The Bear's Bride(4)

Clint nodded. “Same here. This camping trip is going to live on. Once everyone is settled with their new families, we can start it back up again.”

“Thank god.” Ben breathed a sigh of relief. “I have no idea what I’d do with that property if it wasn’t for the men’s weekend. There’s nothing else to do at the lake.”

“We looking to head out the same time?” Clint asked.

Frank cleared his throat. “Actually, I was thinking we could go a little later this year. Maybe the first or second week of December?”

Ben and Clint looked at their phones. Ben shrugged. “I’m free.”

“The first week would be better for me. People always come in for last-minute Christmas stuff the second week of December,” Clint said.

“The first week?” Frank looked at Ben.

“Sounds good to me. I’ll text Owen.” Ben’s fingers moved on his keypad. “Why do you want to wait this year?”

Frank cracked a small smile. “I’m going to be filming a special with Allison Jensen for Cuisine right after Thanksgiving.”

Clint almost spit out his beer. “No way! Congratulations, Frank. That’s so great. This is going to put you in the spotlight.”

“Probably going to bring in plenty of tourists.” Ben’s blue eyes crinkled up as he laughed. “Owen’s going to owe you big time. You’re helping his little cause out.”

“I didn’t even think about that. But it couldn’t hurt to have one of the best pastry shops in the state.”

“How many shifter bakeries do you think there are?” Clint asked, suddenly serious. “Really, I think this could be a big selling point for us. Aren’t we focusing on how we have successful business owners?”

Ben nodded, getting into it. “You’re right. This is going to be huge for Sunset Falls.”

“Really, we need both,” Frank said, trying to tamp down his friends’ excitement. “It’s great we have successful business owners, but we need more family-friendly stuff.”

“I think we’re getting there. Your shop is as family friendly as they come.” Ben waved off the criticism easily. “This is a great start to our offensive. I think we could really have a shot at this thing in a year or two.”

“It only takes a few weddings to change our demographics,” Clint pointed out. “It’s not a big town. A handful of marriages will put us over fifty percent married couples. That’s all we need. A nice mix of marrieds and singles.”

Frank wanted to tell his friends about his potential match but he kept his mouth shut. He still hadn’t heard back from Olivia. It had been over twenty-four hours and Frank was getting worried. Maybe the woman had seen his picture and had turned him down. He knew he was a little past his prime but he still had a head full of golden-brown hair. He kept in good shape running around in the desert too. He might not be a spring chicken anymore but he still had a lot going for him.

He hoped he would hear back from Olivia soon. His heart couldn’t take the anticipation much longer. Either way, he wanted to know.

***

There was a knock at Amy’s door. She was tempted to ignore it but the visitor was persistent. She hoped it was her landlord coming to fix her oven. It had broken three days earlier and the man had said he was on the way to fix it. She couldn’t wait until she got the payment for her latest manuscript. She was going to find a better rental and forget all about the dump she was in. It would be a fresh start to move into a new place. She was counting down the days.

She peered through the peephole and rolled her green eyes. “Karen, go home. It’s late.”

“Open the door, Amy.” Karen tapped her foot on the other side. “I do have a key.”

Amy opened the door a crack. “What do you want?”

“I want to talk. That Lovely and Kind Brides agent called again.”

“Did you tell her you were a big liar and that I wasn’t going to meet this psychopath?”

“I did.”

Amy closed the door and slipped the chain off. “You did not.”

Karen nodded. “I had to. She was so keen on getting ‘me’ to talk with this guy. She sounded so happy that I felt awful deceiving her.”

“Serves you right.” Amy felt a teeny bit bad for her sister. She’d only been trying to help. She couldn’t let Karen see that or it would be an invitation for her to meddle again, and Amy didn’t need that.

“She was really nice about it, actually.” Karen waved a packet of paper. “I printed off all the stuff she emailed over. She says if you’re still interested, you can talk with her yourself.”