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“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 the stills, but I really want some kind of video and I haven’t found anyone I like.”
“Isn’t Cam a film guy?” Mike asked.
“He was a producer, not a cameraman.” Maddie sipped her coffee, staring out over the meadow. The three of us were silent a moment, watching a deer pick its way through the tall grass.
An idea was beginning to form in my mind. “Maybe we need both,” I said. Both women looked at me. “This is just a thought, and we’d need to ask him, but what if we did something a little outside the realm of the standard wedding film? What if we made it kind of a B-roll for the Inn at the same time, something we could show prospective clients considering planning events with us? We could produce two versions—one that focused on your wedding, of course, and one that gave a broader view of the Inn and its facilities?”
Mike’s eyes stayed on my face a long minute and then she turned to Maddie with a smile. “The Inn would cover the cost of production—we’d use it as advertising.”
“Use my wedding for advertising?” Maddie frowned. “Connor doesn’t like being the center of attention. He really treasures his privacy. He wouldn’t go for it.”
“Just sweeping crowd and venue shots, maybe a few of the ceremony that don’t show faces, but we’d capture the essence of the day,” I suggested. “And then your own version, of course, would have everything.”
Maddie sat still for a minute, her lips pressed together as she thought. Then, dipping her chin slightly like she was going to ask a favor, she said, “Yes, I like it. We can talk to my brother about it tonight. You’re both coming to dinner, right?” She looked back and forth between me and Mike.
“He mentioned it. Six?” I confirmed.
“Yep,” she said as Mike nodded, confirming she’d be there too.
“Great,” Maddie said. “Cam will take some wrangling, but leave it to me.”
The rest of the hour was spent covering wedding details and chatting about things completely unrelated. By the time I got back in my car to drive home, a strange feeling had settled inside me—one I hadn’t felt in a long time. I realized after a while that I felt content, and more than that, I felt oddly at home.
* * *
My dad called laterwhen I was sprawled on a deck chair just outside the front door, watching the hillside beyond the cabin and trying to make some notes.
“Hey Harper,” Dad started tentatively. “Just wanted to check in.”
“Hi.” I wanted to continue being angry at him, but seeing him at lunch the other day had made it harder to picture him as the devil. He’d also hinted around the idea that things hadn’t been as simple as I’d imagined when Mom had taken me and left. And I considered that. I’d been through some complicated relationship stuff of my own, so I could understand that idea a bit.
“You getting settled in okay? Need anything?”
“I’m doing okay.”
“Listen, do you want to maybe come by the house tonight? Have dinner?”
The thought of going back to our house, to the place I’d been so happy as a little girl, was both tempting and repelling. I didn’t know how I’d feel there, and had purposely avoided even driving by the place, which was easy to do since it wasn’t on the main route I had to drive to get into town. “Actually, I have plans.”
He paused, and I guessed he might be surprised I was already filling a social calendar. “That’s good, honey. What are you up to?”
No harm in telling him, I figured. “Dinner over at Connor Charles and Maddie Turner’s place.”
“Well that’ll be interesting,” he said. “Cam going too, I guess?”
“Yeah.”
