Free Black Ember by Ruby Laska Page B

I’d snatch it up for cousin Lainey. If she has to room with Aunt Ida, there’s going to be hell to pay. Besides, we’re not using the family room for anything—it’s far too ugly. So Carrie can have it all to herself.”
    “I can’t stay here while your sister is getting married!”
    “You certainly can. Besides, they’ve got a room at the Three Horses Inn on their wedding night, so you could always crash in their room if you get tired of the couch.” Deneen gave her an encouraging smile. “Listen, this’ll make a great story—every event planner knows that they’re judged not by the things that go right but by how they handle the challenges. You can return the favor by telling everyone I pulled it off.”
    Carrie looked at her for a long moment, then at Jimmy and finally at Zane. She looked completely unsure of herself. Finally, her shoulders sagged and she said, in a very small voice, “I don’t know how to thank you. I didn’t know where I was going to go, and…I just can’t believe you’d do such a nice thing for a total stranger.”
    “We’re not strangers,” Deneen said, “not after you spent the night! And now that you’ve seen me without my makeup, we’re practically related! Besides, if you go, I’ll have to put up with Zane moping all day long. He hasn’t brought a girl home the entire time he’s lived here—I’m not about to turn away the first.”
    “I didn’t bring her home!” Zane protested. This was a disaster—Deneen thought they were an item, which could only lead to more trouble. One didn’t take chances around a human tornado who considered herself a matchmaker. “I mean, I did, but only because she didn’t have anywhere else to go!”
    “Like a stray kitten,” Deneen said, winking. “Don’t worry, I get it.”
    “Really,” Carrie said quickly. “He was just being nice. I don’t—I’m not—”
    “Sure, sure. Listen, you two, we can continue the bickering inside. Time’s a-wasting, and we’ve got swans to fold!”

CHAPTER TEN
     
    Caryn laid a salad fork next to the dinner fork on the pale lavender tablecloth, squinted, and nudged it slightly to the right. She didn’t know Deneen well, but she’d wager that the woman was a perfectionist when it came to table settings. Right now she was having an animated conversation on the phone with someone about parking for tomorrow.
    “Small to medium, I would say…well, I don’t know, I’ve never actually measured the ruts in the road. I mean, surely you have experience driving on dirt roads if you grew up in North Dakota. Oh, really…mmm-mmm…and I’d love to hear all about how you came to move here from Maine sometime, but for the moment, can we just talk about the parking?”
    Caryn smiled to herself as Deneen went out onto the porch where she had more room to pace. She’d been pacing the floors most of the day, which was probably why she had that enviable, lean figure. Caryn herself had been lean, a gym devotee most of her life, until Nathanial dumped her—and now her thin figure owed mostly to stress.
    But despite the fact that she was two thousand miles from home, crashing in a bunkhouse, had lost everything she brought with her, was living a lie and working as a waitress, something about the ranch had a surprisingly calming effect on her. Maybe it was the view of the fields and forest, the clouds scudding along the horizon in a brilliant blue sky. Maybe it was the scent of wildflowers mixed with the aroma of fresh-brewed coffee. Maybe it was the kindness of everyone she’d met, strangers who somehow managed to make you feel like you were old friends.
    Maybe it was the man sitting at the end of the table, tying lavender satin ribbons to the wedding programs.
    He chose that moment to let out a string of cursing.
    Okay, Zane wasn’t exactly calming. Kind of the opposite, if she were honest with herself. She allowed herself a covert view of him while he struggled with a knot. He was wearing a T-shirt