Dancing Away With My Heart (Wishful 12)
Zach adjusted a few settings as Evan departed, relieved that he could simply relax and be a part of the wedding party, taking prep shots of the groom and groomsmen getting ready. Lexi was serving the same function over at the big farmhouse, where the bride and her attendants were dressing. She’d had a much earlier start to the day, going with the women to the salon, documenting hair and makeup, and the thousand other details that went along with properly capturing the bride on her wedding day. Zach could have done those shots, but there’d be an intimacy another woman could capture that he simply couldn’t.
He’d never worked with a partner before. Not really. He had the occasional intern to help tote equipment or swap out lenses, but he hadn’t ever had a true second shooter. Knowing she was here as backup dropped his stress level considerably. Thanks to Lexi, he wouldn’t have to rely on timers or worry about any kind of prospective malfunction during the ceremony. He wouldn’t have to stress about working with someone he didn’t know well. Jace was one of his best friends. He didn’t want to risk having anything but stellar shots of his wedding. Lexi would give him that.
Over the past week, they’d spent time together every day, talking wedding strategy, scouting the location, and even tag-teaming a couple of smaller shoots. Their working relationship was seamless, and they’d slipped back into their friendship like a favorite pair of jeans. In many ways, it was like she’d never left. It was easy to imagine that this is how things would have been if she hadn’t.
Except she had left. He’d gotten used to being without her. Now that she was back, he couldn’t quite seem to put her back in that Lexi-shaped hole in his life. Because favorite jeans or not, she wasn’t just friend Lexi. She was woman Lexi. That unfamiliar attraction hadn’t done anything but amp up in the days since the bonfire, and Zach had no idea what to do about it.
“Hey Warren, you’re falling down on your job.” Eli’s taunting voice cut into his thoughts.
“What?” Zach blinked, focusing on the room-at-large.
Jace and his soon-to-be brother-in-law, Austin, were clearly in the middle of a Moment. Automatically, he lifted his camera and fired. In seventh grade and gawky with it, Austin was serving as best man. Zach knew the two had gotten tight over the past few years Jace and Tara had been dating, and he hoped he hadn’t missed anything important.
Leo nudged his shoulder. “Maybe keep your head on the wedding instead of your pretty partner.”
Despite his low voice, of course everybody heard.
“You’ve got a thing for Lexi?” Reed asked.
“You mean you didn’t see him practically drooling over her last weekend at the bonfire?” Eli asked.
Oh hell. Was I that obvious? “I’m not dignifying that with a response.”
“Evading the question. That counts as confirmation,” Reed said.
“Oh for the love of—We all need to get down to the orchard.”
“Don’t be so damned prickly,” Eli said. “It’s not like we didn’t all expect this.”
Zach paused on his way to the door. “You what?”
“You were best friends with one of the hottest girls in school,” Jace pointed out. “We just couldn’t figure out how you didn’t notice that back then.”
Eli clapped him on the shoulder. “So you’re a slow bloomer. Better late than never, man.”
Knowing any response he made would just gar
ner more crap, Zach did the only thing he could. He flipped all of them off and headed out the door. Their good-natured laughter followed him down the stairs.
Down in the apple orchard, guests already filled the rows of white chairs bedecked with greenery and ribbons in the bride’s colors. Zach knew Jace was related to more than fifty percent of those in attendance. He paused to shake some hands and have a few words on his way down to the front. Zach took the opportunity to scan the setup. He’d already gotten shots earlier in the day showcasing the white runner aisle set up between the flowering trees. Likewise, he’d documented the waiting reception in the bigger barn. All the prepwork was done. Now it was time for the main event.
Jace and Austin took their places up front. Was Jace nervous? Did you really get nervous when you knew it was right? Anybody seeing him and Tara together could see they were absolutely in sync and in love. It was a beautiful thing and one of the reasons Zach never got tired of shooting weddings. He loved seeing the hopes and dreams and new beginnings. But he’d have been lying if he didn’t admit to a little bit of envy.
A whisper of movement in his periphery distracted Zach from the groom. Catching sight of Lexi moving along the outside of the bride’s side, he forgot about everyone else in the area. He hadn’t seen her since this morning. She’d changed for the wedding, bundling her hair into a neat, old-fashioned roll at her nape. She wore some kind of pantsuit and ballet flats she could easily move and crouch in, but it might as well have been satin and lace for how the sight of her sucker punched him in the gut.
“You were best friends with one of the hottest girls in school. We just couldn’t figure out how you didn’t notice that back then.”
He was noticing now.
“It’s time!” the wedding planner, Whitney Harrington, hissed.
Jerking his focus back to the matter at hand, Zach took his place to escort in one of Jace’s grandmothers. Once family was seated, the bridesmaid processional began. Hannah Wheeler was first, followed by Avery; Jessie; Jace’s sister, Livia; and concluding with Tara’s baby sister, Ginny, who practically bounced with excitement all the way down the aisle. Lexi smoothly stepped in and out of the aisle, unobtrusively grabbing each shot.
When everyone stood in anticipation of the bridal march, Zach grabbed the camera he’d stashed in a potted fern before the ceremony. He wasn’t looking at the back of the aisle. Instead he zeroed in on Jace, capturing his face when he saw his bride for the first time. Awe and joy and gratitude suffused his face, captured in a single tear rolling down one cheek.
Click.
Money shot.