Zach stepped forward and helped, anticipating what she needed.
“So Moose and Mikki. Interesting names—I like them.”
“His name, actually, is Oxford.” He held on to the tape measure, looking at the number after she did. “In his younger years, he was just called Ox. Until one of his friends substituted Moose for Ox, thinking he was funny, and the nickname of a nickname stuck.”
She liked that, and Moose fit him more than Ox did. He was a big guy but all friendly and intelligent. “And Mikki? Is that her grandma name like Mimi, or short for something maybe?”
Zach shook his head. “Nope. Just her name.”
She pictured the sweet woman with her gentle Moose at her side. “The names suit them.” They finished measuring, and she took a peek through the back rooms, though she’d been there the week before installing the sound equipment. “One more thing—” She led him back toward the exit door. “—if you have time.”
Zach laughed like she’d just cracked a joke. “I’ve got nowhere to be.”
She closed the door and locked it behind them, heading back to the larger of the two screens. “Some vacation, huh?” she said dryly, critical of Harvest Ranch. She loved her town, but other than during the festivals, there wasn’t a whole lot to do. The people were great, and it was a wonderful place to live, but she wouldn’t exactly choose it as a vacation destination.
“Actually, I’m loving every bit of it. I needed the break from work.”
She liked his positive attitude. “You think it’s okay to have Carter’s speech on that stage, right?” She didn’t mean to sound insecure, but she was starting to second-guess it. “I’d planned to have everyone sitting in their cars, but—” She stopped at the first of a pair of wooden picnic tables near the stage. “I thought maybe they could sit up front here, too.” The table was a little rough for the wear, but not bad. She reached out and shook it back and forth. There was a little give where there shouldn’t have been, but she doubted it would collapse if anyone sat on it. “Though these could use some work.”
“I’m sure they’re fine for now,” he said, “but before your grand reopening—”
She loved the sound of that. Grand reopening.
“—you could have them repaired and repainted.”
“Yes.” She couldn’t agree more. “And maybe some additional seating as well?” Park benches, perhaps?
“Something.” He nodded, looking pleased with the idea.
She liked the idea too, until she really thought about it. “Sounds great, but it’s not exactly in my wheelhouse.” Finding the right person to build furniture from scratch and the cash to pay was a luxury that wouldn’t be in her budget anytime too soon. Especially between now and Saturday.
Zach shrugged as if it were no big deal. “I could, while I’m here.”
She gave him a double take. “I thought you were a funeral director.”
“For now.”
She’d been teasing, but he was serious. “Really? Are you changing careers?”
“At first, when I finished mortuary school, I thought I’d grow to like the business as much as my dad and grandfather do. It’s a noble profession, but I just haven’t developed an appreciation for it.” He sighed. “When I spend the entire day wishing the clock would run faster so I can go home and step into my shop and take a deep breath—”
“Shop?”
“Woodshop,” he said simply. “I build things.”
“Like building chairs for a drive-in?” She wasn’t hinting. Honestly. But that was what they’d been talking about.
“I mean—” He shrugged with modesty. “I’ve never done that exactly, but it wouldn’t be hard.” He paused briefly. “I have a side business building custom cabinets, built-ins, hidden doors.”
“That sounds amazing.”
Zach rubbed the back of his neck, almost covering up the smile he seemed to be holding back. “But that’s where it gets a little complicated. I’m ready to find full-time work with a builder, but first I have to tell my dad.” This time he ran that hand over his eyes and groaned. “And Moose.”
“I’m sure they’d want you to be happy and do what you want to do.” Granted, she hadn’t known the family more than an hour or two, but they seemed the kind of people to encourage him no matter what. “It’s not like you haven’t thought about this, tried it out, and seen how you can be successful.”
He gave her a sidelong look. “You caught what they said about it being a family business?”
She chewed on her bottom lip a moment. Did she know Zach well enough to give him her true opinion? “Like Carter always says, ‘Life’s too short to not go for what you want.’”
Zach stared down into her face for a moment and then backed up a step.
She hadn’t noticed how close they’d been standing until he was no longer within reach.
“I should probably go.” He thumbed toward the drive-in exit and downtown Harvest Ranch.
The change in mood was like a sudden twenty-degree drop in temperature. What had she said? A sliver of guilt snagged at Lucy’s conscience. She had no right to tell him what to do with his career or his family. She didn’t know him well enough. Besides, hadn’t she just been making mental excuses for delaying opening the drive-in because she was afraid to take her own risks? “I’m ready when you are.”
They started toward her truck in silence, the gentle crunching of gravel now deafening in the silence between them. She couldn’t believe she’d just blown it when the two of them had been getting along so well.
“Can I drop you back at the inn?” Saying this out loud felt more final than she’d intended it to. She should have tried to fix whatever had happened between them, but it was too late. All she had was the five-minute drive back to the Cornucopia Inn. After that, she wouldn’t have a chance to fix this.
10
He had almost lost his head.
Zach dropped into the passenger seat of Lucy’s pickup, frustrated that he’d let that happen. He’d been enjoying her company so much, he’d forgotten she was his brother’s fiancée. Then, when he’d been reminded, the jolt back to reality was more than he could take.
The thing was that the more he got to know Lucy, the less he could see her with his brother. He and Lucy seemed to have more common than she and Carter did—and that really wasn’t much. She was nothing like the type of women Carter usually dated—well, when he did. Actually, the guy barely dated, but rather pined over that girl Eden he’d dated in high school. Lucy was amazing, confident, and funny, but she wasn’t a businessperson. Sure, she owned a business, but Zach couldn’t see her enthralled with spreadsheets or shopping at Bergdorf Goodman and wearing suits. She didn’t seem like the kind of person who would follow Carter to Paris, LA, New York, and London. No, the Starlight Drive-In Theater in tiny Harvest Ranch fit Lucy to a T.
At least he hoped so. Because then she would be more his type and not Carter’s.
But when she’d spoken his brother’s name, it was just as effective as pouring ice water over Zach’s head. Well, he wouldn’t flirt with her any more. He would remember that Lucy Morrowitz was his brother’s fiancée, and therefore completely off-limits. He’d have to hold back his heart, but it was his duty as her soon-to-be brother-in-law to get to know her for Carter’s sake. Maybe spending more time with her would lessen the attraction he’d felt for her. It was the only sensible course of action he could think of if he was going to have to spend a lot of family time together in the future.
“Are Ezra and Leah your only niblings, then?” Lucy asked offhandedly.
So she was back to asking about the family. That made sense. It wasn’t the question so much that took Zach off guard as the fact that Lucy didn’t seem to have noticed that Zach had pulled back from their former conversation. Which was a good thing. If she hadn’t realized he’d been flirting with her, she wouldn’t be uncomfortable.
They weren’t quite to the inn when Zach spotted his parents and Marnie on the s
idewalk. “You could drop me off with them.” He hoped he wasn’t offending her by cutting the trip short. Or maybe she didn’t care one way or the other. He was the one who didn’t want to part company with her, but why would his brother’s fiancée care about shortening their trip a minute or two?
The song on the radio ended. “This is Lucy Morrowitz, and you’re listening to WHHR, the Heart of Harvest Ranch.”
Zach turned to stare at Lucy. “Did I . . . ?” The DJ on the radio sounded like Lucy, and obviously had said her name, but if she was sitting right here . . . “How . . . ?”
Lucy chuckled and pulled to the curb a little ahead of his family. “Most of the time, my show is prerecorded.”
“What?!” For some reason, that blew Zach’s mind. There were certain things he’d assumed were real: water conducted electricity, it took seven years to digest gum, and radio DJs were always live. Except apparently, it wasn’t true. It should have made sense. TV wasn’t live. But the eleven-o’clock news was, wasn’t it? Maybe not. Now he was second-guessing everything.
She chuckled. “That was me this morning.”
“Like time travel.” He smiled at the absurdity and yet absolute perfectness of it. He’d expected her to reach forward to turn it off out of embarrassment, or turn it up to show off. Instead, she was unconcerned. The way she was acting, they could be listening to anyone. “What’s the next song?”
“I don’t know,” she laughed. “I don’t memorize the order of the songs.”
It turned out to be one by River MacKenzie. He listened to her announce it, taking peeks at her the whole time. She was completely cool. All in a day’s work, he guessed.
“Thanks for your help back there,” she said, pointedly changing the subject.
His eyebrows drew together. “Not sure I did much.”
“You gave me some good ideas.” She paused, seeming to think a few things over. “And lent me a pair of hands.” She nodded her thanks, punctuating her point.
With Lucy facing him in the pickup’s cab, she likely didn’t see his mother approaching over her window. “My mom—” He pointed behind her so Lucy wouldn’t be startled. “—seems to want to talk to you.” He didn’t even want to guess what it would be about. Hopefully not another favor.
Lucy turned and dropped her window. “Hi, Trina. I brought him back to you, completely unharmed.”
Zach’s mother chuckled. “I had no doubt.”
The rest of Zach’s family stood oddly mute on the sidewalk, watching, waiting. He bounced his knee a couple of times in anticipation, until he realized what he was doing and forced himself to stop. Whatever his mom had planned was coming, so he might as well not stress it.
“We’re going to dinner in about an hour,” his mom said to Lucy. “We’d like you to join us, if you don’t already have plans. With Carter out of town, having you would be like having a part of him here.”
Lucy paused. She opened her mouth to answer, but then held back.
Zach’s dad joined his wife at Lucy’s window. “Please, allow us to treat you,” Bill said, “as a thank you for showing us the drive-in.”
“And for listening to Moose’s stories,” Zach added, helping champion his mother’s cause but feeling torn about if he actually wanted to or not. On the one hand, getting to know his soon-to-be sister-in-law would be much easier if they pursued every opportunity to do so, but on the other hand, he needed a little step back from Lucy and the attraction he felt budding beneath the surface. The last thing he wanted was to encourage that.
Lucy looked from him to his mom, and he caught the indecision in her eyes. “I appreciate the offer,” Lucy said, “but I have some work to catch up on.” She took a quick breath. “Show prep before tomorrow.”
“Show prep?” His mom was genuinely interested.
“Like prerecording her show,” Zach mumbled, only loud enough for Lucy to pick up. He still couldn’t wrap his head around it. Radio was a lie.
“I’m the program director at the radio station.” Lucy ran her palms over the steering wheel in front of her. “Usually I work during the day, but with the cleanup this week, I’ve got a few other things going on.”
“I bet you do.” Trina was using what Zach recognized as her concerned mom tone. It wasn’t patronizing in any way, just warm and understanding. It comforted Zach that his mom would be so welcoming to a woman who might be considered an intruder into the family. His mother seemed to accept her as an important addition, even before Carter announced their engagement. “An early dinner, then, so I can hear all about your job.”
“I don’t know . . .” Lucy hedged.
Marnie stepped forward, holding out her phone. “How about you give me your phone number, and I’ll text you the time and place? That way, if you’ve gotten enough work done, you can meet us there.”
“Come on,” Zach encouraged, still sitting in the passenger’s seat of her truck. He refused to analyze his motivations, other than that he could see how much it meant to the rest of his family.
Lucy let out an almost silent happy sigh and accepted Marnie’s phone, typing in the digits.
With the family mollified, they stepped back to talk amongst themselves, giving Zach a private minute to say goodbye.
“I’m curious,” he said, still stuck on part of their previous conversation. “Will you continue to work at the radio station when you get your drive-in?”
“If,” Lucy corrected, automatically.
Didn’t she think it would happen? Why put forth the effort—her own and the rest of the community’s—if she thought it would fail? “You’re not giving up that easily, are you? What would Carter say to that?”
Lucy ducked her head, playfully accepting his teasing.
“As I was saying,” Zach continued, “when you open your drive-in, won’t those be pretty late nights? If you’re still working in the mornings, you won’t get a solid eight hours in one stretch.”
Lucy’s forehead wrinkled momentarily but then relaxed. “You have a point; it’ll be an adjustment. The good part about my job is that I don’t have to be up early like Crew does. So far, I’ve chosen to, but with drive-in hours, I see myself pushing my radio job back later in the day.” She shrugged. “If it’s going to work out, it’s going to work out.”
“Interesting approach.” Zach respected Lucy’s optimism, but the resignation to fate was opposite what Carter taught.
She raised both hands palms up. “I’ll do my best, give the drive-in a real shot … but, you know, a bird in the hand and all that. I’ve got a job that I love already. Which—” She hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “I probably ought to get to.”
Zach bid her goodbye and stepped out of the truck, watching her go until she turned the corner. She was a great person—fun, energetic, positive—but she wasn’t anything like who Carter should be with.
Nope. Zach just didn’t see it. Lucy was not his brother’s type. She was genuine, a scrappy go-getter and an opportunist—in the best sense—who looked great in grubby work clothes and knew her way around measuring tapes and electrical equipment. She was just about perfect.
For Zach.
11
After working in the morning and then being with the Hughes family at the drive-in, Lucy’s time had been well spent—and she almost regretted heading back to work. Feeling she could use the walk back into town, she opted to drop off her pickup first. She drove with her windows down a few inches, letting in the fresh air. She counted her lucky stars to live in such a beautiful place. The trees were budding with blossoms and their spring green leaves, sunlight filtering through.
Harvest Ranch was the perfect small town with two main streets, and yet it had basically everything she could want. Well, except for a guy she hadn’t either grown up with or gone out with already. But she’d been happy—or at the very least satisfied—with her life. Until Carter Hughes and his brother turned up in Harvest Ranch. Now, her heart was protesting that there needed to be more to life than the one she’
d been living. One that included someone to share all her memories, hopes, and dreams with. Someone to make her laugh and warm her more than the spring sunshine. Someone to hold the other end of her measuring tape.
She still couldn’t believe she’d been that chatty with Zach. He was just so easy to talk to. She could tell that he was interested in whatever she had to say and felt no judgment. It was refreshing.
She turned the corner at the end of the block, proud that she’d kept herself from looking back over her shoulder at the Hughes family, though she might have peeked in the mirror once or twice. Turning down Trina’s heartfelt and sincere offer of dinner was torturous, especially since she’d probably go home to her cat and heat up a frozen dinner. But what was the point in getting attached to people who were leaving in less than a week? Even if they’d pulled her in like family already.
Except for Zach. The time she’d spent with him that afternoon had started to feel less family-like and more friendly-like, and maybe even pushing beyond. Would that really be that bad?
She parked her pickup at her condo and started the walk to WHHR. She stood up straighter, flipping her dark waves across her shoulder. She would not think about the Hughes family any more. She had things to do—scheduling for the radio and promos to record as well as follow-ups for the cleanup committee, and it wouldn’t hurt to pick up a few groceries from Harold’s Market.
By the time she walked the couple of blocks back to the studio, the evening drive DJ, Hank, had just taken over the mic. She waved to him from the sidewalk and then pushed open the door to the media building. She passed the broadcast studio with its red “On Air” sign in the foyer, slipping into the employee break room to see if any of the leftover tortilla soup she’d brought in a couple days earlier was in the fridge.
“Looking for this?” Crew lifted the bowl, lid peeled off, spoon scraping the plastic at the bottom.
While You Were Speaking: Spring Flings and Engagement Rings Page 9