Page 16 of Merry with Me
He nods stiffly, and I jump into everything I made a note of for us to go over today. “Okay, so Captured Moments here in town has agreed to be the event photographer. Palmer and Scarlett are incredible, and they’re giving us a discount.”
“Your family, right?” he asks.
I can’t hold my smile. “Yes, my aunts. Palmer is married to my uncle Brooks, and Scarlett is married to my uncle Archer.”
“That was nice of them.” He takes another bite of his lunch.
“It was,” I agree. “The caterer is sending over meal options, so as soon as I get that, I’ll let you know, and we can make our final choice.”
“I don’t care. Whatever you choose is fine.”
I ignore the statement because I plan to run the options past him regardless of whether he gives me his input or not. “The florist is going to do a mix of poinsettias and something else that she assures me is Christmassy.”
“Is that a word? Christmassy?”
I shrug. “Yes.” My answer is instant and, to be honest, a little clipped. He knows damn good and well it’s a word. He’s giving me a hard time. He chuckles, and some of my irritation melts away at the sound.
“What else is on that list of yours, Blakely Kincaid?” he asks, taking his last bite before closing his box and pushing it to the side.
“Seating chart, ticket sales, the silent auction, speeches, and an update of what last year’s gala money helped do for the organization and the community.”
“Sounds like you’ve got a handle on everything.”
“Any thoughts or suggestions? Anything that you can think of that I might be missing?” I know there’s not. I’ve already met with Hilary this morning, in fact, and she assured me I am well on track to picking up the pieces where she left off.
“Oh, and the venue, the Willow Manor, they’re going to already be decorated for the holiday, so that helps.”
“Also your family, right?” he asks with a furrow in his brow, as if he’s trying to work out how I’m related in his mind.
“My mom.” I smile. “Her grandma owned it and passed it on to her. That’s actually how she met my dad and me.” His eyes widen. “She adopted me. My mother passed away when I was really young.”
“I’m sorry about your mother.” His voice is soft.
I smile and lift a shoulder in a “what do you do” gesture. “I don’t remember her. I was really small, and my mom, Kennedy, she’s never treated me any differently than my brother and sister. She’s my mom. I love her, and I know how incredibly blessed I am that she came into our lives. My dad, he was just going through the motions, doing his best to raise me, but when my mom came along, his life changed for the better.”
“And you remember that, do you?” he asks, a hint of a smile on his lips.
“No, but I have eight uncles, my cousin Ramsey, all their spouses, and my grandparents. Trust me, I’ve heard the story over and over again. Each of them has a unique story that I could tell you by heart.”
“Oh, you’re one of those.”
“What do you mean, ‘one of those’?” I ask him.
“Youlovelove.”
“I do. I love family. It means everything. Our family motto is to work hard and love harder. I plan to live by that, just as every other member of my family does.”
He mumbles something that sounds like, “It’s not what it’s cracked up to be,” before clearing his throat. “Right. Well, I need to get back to my patients.”
“When is a good time for you to meet me at the venue?” I blurt the question, and I’ve shocked myself, because why in the hell does he need to meet me at the manor?
“Why do I need to do that?”
“We need to work on table placement for the guests and for the silent auction.”
“I trust your judgment.” He stands and grabs his empty lunch container, tossing it into the trash.
“We’re supposed to be doing this together, Dr. Thompson.”