“You can do this. I believe in you, but it’s your choice.”
He sounded sincere, but was he? She scanned his features. He appeared earnest, but how could she know for sure when he covered his feelings so well? Could she trust him? “Do you mean it?”
“Absolutely.”
Katharine burst into tears and threw her phone across the room. “We’re postponing the wedding.”
The bride’s anguish tore through McKenna as she raced to her. She couldn’t let her fear keep her from helping. She gave brides their dream weddings. How could she let this one fall apart when she could prevent it? “There is one other person who could sing, but she’s not a trained singer.”
“Who is it? Can she be here in time?” Katharine asked, wiping her tears away with the heel of her hand.
“It’s me.”
Katharine’s wide-eyed gaze pinned McKenna. “Have you sung at weddings before?”
Zane pushed away from the wall. “When I saw McKenna sing the night of Chief Quinn’s engagement party, her voice reached deep inside me in a way no one’s ever done before.”
McKenna pinched her lips together to keep from gasping. What? Why would Zane say that? Not wanting to mislead Katharine, she said, “Actually, I—”
“McKenna has a clear, pure voice. Any bride would be lucky to have her sing at her wedding.”
Right. A bride would be lucky if McKenna got the words out, stayed anywhere near on key, and didn’t faint from stage fright.
“I have to tell you I’m not sure I can do this. I have stage fright,” McKenna said.
“Please, you have to sing,” Katharine begged, as clasped McKenna’s hands in her cold ones. Her eyes now red and slightly swollen from crying, her desperate gaze bored into her. “I have this terrible feeling if we postpone the wedding, something terrible will happen. We’ll have a huge fight, or I don’t know what else, but we won’t get married.”
McKenna straightened and her gaze locked with the bride’s dejected one. “Don’t worry. You’re getting married, and ‘Oh Promise Me’ will be sung at your wedding. Now, do you need to ask Rainy for her approval?”
Katharine wrapped her arms around McKenna and squeezed tight, cutting off her air. Then she ran across the room to find her phone. “I’ll call her, but I’m sure she’ll be as grateful as I am. I can’t thank you enough. You saved my marriage. We’ll name our first child after you, I promise.”
McKenna smiled, trying to project a confidence she didn’t feel.Oh, Lord. How I am going to pull this off if I faint or open my mouth and nothing comes out?
*
“You’ve given themquite a wedding present,” Zane said once Katharine left for the bride’s dressing room.
McKenna was incredible. Fear lining her face and in her movements, McKenna ignored the emotion to save a couple’s wedding. Few people would have done that. He wasn’t sure he could have. She’d put the couple’s happiness and his grandmother’s business first, but now the reality of what she’d agreed to swamped her.
He walked to where she sat appearing small and fragile, huddled in the chair. When he sank down next to her, she gave him a weak smile, but her eyes remained clouded with fear and insecurity.
“There’s an episode ofBuffy the Vampire Slayerwhere they’re having nightmares. In Willow’s, she’s an opera singer on stage in a packed house. When her cue comes, she opens her mouth. Nothing comes out but a squeak. That’s what I’m afraid will happen to me.”
“It won’t.”
“It could.” McKenna bounded to her feet and paced the small room, each lap faster than the last. “I was crazy to agree. I feel light-headed. I’m going to faint. No, I’m going to throw up. No, going to be sick and then faint.”
He stepped in front of her. When she stopped, he cupped her elbow, led her back to the chair, and pointed. “Sit. If you feel faint it’s from lack of oxygen. Lord, I’ve never met anyone who could string more words together in one breath.”
“It’s an underappreciated skill and comes in handy more often than you realize.”
He grinned. The small show of humor and defiance were good signs and gave him something to work with. “You agreed to sing. No backing out now. What would that do to Lucky Stars’ reputation?”
“I could also hurt the company by trying to sing and screwing up.”
He laughed. “Not if you drop the Chicken Little impression.”
“This is serious, Zane.”
