Bridesmaid for Hire

by Marie Ferrarella

  She’s a professional bridesmaid...

  Who’s suddenly reunited with her ex!

  Gina Bongino was almost a bride—but she said no. Now she works as a professional bridesmaid, providing brides with whatever they need on their big day as discreetly as possible. Shane Callaghan, however, is anything but discreet. After ten years, he’s now raising his niece and making wedding cakes...for the exact same wedding Gina is working!

  “Most people have their calendars on their smartphones, not somewhere in the back room,” Gina explained, saying the first thing that came to her head.

  Shane’s shrug was offhand and casual. “I guess I’m not like most people,” he told her.

  She thought of the way he had been all those years ago and the unusual path his life had taken now. “No,” she agreed. “That you definitely are not.”

  Damn it, why was her heart pounding like this? She needed to get a grip on herself before she said or did something to make a complete fool of herself.

  * * *

  MATCHMAKING MAMAS:

  Playing Cupid. Arranging dates.

  What are mothers for?

  Dear Reader,

  I admit it. I have a habit of getting carried away. When I initially began Matchmaking Mamas, it was supposed to be a four-book series about three best friends who desperately wanted to see their children married and starting their own families. Three women who had supported one another through all the joys and sorrows that came their way since they met in the third grade. Later, they were tired of waiting for their children to find “the one.” So Maizie, Theresa and Cecilia took matters into their own hands and played matchmaker for each of their children. They wound up being so successful they decided to take up matchmaking as a side hobby. Word got around, their reputations grew and here we are, about to begin Matchmaking Mamas book number twenty-three together.

  This time, the ladies are dealing with two people who turned their backs on love ten years ago. Gina Bongino turned down Shane Callaghan’s proposal and instantly regretted it. When she went to apologize and explain herself, she found that he had vanished. Gina now works as a professional bridesmaid, running interference on any emergencies that threaten other brides’ weddings. It’s while smoothing out a potential kink for her latest client that Gina is reunited with Shane, now a sought-after wedding cake designer. Stunned to see one another, there are hurt feelings on both sides. Can Gina and Shane finally have their happily-ever-after?

  As always, I thank you for taking the time to read one of my books, and from the bottom of my heart, I wish you someone to love who loves you back.

  All the best,

  Marie

  Bridesmaid for Hire

  Marie Ferrarella

  USA TODAY bestselling and RITA® Award–winning author Marie Ferrarella has written more than two hundred and fifty books for Harlequin, some under the name Marie Nicole. Her romances are beloved by fans worldwide. Visit her website, marieferrarella.com.

  Books by Marie Ferrarella

  Harlequin Special Edition

  Matchmaking Mamas

  Dr. Forget-Me-Not

  Twice a Hero, Always Her Man

  Meant to Be Mine

  A Second Chance for the Single Dad

  Christmastime Courtship

  Engagement for Two

  Adding Up to Family

  Forever, Texas

  The Cowboy’s Lesson in Love

  The Lawman’s Romance Lesson

  The Fortunes of Texas: The Lost Fortunes

  Texan Seeks Fortune

  The Fortunes of Texas: The Secret Fortunes

  Fortune’s Second-Chance Cowboy

  The Montana Mavericks: The Great Family Roundup

  The Maverick’s Return

  The Fortunes of Texas: The Rulebreakers

  The Fortune Most Likely To...

  Visit the Author Profile page at www.Harlequin.com for more titles.

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  To

  Ellie Melgar,

  Not Even Four Years Old Yet

  And Already

  An Endless Source Of

  Inspiration

  To Me.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from What Makes a Father by Teresa Southwick

  Prologue

  “You understand that I normally don’t like to interfere in my children’s lives,” Anna Bongino stated emphatically.

  Animated, the silver-haired, well-dressed woman was perched on the edge of her chair in Maizie Sommers’s real estate office. Anna drew ever closer to the edge as she spoke.

  Despite the declaration written in bold black letters on the outer door, the subject under discussion was definitely not about real estate.

  “You’re a mother, Anna,” Maizie told the woman in the kind, understanding voice she often used when calming down nervous first-time buyers. “Interfering in our children’s lives is written in the bylaws. You’ll find it listed right after toilet training and staying up all night.”

  Sitting back in her chair, Maizie smiled at her friend. She might have been in charge of a thriving real estate business that she’d started right after losing her husband, but the subject matter under discussion was just as near and dear to her heart. Maybe even more so. To her, matchmaking wasn’t just a hobby. Maizie felt it was her calling.

  When approached for help, she and her lifelong best friends, Celia Parnell and Theresa Manetti, both successful small business owners in their own right, pooled their vast clientele and were able to hone in on just the right match. So far, they were batting a thousand.

  Finding the perfect match had all begun innocently enough. They had decided to take matters into their own hands and find matches for their own children. That successful endeavor had slowly blossomed to the point that their services were sought out by desperate parents or relatives who wanted only the best for their loved ones. They wanted them to have a chance at the happiness that had, heretofore, been eluding them.

  Which was why Anna Bongino was now sitting in her office, tripping over her own tongue and trying not to be overly embarrassed as she stated what had brought her here today.

  “Gina is a bright, outgoing, beautiful girl,” Anna said almost insistently.

  “I’ve seen her photograph,” Maizie replied, agreeing, at least for now, with the “beautiful” part of Anna’s assessment.

  “But she’s turning thirty-two soon,” Anna practically wailed.

  “That’s not exactly having one foot in the grave yet, Anna,” Maizie pointed out, doing her best to maintain a serious expression. This “advanced” age was clearly a sore point for Anna.

  “Well, it might as well be,” Anna cried. She drew herself up. “Did I tell you what my unmarried daughter does for a living?”


  “No, we haven’t gotten to that information yet,” Maizie replied.

  “She’s a professional bridesmaid,” Anna all but cried. “Have you ever heard of such a thing? I certainly haven’t,” Anna declared distastefully, then sighed mightily. “You know that old saying, always a bridesmaid, never a bride?”

  “I am familiar with it,” Maizie answered sympathetically.

  “Well, Gina’s taken it to a new level. Professional bridesmaid,” she said with disdain. “She made the whole thing up.” It was obvious that Anna was not giving her daughter any points for creativity as she went on complaining. “It’s Gina’s job to make sure that the bride experiences her day without any drama. Gina makes sure to handle any and all emergencies on the ‘big’ day so that the bride and her bridesmaids don’t have to endure any of the hassle.”

  “That’s rather a unique vocation,” Maizie commented. “What was Gina before she became this ‘professional bridesmaid?’” she asked, as calm as Anna was agitated. Maizie was trying to get to know her subject so that she and her friends could ultimately find the young woman’s match.

  It seemed clear that she had brought up a sore point. Anna’s face fell as she responded, “Gina was an accountant with a Fortune 500 company. She was going places, Maizie. But she said it wasn’t ‘fulfilling enough’ for her. So she gave all that up to help brides have a wonderful day—as if becoming a bride wasn’t wonderful enough.”

  “Is that why she gave up accounting?” Maizie asked, trying to get as complete and rounded a picture of the young woman as possible. “Because it wasn’t fulfilling enough for her?”

  Anna huffed. “That’s what she said. It also wasn’t ‘hands on’ enough for her. Gina had been a bridesmaid so many times—six,” Anna emphasized almost grudgingly, “that she felt she could take this so-called ‘knowledge’ and parlay it into this ‘creative’ vocation.” Anna shook her head in complete despair.

  “Now she’s so busy getting other people married off that she doesn’t have any time to look around for a suitable man herself.” Almost completely off her seat by now, Anna leaned forward over Maizie’s desk, her hand reaching for Maizie’s. “I need help, Maizie. I need you to throw a sack over my daughter’s head and whisk her away to some wonderful hideaway where she can meet the man of her dreams—or barring that, anything close to it,” Anna stressed.

  The image amused Maizie. “And what’s ‘he’ like, or don’t you know?”

  “Oh, I know. Or I thought I did. Gina was going out with Shane Callaghan about ten years ago. It looked as if that match was getting serious. I had such high hopes for it. And then, just like that, it stopped being serious.” It pained Anna to talk about it, even after ten years. “They broke up.”

  “Why?”

  Anna frowned, frustrated. “Damned if I know. Gina wouldn’t talk about it. I suspect that she got cold feet, but because I couldn’t get her to talk about it, I don’t know if I’m right or not.”

  “Shane Callaghan,” Maizie repeated. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but for the life of her, Maizie didn’t know why or where she had heard it before. “Do you know where this Shane Callaghan is now?”

  Anna shook her heard. “I haven’t a clue. If I did, I wouldn’t be here. I’d be going right up to him and doing everything I could to bring him and Gina together. According to Gina, he vanished right after college graduation.”

  Maizie smiled, knowing how frustrating it could be, sitting on the sidelines. That was obviously not Anna Bongino’s style. “There are laws against kidnapping in this state.”

  Anna shrugged. “It would be worth it if it meant that Gina finally had the right man in her life.”

  “And you think that this Shane Callaghan is the right one?” Maizie questioned.

  “Oh absolutely. I’d bet my soul on it,” she declared with conviction. “So, will you help, Maizie?” Anna asked eagerly, searching Maizie’s face. “Will you help my daughter find the right man and get married?”

  “I can certainly try,” Maizie promised the attractive woman, shaking her hand.

  “‘Try’?” Anna asked, a touch of disappointment in her voice.

  “Only God gives guarantees, but if it helps, our track record is a hundred percent so far,” Maizie assured her friend.

  Anna received the news and beamed. “It helps a great deal.”

  Chapter One

  Eight-year-old Adelyn Loren nodded her approval as she watched, mesmerized, as her aunt adjusted a light blue, floor-length bridesmaid dress. There was a touch of wonder in the little girl’s soft brown eyes.

  “Aunt Gina?” the little girl, known to her family as Addie, asked hesitantly.

  The dark-haired little girl jumped off the bed. She had followed Gina into the room when her aunt had asked her if she wanted to see what the dress looked like on her. A fashion buff, even at the tender age of eight, the girl came in eagerly.

  She finally had the dress right, Gina thought, looking herself over in her sister’s full-length mirror. “What, baby?” Gina asked absently.

  Encouraged, Addie’s voice sounded a little more confident as she asked, “How many times do you have to do it?”

  Gina turned away from the mirror. The dress her latest client had initially picked out had been dowdy and downright awful. With a little bit of subtle hinting, Gina had managed to convince the young woman that being backed up by an attractive-looking bridal party would only serve to highlight her own gown on her big day. That succeeded in making everyone happy.

  Satisfied, Gina gave her niece her full attention. The little girl had a very serious expression on her face. “How many times do I have to do what, sweetie?” Gina asked.

  “How many times do you have to be a bridesmaid before you get to be the bride?” Addie asked.

  Gina laughed softly. She knew where this was coming from. “You’ve been talking to your grandmother, haven’t you?”

  Addie shook her head vigorously, sending her long, coal black hair bouncing from side to side.

  “Uh-uh. Mama said you’ve been in a lot of weddings and that you were always a bridesmaid so I was just wondering when you get to stop being a bridesmaid and get to be a bride.”

  Judging by her expression, Gina could tell that it seemed like a logical progression of events to Addie.

  Wiggling out of the bridesmaid dress, she draped it on the side of the bed as she threw on an old T-shirt and a pair of jeans. Dressed, Gina sat down on the bed and put her arm around her niece, pulling the little girl to her.

  “That’s not quite the way it works, sweetie,” Gina said, managing not to laugh.

  “You mean you’re always going to be a bridesmaid?” Addie asked, her eyes opening so wide that she resembled one of her favorite stuffed animals. “Doesn’t that make you sad?”

  “No,” Gina assured the little girl, rather touched that the girl was concerned about her. She hugged Addie closer. “It makes me happy.”

  The small, animated face scrunched up in confusion. “How come?”

  She did her best to put it in terms that Addie could understand. “Being a bridesmaid is my job.”

  But it was obvious that this just confused Addie even more. “Being a bridesmaid is a job?”

  “It is for me,” Gina answered cheerfully. “The truth of it is, baby, for some people weddings can be very confusing and stressful.”

  Addie’s smooth forehead was still wrinkled in consternation. “What’s stressful?”

  Gina thought for a moment. She didn’t want to frighten the girl, but she did want to get the image across. “You know how when you play your video game and if you’re not fast enough, suddenly the words game over can come on your screen and your tummy feels all knotted up and disappointed?”

  “Uh-huh.” Addie solemnly nodded her head.

  “Well, that’s what stressful is,” Gina told he
r. “Organizing a wedding can be like that.”

  Addie looked at her uncertainly, doing her best to understand. “Weddings are like video games?”

  A warm feeling came over Gina’s heart and she grinned. “Sometimes. Your mom almost called off the wedding when she was marrying your dad. Everything suddenly felt as if it was just too much for her.”

  That had been the first time she had found herself coming to a bride’s rescue. In that case it had been her older sister, Tiffany, who needed help. And that had been the beginning of an idea for a career.

  “Really?” Addie asked in wonder.

  “Really.” Gina didn’t emphasize how much of an emotional mess her normally level-headed older sister had been a few days before the wedding. “I saw what your mom was going through so I took over and helped her out. It was just a matter of untangling the order to the florist and maybe threatening the caterer,” she added as more facts came back to her.

  That really caught the little girl’s attention. “Did you say you’d beat him up?” Addie asked in an impressed, hushed tone.

  Gina laughed. “Worse. I threatened him with bad publicity.”

  Addie looked up at her in confusion. “What’s bad pub-lis-ity?” she asked.

  “Something everyone lives in fear of,” Gina answered with a smile. “Anyway,” she continued matter-of-factly, “I realized that I was pretty good at organizing things and that I could help brides like your mom really enjoy their day and not get caught up in the hassle.” She decided that Addie didn’t need to know anything beyond that. “And that’s how your aunt Gina got the idea to became a professional bridesmaid.”

  “Can I become a professional bridesmaid?” Addie asked eagerly. It was obvious that her aunt’s story had completely won her over.

  “You have to get to be a little taller first,” Gina told her, kissing the top of the girl’s head. “But I don’t see why you can’t be one when you’re grown up if you want to.”

  “Will you show me what to do once I get tall enough?” Addie asked seriously.