Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
A my and Scott stood in front of the barn as Paige pulled down the long drive toward them.
“I guess we’re going to do this, huh?” Scott said. He followed that with a nervous laugh.
“You ready to pop the question?” were Paige’s first words as she stepped out of the car. Dead silence greeted her. “I guess that’s a no?”
Amy got the humor, but stress wouldn’t let even a smile through. “The proposal’s a yes. But a no.”
“I can go, and we can pretend this never happened.”
Amy blew out a big breath. “No.”
“Let’s do this.”
Paige turned to Scott. “You still in?”
He nodded but didn’t say anything.
“Okay, I’ve only done a couple of engagement photo sessions, so I have limited advice. Except try to be natural as much as possible. That’s what I tell my wedding people as I’m about to take pictures.”
Amy shook out her arms and tried to loosen up a little bit. Looking natural was about the last thing she felt at this moment. Scott stood ramrod straight beside her, so he was feeling the same thing. “Do you have one of those rubber duckies, stuffed bunnies, or something that helps kids relax in photo sessions?”
Paige grinned. “I usually just tell them to think of the person they’re about to marry or just married if the photos are after the ceremony. But that isn’t going to work for you two, is it?”
Amy’s face flamed with heat. Thinking about Scott shouldn’t do that to her. So far, he’d made her heart beat faster, and now, just standing near him made her feel warm all over. She didn’t want or need that.
When the two of them didn’t move, Paige laughed. “Okay. Let’s get you two set up while the light is good. At this rate, we’ll be trying to take the pictures at midnight.” She went to work arranging them. As they had planned, Amy stood against the barn for the backdrop with Scott facing her.
Paige pulled a piece of plastic out of her pocket and set it on the ground in front of him. “I thought this might save your pants if you put your knee there. I’ll set up the shots so no one can see the plastic in the photos. Also, where’s the ring box?”
Amy tugged the red velvet box out of her pants pocket. The ring inside was a cheap one she’d worn for years. The box itself had come with cute rabbit earrings her mother gave her a couple of years ago for her birthday. She’d had to pull out the part the earrings fit on and set the ring inside. They’d be fine as long as the inside of the box didn’t end up on camera.
“Let me get set up over here for just a second.” Paige stood off to the side. “I’m going to move around you guys in a circular pattern. If you can manage to stay in position, I can get a bunch of photos, and we can use the best of the bunch.”
Scott dropped to one knee. He held up the open box, and Amy feigned a surprised expression. At least, she hoped she looked surprised and not hysterical or panic-stricken. Considering how she felt right now, her face probably showed something closer to terror.
Paige started snapping photos as promised. Amy focused on Scott as much as she could and ignored the photographer. He was easy on the eyes, that was for sure.
“Okay, you can relax.” She came over to them and fussed with the neck on Amy’s top. Then she turned to Scott and straightened the line of buttons running down his shirt. “Let’s go in for the second batch.”
Amy and Scott groaned at the same moment.
“Don’t complain. I think we got good photos on the last batch, but I want more to choose from. So now, I’ll move back a little and stay in one place. Scott, I want you to be in a standing position to start with.”
“I like the standing position part, but start with makes me think I’m going down on my knee again, aren’t I?”
Paige grinned. “Very perceptive of you. Put the ring box in your pocket, Scott. I want you to take it out slowly. Give the box sort of a nervous look if you could.”
“No problem there,” he muttered.
Paige’s laugh at his comment made Amy smile for the first time since they’d arrived here. “I’d like you to drop to one knee in front of Amy. Then, pop the box open and hold it up for her to see. Amy, I want the expected reactions from you. Your eyes widen when you realize what’s going on. There’s excitement when he drops to one knee. And I want you to squeal. Yes, squeal,” she added when Amy frowned. “And hug him after he pops the question.”
Hug him? Her head whipped around to Paige. This wasn’t going at all as she’d anticipated. Deep breath, Amy. She needed to go along with Paige’s plan. This had to seem real. Besides, Amy could choose any photo she wanted for the newspaper and social media.
Paige positioned the two of them and stood off to the side so she had a clear line with her camera, and said, “It’s showtime.”
Scott did as directed. Amy’s shock was real when he opened the lid, but not because of his actions. A cow’s nose reached in to check out the jewelry box.
“Mabel! What are you doing here?” Amy put her hands on her hips.
The brown and white cow let out a long moo.
Scott burst out laughing and stood. “Mabel?”
“She’s basically a pet cow, but she’s supposed to be fenced in. I know she has a habit of getting out, though. I did a newspaper feature on Mabel a month ago. She’s kind of a legend around here now.”
Amy rubbed her hand down the cow’s side. “She likes to nose in between people. That’s probably why she came over to us. You were standing close to me.”
Paige snapped a closeup of the cow. “She’s also very photogenic. But now,” she held her camera to her side, “this gives me a great idea for a photo. Amy, I still want you to hug Scott. Throw your arms out wide and wrap them around him. If Mabel comes in to break you two up as we think she will, I’ll get a fabulous photo.” She stepped back to where she’d been. “Ready whenever you are.”
Amy and Scott stared at each other. He stood still, seeming to be waiting for her to act.
Amy had to remember this was all for her newspaper. She closed her eyes and focused on the emotions and the excitement she’d feel if this was a real proposal. Then she smiled and threw her arms around Scott, pulling him close.
As soon as she did, her world rocked. Scott wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. This man knew how to hug. He rested his head against hers. But just when she started to forget all about Paige and her camera, a wet nose pushed between them.
Laughing, the two of them sprang apart.
Amy pushed away her emotions and absentmindedly patted the cow’s head. “Exactly on cue, Mabel.”
Scott chuckled. “Paige? Did you get that on camera?”
She glanced at him and then at Amy and smiled widely. “I did. All of it. I’ll leave you two alone now.” Paige went over to her car, turning back once as she was about to open the door. After a chuckle, she got in, and Amy could still see the smile on her face.
Amy watched her leave. “I don’t know what that was about, do you?”
He shrugged. “I’m a guy. I’m not supposed to get these girly things. If you don’t, I’m not going to.”
Amy grabbed the collar with a cowbell around Mabel’s neck and tugged her toward the house. The cow went along at her usual slow pace. “I’ll knock softly on the door so the baby won’t wake up. I want to make sure Cherry secures Mabel in her pen. Then it’s time to head back to town.”
She’d have all night to think about the hug to end all hugs.
“So what does the rest of your afternoon look like?” Scott asked as she pulled into a parking space in front of the newspaper.
“I’m going to come up with a list of possible articles for the newspaper for the next month. I try to work on that at least once a week. And anytime someone mentions a possibility, I note it.”
“I never thought of the problem of constantly needing things to write about. You have to find a newspaper’s worth of articles every week.”
“This is easy compared to the daily newspaper I used to work at. Of course, it was in a medium-sized city, so there was a lot more to talk about too.”
When they got to the newspaper office’s door, Scott said, “I don’t really have anything else to do. Maybe I’ll just go back and give the dog another hourlong walk, or maybe Greg has something for me to do over at the police station.”
Amy opened the door and waved him to come inside. “I have something for you to do if you’re interested.”
He perked up. “Another computer situation?”
She’d been about to ask him to move something off the top shelf for her since he was so much taller than her. But maybe she needed to come up with something else. The poor man seemed bored, and he didn’t want to return to where he was staying. “I’ll have you look at my website and let me know if you see anything that doesn’t look right.”
He smiled. “Consider it done.” He gleefully went over to his laptop and sat down.
“In about an hour and a half, I’m supposed to head over to Bella’s for a women’s meeting. And before you ask, I have absolutely no idea what the meeting is about. I’m new enough to the town that I don’t know if this is unusual or normal.”
He made a few sounds as he looked at her website, some of apparent happiness and some not as enthused. Maybe she hadn’t done as great of a job as she’d thought. “This isn’t bad. I’ll make a few tweaks.”
“Thank you!”
“I need to thank you for giving me something to do to avoid going back to the Brantley house.” Maybe some of his less-than-enthusiastic mutterings had been about his vacation abode.
“You know there’s probably a room at the motel you could move into for at least the weekdays if that would help. Then you could avoid her schedule completely and spend your days doing whatever you want.”
He swiveled his chair to face hers. “I’ve thought about that. I can’t find a way to make that not seem rude to my host. She’s kind. I wouldn’t want to do anything to upset her.”
“You do have a good point. Unless you had a place to go that made sense to her, it might seem that way.” She checked her watch. “It’s time for me to head over to Bella’s. Do you want to stay here or leave together?”
He stood and stretched, the fabric on the front of his shirt stretching over muscles she wouldn’t expect a computer nerd to have. She tore her eyes off of his chest and stood. “If you want to come with me, you could just sit off to the side. I do have a bonus waiting at the end. Every week, I do a little write-up about Simone’s flavor of the week from her bakery.”
He quirked one eyebrow. “Samples?”
Amy laughed as she grabbed her purse and went toward the door with Scott beside her. “Absolutely. She sometimes gives me a slice or two to take home.”
“Sold.” When they turned onto Main Street, Scott asked, “Isn’t Bella’s house over there?” He pointed to the left.
“The meeting isn’t at her house. Bella’s at her bridal shop.”
Scott stopped in his tracks. “I didn’t think about this properly. A man at a women’s get-together.” He turned around and started walking in the other direction before she could say a word.
“Are you okay, Scott?”
“I’ll head over to the diner and get a cup of coffee and a piece of pie. I won’t need the cake sample.”
He waved with his hand and moved away at an ever-quickening pace. The man had a serious aversion to wedding dress stores.