“I’ll take a Guinness,” she said at once. “And I’ll give Mack another fifteen minutes before I go back to stake my claim. I have my ways of getting his full attention.”
Luke clapped his hands over his ears. “Too much information, sis. I’m the baby brother, remember?”
She laughed. “From what I’ve seen, you’re no slouch when it comes to charm and trickery in the romance department. I doubt I could say a single thing that would shock you.”
“Let’s not put that to the test, okay?”
He left her with their father and uncle, then went in search of Moira. “Something tells me we’re going to have to find another waitperson.”
She frowned. “Why?”
He filled her in on Mack’s annoyance about Kristen and how he’d all but handed over Josh to make up for it.
“A small sacrifice to keep peace in the land,” Moira said at once. She regarded him skeptically. “Kristen’s really leaving? Do you believe that?”
“That’s the word on the street,” he confirmed.
“Excuse me while I do a little victory dance,” she said lightly.
Luke rolled his eyes. “You should join Susie out there. She’s ready to set off fireworks.”
“And you?” she inquired, studying him intently. “How do you feel?”
“It’s for the best,” he said at once. “I can’t help feeling a little sorry for her, though. She made a lot of people here unhappy, but I think she made herself unhappiest of all.”
Moira shook her head, regarding him with amazement. “You really do have a heart of gold, don’t you?”
“Will it get you home with me, and into my bed, if I say yes?”
She grinned. “It just might.”
He tapped his chest. “Twenty-four karat,” he assured her.
“I’ll have to think about whether that’s to be a blessing or a curse,” she said, giving him a peck on the cheek. “We’ll discuss it later. If you’ve turned Josh over to Mack, I imagine someone needs to be out there paying attention to the customers. I’m all you have left on this shift.”
“I knew there was a reason I hired you as my consultant. You keep a close eye on the big picture,” he praised.
“While you fret over the details,” she said.
“It makes us a good fit, doesn’t it?”
“I like to think so, but last I heard the jury was still out.”
Luke smiled at her response. He had a feeling that the jury warring in his head was closer to a verdict than he’d ever imagined. Those hours they’d been on the outs had scared him in ways he’d never imagined it possible for a woman to make him feel.
All too aware of Megan’s expectant expression every time she and Moira crossed paths, Moira took to carrying her camera with her everywhere she went. Sometimes it worried her that she was sacrificing quality for quantity, hoping that if she took enough pictures, lightning would strike and at least a few of them would be good.
More than once, when she went to look at the shots on the computer, she wound up deleting all of them. She was beginning to panic that she’d never get another picture worthy of all the fuss Megan had made about her previous ones.
She was sitting in Luke’s office going through the latest batch when Megan herself came in. “So, you are still taking pictures. I was beginning to worry since it’s been a while since you last stopped in at the gallery.”
“I’ve taken nothing worth showing to you,” Moira replied in frustration.
“Move over and let me take a look,” Megan said.
Moira stayed where she was, one finger ready to delete the entire file.
“Don’t you dare!” Megan commanded. “Not till I’ve seen them for myself and can give you a professional evaluation.”
Moira sighed and stood up, though she’d never been more reluctant to show her work to anyone.
Megan sat down and went through the couple of dozen photos Moira had shot earlier in the day, then she went back and took a second look.
“They’re terrible,” Moira said, before Megan could say it.
“They’re not your best work,” Megan agreed candidly.
Her words sent Moira’s confidence dipping even further. If she’d found even one to praise, it might not have hurt so badly.
“I don’t understand what’s happening,” she admitted to Megan. “It’s the same camera I’m working with. I’ve my same two eyes. Yet nothing is coming out quite right.”
“How much time are you spending at this?” Megan asked.
“I go out on my breaks from here and try to take some pictures every day.”
“An hour then? Less?”
Moira flushed at the implied criticism. “Probably that.”
“And that’s the problem,” Megan said. “You’re rushing. You’re not taking the time to observe these people before you snap the shutter. You’re too eager to get a few shots and then get back to what you think of as your real work.”
Moira couldn’t deny it. “That’s true.”
“It won’t work,” Megan said gently. “The value of your work is your understanding of the people whose pictures you’re taking. In all the others I’ve seen, you’ve observed first, then captured them at the precise moment when they’re showing a side of themselves that sums up their personality in the blink of an eye or, more precisely, the click of a shutter.”
Moira felt a sudden burst of understanding and a renewed sense of purpose. “You’re exactly right. I’ve been rushing through it, hoping for something magical but not doing my own part to see that I get it.” She met Megan’s gaze. “But how am I to do that with all my time tied up here?”
Megan held her gaze. “You’re not going to like my answer to that.”
Moira saw exactly where she was headed without Megan saying it directly. “You want me to
