She’d volunteered to shift from working part-time at the house to being here first thing in the morning until evening. Her son was grown and halfway across the country. She said she lik
ed being needed, and quite frankly, I wasn’t sure how I would have survived the past couple of months without her to look after the household chores and errands.
I also suspected that, given how well Dane paid her, she was building a nice retirement nest egg.
We spent the day at the hotel. I surveyed every inch of the lobby and courtyard, double-checking the decorations, fluffing, adjusting, having bulbs replaced if they made even the slightest twitch when I inspected them.
Mid-afternoon, I went up to my office and did my hair and makeup and changed into the dress I’d worn the night I’d married Dane. This was a formal function, and it just seemed apropos that I wear something striking and meaningful for each event, starting now.
Dane wore the tux from that evening as well, and it felt right, I thought. Sort of symbolic.
We’d invited my dad to talk up the golf courses, since he had fame and credibility under his belt. Kyle was on-hand, too, as part of the joint Marketing-PR team that would promote the resort.
It was a good hour before anyone was due to arrive as I went over instructions with the tuxedo-clad servers, designating some for the entrance so they could offer champagne as guests arrived and then discussing how the shifts of passed hot and cold hors d’oeuvres were to be managed. There were also seven appetizer stations and premium liquor, margarita and martini bars strategically placed, similar to the arrangements I’d made for the Thanksgiving reception, since that had worked so well.
Dane pulled me aside at one point and said, “You need to take a deep breath and have a drink.”
“We’re so close to pulling this all off,” I whispered, too thrilled for anything to register other than the astonished faces that would soon come through our doors.
Dane’s deep-green irises sparkled brilliantly as he said in a low tone so no one else heard, “Baby, everything is just right. Beyond my wildest dreams right. I owe you so much for that, Ari. And this is just the beginning for us.”
Love burned in his eyes. Tears misted mine. He tried to keep the moment intimate, and I hoped it appeared as though we were just discussing last-minute top-secret details. I didn’t steal any glances. Really, everyone was so busy with final preparations, I couldn’t imagine they even noticed us. We stood on the far side of the lobby, close to the sweeping staircases.
I said, “You gave me a beautiful dream with this hotel, Dane. And with our life to—”
I got no further.
The lights went out.
Gasps and a few groans ensued. Other than that, everyone fell quiet. Perplexed or in suspense.
“Oh, shit!” My nerves jumped. “I blew the fuses with all my twinkle lights!”
Dane reached for my hand and squeezed it tight. “We’ll fix this. And there’s a backup generator that’ll kick on in a second if we blew the grid.”
Oh, my God! I’d pulled a Clark Griswold on one of the most important nights of Dane’s and the Lux’s existence!
“Dane, I’m so sorry.” I felt wretched. “I’d never even considered this. I—”
“Ari, it’s okay, baby.”
But the generator didn’t spring to life. We remained bathed in darkness.
“Dane. Shouldn’t the lights be on by now?”
“I’m on it!” I heard Chris Monroe, from the Engineering/Electrical staff, call out. We’d wanted him on-hand for any emergencies, but this certainly wasn’t one I’d written into my crisis management plan.
Fuck! How could I have not considered frying fuses?
But then … I seriously hadn’t gone overboard with the lights. I’d been tactical and judicious, striking the right balance. And Chris’s team had been with me the whole time, running tests.
“Dane,” I said, uncertainty slithering down my spine.
“Shh,” he silenced me. “Do you hear that?” His tone remained low but now much more ominous.
“Hear what?”
A breath later, a calculated, deliberate, distinct clicking noise filled the deathly quiet air.