Page 2 of The Surprise Wedding
“I haven’t drawn up a contract for this wedding yet,” Liz told the group. “Of course, it would be a great event to take on, but I don’t want to throw anybody under the bus on this. It will likely be the most complicated wedding we’ve ever done, particularly on the tech side, and once we say yes, there is no going back. We’ll have to deliver.”
Nate could understand her concern, and it was a valid one. Married in Malibu’s reputation was built on delivering high-end weddings and giving their famous and wealthy clients exactly what they wanted. Their small crew had come a long way in a short time by doing precisely that for their prestigious clients. But even one failure would be disastrous. Especially when talking about something as public as an online wedding. One crash, one glitch in the stream, and everyone would be talking about it. It was the kind of failure that could be impossible to recover from.
“I can handle it,” Nate said.
On another day, he might have felt more worried about it, but today he felt invincible. That was how powerful Tamara’s kiss had been. He felt like a new, better man, simply from having held her in his arms.
“Okay,” Liz said. “But only if you’re absolutely sure.”
Realizing the team was holding their collective breath, in his most reassuring tone, he said, “I’m sure, Liz. It’s likely going to take a lot of focus and determination, but nothing that more coffee can’t fix.”
Everyone broke into laughter, knowing Nate never needed an excuse for an extra cup of java.
At that point, the meeting turned to the dress, then the photography and artwork, décor, and finally the cake. Given that the wedding was going to be a blend of Eastern and Western influences, the team began to brainstorm innovative ideas.
“Are we going to have hordes of computer nerds wanting to get in?” Travis asked Nate, already trying to size up the security situation.
“On behalf of all nerds everywhere, I’ll have you know that we prefer to be called geeks.”
“Oh, come on, Nate,” Jenn said, “you might be brilliant with computers, but I have a feeling no one has ever thought of you as a geek.”
It was true that he’d been told more than once that he didn’t look like your average geek. With his dark, curly hair and strong jawline, he was more like a modern-day version of a character from the TV show Mad Men. Genetics had blessed him with brains, a sense of humor, and a well-muscled physique. The only part of his looks that fit with being a “geek” were his black-rimmed glasses. Sometimes he still felt shy about his glasses, but the last woman he’d dated had told him she thought they made him look even sexier.
“Nate lives on coffee, he knows a ridiculous amount about coding, and he would rather be in the computer server room of a club than on its dance floor,” Travis pointed out. “Sounds like a true geek to me.”
“Thanks,” Nate said, deciding to take it as a compliment. “And to answer your earlier question, no, there likely won’t be hordes of geeks outside our gates. If Zach Jarrs was announcing a new invention, it would be a different scenario. But his wedding likely won’t be too interesting to my fellow geeks around the world.”
Nate had always liked a challenge. Finding solutions for niche scenarios and working with great people to deliver what they wanted was a rush. It was one of the things he liked best about working at Married in Malibu. When his previous job at a big tech startup had become too corporate, with neatly defined roles that left him going days without talking to any coworkers, he knew it was time to leave. Just because he could code well, didn’t mean he wanted to sit in a small room every day and wait for things to compile. People mattered at least as much as the programs did. Putting on a high-tech wedding with his coworkers, who had become his closest friends as well? He could hardly wait.
As Nate walked back to his office, however, his thoughts quickly spun away from the wedding and back to Tamara. Because despite how perfect their mutual kiss had felt to him, instead of leading to more kissing, she’d abruptly pulled out of his arms, cut through the crowd on the dance floor, and left. He’d texted and called a handful of times over the weekend, but she hadn’t replied. And there were no new posts on her social media either.
He was feeling puzzled and more than a little crushed.
They’d become friends since he’d started working at Married in Malibu, and it had always felt so easy to talk to her. She had an effortless way of making everyone feel at ease. Yet when it came to her love life, Nate was beginning to realize that Tamara had never revealed much. Now he was kicking himself for not finding out more.
Though he knew he should begin researching tech options for streaming the upcoming wedding, he decided to take a quick detour to Malibu T and Coffee first. Rather than continuing to worry that the kiss he and Tamara had shared on Friday was going to ruin their friendship, he needed to see her face-to-face and make sure that she was doing okay. The last thing he wanted was for their kiss to upset her.
As Nate stepped outside, he found Jenn and Meg standing in the parking lot, discussing wedding details. Meg was always so perfectly put together, looking like the society beauty she’d been raised to be, even though when you got to know her she was very down to earth. Jenn, on the other hand, was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, the perfect outfit for raising two kids and working in a busy commercial kitchen. Both of them, however, had the same glow—the kind that came from being in love with the man of their dreams. He wondered if they knew something about Tamara that he didn’t.
“Hi, sorry to interrupt,” Nate said, “but have either of you heard from Tamara since Friday night?”
“I haven’t seen her since this weekend,” Meg said.
“I haven’t either.” Jenn gave Nate an appraising look. “In fact, the last time I saw her on Friday night, the two of you were looking pretty cozy on the dance floor. Is everything okay?”
“Sure, everything is fine,” Nate replied, not wanting to lie to his friends, but not wanting to talk about the kiss either. Not until he’d spoken to Tamara about it, at least. One look at the two women, though, told him they weren’t about to give in that easily. He’d caught their attention now. What he needed was a distraction, and he spotted just the thing. “Look! Furface is here again.”
The dog was ambling across Married in Malibu’s grounds, blissfully oblivious to Travis’s security measures. It was obviously a stray—of indeterminate breed and far too thin to be anything else. There was probably some terrier in there somewhere, maybe some poodle or Pomeranian. Whatever the mix, the result was a small, tangle-haired mess who had recently shown up outside Tamara’s café, begging for scraps.
“Furface?” Jenn said.
Clearly, neither Jenn nor Meg had noticed the dog before.
“Tamara always leaves something out for him to eat and drink,” Nate said. “I should probably take him over to her café.”
“Actually, if you’ll hold his attention for sixty seconds, I’ll run back to the kitchen and grab something for you,” Jenn said. She returned a minute later with a dish containing leftover cold cuts from the launch party buffet. In a kind voice, she said, “Here you go,” to the dog as she placed the bowl off to the side.
Looking wary, he moved closer, close enough to sniff at the dish. Nate assumed he was going to eat the meat, but then he suddenly turned and ran toward the gate, heading in the direction of Tamara’s coffee shop.
