“No, no. Not really. My son just called and asked me to come out for a visit again.”
“Okay?” And this had necessitated a call to her because... “You should go.” Maybe he needed a little reassurance.
“No, no. We’re much too busy. That’s what I told him. We’ve got too many jobs lined up. I’m looking at the calendar now and no. I can’t leave. Nobody can leave. We have the Fultons’ anniversary shoot next week.”
“I know.” They’d discussed it at length less than two hours ago back at the studio. Mostly because they had little else to discuss. McKenna had never understood her boss’s idea ofbusy.Averaging one photo session a week certainly wasn’t hers. “Remember, we have Kristi now. If you—or me—ever wanted to get away—”
“No, no. Maybe when things settle down in a few years. Right now we’re much too busy. Well, I’ll leave you to the proposal. I hope it goes well.”
“Thank you,” she said right before he ended the call. She hoped so too.
So far everything was going according to plan.
Well, everything other than random worried calls from her boss and the snoozing, potentially dead body on the bench—oh, and the little fact that she wanted to quit her job and move thousands of miles away from Nebraska as soon as possible.
But that was a conversation for later, with both her sister and her boss.
Right now she’d focus on the conversation needing to be had with the snoozing, potentially dead body on the bench.
“Sir?” McKenna stopped to adjust her left sandal. “Are you okay?”
Not a single twitch from the man on the bench. What was his problem?
McKenna pulled out the bottle of Windex she’d packed earlier in her shoulder bag. Under normal circumstances she’d proceed with a little more caution—at least with something more along the lines of pepper spray instead of Windex—when approaching a stranger in a secluded area a dozen miles outside of town.
But this wasn’t normal circumstances.
Her sister’s boyfriend was about to propose. Again.
And unlike the previous times Oliverabout proposed, McKenna was going to make sure this time it happened, slumbering dead body or not.
No messed-up orders like at the first fancy restaurant. No lost reservation like at the second fancy restaurant. No undercooked meat like at the questionable restaurant when the fancy restaurants in Omaha weren’t panning out.
No restaurants at all this time.
Especially after the one proposal fiasco involving a flaming dessert and a very aggressive sprinkler system that led Oliver to making the terrifying statement that maybe these were all signs he and Bobbi shouldn’t be getting engaged.
They should. They should definitely be getting engaged.
Not only would her sheltered, nerdy, microbiology-loving sister never find another man more perfectly suited for her than Oliver—his ability to drone on about how his new software development positively impacted the acidity level of soil in both arid and dry climates earned him all sorts of Bobbi heart-eyes alone.
But the fact he droned on with a British accent? Well, even the microbiology-averse McKenna found that endearing. What Jane Austen–loving girl wouldn’t?
Though to be honest, McKenna thought he sounded more like a 1990s bumbling Hugh Grant than a brooding Mr. Darcy when he carried on any type of conversation unrelated to his software development.
But hey, let Oliver drone and bumble all he wanted, so long as he proposed to Bobbi with the heirloom ring McKenna had promised her dying mother to keep safe until Bobbi was ready to wear it.
Side note—never promise dying people anything. Just keep telling them you’ll think about it. Otherwise you may find yourself stuck for years in a place like Nebraska. No offense, Nebraska. Nothing personal, but sometimes a girl just aches to move on.
Even this second McKenna’s fingers itched to respond to the email she’d received yesterday from Briella, an old high school friend. An email McKenna had already memorized by heart.
Hey Girly,
Long time no talk! I know this is out of the blue, but I met a woman at church whose sister runs a wedding photography business in LA. She said her sister especially loves doing photo shoots of the bride and groom with their pets. The pictures are adorable! Check out her website! Anyway, the reason I thought of you is because this woman mentioned how her sister’s business is exploding and she’s wanting to hire another photographer or two to help keep up. When I mentioned you, she immediately reached out to her sister. And her sister says you sound like the perfect fit for what she’s looking for. She wants to look at your portfolio!
LA? Weddings? A chance to put her photography skills to use?
Yes. Yes. Yes.Talk about the perfect dream-job scenario.
