With Love Read Online Free PDF Page A

my arm and asked, “Are you Alyson Almon? Please be Ally.”
    “Yes, I’m Ally. Why?” Why does she look familiar?
    “Are you the Ally that sent those beautiful wedding pictures to my brother, Luke, this morning?”
    “Yes. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude or anything. I just happened to be there with my camera, and you were all laughing—”
    Julia interrupted, squeezing my arm and bringing me closer. “Oh my gosh, Ally. You have nothing to apologize for. They were wonderful! In fact, I want to hire you for another event.”
    “Hire me? Why?”
    As Julia was pulling me aside, she kept talking. “Ally, the way you caught the reflection of my Dad and the natural way you captured my sister and me laughing was awesome. Not to mention the way Luke was looking at you.” Julia continued walking down the street while still holding onto me.
    My mind was racing, thinking, Luke was watching me? Oh God.
    I stopped and tried to take my arm away from Julia.
    “What are you doing, Ally?”
    I looked at Julia and said, “Well, I’m going to my cab—where my luggage is.”
    Shocked, Julia replied, “What? You’re leaving? You can’t leave! Ally, why are you leaving? Please stay, Ally. Please take pictures of our Gala. It must be perfect. This is the first Gala that I am fully in charge of since my mom died. Please, Ally. Please say that you will be our photographer. Please! The pay is pretty good.”
    I just stared at her. “Do you always talk that fast?”
    Julia smiled. “Is that a yes, Ally?”
    I wanted to say no—no with all my heart because all I really wanted to do was go home and be with Sam and my kids. Instead, I asked, “When is this Gala?”
    Julia screeched and brought me in for a big hug. “Oh, thank you, Ally! Thank you!”
    Julia then quickly turned on a dime toward the cab and jumped in, pulling me behind her. She then gave the cab driver an address.
    Gala? I wondered to myself.
    On the way to Julia’s father’s office, Julia was bombarding me with information about the Gala. I just sat back and watched Julia have at it. I couldn’t believe that someone could be so excited about something this much. I was a simple photographer—nothing too exciting.
    “So the Gala is about helping children that can’t afford to go to college.” Julia informed me.
    I stopped listening when we arrived at McDerment Industries. As the cab pulled up to the building, I instantly fell in love with it. Here I was in the heat of downtown—the core of the city—and standing on fresh green grass, looking into a cabin-style building with wood-log siding and river rock on the bottom. It made me feel like I was a little closer to home.
    “You like it?” Julia asked with pride in her voice.
    “Yeah, it’s breathtaking. Nothing like what I expected,” I replied, still taking in my surroundings.
    “My dad helped design it. It reminds him of my mom.”
    With that, Julia grabbed me, and we went inside.
    ***
    “Afternoon, Ms. Julia,” a nice-looking man addressed her.
    “Afternoon, Eric,” Julia said with a big grin. “This is Ally, and she’ll be working here for a while. Please make sure she is well taken care of,” she finished with an evil little laugh.
    “Yes, sure thing.” Eric looked at me and winked.
    “Eric, do you mind grabbing Ally’s luggage from the cab? Put it in the back for now.”
    “I’d love to. Enjoy your stay Ms. Ally,” Eric said with a kind smile.
    I tried to stop Eric. “Oh, that’s not necessary. I can do it, Julia.”
    “Don’t be silly. Eric will take good care of your stuff.” Julia nodded to Eric and took my arm, pulling me in another direction.
    As we were riding up the elevator to the second floor, I couldn’t stop straightening out my T-shirt.
    Julia noticed and said, “Ally, you’re fine. If my dad had his way, he’d be wearing a T-shirt, too.”
    When I stepped out of the elevator, I admired the color of the walls. They were a light grey with green accents. In