“Shh.” She elbowed him in the side. “McKenna, where are you?”
Great question.
“You’re almost here?”
Great answer.
“Well, turn around.”
Great googly moogly.
“Go back to the store right now. Of course, I’m serious. We’re not thinking outside the box. We need more spices, more sauces, and a lot more pickles. Oh, and swing by Sunny Acres while you’re out, will you? I’ll send you the address. Ask for Geraldine and tell her you’re not leaving until you get answers. She’ll know what you mean.”
Nate rubbed his eyes, then began massaging his forehead. Why did he get the feeling this week was going to be full of headaches and very little kissing?
“Well, hate to say it, but Geraldine is being absolutely no help at all.” Georgie bustled in and plopped her purse on the center of the dining table after bustling out over an hour ago when McKenna informed Georgie after returning home from all her ridiculous errands—one of which involved confusing a sweet elderly lady at the nursing home—that Geraldine knew nothing about a pickle salad recipe. Or a man named Louis.
Georgie dug into the bowl Gus had filled with pretzel sticks and snapped one between her teeth. “Doesn’t that woman understand the time crunch we’re in?”
McKenna swallowed the last bite of her late lunch, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, then dabbed her lips with a napkin. “You did notice that Geraldine is located on the memory care wing, I hope?”
Georgie batted her palm. “People with dementia forget where they parked their cars. They don’t forget the secret ingredients to a pickle salad recipe from thirty years ago. No, this lady’s playing hardball. I’m just going to have to go back and bribe her with some chocolate-covered orange peels tomorrow. Got a hot tip from a lady with a walker that she used to hide a package of them in her underwear drawer.”
“Geraldine or the lady with the walker?” asked Gus.
“Probably both. Now—” Georgie wiped salt off her fingers and clapped her hands. “Let’s get this meeting started. We were certainly successful stirring up a frenzy at the Dominoes Dance. The town is buzzing. We just need to make sure this Saturday runs without a single hitch. Gus, you first. Give me your updates.”
Gus nodded as he grabbed a handful of pretzels. “Talked to Russell at the diner this morning. He said he’s fine running a barbecue station so long as he can sing the national anthem and prove he’s every bit as good as Harold Connor.”
“That’s a go. Drinks?” Georgie swung her gaze to Evie.
She lowered her tangled mess of knitting needles and yarn onto her belly. “Brenda promised ten gallons of her homemade lemonade if we make sure Harry dedicates at least one song to her during the concert. Eileen promised sweet tea under the same conditions.”
“Done. Oh—” Georgie lifted a finger. “Just remembered. The lady with the hot tip and the walker wanted to know if the backyard was going to be wheelchair accessible for this event. Any ideas?”
Gus stroked his mustache. “I could put out a few calls, see if the high school football team is available to carry guests around back in their wheelchairs if need be.”
“I like it.” Georgie nodded to Barb. “Barb? Can’t remember what your assignment was, but how’s it coming along?”
“Good,” she said, grabbing Evie’s work in progress and dropping it into a bag, then handing her a new set of needles and yarn. “Lots of people have already been sharing about the event online. But now a news station in Murfreesboro as well as our local radio station are also promoting the concert. I even got them to put in a plug for how people can audition for the opening act. Hope you don’t mind I said Wednesday afternoon here.”
“Don’t mind at all. McKenna, you and Nate can handle that. Make sure they’re good but nottoogood. We can’t have anybody upstaging Harry.” Georgie started to laugh, then frowned. “Oh, come on, youguys. That was a joke. As if anybody could upstage Harry. Okay, I think we’ve covered everything we need to for now. Does anybody have anything they’d like to add before we start the next meeting?”
“One quick thing,” McKenna said, closing her notebook. “Off the record,” she added when Georgie gave a pointed look at the closed notebook.
Okay. How to bring this up without making it into a big thing? “So as you all know, my plan during the concert is that my sister’s boyfriend proposes to her.”
They all nodded.
“And you know how it has to be a surprise.”
They all nodded.
“So...” She shifted in her chair. Maybe she should wait and talk to Nate first. But Georgie had sent him off on a scavenger hunt for very specific folding tables scattered throughout the county, so who knew when McKenna would see him again. Plus bringing this up with Nate might turn it into a big thing before she was ready to turn it into a big thing.
This week McKenna needed to keep things simple and focused. Get Bobbi engaged. Figure out a future with Nate later.
“Okay,” she said with a little throat clear, “so I just wanted to give you all a heads up that... well, in order to keep the proposal a surprise... um... well, Nate and I will be telling Bobbi that we’re a couple.”
