Sierra told her sister she looked great, too, even though Sierra was surprised at how heavy Tawni was in the face. And in the bust and hips. Sierra realized that all the photos that had been e-mailed to her over the past year and a half were pictures of Ben. Very few had included Tawni. She remembered now how Tawni had frequently included lines in her e-mails about how her modeling days were over and how having a big baby had wreaked havoc on her body. Sierra thought Tawni was exaggerating, but now she realized how distressed her sister, who had been skinny her whole life, must be since she hadn’t dropped the extra baby weight.
“It’s so good to see you,” Tawni said tenderly. She added a grimace and said, “And I hate to even ask you this since you just arrived, but I have an appointment for a manicure and Jeremy needs to go with Paul to pick up their tuxes. It’s the only time I could get into the salon. Is there any chance you could watch Ben for us while he’s sleeping?”
Sierra immediately thought of Mariana’s prediction. She hated it when Mariana was right. And she often was.
“Sure, I’ll baby-sit Ben.” She couldn’t believe she had just said that with so little emotion.
“Jeremy and I are going to the rehearsal at five o’clock. Could you dress Ben and bring him down to the beach around five thirty? We’ll meet you at the beach activities booth.”
Tawni ran through the rest of the details, giving Sierra a quick tutorial on all things essential to caring for baby Ben.
“We really appreciate your willingness to do this for us,” Tawni said. “Call my cell if you have any problems.”
Sierra didn’t bother to remind her sister that she didn’t own a cell phone. It was one of the expenses she couldn’t afford in Brazil, and she managed to do everything she needed to with calling and e-mailing through her laptop.
As soon as Jeremy and Tawni left, Sierra lay down on the bed. Ben roused but just enough to adjust his position in his sleep when Sierra’s frame curled up next to him. His face was now turned to Sierra, and she had to smile. He was so cute. So, so cute. It took every ounce of self-control not to reach over and stroke his smooth skin or wrap one of his baby hair curls around her finger.
She loved listening to the steady little puffs of breath that flowed in and out through his puckered lips. He smelled like coconutscented suntan lotion with a dash of grape jelly. Within minutes, the sight, sounds, and scents of irresistible little baby Ben had lulled her to sleep.
Sometime later a very small hand slapping her face woke Sierra. She pried open her lids to see a big-eyed toddler staring at her. He looked as if the shadow of fear clouding his face might bring a burst of tears any moment.
Sierra didn’t move. She kept her voice low. “Hello, Ben. I’m your aunt Sierra. Did you have a nice nap? I sure did.”
Ben didn’t cry. He didn’t move. He seemed unsure of what to make of this stranger in his bed.
Sierra smiled a gentle smile and hummed softly. She had been around so many babies in Brazil over the past four years she knew that every baby understands the universal language of a calm spirit and a soothing lullaby.
Ben blinked. He reached over, took ahold of one of Sierra’s long curls, and gave it an exploratory tug. She gently removed his hand from her hair and offered her finger as a substitute for him to wrap his small fist around.
After pulling her finger to his mouth for closer examination, he let go, rolled over, sat up, and looked around the room. He spotted a plastic green truck on the nightstand and reached for it. A moment later Sierra had become the new highway over which the green truck traversed while Ben made a burrr sound.
“You like that green truck, don’t you? Are you thirsty? Your mommy said you might be thirsty when you woke up.”
The word mommy seemed to spark a primal alarm in Ben’s memory. He let go of the truck, slid off the bed without assistance, and trotted across the room. He looked in the bathroom and then let out a wail that hit a decibel Sierra didn’t think she had ever heard a baby hit before. And she had had her times with lots of wailing babies.
Going to him with her arms outstretched and a string of calm words, Sierra scooped him up to pat his little back. He let out an even louder wail right by her ear. She could easily guess what that squeal was about. His back felt warm to the touch and was most likely sunburned even though she couldn’t get a good view of it as he reared back in her arms.
“Let’s put you in a cool bath. Would you like that?” Sierra balanced Ben on her hip, cooing comforting words to him as she ran the water in the tub and carried him back to the bed for his green truck. As soon as he had the truck in his hand, the wailing stopped.
Three minutes into his bath, Sierra heard someone trying to use a key to enter the room. “Maybe your favorite people in the world are back early,” she said to Ben. When the sound of the key in the door continued without the door opening, Sierra tried to remember if she had bolted the door. She knew she couldn’t leave Ben in the tub, so she scooped him up without bothering to reach for a towel and went to open the door.
A guy in a baseball cap stood there, looking as stunned to see her as she was to see him. As soon as he said, “Sorry,” she recognized him as the distraught vacationer by the elevator because his sorry sounded the same way it had when he had apologized for bumping her with his large shoulder bag.
Ben wailed his opera singer wail, and the guy left. Sierra returned her little pudge-ball nephew to the tub where once again the green truck calmed him down. Ben was happy to be back in the water, splashing everywhere. She managed to spray the soothing sunburn gel on his back and arms.
Next step was to dress him in one of his dancing penguin diapers. Sierra checked the top dresser drawer where Tawni said Sierra would find his special rehearsal dinner outfit, a classic little navy-blue sailor suit with shorts and heavy fabric top with a wide collar and tie down the front.
“You are going to roast in this. Wait. I have an idea.” Sierra opened her suitcase and looked for her smallest T-shirt. She found a white one that she usually wore as a camisole under a button-up shirt because the T-shirt was too short and tight to wear by itself. “Come here, little sailor. How about if you wear this to keep you cool until it’s time for pictures?”
Ben made no objections to the airy T-shirt that came down past his knees. The short sleeves hung past his elbows. He trotted around the room, flapping his arms as if he had just discovered the wind beneath his wings.
“Okay, now I have a big problem. How am I going to shower and dress but still watch you?” Sierra checked the clock. She had only twenty minutes before she was supposed to take Ben down to the beach.
Collecting every toy she could find in the room, she lured Ben into the bathroom and closed the door. As he sat on the floor in a puddle of toys, she took the fastest shower on record with the curtain halfway open. Just as Ben discovered that he could make a loud noise if he lifted and dropped the toilet seat, Sierra stepped out of the shower and slipped into in an aqua-colored, V-neck sundress. The lovely dress was a hand-me-down from Mariana, but Sierra didn’t mind that a bit. It fit her nicely, and since it was Mariana’s, she knew it was a well-made dress. It could even be a designer dress.
“Ready?” Sierra scooped up her nephew along with the diaper bag where she had put the sailor suit and the canister of sunburn relief. With her free hand, she grabbed the room key from off the dresser along with her sunglasses. Since she hadn’t had time to wash her hair, she had pulled it back in a broad clip so that all the wild curls cascaded down her back.
Before she had even made it to the elevator, Ben had made sure that one of the tucked back curls was pulled out of the clip and set free to bounce to its own tune on the right side of Sierra’s face. Next he went for her sunglasses.
“You have busy hands, don’t you, Ben Boy. Go ahead, you can play with my sunglasses. They’re all scratched up anyway.”
The two of them were the only passengers in the elevator as they rode to the ground level. Sierra tried not to feel too w
istful as they made their way past a swaying hammock that was occupied by two giggling little girls in pink ruffled bathing suits. That’s where she would like to be right now, lounging in the tropics with a fruity beverage in her hand, complete with a tiny umbrella. Instead she was on baby duty. Sierra told herself not to get upset.
“That can’t possibly taste good. Why don’t you try wearing them instead of eating them? Like this.” She placed the large, bug-eyed glasses on his face, and he seemed to like that the best of her diversionary tricks. All the way to the water he held the glasses in place with his pudgy hand and looked right and left, checking out the change in scenery.
Not until Sierra slid her feet out of her sandals and her toes touched the warm sand did the kaleidoscope of upcoming events fully hit her. Any minute she would see Paul Mackenzie. She should have some sort of gracious thing to say to him. And something equally gracious to say to his wife-to-be.
Settling Ben in the sand at the designated meeting spot by the beach activities booth, Sierra pulled out his favorite green truck and carefully lowered herself beside him in her lovely turquoise dress.
Chapter Eight
Showered, dressed, rested, and ready, Jordan collected his camera gear and headed down toward the grassy area where the bride, Kinsey, had asked to meet him before the rehearsal.
He loved the feel of the warm trade winds that met him as he made his way past the pool to the manicured lawn. Under a gathering of coconut palms was an outdoor dining arrangement the hotel staff were setting up. Tiki torches circled the private circle of four round tables covered with white tablecloths that were flapping in the breeze. In the center of each table were outdoor lanterns with fancy metalwork topping each one, and at each place was a dinner service of china and crystal.
“Excuse me,” Jordan said to one of the uniformed wait staff who was arranging the silverware beside each place. “Is this for the Mackenzie wedding party?”
“I’m not given those details. Would you like me to find a manager who can assist you with that information?”
“No, that’s okay. Do you mind if I take a few shots?”
“Go ahead. Those two tables are done.”
Jordan found the best angle for the fading afternoon light and snapped a dozen shots, just in case this was where they would be sitting. The surroundings and the great colors in the grass and foliage made it impossible for Jordan not to frame a bunch of great shots. Turning toward the ocean, Jordan walked closer to the sand and took a couple of shots of the cloud bank over the neighboring island. He focused his viewfinder toward the beach, adjusted his position, and tried to capture the best angle of the outrigger. He took one shot and then checked it on the screen. The most amazing lighting trick had occurred in the shot. He didn’t see it while taking the picture, but there it was in the frame.
Just beyond the outrigger a young woman was seated in the ivory sand. She wore a turquoise dress that created a stunning contrast to the green grass, the canary-yellow outrigger, and the stretch of sand and sea in the background. All those elements were striking enough to line up a second shot.
He snapped several photos and found that with each of them the lighting phenomenon wasn’t with her sea-green-colored dress or graceful posture but with her enchanting tangle of golden hair. The woman had amazing hair that fell in a waterfall of long blond curls down her back. She was positioned so that streaks of afternoon light escaped the buffer of clouds and reflected off the sand and through her hair in a way that gave her an angelic glow.
Jordan couldn’t snap the series of photos fast enough. Then, just as quickly as the rays of light had fallen on her, the cumulus curtain was drawn tight and the radiance faded. Jordan knew he had captured some stellar shots. He was eager to download the photos onto his computer so he could see the details and try to figure out what elements made the shot line up so perfectly. He didn’t usually take pictures of random people; he considered it a violation of their privacy. But this woman’s face wasn’t turned to him so he thought it was okay this time.
Making his way across the grass back to the gazebo, Jordan spotted the group gathering for the rehearsal. He checked his phone to see if he was late and saw a text from Derek.
Call me soon as you can.
Jordan wanted to stop to call Derek right then but saw that he was already a few minutes late. Not wanting to start off on the wrong foot with the bride and her family, he planned to call Derek later.
Typing a quick note, Jordan sent Derek a text and then hurried over to the group. To his relief, the bride seemed calm, and so did her mother. He expected a little more tension because the marriage plans had been changed fairly recently. Mindy had told him that the couple had originally planned to get married in San Diego, but Kinsey’s father had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing treatment. Since her parents lived on Maui, the bride and groom had decided less than two months ago to move up the wedding date and hold it here so her father wouldn’t have to travel. Part of the fallout of the adjusted schedule and location was that they couldn’t book a photographer on such short notice. That’s why Mindy had recommended Jordan.
As soon as the introductions were made, Jordan stepped back and went to work, capturing candid shots of the rehearsal while staying as concealed as possible. He caught several great shots of Kinsey talking with her mom as they stood outside the gazebo. The rest of the wedding party headed for the dinner, which was ready to be served at the outdoor tables. Kinsey turned to Jordan and motioned him over.
“I’m not sure if you heard us giving the update to everyone earlier.” Kinsey’s mom reached for a folder inside her beach bag and pulled out a printed sheet of paper. She handed it to Jordan. “This is the schedule for tomorrow. Everything will go in the same order except the wedding is going to start at eleven.”
“Eleven?” Jordan asked.
“We had to make the adjustments for my dad,” Kinsey said quietly. “He’s doing okay. Not great. The treatment he’s going through makes him exhausted in the afternoons. He’s completely zonked out right now. We realized that if we kept the afternoon time slot for the ceremony, my dad wouldn’t be able to walk me down the aisle. He might have to do the honors in a wheelchair as it is. But he’s better in the mornings.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Thanks. We’re really grateful the hotel allowed us to change the ceremony time. We’ll still be here, in the gazebo. They’ll put up a canopy on the grass for the guests to sit under. Then we’ll go right from the wedding to the luncheon reception. We would still like to have some photos taken at sunset tomorrow.”
“Okay. Sure.”
“I hope this doesn’t throw you off too much,” Kinsey’s mother said. “I know that lighting and time of day are important to photographers, and we’ve changed all that.”
Jordan appreciated that she was aware of the position he was in. Most people didn’t. But it was his dilemma, not hers. She had plenty of other things to worry about.
“It’ll be fine.” He gave her a reassuring smile. “I can adjust to whatever you would like. My job is to make myself invisible and capture all the memories I can for you and your family.”
Kinsey and her mother seemed to sigh in unison. Jordan knew he had said the right thing.
“We should head over to the dinner.” Kinsey’s mom glanced at her watch. “Have we covered everything?”
“I think so,” Kinsey said. “Don’t worry about being late, Mom. Paul had to go back to his room to pick up the gifts for his groomsmen.” Turning to Jordan she said, “Did you see where the rehearsal dinner is set up?”
“Yes, I did. I’ll be right behind you guys. I want to grab a few pictures of the gazebo while it’s vacant and the light is nice and muted.”
Kinsey and her mom headed toward the tables on the grassy area by the beach. A moment later, Kinsey hurried back to the gazebo. “I thought of one more thing. I don’t know if I told you, but Paul will be wearing a kilt for the wedding.”
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br /> “Okay.” Jordan worked hard to respond with a straight face.
“I just thought I should tell you that. And the other thing is that we’ll have bagpipes for our recessional. So that should make for some great shots.”
“Yes. Definitely.”
“Okay. Well, I just thought you should know so you can be ready for everything tomorrow.”
“I’ll be ready.” Jordan hoped he looked professional.
Apparently Kinsey caught a hint of his surprise because she added, “It’s a tradition. Paul’s family is from Scotland. Well, not his parents but his grandparents. You probably guessed that with a last name like Mackenzie.”
Jordan couldn’t keep his smile repressed now. He had to say her new name aloud. “Kinsey Mackenzie.”
“Yes. And please don’t ask what everyone else has already asked.”
“What’s that?”
“Will we name our first daughter Lindsey?”
Jordan laughed, and Kinsey gave him a great smile.
“Hold that.” He lifted his camera and snapped three shots of her with the sky blushing in the background. “Nice. You’re very photogenic. I think you’re going to be really happy with how your photos turn out.”
“I’m sure we will be.” Kinsey turned to go. Over her shoulder she called back, “Be sure to tell Mindy I said hi and thank her for recommending you.”
Jordan almost told Kinsey about Mindy’s bike accident, but he held back. He didn’t have any specifics to report on Mindy’s condition. Plus the bride had enough to think about with her wedding being moved up to eleven and her father being too weak to attend the rehearsal dinner.
Jordan snapped a dozen shots of the gazebo in the fading light and then pulled out his phone to call Derek.