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Hannah is a fashion photographer—one of the best in the business. Her pictures are stunning. She’s great at capturing both striking angles and emotion with every shot.
“She’ll do it. Promise.” He winks. “So cross that off your list.”
“That’s amazing. I really appreciate it. But why would she move here?” She’s lived in New York forever and constantly traveled the world. “Phoenix is hardly a fashion mecca.”
“She gave me a lot of mumbo-jumbo about her reasons for relocating, but ultimately it has one appeal she couldn’t resist.”
“You?” I’m sure my stare reflects how skeptical I am about that.
“Not even close.” He grins. “I’m not supposed to know this, but she and your father are…together.”
I gape. “Are you sure? My dad works. He never dates.”
“Ever since Hannah came to visit me last spring, he does. They hit it off, and I’m pretty sure they hooked up. After that, they started talking and…I think it’s getting serious.”
“So you’re saying she’d shoot my wedding as a favor to my dad, not you?”
“Pretty much.”
“But neither of them has actually told you about their relationship?”
“Not in so many words. They think I’m blind or something. It’s funny. But the good news is, Dan finally started working a lot less.” Hayden takes my hand, and I smother a gasp at the fire his simple touch ignites. “He didn’t learn to put the people in his life first soon enough to save his marriage to your mom. Or to give you the childhood you deserved. But hehaslearned since Hannah.”
“Now that I think about it, he’s been around a lot more in the last couple of days.”
“It took your dad twenty years to figure out what was most important.” He shoots me a speculative stare. “How long will that lesson take Derek? Do you really want to marry someone who will put you last for years? Decades?”
“Stop.” It’s all I can say. Every moment I’m with Hayden, I feel so weak.
“I’m right, and you know it.”
I snatch my phone off the table and grab my nearby car keys. “I have to go or I’ll be late to the cake testing.”
“How about some company?”
Oh, he’s tempting me—on purpose, I’m sure. I shouldn’t let him get too close…but it would be nice to have another opinion. At least that’s what I tell myself. “All right.”
The way he smiles says he’s up to something. “By the way, our office manager, Linda, has a son who’s an associate pastor. He could probably perform the ceremony. Want me to call?”
“Have you met him?”
Hayden nods. “Nice guy. Young, funny. He’d be good.”
“Sure. I’d appreciate it. Let me grab my lipstick and my wallet so we can go.”
“My truck is blocking your rental. I’ll drive.”
“Fine.” I disappear to gather my belongings—and my wits.
I’m still suspicious of the reasons he’s being so helpful, but Hayden has always been the first to lend a hand to people who need it. He’s a great problem solver, a good networker, a fabulous friend, and he has an uncanny ability of convincing everyone to see things his way…
That last trait worries me. He knows exactly how to push my buttons.
By the time I reach the foyer again, he’s smiling and tucking his phone back into his pocket. “Linda’s son, Josh, is open to meeting you this evening and seeing if you’d be a good fit.”
“Great,” I say as we head out the door. “If I can check one more thing off my list…”
“I’ll set it up for five thirty?”
