“I never could’ve pulled it off without your encouragement.”
Uncomfortable with her gratitude and how drawn he felt to McKenna, he said, “Let’s finish and get outta here. I’m exhausted. I don’t remember working this hard when I was in high school and college. I never stopped moving.”
“This job makes it easy to get my daily steps, that’s for sure.” McKenna smoothed a hand down her simple formfitting pink floral dress. He sure appreciated her new wardrobe. “Thank you for dealing with Katharine’s brother when he locked himself in the bathroom and passed out. That would’ve been a nightmare for me, especially since you found him with his pants around his ankles.”
Zane shuddered in horror. “Never speak of it again.”
She giggled, and her eyes glistened. “I promise.” She made an X over her heart. “I’ve never had this many bathroom issues. We set a record with clogged toilets. These guests either need to use less TP or deal with their digestive issues.”
Zane laughed. How could he have thought McKenna lacked a sense of humor? “I’m calling a plumber tomorrow to check the pipes. I’m not dealing with this every weekend.”
He brushed off his dark gray suit pants and unbuttoned his collar. “I feel like I’ve been ridden hard and put to bed wet, while you still look—” Astonishing. He paused. “Great. Still perky, smiling, and energetic.”
“Some party animal you are.”
“Running the bash is harder than partying at it. How do you do it almost every weekend?”
“Clean living and lots of caffeine.”
“I can’t believe I thought your job was easy.”
“Is that an apology?”
“Guess so.” If he had trouble keeping up this weekend, how could Ginny? Concern kicked him in the gut. What would working this hard and late nearly every weekend do to his grandmother’s health? Would it shorten how many years she had left? “I’m worried about Ginny. When she was younger, she could stride around helping my grandfather fix fences, birth calves, or give vaccinations, but she’s getting older. She shouldn’t work this hard.”
“I try to do the lifting and more physical duties or if I can’t, I get a waiter so Ginny won’t, but you can imagine how that goes with her.”
Zane nodded. “About as well as tying a bobcat with string. She thinks she can do anything she did twenty years ago and hates anyone suggesting otherwise. She needs to let you handle receptions alone once in a while and take some weekends off.”
“That means a lot coming from you.” McKenna’s eyes sparkled from his praise. “I think I can be a real asset. If you want, we can work on ways to lighten her workload next week.”
“Good. Once we do, I’ll talk to her about scaling back.”
Silence settled around them. He should be running for the door, but he flat out didn’t want to go. He wanted to stay. With McKenna.
Never being one to take the smart path, Zane reached into the galvanized tub for the last unopened bottle of champagne. “I say we celebrate your performance today.”
“And you surviving your first wedding.”
He cringed. “That’s a poor choice of words. How about I survived helping coordinate my first—Nope. That won’t work either.”
She laughed, and the rich, bright sound rippled over him. Heat rushed through him bringing a need stronger than he’d ever known. When she chewed her lower lip, he longed to pull her into his arms.
“How about this? You survived your first foray as an unofficial wedding planner.” A big smile spilled across McKenna’s face.
He raised the bottle. “Do you trust me?”
“I do, but for extra insurance, I’ll find clean glasses while you open that.”
“Coward.”
“Cautious and smart,” she corrected.
When she returned with the flutes, he poured the champagne and they settled onto chairs at the nearest table. He raised his glass. “To your courage and beautiful rendition of ‘Oh, Promise Me.’”
“And to you surviving last night and tonight.”
He tapped his glass to hers. The ping of delicate crystal echoed around them.
