Page 38 of Born for Starlight

The venue sat on a spread of green outside town with a view that would do half the ceremony's work for it, and the moment we cleared the gate I understood what I'd actually been invited to.

Not a wedding.

A production.

It was chaos.

White chairs were being set up in rows by men I knew. An arch was getting wound with flowers by two women arguing pleasantly about greenery. There was a van backing toward the barn with the name of a bakery. And cutting through all of it in every direction, kids, a river of kids in nice clothes getting less nice by the minute, running around without any kind of parental supervision.

Angelica couldn’t get out of the car fast enough.

"Bella! Status!"

Bella materialized from the direction of the chairs with a clipboard, an actual clipboard, and the two of them fell into step like a general meeting her lieutenant on the battlefield. I felt a grin forming on my face.

"Quartet's ten minutes out, they confirmed the clips. Baskets came, ivory, I checked in daylight. The cake has arrived, it’s being unloaded, I have aged a year." Bella flipped a page. "And the ring is secured. James has it in the left pocket. The dinosaur is in the right pocket. We rehearsed which is which."

"You're getting a raise."

"I'm not getting paid."

"Then it'll be an easy raise to give." Angelica was already moving, tablet up, and she threw the next part back over her shoulder at me. "Matthew. Mingle. Or stand somewhere and look intimidating, that's also useful."

She handed me her garment bag, and then she was gone. I looked around, and as the chairs were lined up, the men of Onyx and others I didn’t recognize headed toward me. Both things were frustrating, because I had really wanted to watch her work.

The first to join me was the man I knew the least about, Billy Anderson. As I understood it, he was a good friend of Drake Avery, and being strongly considered to work for Onyx. I suppose it made sense that he would gravitate towards me, since we were both fish out of water.

He moved next to me, shoulder to shoulder, and I caught sight of Angelica again, and at the same time, I could see the entire valley spread out before me.

“Nice view,” Billy remarked.

“Which one?”

“Both.”

I nodded. He was not wrong.

“I hear you're going to Brazil.”

“Word moves fast.”

“Onyx gossips,” he said.

I gave him a quick glance, and for the first time I saw a hint of a smile.

“Not on the important shit,” he assured me. “That is wired shut. But other stuff? They’re worse than their wives.”

I felt a disturbance in the force and looked behind me. It was a woman I knew only by sight. Karen Avery, Drake’s wife. Drake was another man I'd wanted to talk to today.

“Who are you comparing to their wives?” she asked mildly.

Billy turned and enveloped Karen in a warm hug. “The entire team that is married. I was just telling Matthew that they gossip worse than their wives.”

“If the wives gossiped,” the dark-haired woman said, “I would know who Matthew was.”

Billy looked slightly embarrassed.

“Karen, this is Matthew Grainger. He’s been in town for a while doing some consulting work with Onyx. He’s going to accompany Angelica down to Brazil.”