A Proposal at the Wedding (Bride Mountain 2)

Bonnie sighed. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. They’d just had to buy a new vacuum, and a new restaurant-­quality dishwasher was definitely not in the budget this month. If it became necessary, something else would have to be cut.

“I’ll tell him. Maybe he or Curtis can find the source of the noise and fix it without calling a repairman.”

Rhoda nodded. “It’s still working for now, so I guess there’s no real rush.”

Bonnie picked up the mini-tablet she’d gotten into the habit of carrying during the day to make notes, checklists, shopping lists and anything else that kept her organized. She added the dishwasher to her to-do list. “Anything else?”

“Not at the moment.”

“I’m going to take a lunch break, then.” It was nearly two, and she was hungry. “Have you eaten?”

“Not hungry. I’ll get something later.”

Nodding, Bonnie moved toward the doorway.

“You got plans to see that nice-looking man again anytime soon?” Rhoda asked, detaining her a moment longer. “You notice we managed to handle things around here for an entire half day without you, and the world didn’t end. Wouldn’t hurt you to plan another afternoon off before long.”

Rhoda was always fussing about how many hours Bonnie spent working. Though Kinley and Logan worked very hard, and put in plenty of long hours, themselves, Bonnie was aware that she logged the most time in the inn. Unless something came up that required his attention, Logan usually closed himself into his cottage after work, or drove into town for a beer with friends. Kinley divided her energies between the inn and her part-time real estate job, and was now building a life with Dan away from work. Bonnie was the one who tended to work almost from the time she woke until she crawled back into bed at night.

Could she find a way to make a life for herself outside the inn, like her sister was doing? Yesterday had been a good start, she assured herself. And yet—

“You know how busy our schedule is for the rest of the summer, Rhoda,” she said mildly. “I’ll take a few hours off when I can, so don’t nag, okay?”

“Fine. Work yourself to the bone, see where that gets you,” Rhoda grumbled, punching the start button on the washer with more force than necessary.

Bonnie didn’t linger to argue. “Call if you need me.”

“Don’t we always?”

Chapter Eight

As she often did, Bonnie cooked an early dinner that evening for Logan and Kinley. Dan joined them when he could, but he had left that morning on another overnight assignment. Because she’d eaten a late lunch, Bonnie wasn’t particularly hungry, but Logan and Kinley made short work of the baked chicken and roasted vegetables she served. They talked about work during the meal, primarily discussing several large upcoming events and conferring about some pending decisions. Logan had been talking to a contractor friend about the restrooms and dressing rooms they envisioned beneath the back deck, and his friend had suggested some good ideas.

“Winter is his downtime, construction-wise, and he said he’d work up some estimates for us to keep at least part of his crew busy. He looked at that sketch of what we wanted and he said it looked feasible to him.”

“We could put off the koi pond until next year,” Kinley said, pushing her empty plate away. “If Dan’s article in Modern South accomplishes what we hope, we’ll have quite a few new bookings for next summer, so additional restroom facilities are probably needed more than pretty fish. Don’t you agree, Bon?”

“What?” She’d been listening to the conversation, Bonnie assured herself. But maybe her attention had wandered just a little.

Kinley frowned. “The dressing rooms,” she prodded. “We should talk to Logan’s friend.”

“Oh, yes. Absolutely.”

“So what’s on your mind tonight, hmm? Or should I ask, who’s on your mind?”

“Don’t tease me tonight, Kinley, I’m too tired.” She smiled wryly as she spoke in a joking tone, but she was mostly serious. It had been a long day and tomorrow would be another one, followed by a wedding rehearsal tomorrow evening, another on Friday, a wedding Saturday morning and another ceremony Saturday evening.

They rarely scheduled two weddings in one day, but because both were relatively small, low-key events, they’d been able to work it out this time when the morning bride had begged them to accommodate her on fairly short notice. The military groom was being deployed overseas in a couple of weeks, and they had decided to tie the knot before he left rather than after his return, as had been the original plan.

Logan had fussed, of course, at all the set-ups and take-downs he and Curtis and part-ti

me helper Zach would have to do this weekend, but he’d get it done and the clients would hardly be aware of how much work went on behind the scenes of their celebrations.

“He’s too old for you.”

Logan’s grumble broke into Bonnie’s rambling thoughts. “Who?”

“That Paul guy,” her brother replied, obviously confirming Paul’s suspicion about Logan’s misgivings.