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“These photos are going to be spectacular. Mindy looks fabulous and the photographer seems really sharp. You could come out and watch. Stretch your legs.”
“Sure.” He slipped his phone into his breast pocket. For the most part, every bride always looked beautiful on her wedding day. It was no surprise that Connie’s friend looked fabulous. For those in love and happy to marry, more power to them. None of that was in the cards for him. Like babies are all cute, brides are all beautiful. The problem is the lifelong commitment that goes with both children and wives. He wished the groom all the happiness in the world, but he liked being free to travel, party, or enjoy a woman’s company no strings attached. Even if some of his friends were getting married lately and seemed more than a little happy, for him, marriage—to his parents’ chagrin—was a hard pass.
Jack rose and a well-dressed older woman in the pew in front of him turned, her smile did little to hide her curiosity as to why he was leaving. He smiled back and followed Connie out of the church. The heat hit him hard. Born and raised in Texas, he was more than used to the summer heat, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. For a split second, he’d reconsidered leaving the air-conditioned church.
The bridesmaids were lined up on the steps, shuffling back and forth according to height. Not far from the foot of the steps, the photographer juggled miscellaneous bags and equipment, reminding him of an overloaded pack mule. He didn’t want to be in the way, but she looked like she needed help, and his mother would have his head for not helping a damsel in distress. “I’m going to give the photographer a hand.”
Connie shrugged. “She’s doing okay so far.”
Turning back to the petite woman, she didn’t look like she was doing okay to him. No sooner did she hike one of the cameras further onto her shoulder, then one or both would slip off as she reached for another load of equipment. “I don’t know about that.”
“Siobhan’s a professional, but it’s up to you.”
An uncommon name in Texas, he squinted as he walked toward the woman. Could it be? No. There had to be more women named Siobhan than his best friend’s little sister. Closing in, the cherub face looked up at him and he blinked. Good grief.
How long since he’d seen her? Since Kyle had settled down, he frankly didn’t see as much of any of the Barons as he used to. On top of that, Siobhan spent most of her time in Ireland with her mom. Doing some fast math, the last time he remembered seeing her had to be three, maybe four years ago at Andrew’s wedding. From across the lawn, the woman in black he knew to be the wedding coordinator was trotting across the lawn. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one to notice the damsel in distress. The two reached Siobhan at almost the same instant. He raised his hand and smiled at the coordinator, who looked more nervous than the bride. “I’ve got this.”
Once again, as the petite woman looked up from reaching for the tripod, one camera slid off her shoulder and almost touched the ground before she reached over to snatch it, knocking the other strap off of her shoulder till it settled on her elbow.
“Jack?” She straightened to her full height. “What are you doing here?”
He wished her startled tone didn’t lean toward annoyed.
“I’m a plus-one.” He pointed to where Connie stood on the lower steps watching them before leaning over to grab as much equipment as he could balance. “You should really have help.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” She hefted the one remaining bag onto her shoulder. “My help is a no-show.”
Jack glanced at his date still intently watching his every move before tossing a smile in Siobhan’s direction. “Then it looks like I’m all yours.”
Her brows shot up and her eyes rounded into perfect circles.
The double entendre smacked him between the eyes. Nice going, big brother’s best friend. Go ahead and scare the crud out of the kid. Time to backpedal and get his size twelve foot out of his mouth. “Consider me your photography assistant for the evening.”
A smile replaced the startled expression and relief washed over him. At least he didn’t have to worry now about one or all of her big brothers slowly tearing him apart limb from limb for making an untoward comment to their baby sister.
“Normally I would say absolutely not. But at least for the next bit, any help is appreciated. Just do as I say.”
“Yes, ma’am.” If he’d had a free hand he would have saluted.
The next few minutes went by in a flash. In a matter of seconds, Siobhan rearranged the bridesmaids order in what was clearly a more pleasing presentation than the one the girls had come up with on their own. Next were the groomsmen and the groom. Then photos of the maid of honor and bride, best man and groom, then the four of them. It didn’t take long for Jack to realize the girl had an eye for this. What he couldn’t remember was had her brothers ever mentioned she was a wedding photographer? Heck, had they even mentioned she’d graduated high school? No, he knew that, last he’d heard, she was in college. That’s right. Maybe. Well, it didn’t matter. If her big brothers couldn’t be here to help, the least he could do was step in. After all, he could do big brother if he had to.
Chapter Three
There were worse things in life than having Jack Preston carry her equipment around for a wedding shoot. As a matter of fact, having a good-looking guy in a tux as a photography assistant could probably only give Marilyn an even better reputation than she already had.
The last of the outdoor shots were filmed without a single delay or dropped camera bag. Instead of sitting in a pew like a guest, Jack had insisted on continuing to help carry her camera bag as she scurried around the church for best shots of the bride before, during, and leaving the ceremony.
The majority of guests had left the church for the beloved cocktail hour while Siobhan once again lined everyone up for family photos. The only hitch, the bridal party off to one side were having a party of their own. One of the grooms produced a bottle of tequila. Just what this party needed. Not. Siobhan sighed.
As the wedding party huddled around the person pouring the tequila, Jack stepped closer and leaning in as she adjusted her camera, softly whispered, “Looks like the party is starting early.”
His breath skittered across her ear and she resisted the urge to swipe at the side of her face. The sensation hadn’t been annoying, just unexpected. More like something one of her brothers might do to irritate her—sort of.
Grabbing her mind away from the odd feeling still tickling the side of her face, she refocused on the job at hand, staring down at the shots she’d just taken of the bride, groom, and someone’s great granny. Perfect and done. Taking one step away from the altar steps, she called up to the bride. “That’s the end of the list you gave me. Any last-minute extras?”
The bride and groom shook their heads.
“Great. See you at the reception hall.” Heaving a long sigh, phase one was done. So far so good. She couldn’t help but think climbing up a tree for the perfect nature shot was way easier than corralling wedding parties and their families. Yes, the money was nice, but there was more to life than money. All she needed was one good break and she wouldn’t have to coral tipsy wedding guests anymore. She sure hoped either her sister’s connection with the gallery owner or the entries for the State Fair in the fall—or both—would help. Stretching her shoulders, she turned to Jack. “Looks like we’re done here.”
