PREVIEW: AFTER THE FINAL DANDELION
CHAPTER ONE
THE FIRST DAY of the rest of her life was going to be on TV? Renee Lockhart shook her head.
“Let me get this straight.” She tightened her fingers around her fiancé’s hand. “You want to broadcast our wedding…live?” Renee looked from one man to the other. The radio station manager cornered her in the hall earlier and asked her to pop in for a short meeting. He requested that her fiancé be present as well. She should have known something was fishy.
“It’s so much more than that.” Mike, the producer from KETO, the local TV station, stood and paced the room. “We want to showcase your love story, yes. But we also want to put on the wedding of your dreams.”
Renee frowned. “We’ve already got a good start on the plans. Ben has…ample funds.”
Mike stopped in his tracks and Renee took note of a shared look between the producer and her manager.
“We understand Ben is well off.” Renee’s boss spoke for the first time since Renee entered the room and saw Mike with her manager. “But we’re offering something more than money can buy. The TV audience was infatuated with you on Accept this Dandelion. Even though Ben didn’t choose you on the show, you had a wide fan base. And that has only grown since you took over the morning radio show here on KGBR. The city loves you, Renee. And once you and Ben got engaged, they fell in love with you as a couple.”
“Ben can give you the wedding of your dreams,” Mike interrupted. “But who wants to spend their own money on elaborate details when you can spend someone else’s cash instead?”
“We don’t need anything elaborate…”
“Forget the details for a moment.” Mike waved his hand and put his thumbs together to make a frame. “You want to celebrate love on your special day. And you want everyone who means something to you to be there. Renee, my darling, you mean a lot to the people in this city. Would it not be selfish to keep those who adore you from seeing your big day?”
Renee grasped Ben’s hand and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “I…I don’t know.”
“It’s not about the money. It’s not about the fame. It’s a celebration of your love on display for the whole city to see. All of the naysayers that bet on specific dates for you to break up will have to admit that you’ve made it. Your love will last.” Mike stepped closer to the couple.
“People bet on when we would break up?” Renee’s eyes widened. Ben’s thumb stroked the side of her hand. He calmed her like no one else could.
“I’ve heard of no less than half a dozen office pools. And those are just among the people I know.” Mike shrugged.
Renee stared at her boss, who threw his hands into the air. “There’s no betting allowed here at KGBR, but what people do after hours is their own business…and I hear the six month mark was very popular for a possible break up.”
“My co-workers?” Renee leaned forward in her chair. Betrayal worked its way through her veins.
Mike rubbed his hands together. “You see? It’s not just the people who don’t know you. It’s everyone. And think about it, don’t they have reason to doubt you as a couple? I mean, you met on a local dating show. We tried to be like The Bachelor, but it’s not like we have the funding they do. And I don’t have to remind you, things didn’t exactly go well for you on the show.”
Renee absently rubbed her leg with her free hand. She didn’t have any lasting scars, but that patch of her leg was where fire caught her dress and rode up its hem. There was the lobster allergic reaction disaster, the race car incident, and plenty of other mishaps she caused when filming Accept this Dandelion and vying for Ben’s heart.
“You didn’t even win the show,” Mike continued. “No one got to see you and Ben state your love for one another so they don’t believe it now.”
Ben slapped his free hand onto his knee and squeezed Renee’s fingers. “I think we’ve heard enough, Mike.”
Mike stood with his mouth slightly open. Renee appreciated her fiancé’s affect on the man. Mike bowed to his every whim when they were on the show and things were no different now.
“Would you mind giving us a minute?” Ben turned to Renee without waiting for an answer.
Renee followed Mike and her manager with her eyes as they left the office and closed the door behind them. She imagined Mike on the other side, pressing his ear against the door to hear the conversation between her and Ben.
“I’m sorry I dragged you over here for this,” she said in a soft voice.
“No need for apologies.” Ben leaned forward and brushed his lips against her cheek. “You didn’t know what the meeting was about.”
“I don’t think my mind has raced this fast since we were on Accept this Dandelion.”
Ben smiled. “And my heart hasn’t stopped racing since the day I met you.”
Renee sighed and melted into his embrace. With her head on his shoulder, nothing could touch her.
“What should we tell them?” She allowed herself to enjoy the feel of his arm around her.
“Whatever you want.”
Renee pulled back and looked into Ben’s eyes. Ben McConnell, the city’s most eligible bachelor…and the love of her life. Most days, she still couldn’t believe he was hers. The ring on her finger stated as much. He wanted to be with her and that made her the luckiest girl in the world. She wanted everyone to know how she felt about Ben.
“I don’t care about the details. All I need is you.” Renee leaned forward and pressed her lips against Ben’s. She moved her hand up his arm and into the back of his hair. She didn’t ever want to take his kisses for granted.
When they parted, Renee placed her cheek against Ben’s neck and inhaled deeply. “I’d be happy with just you and me in a field, you know that, right?”
“I know,” Ben answered. “And I don’t even care about the field as long as I have you.”
Renee smiled. “What do we tell them?”
Ben ran his fingers through Renee’s long hair. “I think you need to go with your gut. It managed to get us together in the first place. It can’t go wrong.”
Renee chewed her bottom lip as she nuzzled against Ben. Her gut had been course plenty of times. She’d misjudged him from the start and continued to dig herself deeper every time they spoke. It was only his persistence in pursuing her despite her comical antics that broke through what her so-called gut told her to do, which was run as far away from the man as possible.
“Well,” Renee sat back in her chair and raised Ben’s hand to her cheek to keep their connection, “as long as we keep things simple, I guess there’s no harm in letting the public see our wedding. I mean, really, what could go wrong?”
“In a wedding with THE Renee Lockhart?” Ben chuckled. “Plenty.”
Renee dropped his hand and swatted his knee. “Point taken. Let me give you an early taste of my vows Mr. McConnell. I, Renee Lockhart, hereby solemnly swear to cause no trouble in and around our wedding day.”
“Noted.” Ben rolled his eyes. “I plan to hold you to that vow. And many others.” He leaned forward and Renee lost herself in his eyes.
A light knock sounded on the door behind them. Renee sighed. “The villagers are getting restless.”
Renee laced her fingers through Ben’s and pulled her gaze away from his handsome face. “You can come in.”
The door squeaked and Mike’s hopeful expression permeated the crack. He took a step into the room and opened the door wider to reveal Renee’s boss. Perhaps they’d both had an ear pressed to the door.
Renee waited. She had the power and she wasn’t going to give it up without making them sweat.
“Well?” Mike leaned toward the couple.
“Well…” Renee paused and glanced back to Ben. He nodded slightly and squeezed her hand. He was with her no matter what she decided. “Let’s do it. Let’s show the city our relationship is here to stay.”
Mike clenched a fist and raised it into the air. “Yes!�
� Renee’s manager clamped a hand onto the producer’s shoulder. “You won’t regret this. It’ll be the wedding of the century.” He started to pace the room again. “We’ll bring in a wedding planner and we’ll film the whole thing from start to finish.”
“Wait, what?” Renee asked.
Mike stopped. “The planning process. We have to get it all on tape. We’ll air it for several nights as a special with the wedding as the climax at the end of the series.”
Renee blinked. She thought she’d agreed to allow them to broadcast the wedding on TV, not a whole series.
“It’ll be great,” Mike continued. “We’ll call it….After the Final Dandelion.”
Dandelions on the Road Page 20