“Me?”
“Yes, you! Why so surprised? You have a wonderful daughter who is open, friendly, intelligent and warm. I know how important Christmas is to you because Rosie told me all about your traditions, and how much you all love this time of year. Most women would have felt resentful and unhappy being dragged away from their home at such a special time, but instead you decide to treat it like a second honeymoon. I want to help in any way I can, so don’t hesitate to tell me how I can make the trip extra special. Candlelight dinners? Too cliché perhaps. You can do that at home.” Catherine frowned. “Snowshoeing can be romantic. Let me think about it, but I promise you, Maggie, this is going to be a Christmas you’ll remember forever.”
Maggie wasn’t about to argue with that part.
She had no idea how to unravel the tangled mess she’d made.
Couple time. Oh Maggie, Maggie...
“You’re very kind.” Because she had no idea where to take the conversation next, she focused on the scenery. Mountains rose all around them, and fresh snow gleamed under a perfect blue sky.
“I love that Rosie comes from this warm, stable family. As I say, about half the weddings I arrange, at least one set of parents aren’t speaking. It plays havoc with seating, I can tell you. And the photographs look terrible if people are glaring. I had a couple from Texas last month who refused to stand next to each other—the parents, mind you, not the bride and groom. I wouldn’t want to be spending Thanksgiving and Christmas with that family.”
Would that happen to her and Nick?
Would they gradually start to hate each other?
Maybe it would be easier if they did hate each other. Maybe then it would at least make sense.
As it was she often lay in the dark, staring up at the ceiling, and tried to work out where and why it had gone wrong. It was a puzzle she couldn’t solve and that, somehow, made it harder to accept.
“Do you hold the weddings in the lodge itself?”
“Sometimes. In the winter it’s magical because we have the room at the back and with the lights and the glass it makes an intimate venue. In summer, people often prefer to be outdoors. We can cater for an elegant wedding, but if someone wants a more rustic theme I’ll sometimes use one of the local ranches.”
“Rustic?”
“Yes, but then they often want animals—not that I don’t love animals, because I do, but generally I prefer people to do what I say on the day so that things run smoothly, and animals tend to follow their own agenda.”
Maggie laughed. She hadn’t expected Catherine to be so much fun.
And she hadn’t expected to be able to laugh at wedding stories, when her marriage was on its last legs.
“People want animals at their wedding? What type of animals?”
“Sometimes a much-loved family pet. A couple last summer wanted their dog to carry their rings. Unfortunately, the dog was overexcited by all the people and carried the rings off down the valley. We had to improvise.”
They were on the edge of the town now, and Maggie had never seen anywhere prettier. Tiny lights edged roofs and windows, so that every building seemed to sparkle. Even the lampposts, rising up from soft mounds of snow, were wrapped in fairy lights and adorned with large red bows.
“It’s pretty. Festive.”
“This is nothing. I can’t wait to show you more of the place. We’re going to park here, and then walk. You’ll love it. It may not be home, but we do Christmas well, I think. Hard not to feel festive when you have piles of fresh snow to play in. But the town puts on plenty of activities. You can do everything from decorating a gingerbread house, to listening to live jazz. People think it’s a glitzy place, but there’s also a bit of a country vibe. We’re mountain folk.”
Rich mountain folk, Maggie thought as she climbed out of the car and noticed the number of designer stores. Did they even sell clothes for people on normal budgets? “How do you improvise a wedding ring?”
“I carry spares,” Catherine said. “And I’ve had to use them on more occasions than you’d imagine. But that’s the business. There are always challenges. One bride had her own horse and wanted it in the photographs. That worked out better than you might think. And the horse matched the color scheme perfectly. And then there are the llama weddings, of course.”
“Llama weddings?”
“It’s a growing trend. On the one hand llamas are quite calming which can be useful, particularly if there are young children involved, on the other hand they also have a nasty habit of eating everything in sight, including the wedding cake on one occasion.”
“What happens in the photographs?”
“You have a bride, a groom and a couple of llamas.”
“Are the llamas married, too?”
Catherine laughed and locked the car. “No, but they’re definitely in a relationship. I’m the first to admit that the whole thing is more country than classy, but it works for some.”