I loved weddings.
There. I said it. I loved everything that went into a wedding and the day of. Some people called them a spectacle and a waste of money. After all, it was one big party for most people in which money, blood, sweat, tears, and countless spreadsheets went into to make them seemingly perfect. Even though no day was actually perfect.
And I loved it all.
I loved the moment. That moment when the bride and groom, or two grooms, two brides, or any poly mix, found themselves looking at each other for the first time.
I loved the shock, the glee, the terror, the excitement. I loved when brides ended up nearly running to their grooms. Or that one time when the two grooms decided to meet halfway down the aisle, even though it wasn’t planned, it just happened. I loved everything about that moment.
The moment you knew that you made the right decision. Where love conquered all and your stomach tightened because you knew this was it. That moment. That everything.
Of course, not all weddings worked perfectly. And not all weddings made sense. Sometimes you went in having a horrible feeling that this just wasn’t going to work out. That they were making a mistake with their decisions.
But those didn’t happen as often as some people thought.
When you decide to give your all to someone, to promise to love and to protect and to cherish that person, you go all in.
What comes later may change things. Perhaps you’re not the same person you once were, so those promises don’t mean what they used to. Or perhaps you realize that you were wrong, and you had been looking through rose-colored glasses.
Or perhaps fate deals a cruel blow, and you lose that other person before you even had a chance to make good on that promise.
I sighed and set my chin on my hand as I watched the bride and groom practice their walk down the aisle during the rehearsal. Their wedding was the next morning, and this was a late afternoon rehearsal. Alexis was brand new to the Wilder team, and I was grateful for her and everything she brought not only to the process, but to the Wilders themselves. The past few wedding planners the Wilder brothers hired hadn’t been up to scratch. In fact, they had failed so hard I was surprised they could even write a single to-do list.
I had worked here before the Wilder brothers had even come to Texas. To be honest, I had been a little skeptical of them. After all, most of them had no experience with running a winery, running an inn, or dealing with events, let alone weddings.
Six strapping brothers, all in a different state of denial and damage, had shown up at our door and proclaimed themselves our new bosses. Our former boss had decided to retire. He had tried his best, and had laid down a decent foundation, but since the Wilder brothers had shown up, we had changed for the better.
We were still finding our way, but the Wilder brothers were making things work. And from what I could tell, a few of them were creating sparks of their own.
Alexis and Eli seemed to be enjoying each other’s company, although it was my job as innkeeper of the Wilder Inn to ensure that the staff didn’t gossip about our big boss and the wedding planner. Nor were we allowed to gossip about our new chef, Kendall Wilder, and her ex-husband, Evan. No, we didn’t talk about those things.
Only it was the best thing we talked about.
Sparks flew and one day someone was going to get burned. However, I had a good feeling about them. That meant there were still four more Wilders, and I heard there was even another set of cousins, so there were more sexy Wilders out there. They needed happy ever afters too, and who knew, maybe this Wilder Retreat and Winery could be the thing that changed everything for them.
Because it made changes and hope for others.
It made things spark.
“Excuse me, ma’am? Is this where we check in?”
I immediately turned back to the front of my desk, smiling wide. I hadn’t heard the older couple come in, and that meant I needed to get my head out of the stars and actually focus on my job.
“Yes of course, I’m sorry. Welcome. Mr. and Mrs. Statham, is it?” I asked, remembering their names from the schedule book. We were a large inn with multiple cabins and rooms within our main building, but we weren’t so large that I couldn’t remember timings and faces if I did my social media scooping well enough. I knew their likes, dislikes, and little touches from the survey they filled out.
Not everyone had social media, so thankfully many people who wanted to enjoy their trip and feel loved and cared for filled out the survey properly. Including allergies, their favorite color, and other random things. The more thorough, the more I could enhance their trip.
I had a whole team to help me with that, to help clean rooms and to keep the large all-wood entryway pristine. But I usually rolled up my sleeves and put in some elbow grease beside them.
Many of the team from before left after our old boss decided to abandon ship. The Wilders had hired so many new faces that sometimes it felt like I was constantly catching up. But the core of us, we were still here.
Like Maddie, Jay, and Amos from the winery. They hadn’t wanted to leave the grapes or the barrels, so they stayed, and I had a feeling they would never leave. After all, Elijah and Evan Wilder were kicking ass over there, though I couldn’t read Elijah, because I didn’t know if he was smirking or not, and Evan liked to growl.
But he fit in over there because Amos loved to growl too.
Not that I was thinking about Amos.
It was better not to think about him. When I had first seen him, I’d swooned.
Yes, I’d swooned.
That big bushy beard and those dark eyes and slanted eyebrows that always made him look angry. I loved them. He was all wide and full of muscle. He could lift like nobody’s business, and put some of the Wilders to shame in the muscle department. And when he pushed up his sleeves to his elbows, showing off those forearms? I nearly fanned myself just thinking about it. A girl could weep.
Of course, now I was thinking about Amos while I was checking in our new guests and showing them around the lobby before I led them to their rooms. That was probably bad for business.
Plus, it wasn’t great for my heart.
After all, Amos had no idea I had a crush on him. And he didn’t need to know—ever.