Open Your Heart (Kings Grove #4) - Delancey Stewart Page 0,31
to lounge a bit longer, but that wasn’t going to happen.
Mike had called the day before and asked if I’d mind just meeting with her and Maddie, getting a little background on the wedding plans.
“She’s becoming a little stressed about things, I think,” Mike confided. “And I just don’t want her to worry. It’ll just be quick and casual. Originally we were just going to meet for coffee, but since you’re here now, I thought you should probably be there too.”
“Of course,” I had said, eager to make a good impression.
It was hard to know what was appropriate dress for work in a place where most people walked around in jeans from ten years ago and dirty boots, and where kitsch seemed to pass for culture. Adele at the diner had been sporting dangling earrings last time I’d been in—the plastic kind with three large round beads hanging on them in varying sizes. Ranger George’s wife had dropped by the house to say hello to me, and she’d been wearing a “scat identification” T-shirt with a Kings Grove logo on it. When people were wearing shirts explaining how to ID different kinds of poop, I figured I had a pretty open field in terms of appropriate work wear.
I decided to go with Michaela Grayson’s example, and put on a pair of black pants, a low wide black heel, and a wrap blouse that tied on one side. I left my hair down, and put on only mascara and lipstick.
An hour later, Maddie, Mike and I sat on the front deck of the Inn, looking out over the verdant green meadow to one side, the sweeping wild hillside to the other, and the distant parking lot and cluster of little buildings that made up the center of Kings Grove in front of us. We each held a cup of coffee, and the mood was much more girlfriends-for-coffee than stressed-about-a-wedding.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Maddie said, then shot a worried look at Mike. “Not that Mike couldn’t handle it, but things at the Inn have ramped up so fast it makes me feel good to know there’s someone focused just on events.”
“I’m glad to be here,” I told her. It was hard to look at Maddie without thinking about Cam—there was something similar about them, but her bright forthright attitude was a stark contrast to his more reserved demeanor.
“I’ll be honest,” Maddie leaned in. “Mike and I have coffee most Saturdays just to talk. Mostly I wanted to meet you.”
I raised an eyebrow and heard myself say, “oh,” surprised. “Why’s that?”
Maddie raised a shoulder and gave me a guilty smile. “Nosey, I guess. And you’re up there so close to my brother, I guess I feel a little protective.”
I nodded, I could understand that. But Mike said, “Seems like Cam can take care of himself. Isn’t he the big brother?”
A sad smile crossed Maddie’s face and she put her cup down. “It’s been a rough couple years for him,” she said. “That’s all.”
“Makes sense,” Mike said. Then she straightened a bit and asked, “Should we talk wedding details?”
Maddie’s face brightened and I pulled a notebook from my bag. “Yes,” she said. “I’m a little worried about the venue getting done. It’s going to be well over a hundred people, so I hope things will go smoothly.”
“I might be new,” I told her, “but I’m pretty good at getting projects in on time. I’ll be on top of this one.”
“Well, that’s the other thing. My brother’s supposed to be on top of this one,” she said, her voice betraying the skepticism she clearly felt. “Have you spent much time with him?” She was leaning forward, her voice low, and I couldn’t tell if she was about to tell me something or if she was hoping I had something to tell her about Cam instead.
“A little,” I said, feeling a surge of protectiveness toward Cam that I didn’t expect. “We’ve sat out around the fire pit a couple times, but we haven’t really talked wedding venue stuff.”
“He’s a good guy,” she said finally. “Between the two of you, I’m sure everything will be fine.”
“Well, I don’t have a lot of control over construction,” I said. “But Mike and I will have a plan B in place that will be just as amazing, just in case.”
Mike nodded. “Definitely. You have nothing to worry about.”
Maddie sighed. “This is crazy because I’m a photographer, but I’m worried about the pictures. I have a friend coming to do