“I’m sure you have missed him,” Kinley said sympathetically. “My fiancé travels quite a bit, too, though at least he’s usually in the same country as I am. He’s hoping to travel less once we’re married and do more freelance work from our house here.”
“You’re engaged?” Cassie looked up eagerly from stashing her camera in its case. “I hadn’t heard.”
“It’s very recent. This week, actually. Your dad happened to be here when we made the announcement.”
“You didn’t tell me, Dad.” Cassie shot a look of reproof at him, then pounced on Kinley. “Let’s see the ring.”
Bonnie moved toward Paul. “It will take me just a few minutes to change for dinner,” she promised. “This dress is a little fancy for the café.”
“You look beautiful in it,” he said simply.
“Thank you. Cassie did a great job with it, didn’t she? She’s very talented.”
“When are you getting married?” Cassie asked Kinley, who had stood to display her ring.
“We’re talking about a winter wedding. That’s our slower time here at the inn, so it would be best for me.”
“I know you’ll both be very happy.” Cassie gave Kinley an impulsive hug, sharing their mutual joy.
All this marriage talk was making Paul a bit uncomfortable. Avoiding Bonnie’s eyes, he told himself it was because he didn’t like the reminder of how quickly his daughter’s wedding was approaching.
To be honest, he’d been feeling a little antsy ever since Bonnie had made that passing remark on the phone last night about what she would want in a father for her own children. It had reminded him of a similar incident a couple of weeks earlier when she joked about having her kitchen step stool in her wedding. Taken together, did those comments mean she was less “married” to her job than Nora had jokingly implied, perhaps hearing the faint ticking of a biological clock? Was she influenced by being surrounded by weddings all the time, by her own sister’s engagement? Or was he merely projecting emotions on to her she wasn’t feeling at all?
As far as he knew, she had just been thinking out loud about the future when she was ready to settle down and start a family, and he was just someone with whom to enjoy her rare time off from work in the meantime. She’d given no indication that she wanted more. From him, at least.
“So, tell me, Kinley. Did you see the ghost bride?”
Bonnie stumbled slightly on one high heel when Cassie asked the question. Paul reached out quickly to steady her.
“I, um—” Kinley gave a funny little laugh. “That’s just a romantic old legend, Cassie. I don’t need to see a ghost to tell me that Dan and I are going to have a long, happy marriage.”
Cassie sighed deeply. “Still, it would be cool to see her, wouldn’t it?”
“Your dad and I are going to walk down to the café for dinner,” Bonnie announced quickly. “Maybe you’d like to join us?”
Cassie glanced at Paul in question. It was obvious that she’d like to join them, but wasn’t entirely sure he wanted her to. “You wouldn’t mind, Dad?”
“Why would I mind?” he asked with a chuckle. “It’s a public restaurant. And your table manners haven’t embarrassed me in public since you stopped blowing bubbles through your drinking straws.”
She giggled. “Mom stopped that quickly enough. Okay, I’d love to have dinner with you. We can tell Bonnie all about our ride yesterday. I have tons of pictures on my phone if you want to see them, Bonnie. It was so beautiful.”
“I would love to see them,” she said and Paul was impressed that she even sounded sincere about it.
“Are you coming with us, Kinley?” Cassie asked.
Kinley shook her head with a smile. “Thanks, but I’ll hang around here until the charity fundraiser is over, just in case they need me for anything. The organizer is a friend of mine and we gave her a reduced rate for the grounds rental, so she’s bringing in a couple of steak dinners for Logan and me.”
“Steak sounds good to me,” Logan said from behind Paul, who moved out of the doorway to let him enter. “Bonnie, I changed that bulb in the hallway. That was all tonight, wasn’t it?”
“That’s all. Paul, Cassie, I’ll meet you on the front porch in five minutes,” Bonnie promised, already heading out, the high heels altering her usual brisk walk. Logan and Kinley followed her out, heading for the kitchen.
“I feel kind of bad about crashing your date,” Cassie said as she and Paul moved into the foyer. “You’re sure you don’t mind?”
“Sweetheart, I’m delighted.” He put an arm around her and gave her a smacking kiss on the cheek. “I want to have as many dinners with you as I can get in the next few weeks.”
She nestled into his shoulder. “Thank you, Daddy.”
“But after dessert, you can disappear,” he added, making her giggle.