“And he’s handsome?” I asked.
“Are you interested?” Dakota asked. I couldn’t read whether she was hesitant because he was grumpy and in a bad place…or because she was interested herself.
“Not at all,” I said quickly. “I have more than I can handle with my fledgling business.”
Plus processing big life issues like my paternity and my mother and…Luke.
Presley was the only one who knew any of that, and I hadn’t even told her about Luke kissing me. I wasn’t ready to admit to it. I was determined to make it a one-time thing, and if she knew what had happened, she’d watch us closely the next time we had to meet, looking for signs of who knows what.
“Speaking of your fledgling business…” Dakota glanced questioningly at Harper and asked her, “Did you mention it yet?”
Harper shook her head.
“We want to do a holiday open house here at the shop,” Dakota said. “We have tons of ideas but no time to organize anything. Is that something you could take over for us, Magnolia?”
“Absolutely,” I gushed. “I’d love to.”
“We don’t have a budget anywhere close to something like a Presley Holiday wedding,” Harper said, grinning apologetically.
“Hey, I’m being reasonable,” Presley said. “So far.”
“We’ll work with whatever budget you have,” I said.
I jumped into business mode, asking questions about what they had in mind, then setting a time when Cambria would be there too and the three of us could talk without interruptions. Before we checked out, I added their open-house date to my calendar, which was slowly starting to fill up with a holiday party here and there, just as I’d hoped.
Once we paid for our treasures, Presley and I finished our cider, told Harper and Dakota goodbye, and walked back toward our building.
“Congratulations on the booking,” Presley said with restrained enthusiasm.
“Thank you. We’ll see what they have in mind, but I love their ideas.”
“And so many people will show up for that. More exposure for your business.”
“Bring it on,” I said.
Presley’s phone sounded an alert. She took it out of her pocket, swiped, and read. “West and Luke got the basic walls up in the barn last night. Luke wants us to come out tomorrow evening to see it so we can decide whether to have the ceremony there as well as the reception. Are you available?”
Tomorrow was Friday. I didn’t have to check my calendar. I didn’t have an event, and I didn’t have much of a social life. “I am.”
That meant I’d see Luke. We hadn’t seen each other since that short but unforgettable kiss.
“So you’ll go?”
I glanced over at her. “Of course I’ll go. Why wouldn’t I?”
“I don’t know,” she said, shrugging. “There was just something weird in your voice for a second. Like hesitation.”
“No hesitation,” I said quickly.
I suspected what she’d heard in my voice was the oh, crap about Luke.
Taking a deep breath of brisk November air, I tried to push him out of my mind and fully focus on shopping with Presley.
In the end, I was maybe eighteen percent successful at that.
Chapter Fourteen
Luke
