights and candles, he looked for Alexis, spotting her bustling around the outside of the dressing rooms, no doubt hurrying the bride and her attendants along. She was focused intently on her responsibilities as director of this production, and he knew without doubt that nothing was more important to her at the moment than making her clients happy. In intriguing contrast to the woman who’d loved playing tourist and buying cheap souvenirs in Seattle, she was all business now, even her smiles more polished and purposeful.

Damn, but he wished he could whisk her away right now to someplace they could be completely alone, just the two of them and a bed. Had it really been only two weeks since they’d been in a bed together? It felt like more.