Page 15 of Island Guardian (Brookwell Island #7)

“Are you sure?” Trina wasn’t as confident about knowing what Rhett wanted.

It seemed like a minor miracle that he’d known the opal was her first choice, and yet he’d done it so naturally.

Could she say the same about the decisions ahead of her?

What would Ilsa think if she made a blatantly wrong choice for their special day?

Their fake special day.

“I trust you to know what I want,” he assured her. There was a heat and an intensity in his eyes that she wished was real. Maybe he was just reminding her to sell the story. To be the happy couple.

How much did it really matter to him anyway? “All right,” she said, playing along. “Have fun.”

After a kiss for his wife, Max, Rhett, and Annie bustled out of the office, leaving Trina and Ilsa to sort out wedding details.

Ilsa closed the door behind them and turned back to Trina, her smile wide and eyes gleaming. “Privacy at last. I’m desperate to hear how all this came to be, but you don’t have to tell me anything. I’ve just never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you.”

She owed Rhett big time for being able to fool his friends so effectively. “It was a shock to both of us,” she said. “Neither of us were looking for romance and definitely not marriage. Then when we realized, we didn’t want to waste any time.”

“Smart,” Ilsa nodded sagely. “When you know, you know.”

Ilsa picked up a binder and returned to the table at the window. “Would you like coffee or tea?”

Trina pressed a hand to her midriff. “Tea would be lovely.” She watched Ilsa set everything in motion at the small station behind her desk. “I appreciate everything you’re doing to make our wedding wonderful.”

“We haven’t even started the fun,” Ilsa replied. “And already it’s a pleasure. Not only because he’s the boss.” She grinned. “Weddings are my happy place. Rhett tells me you only have a few days before you have to be back in South Carolina. In the email he mentioned you run a hotel yourself.”

She nodded. “That’s right. Though, as manager, not an owner. I did grow up in the hotel industry though. My parents own a handful of properties in Italy along with a hotel management company. Rhett’s father and mine are close.”

“They must be so excited for you.”

Trina hummed a small agreement and sipped her tea, wishing she didn’t have to lie to a woman she would be happy to call a personal friend.

“Will they be joining you for the ceremony?”

“No.” Trina ignored the heat flooding her face. “I love my parents dearly and I’m proud of my Italian roots. That said, Rhett and I decided that eloping is the best wedding present we could give each other.”

Ilsa’s laughter was contagious. “That’s fine by me. Simplifies a few things, too. Do you want to start with the venue or flowers?”

After that, the questions came in a flurry.

Trina found herself making decisions by following her intuition and her own preferences.

Piece by piece, the wedding plans came together.

They would be married out on the water during a sunset cruise.

When Trina couldn’t hide her discomfort over being one of several couples on a wedding cruise, Ilsa made a few phone calls and scheduled the private event.

“You’ll need witnesses,” she explained. “Max and I are available, unless there’s someone else you would like to invite.”

Trina thought of Rhett’s face when he spoke of Max, the gym, “his” wedding planner, and her dog. “We would be honored to have you and Max stand up for us. Can Annie come along?”

“Annie isn’t big on watercraft,” Ilsa replied, smiling. “But if you want to have a reception, either here or just a small nightcap at our place, she would be happy to attend.”

A nightcap sounded lovely. “Rhett would get a kick out of that. Maybe champagne and some light appetizers with the two of you, as long as we can order something. I don’t want you going to any further trouble.

” Having a quiet plan in place for after the ceremony might keep her from freaking out that she’d married a man she barely knew to avoid a marriage that would crush her.

“No trouble at all. I’ll contact catering and have them handle everything.” She moved to her desk, but paused with her hand on the Cove house phone.

“Trina, I realize you don’t know any of us, but we all adore Rhett.

Would you be willing to host a small reception here at the Cove after the ceremony?

” she asked. “We’ll keep it super informal, and I won’t let it drag on, but it would give everyone here a chance to celebrate this occasion with you. ”

She hadn’t anticipated being a bride in front of a crowd.

“Oh.” What would Rhett want her to do? “We were hoping to keep this as quiet as possible,” she said as she searched for the right answer.

Then she thought of her own staff and knew they would want to help her celebrate as soon as they heard the news.

“Rhett warned me that he sent an email to the staff.”

“He did.” Ilsa bobbed her head. “My email has been blowing up for the last 30 minutes with people asking all the questions.”

“Well that decides it. Of course we’ll do a reception. Especially if it won’t create more chaos for the team.” She hoped Rhett would be okay with an impromptu wedding reception.

“They’ll be honored to jump in,” Ilsa assured her. “Leave the details to me. Do you have a favorite champagne?”

“Not really.” They probably wouldn’t have her preferred French brand in stock. And it was ridiculously expensive. “I am partial to prosecco, if it’s available.”

“Of course.” Ilsa was all smiles once more. “Should’ve thought of that.” She made a few more notes as they discussed favorite cake flavors and food options to serve at the reception.

“You can trust the kitchen to come through. And, bonus, if there’s something that sounds particularly yummy to either you or Rhett during the party, I’ll have the kitchen work it up for you.”

“Wow, thanks.”

“It’s my job.” She reviewed her growing list. “We’ve covered flowers for you and Rhett as the only two members of the wedding party. If you don’t mind, I’ll build from that for the reception.”

Trina nodded in agreement. It was all spinning so fast through her head. The time for backing out seemed to have passed. Well, it had passed when Rhett sent the email to his staff. She wondered now if he’d done that deliberately.

“I must say, you’ve got a great eye for floral design.”

“Thanks.” The compliment made Trina happy. “One of my friends on Brookwell is a florist. I’ve learned quite a bit from her.”

“Tell her it shows,” Ilsa approved. “Okay. The only thing left is attire. Do you have a dress?”

Trina shook her head. “No. Nothing suitable for what we’ve planned. This is a lot more involved than I anticipated for an elopement,” she admitted. “I’m woefully ill-prepared.”

“Because Rhett knew you’d have me. He was clear that this should be a special occasion, despite the lack of guests.”

“Memorable, yes,” Trina agreed. What would she be wearing in the photos? It was one thing when she only had to consider a sunset cruise. Casual worked well for that, at least in her mind. But a reception with his staff? She needed something decidedly… More.

“I’ll need to shop for something today. What do you think he’ll expect?”

“You’re welcome to be as fancy or casual as you like as the bride and groom,” Ilsa began.

“Of course, we’re not likely to get alterations accomplished by tomorrow afternoon when we board the boat.

And the reception is last-minute.” She tapped her fingers on her notebook.

“How about this? If you don’t mind me inserting myself even further into your special day, why don’t we go shopping and grab a bite of lunch?

I’m sure we can find exactly what you both need for tomorrow night. ”

It was an offer Trina didn’t dare turn down. Relief brought a smile to her face, lightened the growing pressure across her shoulders. “I’d love that, thank you.”

“Awesome, I’ll let the guys know you’re with me.”

“Wonderful.” She should’ve thought to reach out to Rhett.

Trina needed to make more of an effort to behave like an invested bride.

She had examples of happy couples to emulate.

Back home, on Brookwell, many of her new friends had husbands or significant others and they all checked in often with one another. She and Rhett were a team now.

For better or worse.

When she thought of it like that, the two of them against a skeptical world, she got more enthused about playing her part. It was easier to think of this situation as another competition. Rhett might already be doing the same thing .

Well, she had all the motivation to win—with him as a partner rather than an opponent this time—because one thing remained the same: losing would be disastrous.

From her purse, her work phone chimed. “Work,” she explained. “Pardon me. I’ll only be a minute.”

“Take your time.” Ilsa waved off the interruption.

She knew no one on her staff would bother her unless it was something serious.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Ms. Bollani, I’ve got a VIP situation.” Maria, the day manager, sounded as if she was gritting her teeth. “The guest who arrived early last night?—”

“Mr. Gallo,” Trina clarified, cringing on the inside.

“Yes, ma’am.” Maria paused. “He isn’t satisfied with the room, claims the gift basket is a disappointment, and he is determined that you are somewhere on the property.”

What an ass. Trina’s teeth locked as she held in that and more unpleasant responses.

“I’ve offered a tour package and dinner reservations, but he insists on speaking with you.”

“My apologies, Maria. You’re doing exactly what needs to be done.” Maybe if she was lucky, Luca would go stay at another hotel until she returned—married and out of his reach.

“I’ll call him and see how I can help. Please text me his number.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Her relief was palpable, even through the phone.

Trina deliberately smiled to veil her rising tension. This was her job, to back up her people. If Luca couldn’t be civil, it would be an excellent excuse to give him the boot. “You’re amazing, Maria. Don’t forget it.”

“I’ve told him you were called away on business,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “He refuses to believe me. He’s telling anyone who will listen that you’ve been expecting him and promised to make time to show him the sights.”

Which meant he was telling everyone on the staff since she’d trained them to be friendly and approachable.

She closed her eyes, searched for a thread of patience.

“He’s a family friend, though right now it shames me to admit it.

” And he’d never be a friend of hers again.

“I’ll think of something,” she assured Maria.

She refused to ask any of her friends to help welcome a man she didn’t want to see at all.

“I’ll call him now and hopefully he won’t trouble you any further. ”

“Thank you, Ms. Bollani.”

“Thank you,” she said. “And have a better day.”

With Maria’s soft chuckle lingering in her ear, Trina stared out the window. The sunshine and flowers were an afterthought as she struggled to find a workable solution for the trouble Luca was causing.

Swearing under her breath, she tapped the cell phone against her palm.

What could she tell him? Not the truth. It was too soon for that.

He wasn’t her friend, so he wasn’t entitled to any details about her life.

Not only that, she wasn’t ready for him to tattle about her sudden wedding plans to her parents.

Whatever picture her mother and father had painted for Luca, she was not going to give into their pressure.

How brave she was now that Rhett had lent his support.

“Everything okay?” Ilsa asked.

“Yes, of course.” Trina smiled. “Rhett raves about the staff here, but I have a great team too. Just let me send a text and we can go.” Calling would only open herself up to stress and misery and an inevitable argument.

“Take your time.”

She fired off a message reminding Luca he was a guest—one who had arrived well-ahead of schedule. She added a politely vague comment about catching up when she returned from her business trip .

He responded immediately, predictably arrogant and cloying. She ignored his clumsy compliments, explained she was on her way to another meeting, and dropped the phone into her purse. “I’m ready.”

Her phone was ringing before they reached Ilsa’s car. She checked, groaning when the caller ID showed Luca’s name. She’d just told him she couldn’t talk, the jerk.

She declined the call and silenced the phone. If he continued to pester her staff, they would manage him. Somehow. Probably. She had full confidence in them and that would suffice for now.

In the passenger seat, she buckled up. “I’m really ready,” she declared with a determined smile. “No more distractions.”

“Wonderful.” Ilsa started the car. “Let’s go have some fun.”

Trina was all-in for shopping and fun with a new friend.