The Paid Bridesmaid(77)
She’d leaned over to hug me when there was a loud sound, like a cannon exploding. It made the villa shake.
“What the—” I said, standing up.
There was a flash of blinding light outside the windows.
Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and collectively we held our breath.
The next sound was that of the constant, incessant drumming on the roof. The rain was pouring down, streaking the glass and making it impossible to see outside.
This was every wedding planner / bride’s worst nightmare when it came to an outdoor wedding—unexpected rain.
“Oh no,” Sadie said.
“We’re on an island,” I reminded her. “This happens, these little flash tropical storms. I’m sure it’ll be gone in a minute or two. It will let up.” I tried not to think about her flowers getting pelted by this heavy rain, or how it would make the sand wet, or the way it would drench the gauzy fabric being used on the chairs and the arch that they were planning on getting married under.
We waited. And waited.
The rain didn’t stop.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Sadie went into her room and sat on the foot of her bed. I followed and plopped down next to her.
“Of course it’s raining,” she said, her voice catching, and I could see how she was struggling not to cry. “My shoe is gone, Mary-Ellen almost died, I looked like I was going to audition for the Blue Man Group, and now there’s torrential rain.”
Some irrational part of my brain wondered if Lilith had somehow caused this. Like she’d summoned the storm, or something. “I know it’s probably hard to see right now, but according to legend, this is a good thing.”
She gave me an incredulous look. “How in the world is this a good thing?”
“In lots of cultures rain is lucky on a wedding day. It symbolizes washing the slate clean and how strong your union will be. You’ve heard of the phrase ‘tying the knot’? There’s some debate over where it comes from, but one of them is from the Celtic tradition of handfasting. The husband and wife would literally have knots of cloth tied between their hands and if it rained . . . do you know how impossible it is to undo a soaking-wet knot? It means your marriage will be solid and no one can unravel it.”
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“It’s not. And given all this experience and knowledge that I possess, I can tell you that I understand this is not what you were hoping for, but it’s going to be okay. The only thing that matters today is that you and Dan get married. The rest of it is all fluff.” Like cotton candy. That would melt in seconds in this weather.
I put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed and said, “Sometimes when everything gets messed up, all we can do is embrace the storm and ride it out. Rainbows come after the rain.” I was wandering into cheesy platitudes, but I would have said anything if it would cheer her up.
She gave me a weak smile, and I hoped that meant it was working.
The main door of Sadie’s villa slammed shut, and I heard Troy calling for Anton. “I’ll be right back,” I told her. I grabbed the box of tissues from her nightstand and handed them to her, just in case.
Troy was soaking wet and looked a little like a drowned cat. I almost asked him how things were going, but decided not to given his current expression. I tried for helpful instead. “Is there anything I can do? Do you have a backup plan?”
His glare was like two giant laser beams, set for destruction. “Obviously I planned for the completely unexpected rainstorm that didn’t show up on any weather report.”
I couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic. I hoped he was serious.
He put my fears to rest by adding, “There’s already a large tent up on the west lawn, next to the ballroom so that the reception would have an indoor/outdoor feel. I’m going to move the ceremony there. I just need some time and manpower to set it up.”
“Tell me what you want me to do.” I’d happily get out there and set up chairs if that’s what it took.
“Right now I need you to keep Sadie calm while I figure out what to do with a van full of peacocks.”
For a second I thought I’d misheard. “A van full of peacocks? Why do you have a van full of peacocks?”
“For ambience, Rachel!” he yelled and I knew I shouldn’t have asked. I got the kind of stress he was under.
Troy sighed and said, “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to take this out on you. I just need to get Anton so we can come up with a new battle plan. Keep your phone within reach so that I can call you if I need to.”
“I will absolutely do that.”
He rushed off and I squared my shoulders back, ready to do what I did best. Keep the women in this villa calm. I didn’t know how long it would take Troy to move everything over, but I’d have this bridal party ready when he was.
There were a couple of hiccups as we got ready for the ceremony—Mary-Ellen mistook spray deodorant for hair spray and there were little white flecks on her gray bridesmaid dress and Krista lost one of her pearl earrings—but in the grand scheme of things they were minor issues.
The wedding was delayed by only forty-five minutes. Troy’s assistants had umbrellas for us, including a massive one to cover Sadie’s dress, and we went to the spot he’d designated for us to wait in.