Connie snapped out of her trance and went into the kitchen. "Elle's with a man," they heard her tell her husband and whoever else was in there with her.

"A man?" Cal asked.

"A city man! And a woman."

Elle shifted awkwardly in her seat. "I'm sorry about that." She shuffled through her notebook to an empty page.

"Interesting town." Dean smiled.

"Has its quirks."

"You're not a native?" Kim asked and Elle shook her head.

"What made you make a tree change, Ms. Grace?" Dean said.

Elle tried to focus on anything other than their pretty faces. He was just a handsome man with an icy person accommodating him. Elle had dealt with many handsome men before him. There was no reason for him or Kim should intimidate her. She only wished her eyes would behave and stay strictly professional. Kim was throwing her dirty looks now and then, and it made her uncomfortable.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Stewart? It's a scorching day outside and I'm sure your stay is short."

"You could have dinner with me one day," he suggested. And next to him, Kim snapped straight. "I want to see if I could get you interested in covering a wedding for me?"

"Yours?" Elle eyed the couple.

Dean shook his head. "I heard you're quite good."

"Where are you from, Mr. Stewart?"

"Sydney, like I said."

"The Northern Beaches, I'm guessing," Elle queried. He nodded. "Why have you driven all this way to whoop-whoop for a wedding photographer when your area is teeming with big names?"

"Exactly what I've been asking him." Kim furrowed her brows.

"I need a guarantee that there'll be no dramas," he said, though more pointed at Kim than Elle. "No leaks of confidential information, nor photos, and so forth. My family's privacy and safety are important to me."

Elle took a gulp of water. "And you think I'm your man?"

Dean regarded her for a moment with a smirk as Kim huffed beside him. "Are we making you uncomfortable?"

Elle shook her head. "It's not that Mr. Stewart. I just don't think I'm the photographer for you. I don't have the skill set you require or manpower."

He was quiet for a while. "That's disappointing to hear, Ms Grace. I came based on a reliable opinion that you were as good as if not better, and fair than the big names, as you call it."

"Whose opinion?" Kim asked.

"When did you need the service?" Elle ignored the woman. They were talking business, for God's sake. A proposal she was likely going to reject. "If it's soon, then I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you." She watched Connie bring over the plates of food. "Even in a small town, wedding season can get busy."

"You're getting married?" Connie asked with her full attention on Dean Stewart again. He smiled, pulling his plate close. "Oh, I see. You want Ellenor to cover your wedding? Wonderful camera woman she is."

Dean glanced at Elle. "So I've been told." And Elle swore she saw Kim pull a face from the corner of her eye.

As much as she wanted to prolong lunch with Mr. Stewart, she was in equal want of being done with Kim. She was acutely aware she no longer knew how to deal with city clients anymore, nor had the patience to deal with the likes of Ms. Van Belt's company. And so, she tried her best to hurry her lunch. She felt self-conscious sitting across from Dean Stewart and eating a meal.

"Let me think about your proposal, Mr. Stewart. It's a big commitment." She pushed aside her half-eaten lunch. "If you had come to me three years ago, I would've jumped at the opportunity to cover the wedding of a lifetime. But I've only recently started again and I'm not sure I'm the man for the job."

Dean swallowed the last of his pesto linguine and gulped down the cold beer. He reached into his pocket and produced a business card. "In case you change your mind, Ellenor. It's my gift to my brother and his bride-to-be, not a celebrity shoot. I'd rather not have any celebrity photographer."

He spotted Wally chatting with some locals and called him over. Elle reached for her bag and Dean shook his head. "It's on me."

"I was the one who asked you to this place," Elle stammered as Dean handed a hundred-dollar note to Wally.

"Is there a toilet in here?" Kim asked.

Elle pointed to the door down the aisle. Dean slid out and Kim eagerly left them for the moment.

"I rarely let my clients pay," Elle said.

"I'm not your client yet, Ms. Grace."

As they stepped out into the heat of the afternoon while Kim was in the powder room, Elle couldn't help but ask. "How did you come to know about me, Mr. Stewart?"

"Call me Dean. I insist."

"A previous client?" Elle queried.

"She's your cousin, I believe." Dean watched Elle's face light up.

"Chloe?"

"Is that her name? I swear I heard Kylie," Dean said. "The one recently married to Peter Hammond?" Elle laughed. Chloe Hammond was, in fact, her cousin. "That's her album?" he asked, spotting the two platinum albums in Elle's car. "Mind if I take a look? I'd like to see your work for myself. Chloe was highly enthusiastic about you."

Elle fished out the albums from the hot car and watched Dean sit down on the curb, flick through the photos, speechless. "This helps me decide, Ellenor." He placed them back in the car once done.

"Do I stack up, Mr. Ste... Dean?"

"I believe she forgot to say you were, without question, one of the best. I won't be going to any other photographer now. Hope you don't mind?" He turned to the diner as Kim appeared. "Head to the car. I won't be long," he called to her.

"I haven't agreed to anything yet." Elle inched towards her car. "Thank you for the lunch."

"I think you will." He watched her get in the car and reverse out of the lot with a smile on her face.

She wound down a window, knowing that she just might say yes to him, just to lay her eyes on him again. She waved briskly, peeling her car and herself away from the diner with difficulty.

Two hours later, Elle had melted into the sofa with both her AC and the fan on full blast. She could hear Maya splashing around in the inflatable kiddie pool out in the backyard. "You got sunscreen on?"

"Yes, mama," Maya chirped back.

Exhausted, Elle drained a glass of chilled lemonade, peeled off her shirt and skirt, and deposited herself back on the sofa in her undies. She reached for the phone and dialed Chloe.

"You better have some good news for me, Ellie." Chloe's cheerful voice sounded. "I want to see how my wedding looked, you know."

"I have it here with me." Elle poured herself another glass of lemonade.

"How does it look?"

"Fabulous! But of course, I'd say that since I'm the photographer. You want to look for yourself, don't you?" She pulled the two albums toward herself and flicked one open.

"When do you plan on coming down?" Chloe asked.

"After the Van Belt's wedding," Elle blurted, sitting up. "I have to take Maya with me since there is no one to look after her. Maybe you can..."

"Come visit you there?" Chloe finished.

"If you want those albums."

"I'll tell Peter I need the day to recoup."

"As if you ever do anything else." Elle laughed. "By the way, you didn't send a Dean Stewart my way, did you? He said he knows you." She could hear Chloe laughing.

"Charming, isn't he?"

"Can't say the same about his partner, though. You should have warned me."

"Warn you? Whatever was there to warn you about?"

"That they were coming down to see me..." Elle said.

"I actually didn't think he'd come down to see you this week," Chloe teased.

"What did you tell him exactly?"

"That you are a fabulous photographer and since his brother is getting hitched soon, your work might interest him."

"That's all?"

"I might have said that you have things in common."

"Chloe, I do not need to be set up with anyone! Least of all him," Elle squealed.

"He behaved himself, didn't he?"

"He was more than fine, actually. But you're forgetting his partner," Elle stammered.

"Who?"

"Kim Van Belt."

Chloe chuckled loudly. "Kim is not his partner, Elle. And I don't see what the problem is. He's eye candy. Enjoy it."

And that is the problem, Elle thought.

Link to YONDER: https://yonder.onelink.me/6vpb/46a0c21e