His Plan: Book 3 in the Crossing Midian Series - A Small-Town Christian Romance

Chapter 6

Lenore left the church and went straight to the bookstore to open up. Her mother had left early that morning to take Stella to an appointment, leaving Lenore to hold down the fort.

Not that there was much to be done. Mondays were always the slowest days, and Lenore was mostly doing busy work. Anything she could find to keep her mind off of Beau and their disastrous meeting.

She couldn't believe how quickly he had shut her down. He wouldn't listen to any of her ideas, and he certainly hadn't wanted her help.

Partner? Yeah, right.

It was obvious Beau Anderson thought he was the only one who should get a say on the matter.

He was stubborn, bone-headed, and—

The bell above the shop door jingled, pulling Lenore from her thoughts and alerting her to a customer.

"I'll be right there," she called out from where she was crouched behind a shelf, stocking a box of used, discounted books.

"I think I've waited long enough, actually."

Lenore jumped up when she heard the familiar voice call back cheerfully. "Kara!"

"Imagine your best friend being in town for a whole three days and you still haven't gotten to see her!"

"In my defense," Lenore said as she hugged her friend tightly, "I'm not the one who caught the flu the day I got here."

Kara laughed. "Well, that was unfortunate."

Kara was tall and slender, with hazel eyes and straight, light brown hair that barely touched her shoulders. She had it pulled back with a red headband that matched the cute red top she wore.

As far as Lenore could tell, Kara hadn't changed a bit, except now she pushed a tiny little baby in a stroller.

"I'm glad you guys are feeling better though," Lenore said as she bent down to peer inside the stroller. Looking back up at her was the most adorable baby boy she had ever seen. "Oh my gosh, Kara!" she exclaimed. "Those pictures you sent don't do him justice. He's gorgeous!"

Kara unclipped the buckle that secured Matthew into the stroller and lifted him out before placing him in Lenore's waiting arms.

"The only pictures I have are what I've taken on my phone," she said. "I was hoping you could take some professional ones for us while you're in town."

Lenore smiled down at him. "Anything for my only godson."

Matthew cooed up at her and Lenore sighed. "I can't believe I missed his birth. And now he's already a month old! I'm a terrible person."

Kara rolled her eyes. "Shut up. You are not. It wasn't your fault he came early, and you had to work. You couldn't just not show up to the wedding."

"I could have," Lenore protested, though it wasn't convincing even to her own ears.

Six weeks ago, Lenore received the opportunity of a lifetime when the wedding of a celebrity couple came her way. Two weeks before International Pop Star, Naomi Bell was supposed to marry her rockstar fiancé, Ben Ferreira, their photographer had to cancel after realizing she had overbooked herself. Lenore had been following the wedding preparations closely anyway, but when she'd heard about the photographer, she jumped at the opportunity to shoot her shot. In a moment of madness, Lenore sent Naomi's manager an email with her portfolio, offering her services.

The next thing Lenore knew, Naomi had called her before she flew her out to Asheville, North Carolina, on her private jet. It had been a whirlwind couple of weeks that had boosted Lenore's career in a way that nothing else had before, but it had come at the expense of being able to be with Kara when she gave birth to her first baby.