Page 68 of Call It Home

Bristol shrugged. “I halfway hope so. I would love to see her face when she sees me like this. And even more so when she sees my shoes.”

I laughed. Bristol had already confided in me that she wasn’t going to wear heels. She wanted to enjoy her day and was planning on wearing white tennis shoes decked out in pearls and silver beads.

We changed back into our street clothes after finalizing arrangements to pick up the dresses on Friday.

“Do y’all have enough time to grab lunch with me? I feel like we hardly ever get to spend a lot of time together anymore, with half of you ladies married or getting married,” I teased.

Em glanced at her watch. “Shannon is holding down The Dogtrot for me this afternoon, but the sitter won’t be able to stay much longer.”

Mama Rae looked at her daughter. “Why don’t you girls go on and get lunch and enjoy some time together. I’ll take Lexi with me. She can help me watch Olivia or play with Iain. I’m due for some extra grandma time anyway.”

“You’re sure?” Em asked her mom.

She assured us she didn’t mind, and soon, the four of us were seated at Ruth’s Diner.

* * *

It was good to get back to having some girl time and catch up on the small things that had been going on with them. They tried all kinds of ways to try to trick me into telling them how the contests had gone, but I didn’t fall for it. One, I had signed a nondisclosure agreement, which contractually obligated me not to share, although I knew I could probably get away with telling these particular girls. But second, it was more fun to keep them in suspense.

“But I can tell you the area is absolutely beautiful,” I told them. “The lodge would make a great getaway. I’ve got some pics. Hold on.”

I wrinkled my nose as I checked my phone and saw I had a missed call.

“What’s wrong?” Em asked.

“I have a missed phone call and short message from a Connor Dunham. I have no idea who that is, but he said he got my number from Jared, the owner of Grandview Lodge. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I don’t usually give out this number to people I don’t know. I wonder why he called. He didn’t leave a message.”

“Connor Dunham?” Paige asked, her voice more shrill than usual.

“Yeah. Should I know him?”

She quickly typed on her phone, then held it out. An incredibly handsome man dressed in a tux and standing on a red carpet stared back at me with more of a smirk than a grin, like he knew something no one else knew.

“Whoa,” Em explained. “Is that him? Is he a movie star? I’ve never heard of him.”

Paige shook her head. “No. But he is the CEO of Halcyon Hotels, one of the hottest boutique hotel chains in the country. It’s actually owned by him and his twin brother, Logan. I bet they saw your designs and called Jared because he wants to work with you. That would be so amazing,” she exclaimed.

“Oh, I’ve heard of him,” Bristol said. “Halcyon is based out of Charlotte. I even saw him once at a fundraiser. Believe me, that picture doesn’t do him justice.”

“But how could he have seen anything?” Em interjected. “We can’t even get her to tellusanything, and the show hasn’t aired yet.”

Paige gave a delicate toss of her shoulders. “Who knows? Maybe he stayed out there and was one of the judges that passed through at the end. I imagine he has connections galore. But really, who cares? It’s Connor Dunham. Call him back.”

I shook my head. “No, this is our time. I’ll call him when I go back to work next week.” I’d taken the entire week off to be able to spend time with Bristol and help her with last-minute preparations. And to sleep. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get caught up on sleep after the long hours of the past month and a half.

“Well, be sure to let us know. Maybe you have a new fan. And maybe Mac will have some competition.”

I laughed along with the rest, but I knew that wasn’t going to be true. Because somewhere over the past several months, I’d fallen hard for Mackenzie Caldwell.

Chapter26

Cam

The days turned quicklyinto weeks, which soon turned into a month since we’d returned from Colorado.

I did my best to resume a routine, but not a day went by that the office didn’t have a phone call from someone who wanted to discuss the possibility of working together. Calls came in from all over, and several I had to politely decline because I couldn’t travel as far as they wanted me to.

I couldn’t walk down the streets of our small downtown area or enter a store where I wasn’t stopped multiple times by someone who said they couldn’t wait to see the show and wished us good luck. I always got a chuckle out of it because it was as if they thought the final moments would be a surprise to Mac and me, as well.

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