He turned away. He thought he saw a flash of white in the underbrush to his right, but when he looked that way, nothing was there. Either he’d imagined it, or it had been a bird or squirrel or deer. Quite a few types of wildlife made Bride Mountain their home, and Logan had never minded sharing, despite Bonnie’s fussing about the critters getting into her garden.
He had to give a slight tug on Ninja’s leash to get him moving in a direction opposite where Alexis was. For some reason, neither of them was quite as enthusiastic about the walk as they had been when they’d started.
* * *
An hour after the official end of the wedding reception, much of the cleanup had been completed. All the guests had departed except for the few who would be spending the night in the inn, all of whom had gone inside now that the event had ended. Alexis made sure all her vendors had done their part in the clearing away. Logan and two of his crew had already taken down most of the decorations. The bride’s family had lingered after the newlyweds made their dramatic departure in a gaily bedecked convertible to load up all the gifts and the decor items Josie wanted to keep. The last carload had just been driven off.
Alexis was almost ready to leave herself. She looked around to make sure there was nothing left for her to do.
Kinley approached her with a big smile. “Everything went very well, didn’t it? I’ve heard nothing but compliments from the guests I’ve spoken with.”
“It was a great wedding,” Alexis agreed. “There were a few minor glitches, but that’s to be expected, and the guests weren’t even aware of most of them. Josie thought it was hysterically funny when the flower girl tried to take off her dress during the ceremony because it ‘itched her neck.’”
“Are you kidding?” Kinley laughed. “Everyone thought that was adorable, except for maybe the flower girl’s mother.”
“Okay, the wagon’s hooked to the truck and on its way back to the farm where it belongs,” Logan reported, approaching them with what Alexis thought of as his stern “work face.” “Everything else should be cleared away in another hour or so.”
She bit her lip against a smile. She’d watched Logan fret about the placement of the wagon prior to the wedding and then supervise its removal afterward. He and his guys had carefully pushed the wagon by hand, as he’d refused to allow a truck or tractor on his grounds. Despite his complaints, he’d set it up beautifully, meticulously arranging the flowers and garlands to decorate it, and there had been many rave reviews from admiring guests.
“The grounds looked absolutely beautiful today,” she said, including both Logan and Kinley in the warm praise. “This continues to be one of my favorite wedding venues.”
Kinley, of course, preened a little. Logan nodded in acknowledgment of the compliment.
“Oh, and by the way,” Kinley said, reaching out to touch Alexis’s arm, “I was blown away by the song you performed at the reception. I had no idea you could sing like that! Logan, you should have heard her. Her voice is beautiful.”
“Actually, I did hear her.”
Alexis was startled, and Kinley looked surprised, as well. “Where were you? I didn’t see you at the reception.”
He shook his head. “Ninja and I were taking a walk,” he explained, motioning toward the wooded rise beyond the gardens. “We could hear from the trail. You sounded good, Alexis.”
She had no problem singing before an audience. She’d been doing so since she was just a kid. She hadn’t been at all nervous climbing onto the wagon to sing for Josie’s guests. Yet knowing that Logan had been listening from afar suddenly made her feel self-conscious. “Thank you. I don’t really want to be known as a wedding singer, but I couldn’t turn Josie down.”
“You were better than good,” Kinley said with a shake of her head toward her brother. “You mentioned once that you studied music in school?”
Alexis nodded. “I earned a master’s in music from the Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute.”
“Wow,” Kinley said simply.
A quick crease of his eyebrows was Logan’s only outward reaction, but still she could tell she had surprised him. “But you decided to plan weddings, instead.”
It wasn’t a question, since the answer was obvious. Still, she could tell he didn’t really understand the path that had brought her here. She answered lightly, making sure she addressed her reply to both siblings. “You should both know by now that I like being in charge. I didn’t get that when I was scrambling from one audition to another in New York, trying to get in enough hours at the florist shop to pay the rent. I’m much happier being my own boss—while still making my clients happy, of course. I’ve combined my training in stagecraft and performance with my experience in the floral shops to organize memorable weddings and other events, and I think it’s all worked out very well.”
“You’re a very talented wedding planner,” Kinley said immediately, then asked curiously, “When you say auditions...did you perform in New York? Like, on Broadway?”
Increasingly uncomfortable with discussing her past in front of Logan and trying at the same time to hide her connection to him from his sister, Alexis laughed softly. “More usually in choruses off-Broadway. Or off-off-Broadway. Needless to say, there are thousands of talented singers in New York waiting tables and working retail and arranging flowers. I guess I just didn’t have the fierce drive necessary to climb over them all to the top.”
Logan studied her face while Kinley voiced the question they were both probably thinking. “You don’t miss t
he spotlight?”
It rather surprised her how long she hesitated before answering, “No, not really.”
Shaking her head, she glanced at her watch, realizing how dim the light had become. “I should be going. Again, thank you both for another great collaboration.”
Kinley patted her arm. “You, too, Alexis. Maybe we can do lunch someday soon. Sometime before the next event, perhaps.”
“Lunch sounds nice. I’ll be out of town at a seminar most of this week,” she said without looking at Logan, “but I’ll call you sometime after I get back to set up a time.”