Good story, and congrats on the cover. The story really shows that a little luck is so necessary in photography.
If anything, your day 2 photo has a better feel to it. She obviously is extremely beautiful and the day 2 photo captures it.
So luck hit you twice.... You were able to have a re-do, and then then that image allowed you to get a better shot(s) than the first day.
No re-shoot, no cover. Whewww... okay I said it.
I also agree with Sebastian, that a brief zoom-in on the lcd to make sure the image was in focus wouldn't of hurt the shoot. They have to do 5-10 takes in front of the movie camera anyways...
Anyhow...great story, congrats, and yes... you are a "rock-star".
Loren