bridal, somehow.
“Then it’s settled,” Kresley said in the authoritative tone Brooke recognized from countless staff meetings. “I’ll have to look at the budget before we nail down travel specifics, but Jake, you said a friend was flying you to Tennessee?”
“He’s a flight instructor, owns a Cessna Skyhawk.”
“What do you think he might charge for Brooke to go with you?” Kresley asked.
Brooke whipped her head around. “What?”
“As long as Jake doesn’t mind the extra company, I can approve Thursday and Friday out of the office and look into the budget for a hotel room.” Kresley shrugged. “It’s for work, but you’ll need to take your own pictures. I am not sending a photographer, too.”
That was no big deal—there were several staffers, Brooke included, who’d done double duty at the Chronicle before, getting the byline for both story and photos. Being sent away overnight with Jake McBride, however, seemed like a huge, towering, everything’s-bigger-in-Texas deal.
Brooke glanced at Giff. “You wouldn’t have a problem with this?”
He looked surprised by the question. “It would be silly for me to object— I’m the one who suggested you write it. Besides, it gives me that much more time to work around the clock guilt-free so I can clear my schedule for after the wedding.”
They planned to honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta,Mexico, and also take a few days to get her moved into his house.
The thought of their honeymoon caused a strange twist in Brooke’s stomach— maybe it’s anticipation —and she turned to Jake. “We haven’t really confirmed that you’re okay with this. I—”
“Sure,” he said, surprising her with his easy agreement. He’d seemed less than enthusiastic when Kresley first proposed the article. “I don’t know that people really want to read about me, but if you and Kresley think so, then I’m happy to help. We can always kill time on the way up there swapping embarrassing stories about Giff.”
Brooke’s fiancé groaned good-naturedly. “Is it too late to change my answer?”
“Last I heard,” Jake told Kresley, “my buddy’s planning to drop me and one paying customer. A Skyhawk seats three in addition to the pilot. I’ll check with him and see if the space is still available. Since Brooke’s with me, I doubt Boom would charge more than a nominal fee, if that.”
“Boom?” Brooke echoed. He wanted her to put her livelihood and well-being in the hands of a grown man who answered to Boom? Wasn’t that the sound a plane made when it freaking crashed?
“When you say ‘drop,’” Brooke began, “you are just being colloquial, right? Before I even consider going, you have to promise there would be no parachutes involved.”
Amid chuckles around the table, Jake said, “No,he’ll land the plane. There will be an actual runway and everything.”
“Good.” Because being around Jake already felt too much like a freefall.
J AKE GLANCED UP AT THE STARS , not that he could actually see any from the Grace’s backyard. That was one thing money couldn’t buy. The house was stunning, if you weren’t overwhelmed by three stories and the one or two formal rooms that looked like something from a magazine layout, but the night sky was largely blotted out by city lights and smog. Jake’s own modest home outside Houston and beyond Sugar Land didn’t have four bathrooms, but most nights he could find a half-dozen constellations without trouble.
After the live music that had been playing for the past three hours and the spirited conversations of guests, the yard was subdued now, with only the clatter of caterers packing up to compete with the sound of crickets. He’d made the offer to stick around and help clean, but since Grace was already paying other people to do that, there wasn’t much to be done.
Still she’d thanked him for the effort. “Such a good boy. Your mother must be so proud,” she’d added shrewdly.
He’d managed not
“Then it’s settled,” Kresley said in the authoritative tone Brooke recognized from countless staff meetings. “I’ll have to look at the budget before we nail down travel specifics, but Jake, you said a friend was flying you to Tennessee?”
“He’s a flight instructor, owns a Cessna Skyhawk.”
“What do you think he might charge for Brooke to go with you?” Kresley asked.
Brooke whipped her head around. “What?”
“As long as Jake doesn’t mind the extra company, I can approve Thursday and Friday out of the office and look into the budget for a hotel room.” Kresley shrugged. “It’s for work, but you’ll need to take your own pictures. I am not sending a photographer, too.”
That was no big deal—there were several staffers, Brooke included, who’d done double duty at the Chronicle before, getting the byline for both story and photos. Being sent away overnight with Jake McBride, however, seemed like a huge, towering, everything’s-bigger-in-Texas deal.
Brooke glanced at Giff. “You wouldn’t have a problem with this?”
He looked surprised by the question. “It would be silly for me to object— I’m the one who suggested you write it. Besides, it gives me that much more time to work around the clock guilt-free so I can clear my schedule for after the wedding.”
They planned to honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta,Mexico, and also take a few days to get her moved into his house.
The thought of their honeymoon caused a strange twist in Brooke’s stomach— maybe it’s anticipation —and she turned to Jake. “We haven’t really confirmed that you’re okay with this. I—”
“Sure,” he said, surprising her with his easy agreement. He’d seemed less than enthusiastic when Kresley first proposed the article. “I don’t know that people really want to read about me, but if you and Kresley think so, then I’m happy to help. We can always kill time on the way up there swapping embarrassing stories about Giff.”
Brooke’s fiancé groaned good-naturedly. “Is it too late to change my answer?”
“Last I heard,” Jake told Kresley, “my buddy’s planning to drop me and one paying customer. A Skyhawk seats three in addition to the pilot. I’ll check with him and see if the space is still available. Since Brooke’s with me, I doubt Boom would charge more than a nominal fee, if that.”
“Boom?” Brooke echoed. He wanted her to put her livelihood and well-being in the hands of a grown man who answered to Boom? Wasn’t that the sound a plane made when it freaking crashed?
“When you say ‘drop,’” Brooke began, “you are just being colloquial, right? Before I even consider going, you have to promise there would be no parachutes involved.”
Amid chuckles around the table, Jake said, “No,he’ll land the plane. There will be an actual runway and everything.”
“Good.” Because being around Jake already felt too much like a freefall.
J AKE GLANCED UP AT THE STARS , not that he could actually see any from the Grace’s backyard. That was one thing money couldn’t buy. The house was stunning, if you weren’t overwhelmed by three stories and the one or two formal rooms that looked like something from a magazine layout, but the night sky was largely blotted out by city lights and smog. Jake’s own modest home outside Houston and beyond Sugar Land didn’t have four bathrooms, but most nights he could find a half-dozen constellations without trouble.
After the live music that had been playing for the past three hours and the spirited conversations of guests, the yard was subdued now, with only the clatter of caterers packing up to compete with the sound of crickets. He’d made the offer to stick around and help clean, but since Grace was already paying other people to do that, there wasn’t much to be done.
Still she’d thanked him for the effort. “Such a good boy. Your mother must be so proud,” she’d added shrewdly.
He’d managed not
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