Page 87 of Undeniably Perfect

He pulls me against him. I gaze up into his beautiful eyes. “I mean it. You are so incredibly talented.”

He kisses me gently on my lips before letting go of me.

I excuse myself from Kent for a moment telling him to head to our assigned table, while pretending to use the ladies’ room. I look around and find Heather, the head coordinator.

She hands me four wrapped photos in frames. I can’t wait to give them to the Moores. I walk over to the table, or should I say tables. The Moores take up three of them.

I hand two of the photos to Mrs. Moore, and then turn and hand the other two to Kent. They both eye me suspiciously.

“Go ahead, open them,” I encourage.

They both peel back the paper and Mrs. Moore starts crying when she sees the first photo. It’s a family shot that I got right before the last game of the World Series. The local paper was doing an article, and I worked with the paper’s photographer to get a special shot. It was used in the paper too, so they’ve seen it but not blown up and framed like this.

Kent stands in the middle in his uniform, surrounded by his family, extended family, friends, and then behind them in the stands are a good portion of the people living in Banneker. I smile at Mrs. Miller and Frankie in the photo as I remember running into them later that day.

“I love it,” Mrs. Moore says, wiping away a tear.

“It’s great, thank you,” Mr. Moore says, his voice choked with emotion.

Mrs. Moore places it in her lap and opens the second one. She gasps as she unveils my favorite shot of Kent. I took it that first day we met. He was telling me a story and laughed, and it was just perfect with the stadium behind him. He looks so happy.

Mrs. Moore dots her cheeks with the napkin on her lap. Then, she hands the photos to Mr. Moore and stands up, throwing her arms around me and squeezing me in a death grip hug.

“Tabby, these are amazing, my darling. I’m so proud of you,” she says. And that only makes me start crying. I can’t remember my mom ever hugging me or saying she was proud of me. I didn’t realize how much I needed that until this very second.

“Oh, don’t cry. I’m sorry,” Mrs. Moore says, pulling back.

I shake my head but can’t speak. Mrs. Moore runs her hand up and down my arm and hands me a tissue from her handbag.

“Thank you,” I whisper after a long moment.

She nods and kisses my cheek. “Once a Moore…” She trails off as Kent steps in front of her and brushes my tears away with his thumbs.

“Always a Moore,” he whispers with a warm smile. I smile back at them through my tears, taking a breath.

“I should go clean up. I’ll be right back.”

Kent grips my arms, and I look up at him. “I love the photos. Thank you so much. You know what I like most about it?”

I shake my head.

He leans in so our foreheads are mere millimeters apart. “That you are right next to me.”

I can’t help the face-splitting grin that forms. “I like that, too,” I admit, glancing down at the family photo where Kent has me tucked in against his side.

He releases me with a quick kiss, and I run off to the bathroom.

I take a deep breath as I stare at myself in the mirror. Thank god B-Ray used waterproof mascara and stain instead of lipstick. I powder my nose and take another deep breath before I exit.

The manager of the team walks over toward me as I enter the ballroom.

“Great job! These photos are great! And the one you helped set up with the paper, it’s amazing! Have you ever thought of working with a local sports team?”

I shake my head. “No, I hadn’t thought about that before.”

He hands me his card. “Well, if you are interested ever, give me a call. I know our marketing team loved working with you. I’m sure they’d enjoy having you as part of the team.”

I smile and thank him before heading back to the table.

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