I sighed. I always told my brides to avoid spray tans the day before the wedding, but most of the time they ignored the tip and did it anyway. This wasn’t unheard of.
“You look beautiful, but I think this spray was probably set a little too dark for your fair skin. But we can tone it right down and have you good to go by dinner tonight.”
“Really?” she asked. “Damn, Brit told me she’d practiced with the new tanning gun she’d just bought for her business. But it did feel like it went on awfully thick.”
Brit Hansen had recently opened a mobile spray-tan company, called the Spray & Stay. She ran the whole thing right out of her peach-colored VW Bus, and she traveled to her clients’ homes with bronzing guns a-blazing. She’d caused me more stress on wedding days these last few months than feuding families of the bride and groom and unexpected food allergies from wedding guests.
“I’ve got everything you need, and it will just tone everything down a bit.” I pushed to my feet, walked to the large antique cabinet that held all my worldly wedding planner secrets, and pulled the doors open. Premade bags for this exact situation sat on the shelf, and I reached for the pimple cream that I kept in a basket beside it. I made my way back over to her and bent down to meet her gaze. “Here’s what I want you to do. You’re going to head home and get in the shower. There’s an exfoliating glove and exfoliator in this bag, and I want you to scrub down your entire body and face under hot water. Once you get out and dry off, you’ll put this cream on that pimple, and it will dry it right up. It’s a miracle worker.”
She sniffed a few more times. “How will I know if I’m the right color?”
“Because I’ll be over to your house in thirty minutes. I just need to stop by Blushing Blooms and check on the arrangements withCharlotte. I’ll meet you at your place, and we’ll make sure you’re looking perfect for tonight.”
“Thank you.” She pushed to her feet and hugged me tight. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Well, you’d most likely be walking down the aisle the wrong shade of neon orange.
“You’d be the most beautiful bride in the world regardless. Now get going and stay under that hot water and scrub yourself down for several minutes. I’ll see you soon.”
“Thank you. Hey, I do have something else I wanted to talk to you about,” she said.
“Sure. What is it?”
“I wanted to check with you and make sure you were okay about seeing Phillip and Angel at the wedding tomorrow.”
I’d rather take a sharp stick to the eye.
“Of course I am. He’s Jesse’s best man; I knew he’d be there.” I cleared my throat, dreading that I’d have to be face to face with him and his supermodel fiancée tomorrow while I’d be working the event. “We ended on friendly terms.”
“Okay, that’s good to know. I met Angel, and for the record, the man traded down. There’s not a lot going on upstairs,” she said, tapping her temple as she chuckled.
“Well, that’s sweet of you to say, but I wish them nothing but the best,” I forced myself to say before I led her out of my office.
Always the professional when it comes to my weddings.
She waved at the girls before making her way out the door.
“The Spray & Stay is going to be the death of us at this rate,” Violet said over her laughter. “Perhaps she should have done some research when she switched professions.”
“Well, she wasn’t the best dental hygienist either,” Blakely said. “Remember I had to use eye drops for days when she blasted me in the eye with that water gun? I think Brit has found her calling as a spray tanner; she just needs to learn how to adjust the strength.”
We were all laughing now.
“I’m going to stop by the flower shop and then head over to make sure she’s scrubbed enough layers off her body.” I chuckled.
“I’ll walk with you. I’m heading to the inn to check on the tent setup.” Violet grabbed her purse and followed me outside.
It was almost game time, and we were both in work mode now.
Exactly the way I liked it.
Chapter TenMyles
I stepped out my front door the following day, already agitated that I’d been guilted into flying home for my parents’ anniversary party tomorrow night. I’d tried making up an excuse that I was buried in work, and of course my father had reminded me that he and Samuel saved lives for a living and they were able to make it. I believe his exact words were,“Some of us have patients who actually depend on us to continue living, yet we are going to be there. You can take a break from chasing your unfulfilled childhood LEGO-building dreams for one evening and show up for your family.”
If I had a nickel for every time the man threw my love for LEGOs in my face, I’d be a very rich man.
Well, I already am a very rich man, so fuck Dad and his snide comments.
