“I suppose.” Sierra’s purple fingernails, shorter than she used to keep them, tapped on the wooden farmhouse table. Her face brightened. “We could check around town for an event to handle, but we can also offer one wedding at half price for advertising purposes. Then we can get all the photos we need for the website.”
“Are you telling me I can leave my dress wrapped in tissue?” Jo laughed. “It’s up in my in-laws’ attic with a bunch of other stuff, waiting for the cabin to be ready so we can move in. I don’t even remember half of our gifts.”
“China and crystal, if I remember correctly.” Claire grinned at Jo. “Might be a stretch for a log cabin, but they’d look awesome on a wedding buffet, if you’re willing.”
“Focus, people.” Sierra knocked on the table. “Let’s divide up the research and try to have all our info in place as soon as possible. I’ll look for an event to cater. Claire, we could use an itemized menu for — say, one hundred guests. Jo, how about flowers and decor?”
“Right. Stick me with flowers. You know that’s not my forte.”
“What would you rather research?”
Jo narrowed her gaze. “I think I’ll find an event, and you can handle decorating.”
Claire shook her head. “I think all of us should look for an event, and we should split up the decorating duties.”
“We need a theme,” said Sierra.
“First we need an event,” Claire answered firmly. “We might find an event with a ready-made theme, so there’s no point in getting carried away ahead of time.”
She looked from one friend to the other. “Hey, I’ve got an idea. Why don’t we pray about it?”
Jo took a deep breath. “Now there’s an idea.”
**
“Hello, Polly? This is Noel Kenzie, just calling to let you know we’re awarding you the contract to cook for the Enterprising Reforestation crew.” There was nothing about the middle-aged woman that would keep Noel awake at night. Not the way Claire Halford continued to haunt his dreams.
“Why thank you, dear boy. When is the start date again?”
“First of April, ma’am. The crew will be ready for breakfast at four thirty. We’ll take the packed lunches and snacks along, and be back onsite for dinner by six thirty.”
“That will be fine. Just fine.”
Too bad she didn’t infuse him with more enthusiasm. Noel had no doubt Polly was an adequate cook. Her references had checked out fine. Just fine.
He ran his fingers through his hair. Oh man. This was probably a mistake. But the guy from Wynnton’s papers had been incomplete, to say nothing of late. So the only alternative was Claire. No matter what Jess said, Noel couldn’t afford the distraction. Claire didn’t look the flirting kind, and Noel knew he wasn’t the staying kind. Best to simply avoid her and hope her face drifted from his mind.
“Mr. Kenzie?”
Oh, right. Polly. “Pardon me? I missed what you were saying.”
“I asked if you’d hire my son. The boy needs a job. I’m sure he could plant trees.”
Like hiring Polly meant he had to take on her entire family? Fat chance. Noel gritted his teeth and turned away from the window. “Sorry, ma’am. My crew is full. We handle all our hiring through the company headquarters over in Missoula.” Otherwise known as his mom’s basement.
“Oh.” Polly’s voice turned a bit frosty. “All right, then.”
Jess strolled into the room.
Hmm, he could slide more of this off on her. “I’ll be in touch with you in about two weeks. If you’ve got any questions meanwhile, you can call my foreman.” He rattled off Jess’s cell and ended the call. The fewest number of times he needed to talk to Polly, the better.
Jess kicked his shin.
“Ouch. What was that for?”
“Nice try, boss. Bet if you’d hired Claire you wouldn’t have told her to call me.” She batted her eyelashes at him. “No, I get the people you don’t want to deal with yourself.”
He grinned. “That’s what you get for being second in command.”
Jess lounged against the window. “Have you called Dreamboat yet and told her you picked the other woman?” She held up her hands. “And before you get any ideas, the answer is no. No, I will not call her and do your dirty work for you. Sticking me with Polly is bad enough.”
Noel could feel the smile fading from his face.
Jess poked her chin in the direction of his phone. “Call her.”
He cast her a helpless look.
“Give it up. Do it.”
Had he really made the right decision? This was nuts. He never second-guessed himself. It was part of his charm. Snap decisions, no regrets. Love ’em and leave ’em. He shook his head.
Jess shifted further from him and crossed her arms. “I’m not doing it, boss.”
Noel focused on his foreman. “Wasn’t asking you to. I’ll call her. Later.”
“That’s not fair to either of you. You’re going to be on edge until you get it over with.”
He could tell Jess to leave the room, but she’d never let him forget it. Best to prove to her — and himself — this was nothing but a business call. “Fine, then.” He took a deep breath and tapped the number beside Claire’s name.
Jess snorted. “You had that coded in already?”
Yeah, just in case. In case of what wasn’t a question he could answer. He turned away slightly.
“Claire speaking.”
This really was a mistake. He glowered at Jess, who raised her eyebrows. No, he was stuck with the decision he’d already made. “Noel Kenzie speaking. From Enterprising Reforestation.”
Jess’s eyes twinkled.
Think what she might, Noel had no way to know whether Claire remembered him as clearly as he remembered her. He couldn’t assume she’d spent the last two nights staring at the ceiling thinking about their brief meeting.
“Hi, Mr. Kenzie.”
Awkward silence. Time to man up. “I’m calling to let you know that you didn’t get the contract to supply meals for our crews.”
“Did you say . . . did not?”
He steeled himself, imagining her holding onto something for support. How much had she wanted — needed — this position? “Yes. Someone else entered the winning package.”
“Oh. Well, then . . .” A funny little laugh drove straight to Noel’s belly, weakening him. “I guess it’s on to plan B.”
“I need you to know you presented a quality proposal, Claire. It wasn’t an easy decision.” Because offering her those words was going to help? He hated himself.
“My roommates said it would probably take too much time away from our plans to make the farm a destination resort.” She laughed again.
Her laugh didn’t sound like he’d imagined. Too forced.
“If you know of anyone needing a wedding planned, feel free to send them my way.”
Now why did his gut feel like it’d just been punched? He pictured Claire all dolled up in some fancy white gown, silvery stars dotting her thick brown hair and a bouquet of . . . what would suit her best? Noel was at his best with wildflowers, not fancy floral arrangements. “Uh, yeah. I’ll do that.”
“Thanks for calling, Mr. Kenzie.”
“Noel,” he replied automatically. Did it matter, if he wasn’t going to talk to her again? He couldn’t bear that. “Maybe I’ll see you around.”
That sharp intake of breath at the other end of the line couldn’t possibly be his imagination. He clutched his cell phone.
“Maybe. Goodbye.”
The silence this time was of a connection gone dead. He turned slowly to face his foreman. “Know anyone who’s getting married?”
The smirk on Jess’s face faded into confusion. “Pardon?”
“Claire wants to cater a wedding.” No wonder Jess looked confused. He felt the same way.
“Didn’t your sister get engaged the other day?”
Noel cracked his palm against his forehead. “Right.”
; **
Claire clicked off her cell and turned slowly to face Sierra.
“You didn’t get it, huh?”
“No.” Claire shook her head. “I realize all the reasons for it being a time sink and all, but it would have been good money.” That wasn’t all of it, though. Not at all. She’d been fantasizing setting a plate of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding in front of Noel then maybe a plate of rhubarb cream pie. Seeing his face light up as he enjoyed the meal and told her it was the best ever.
That she was the best ever.
“Money isn’t everything.”
“Easy for you to say. You’ve never lived in short supply.”
“Don’t be silly, Claire. If you’re worried we’ll kick you off the island because of finances, we won’t. You know that. The farm is doing fine. Our business plan allowed for a few years before we began to see a profit. It’ll all work out.”
Claire shook her head and swiped the back of her hand across her eyes. A little damp. “I know. I just . . . worry.”
“Don’t.” Sierra pulled her into a hug. “We’ve got options. We’ve got time.”
“Yes. I know. It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?”
Like she was going to tell Sierra that she had a sudden urge to be loved? Even watching Jo and Zach get all moon-eyed over each other last spring and summer hadn’t filled Claire with longing. Not like ten minutes in Noel Kenzie’s office had the other day.
“Never mind.”
Chapter 3
Claire rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and peered at the computer monitor again. The email forwarded from the website’s contact form was still there.
Dear Green Acres,
Your farm looks like an awesome setting for a wedding, but your site doesn’t say if you offer this as one of your events. My fiancé and I live in Missoula and are planning a small late July wedding. Would it be possible to talk about the option of using your location?
Amber
A wedding! And Claire didn’t even need to hunt one down or make special offers. Her fingers hovered over the keys, ready to write Amber back and say yes with a thousand exclamation points behind it. But seriously, she should talk to the team.
The grin would not stop spreading on her face. Planning someone else’s extravaganza should take the edge off these new feelings of desiring romance in her own life. She’d get vicarious pleasure from seeing Amber’s dreams come true.
Sierra was right. They could do the wedding while she kept her job at The Sizzling Skillet. No cutting ties prematurely, though she might need to beg off a few shifts as Amber’s big day neared.
Claire pushed away from the computer. She tightened the sash on her bathrobe while padding into the kitchen. After flipping the switch on the coffeepot, she stretched her arms high above her head and did a little twirl. She loved this beautiful room with ovens and a commercial range built into the thick rock wall that helped stabilize the temperature. This summer they should be able to glaze the south wall of the sunroom on the other side, but even without additional trapped heat as a bonus, she and Sierra had been very comfortable over the winter.
It’d been weird not having Jo living with them after all their plans, but Jo hadn’t been looking for love. It had found her anyway. At least Zach was a local boy, unlike Noel.
Why couldn’t Claire get the man out of her head? This was ridiculous. At twenty-seven, she should be out of the stage where she daydreamed about every cute guy she met, especially one with no ties to a place. Even Graham exuded some kind of stability back when they’d dated in Seattle. He was a dentist in a thriving practice, making enough money to provide security. He’d owned a sweet little house before he’d met Claire.
A shudder slid through her. It had burned to the ground one summer night mere weeks before the wedding from some wiring problem. All she could do was thank God neither of them had been there.
Claire thought they’d rebuild together, but Graham had come up with the brilliant idea of heading overseas with Dentists Without Borders. Yeah, kids in third world countries needed dental care. She understood. But they didn’t need it from Graham. Not with her tagging along, never in the same place for more than a few weeks.
Maybe things would’ve been different if she’d met Graham at a different stage of her life. If she hadn’t been so needy. She’d probably loved his house — and the stability it exuded — more than she loved him.
Now she was the homeowner, along with her pals. She wasn’t moving ever again, which left no place for a transient like Noel Kenzie.
“Lost in thought?”
Claire jolted and focused on Sierra. “Yeah, apparently. I didn’t hear you come in.”
Sierra poured two mugs of coffee and passed one to Claire. “What are you doing up so early?”
“Couldn’t sleep. Oh, hey! Go look at the computer screen. I think we’ve bagged us a live one.”
“A live one what?” Sierra turned to the library end of the great room.
“Wedding.”
“Suh-weet.” She pulled out the wheeled chair, bumped the mouse to cancel the screensaver, and scanned the short message. “Wow! We can totally manage that, can’t we?”
Claire poured cream into her coffee and cradled the mug as she leaned on the peninsula counter. “I don’t see why not. I’m not sure how she found us, though. We haven’t changed the website yet to include weddings.”
Sierra shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. She’s here. Did you email her back?”
“No, not yet. I just saw it a minute ago and figured it wouldn’t hurt to have a coffee and talk it over first.”
“Didn’t we agree two days ago that we’d do it?” Sierra spun the chair around to face Claire.
“Well, yes.” But did it have to be at six thirty in the morning?
“Then what’s to discuss?”
“You mean, besides terms and stuff?”
Sierra waved a hand in dismissal. “First we need to find out what this Amber person wants. We’ve got the basic event pricing on the website, so it won’t be that difficult to add in her extras.”
Claire nodded slowly.
“So just email her back already, saying it’s a tentative yes, if we can agree on the details.” Sierra turned back to the computer. “Unless you just want me to do it while I’m here.”
“No, that’s all right. I’ll get it in a minute.” She raised her mug. “Just need enough caffeine to write coherently.”
“Okay.” Sierra grabbed her own coffee and stood. “Four months isn’t a long time to plan a wedding.”
Claire laughed. “Half an hour more won’t make that big a difference.” Though anyone’s life could change in the blink of an eye.
**
Noel backed his holiday trailer under an elm tree on Elmer’s farm. In just a few days his crew would start arriving, bringing campers, fifth wheels, or tents to sleep in for the duration of the tree-planting season. Jess would be up Wednesday with her truck and camper.
He liked having a few days to settle in before a new contract, even though he lived in the little trailer more months of the year than anywhere else. A few weeks at Mom’s in Missoula, a few months in Mexico or Dominican Republic or Belize. It was a good life, even if Mom did say it was time he settled down. Didn’t make any difference telling her men twice his age led the same lifestyle. That this life was what he wanted.
“But they don’t live with their mothers in the off-season, do they?” she’d asked.
“Hey, I thought you liked having me around.” Besides, he needed a fixed address to conduct business.
She tapped her manicured fingernails against the polished table. “I’d like it better if you bought the house next door, got married, and gave me some grandchildren.”
Noel glanced around his little trailer. Maybe Amber would have kids soon. Shawn’s office was only a couple of miles from Mom’s place, so maybe they could buy the house next door.
Funny. Amber didn’t see it that way. She
figured it was time for him to grow up, too.
They didn’t seem to understand he loved his work. Loved being in the woods for much of the summer. Loved watching the sun come up over a tumbling stream or mountain lake. Loved putting the forest back together after a logging crew had ripped through.
Enterprising Reforestation brought in decent money, plenty enough to pay his crew well and still play in the tropics for a few months while the northern states froze in winter’s icy grip. He even had a nest egg socked away. No clue what he was saving for, but someday he’d need a little extra and it would be there.
Noel pulled his harmonica out of an overhead cupboard and stretched out on his bed. He closed his eyes, letting his hands and mouth decide what music to play. A little jazz, a little blues. An old gospel song surprised him a few minutes later.
He’d forgotten he knew This World is Not My Home. Noel sat up in the bed and put his soul into playing it. His kind of song, that one. He was just passing through, all right. Moving along where the work and play took him, season after season.
Not that he had treasure laid up in heaven like the hymn said. Something else Mom nagged him about. Well, there’d be plenty of time to worry about stuff like that when he was older. For all his mother’s complaints about his chosen life, he was a long way yet from the end of his days. Why not live a little in the meanwhile?
His cell jangled, clashing with the harmonica’s descant. With a sigh, he set the instrument aside and glanced at the call display. “Hey, Amber.”
“Hey, yourself. Where are you at right now?”
“Just got into Galena Landing a couple hours ago. How about you?”
“At Mom’s. Thanks for putting me on to that event website. I’ve been emailing with a woman there by the name of Claire and it looks like it may all work out.”
“Cool.” That relieved his conscience a wee bit. After dashing one of Claire’s other dreams, it was kind of fun helping one come true.
A Farm Fresh Romance Series 1-3 (A Farm Fresh Romance Box Set) Page 28