“Pish posh. These women have known him most of their lives. He’s the flavor of the moment because he’s new in town. Pretty soon he’ll be yesterday’s news.”
Sure. he would, and tomorrow she’d address the UN on world peace. Ginny couldn’t be serious. Zane would stand out in Hollywood. How would he become old news in Wishing where the pickings of single attractive men could be called slim, at best?
“Please, Ginny. Can we talk about this? I don’t need his help. I managed Grace and AJ’s engagement party. It was a huge success.”
“I’m not criticizing you, dear, or your abilities. I’m so thankful to have you working with me, but who knows how long my recovery may take.”
“I thought you said you were doing well. Is something wrong?” she asked, genuinely concerned for the kindhearted woman.
“I’m doing well, but I’m no spring chicken. I need to put all my energy into my recovery. I think it’s best if I take a complete break until my doctor clears me to return. That means I need Zane helping.”
McKenna’s throat tightened. Her heart raced. Her mind whirled, unable to think of anything but what a mess she’d made of this. She couldn’t let this happen. “Ginny, we hire plenty of help for receptions. Zane doesn’t—”
Ginny raised her hand. “I won’t have you working yourself to the bone, and that’s final. Now, I don’t want to hear another word about it, and you know how stubborn I am when my mind’s made up.”
That settled that.
Ginny placed her hand over her heart and leaned further back into the pillows. “Thank you, dear. With you and Zane working together managing the business, I won’t worry one bit. I know it’s not what you want, but you wouldn’t deny me that peace of mind at my age, would you?”
McKenna resisted the urge to sigh in frustration. In an instant, her job with tons of potential that she’d pinned so many future hopes on had turned into a nightmare.
She’d been outmaneuvered by a true master. “Of course I wouldn’t, Ginny.”
*
Some days aman shouldn’t get out of bed. Today had turned out to be one of those days for Zane.
Who’d have ever guessed he’d have so much women trouble in twenty-four hours? The bridesmaids from hell in the morning. Grabby, drunk, sex-deprived Campbell in the afternoon. His grandma Ginny throwing him a curve before he left for town, and pain in the ass McKenna through it all.
In the Horseshoe game room, Zane lined up his shot, thankful he and his friends had arrived early to get in a game of pool before the band started playing. After taking aim again, he sent the cue ball zooming across the pool table. It connected with a healthy crack, sending the other balls careening in all directions with surprising force.
“That was some break. You use enough strength there, Zane?” AJ teased.
“It was a rough day.” How could his life become such a mess so fast, and all because he’d been a standup guy helping his Grandma Ginny? Whoever said no good deed goes unpunished knew what he was talking about.
Zane scanned the table. He called the three ball in the side pocket and took aim. When he sent the cue ball in motion, instead of hitting on the right side, it hit dead center sending his target straight ahead missing the pocket.
“What’s up? You never miss a shot that easy,” Cooper, his partner for the game of eight ball, asked.
“Like I said. It was a brutal day.” He explained about Cora’s bridesmaids. “Then in the afternoon, Campbell and Susannah arrived. Good thing y’all are spoken for. She’s on the hunt for a man to fix her problems. But that wasn’t the worst thing that happened.”
Ty checked his shot and sank the eleven ball in the corner pocket. “We’re stripes. Zane and Coop, you’re solids.”
“If none of that was the worst part of your day, what was?” Cooper asked.
I kissed McKenna.
How could he have done that? He’d lost his mind. Crazier yet, how could he have enjoyed it?
Enjoyed it? That’s way too mild to describe what you felt.
He’d taken a bad situation, made it worse, and damned if he could figure out how it got away from him. One minute he and McKenna stood arguing about her sticking her nose into his personal life, and then she’d flipped a switch and they were on each other like a couple of horny teenagers with their parents out of town.
But what could he tell his friends? None of that. Maybe ever. But he needed their help. Best start with Ginny and work up to McKenna. “You won’t believe what Ginny guilted me into doing.”
“From the look of horror on your face it’s got to be bad. Does she need you to donate a kidney or something?” AJ teased.
He shook his head and took another long draw from his bottle of Shiner. “Nope. It’s worse.”
