McKenna slid her feet back into her sandals with a shaky laugh. “The website. I think it had to do with the website. It did. I remember now. Something she wanted me to add. I should work on it before I forget again.”
“Hey, McKenna?” Nate’s quiet gentle voice lassoed her before she made it inside. He was still sitting on the porch swing. He leaned forward, his hands clasped on his lap. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For helping my mom. For tonight. Dinner. This.” He motioned to the swing with his thumb. “I enjoyed hanging out with you. I enjoyed it a lot.”
Oh, Nate.“Me too,” she said, giving him a small wave goodnight before she headed into the house. But that was the problem, wasn’t it? They were starting to enjoy each other’s company a little too much. Last thing she wanted was for either of them to get hurt when they parted ways soon.
“So?” Georgie said the following morning after she called an emergency meeting outside the town bakery because she needed to pick up a birthday cake for her granddaughter’s eleventh birthday and said she couldn’t wait until after the party later in the afternoon to get an update straight from the canary’s mouth. “What did he say?”
“Who?” said McKenna.
“Nate,” said Barb.
“When?” said McKenna.
“Last night,” said Gus.
“About what?” said McKenna.
“Harry,” everyone yelled back at her, except Evie, who yelled, “Jeffrey,” then said, “I mean, Harry.”
“Shh,” said Georgie. “People will hear.”
“We are standing in the middle of the sidewalk in the middle of downtown in the middle of a Saturday morning,” McKenna pointed out.
“Yeah, why can’t we go inside the bakery where there’s chairs?” said Barb.
“And air conditioning,” said Evie.
“And donuts,” said Gus.
“Because we don’t have time for chairs, air conditioning, and donuts,” said Georgie. “We need to be entirely focused on getting ready for Harry. I assume that’s all you and Nate talked about after we left. Did you guys come up with a plan of attack to get the B&B ready?”
“Oh. Well...” McKenna tried to think of what all she and Nate had said about Harry last night. They had to have said something. This was Harry they were talking about. Of course they’d said something.
She was still trying to think of something when a voice pierced their huddled group like a flaming arrow. “Ah. What do we have here? Another meeting about how to effectively waste everyone’s time without accomplishing anything?”
Based on the soft snarl from Georgie, the long-suffering sighs from Barb and Evie, and the world-class eye roll from Gus, McKenna had one guess as to who was approaching.
“I’m going inside for that donut,” muttered Gus.
“Good idea,” Barb said, motioning Evie to follow Gus inside. “It’s already humid enough without having to listen to any ofherhot air.”
The bakery door closed, leaving Georgie and McKenna to face off with the thin wrinkle-faced woman walking straight toward them like a hungry jackal. McKenna smiled, somewhat eager to meet the evil little villain she’d been hearing so much about.
“You must be Lottie,” McKenna said, holding her hand out.
“And you must be McKenna,” Lottie said, gripping McKenna’s hand with a surprisingly firm shake.
“I am,” McKenna responded, unable to hide her surprise. “How did you—?”
“I make it my business to know what goes on in this town,” Lottie said. “That’s the key to making things happen. You’re a photographer, right?”
“Y-yes?” Okay, this lady was a little scary.
“We need a photographer for the Dominoes Dance coming up. Can I put your name down?”
