The Resilient Bride

by Lucy McConnell

  A sense of being let down washed over Isaac. Baseball was big business and the Richmonds were as big as business came. “I recruited this kid. He has potential to play pro. He was injured off the field, but if he pitched, he’d blow out his arm. I couldn’t see him throwing away a future for a single inning.”

  “Especially since you were going to lose the game anyway.” Harper lifted an eyebrow, challenging Isaac in a way he couldn’t get a read on.

  He could let it slide, agree with her, and get the job. But it mattered to him that she understood. With all the interviews, questions, and prodding, he just wanted someone to understand. He thought, maybe, that someone could have been Harper. Guess not.

  “No. Not because we were going to lose. Even if the game had been on the line, if he had been the deciding factor, I would have sat him because a player is more than their throwing speed or batting average.” He stood quickly, his heart running the bases. Coming to California had been a mistake. “Maybe I’m not the one you’re looking for.”

  The pressure attacked again as Isaac opened the door to leave.

  Harper stared after Isaac’s very fine-looking retreat. If the view hadn’t been so good, she might have reacted faster. She’d purposely flushed out every reason for his actions, giving him outs along the way, to see if he’d stick to his guns. Stick to them he did, and she was impressed.

  Impressed enough to scramble out of her seat and call down the hall, “Mr. Wolfe, wait!”

  Isaac hadn’t made it to the reception area yet. When he turned, they were sheltered from Harrison, Logan, and who knew who else by the distance.

  Harper couldn’t help herself this time—she tweaked his tie. “Are you always this dramatic? Because that’s something we’re going to have to work on before you step in front of a camera.” She smiled to let him know she was teasing and that he’d passed the interview with flying colors.

  “You, you want me?” he asked, his tiger eyes searching her face with an intensity that took her breath away.

  Harper cast her eyes to the side at the question as her heart pounded like jungle drums. She’d crossed a line by touching him—a line she swore she would never cross again so long as they both shall wed.

  Isaac recognized his innuendo. His eyes went wide and held up his hand. “To coach. You want me to be your manager, is what I meant.”

  If he can recover, so can I. She hoped so, anyway. “I do. If you want the position.”

  “I do.”

  “Wonderful,” said Pamela, who stood in her open office doorway just feet from where they’d talked. “Now, if we can just get the two of you in front of the judge, you can repeat those words and then you can be on your way.” She shepherded them down the hallway. “Harrison, would you please have Mr. Wolfe sign the prenuptial agreement?”

  Harrison smiled at the two of them. “You bet.” Isaac followed him back into his office, and Harper’s eyes followed Isaac. It wasn’t something she did consciously; he was just really good-looking, and real in a way that most of the men she dated couldn’t come close to.

  Pamela stepped over to the receptionist’s desk. “Tina, will you call Mr. Fornsworth and see if he is on his way?”

  “Yep.” Tina, the perky redhead, picked up the receiver and went to work.

  “I had the justice of the peace scheduled just in case this all worked out,” Pamela explained with a wink. She touched Harper’s arm. Harper sucked in, fighting against the sensation of falling in space. “I have a good feeling about you.”

  “He’s just pulling in and Trish is on line two—she says it’s an emergency,” said Tina.

  Pamela released her and Harper bent her knees to steady herself. “I’ll take it in my office.”

  Tina nodded and a ring sounded down the hall just as Pamela reached the door.

  Harper looked around to get her bearings and found herself alone with Isaac’s son. The logistics of moving a teenager into her house hit as she tipped her chin to look up at the kid who was taller than she.

  Pamela hadn’t said anything about a stepchild. Of course, Pamela hadn’t said much about anything. If they’d had more time … Not that a stepson was a deal killer; it was just a surprise. Her day was full of them.

  Then again, maybe he lived with his mom and was just here to see his dad get hitched. “Hey,” she said as she sat down, smoothing her skirt over her knees.

  “Hey,” he said back shyly as he joined her in the couch.

  Dozens of thoughts rushed at Harper and she worked to sort them quickly. “Um, are you okay with this?”

  Logan looked down at his scuffed dress shoes. He shrugged. “My dad needs the job.”

  Harper sighed. How many times had she followed her dad from meeting to meeting? Her heart went out to Logan. “Yeah, but what about you? Moving is kind of a big deal, isn’t it?”

  He shrugged again. “I think I’ll be all right.”

  Strange. Weren’t teens supposed to be full of drama and think the world revolved around them? She tried to remember back to when she and Seth were younger. They had been busy in school, with friends, and with their parents’ social obligations.

  She took in his trim frame and height. “Are you into sports? There’s lots of teams in St. George for kids your age.” She mentally cringed at the word kids. She should have said guys or young men or something more grown-up.

  “Naw. I don’t play.”

  She tipped her head in confusion. Logan was athletic and his dad was Mr. Baseball. Her mind churned with unanswered questions. There was a dynamic here she couldn’t quite figure out. Scratching her arm, she asked, “Why not?”

  Logan opened his mouth to respond at the same time Tina’s phone beeped. Harper’s head whipped around.

  “I can take you back for the ceremony.” Tina came around the high desk.

  “Great.” Just great. Harper smoothed her skirt over and over again. Catching herself, she purposefully dropped her hands to her sides and forced them to stay there.

  She and Logan were met in the hallway by Isaac and Harrison and they all made their way to Pamela’s office together. Harper stared at the immaculate desk as the justice of the peace came through the door.

  Perhaps sensing the high levels of panic and anxiety that coursed through Harper’s veins, Pamela shut the door, closing off her escape. “Let’s begin.”

  Throwing her hair over her shoulder, every bit of posture training her former Miss USA mother had drilled into her took over. Good thing, because her mind was kicking dandelions in the outfield. Harper chanced a glance at her intended. Isaac stared straight ahead, a mask of determination on his face and a pool of fear in his eyes.

  Pamela took a deep breath. “Some marriages begin with a spark of attraction, others begin with friendship, and most begin with love.”

  Harper’s cheeks flamed red.

  “This marriage has had a unique beginning.” She chuckled. “I’ve attended more marriages than I can count and yet each one carries a distinctive sense or feeling with it. May I suggest that in the absence of attraction, friendship, and love, you cultivate loyalty.” Her eyes went soft and she stared past the people in the room for just a moment before gesturing to the officiator to take his place. “You’re going to need it.”

  The justice went through the barest of ceremonies.

  Harper swallowed a strangled cry just in time to say, “I do.”

  For better or worse, she was now Mrs. Wolfe.

  Heaven help them all.

  Thanks for reading! To continue with this arranged marriage, click here.

  Now Available from Bestselling and Award-Winning Author Lucy McConnell

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  About the Author

  Lucy McConnell has always been a reader and a writer. She writes fantasy, clean romance, Christian romance, historical fiction, and cookbooks under the name Christina Dymock.

  When she’s not writing, you can find her volunteering at the elementary school or the church; shuttling kids to baseball, soccer, basketball, or rodeo, depending on the time of year; skiing with her family; wake boarding; cycling; or curled up with a good book.

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