Page 97 of An Italian Wedding Adventure

Shaking off the odd exchange, she made her way to the changing rooms just as Kira hurried out, slipping a hoodie over her T-shirt.

‘Kira?’

She skidded to a stop like the road runner. ‘What? I’ve got to go.’

‘I need your help – with a wedding in December.’

Ginny could see the steam radiating from Kira’s head. ‘I just did one of those – and it was bad enough.’

‘Sophie said you were great at the Lake Garda wedding,’ Ginny tried with a coaxing smile she was fairly certain Kira saw right through.

Kira crossed her arms. ‘If Will is booking me in, then I suppose he’s booking me in. What do you need in December? I assume the bride and groom aren’t going to get married on a ski slope.’

‘No, but they do want to do some skiing between Christmas and New Year. They’re staying at a mountain resort near Mayrhofen in Tyrol and getting married in a little chapel in the snow and when I mentioned about Great Heart, they immediately asked us to organise a skiing day too, so…’

‘That’s not far from where Andreas lives. Can’t he do it?’

‘He’s already busy, so you’re kind of… my last resort.’

‘Well, that’s just great.’

‘This is a kind of “no expense spared” wedding,’ Ginny rushed on, ‘and Reshma’s cleared it for you to stay the whole time and help me out. I hope that’s okay. You might need…’

‘A new personality?’

Ginny gave a stilted laugh. ‘I was thinking more, a new wardrobe.’

‘I have nice clothes,’ Kira insisted. ‘A few bits anyway. I just don’t wear them very often.’

That didn’t sound so promising. ‘Okay. And there’s one more thing. The bride’s family is organising the music for the wedding, but the singer they know has got some other event in Salzburg beforehand – a classical opera something-or-other. I’m going to be run off my feet, so I was hoping you could go and collect him. Apparently, he’s a little high-maintenance but nothing you can’t handle, I’m sure.’

‘First you want me to dress up and now I’m supposed to handle the singer too? What if I break him?’

‘Nothandle,’ Ginny rushed to qualify but cut herself off. ‘You’re joking, right?’

‘Send Toni the dates to get them into our diary,’ Kira replied in a withering tone.

‘Great! Thanks. I really appreciate it.’

Kira’s response was a snort. ‘I’m not sure you should thank me yet. After everything that went wrong at Lake Garda, maybe I’m just bad luck for weddings.’

She had to be joking this time. ‘You might be good luck,’ Ginny suggested brightly. ‘Something blue!’ Even Ginny herself realised she deserved an eye-roll for that quip. ‘But seriously, just don’t drop the rings and you’ll be fine.’

Kira grimaced. ‘Now you’ve got me freaking out about the rings. I’ll do my best, but I’d rather have a root canal, to be honest.’

Ginny didn’t understand her colleague’s aversion, but she couldn’t doubt her vehemence with that fierce expression on her face. ‘It will be beautiful: a snow-covered luxury chalet; a sauna and an open fire; photos in a real ice cave in a glacier. You’ll see. Your second wedding won’t be so bad.’

Kira blanched, but Ginny hadn’t the faintest idea why. ‘Fine, I’ll collect the bloody singer and see you there for the wedding shit. It’ll be merry Christmas and a happy new year for all! Now I have to go.’

Ginny released a slow breath as her new colleague stalked away. At least she didn’t have to sit in the car with Kira and the ‘high-maintenance’ singer for the three-hour drive from Salzburg. But she was nervous about what state they’d be in when they arrived.

Unexpected things always seemed to happen at Great Heart Adventure Weddings.

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