“Take the picture,” Emily said between her teeth.
She was dressed in white and silver cowboy boots with a Mexican cotton dress that was hand-embroidered in shades of red and turquoise. Donovan was dressed in black, with a crisp white shirt and a black onyx bolo tie.
“Move to the left. I want to hide the damage the hogs did to the side of the gazebo,” Kelly said, adjusting the camera on the tripod.
Stifling a sigh, Emily shuffled to the left with her arms still around Donovan.
“Donovan, get your hand off her ass,” Kelly said.
“I like his hand on my ass.”
“Not for the engagement pictures. Come on. I’ve got to give Aunt Candace something to work with or she’ll have my… Holy shit… Don’t move.”
“If it’s a hog, my rifle’s in the truck.” Donovan took a step forward.
“I said don’t move.” Kelly used her Mommy has had enough of your shit voice. They froze in place. Kelly took the camera off the tripod, working fast.
“Smile, damn it.”
Emily pasted on a smile, feeling confused.
Kelly sidestepped and starting clicking pictures as fast as she could. “Open your eyes, damn it, and give me a real smile.”
“I feel like we’re on a runway or something,” Donovan said.
Then Kelly turned the camera completely away from them and moved forward.
Emily turned and nearly fell on her ass. If it hadn’t been for Donovan’s hand there, she might have. Ghost was casually sauntering by without a care in the world.
“I don’t fucking believe it,” Donovan muttered.
Emily laughed. They had looked everywhere, but they had been looking in the wrong place. She wasn’t deep in Donovan’s woods, she was hanging around the cattle pastures by Janice’s retreat building. She would be far away from the hunters if she kept to this side of the property.
Ghost headed down the trail behind Janice’s retreat building and disappeared into the forest.
“Tell me you got that?” Emily rushed to Kelly’s side where she was reviewing the shots.
“That’s one hell of a photo bomb.” Kelly showed her a picture of them standing by the gazebo with Ghost calmly walking in the background.
“That’s good luck, right?” Emily and Kelly hugged each other.
“Janice is going to flip,” Kelly said. “I’m going to follow her and see if I can get some more candids.”
“Let me grab my rifle in case there’s trouble.” Donovan headed to the truck.
“You can’t go in like that. You’ll destroy your suit.”
“I can’t take the time to change. We might miss her again.” He opened the door and took out his rifle. He loaded it quickly and hurried after Kelly.
“I can’t ruin these boots,” Emily wailed. “Do you know how hard it is to find good boots that aren’t made out of leather?”
Donovan kissed her as he passed by. “Who wears white cowboy boots on a ranch anyway? It’s just a matter of time before they get dirty.”
“To hell with it,” she said, following him. She hoped she didn’t fall down in her pretty white dress, but it would be worth it to get another glimpse of the ranch’s good luck charm.
The End