Red, White, and Bridesmaid
Page 1
Red, White, and Bridesmaid
The Mobile Mistletoe Series
Jennifer Conner
Table of Contents
Title Page
Excerpt from Red, White and Bridesmaid
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
READ THE COMPLETE WEDDING SERIES BY
THE DOGS BEHIND THE SERIES
THE MOBILE MISTLETOE SERIES
About the Author
Books to Go Now
About the Author
About the Publisher
Excerpt from Red, White and Bridesmaid
“This mobile mistletoe headband has taken on a legendary status. Nevertheless, I hate to break it to you. It’s just some red velvet, a chunk of metal wire and plastic mistletoe. It doesn’t have magical powers,” Jess said.
Kara lifted her dress and looked at her satin ballet shoes. “If you say so. But look at us. We’re standing proof.”
“Listen, ladies, I would like to believe you, but not today.” Jess waved a dismissive hand. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the idea of having Mr. Right in her future, but there had only been a long line of Mr. Wrongs. She’d spent a year with Brad, but he’d taken a job in India. Obviously, the pay increase meant more than staying with her. He hadn’t even asked if she wanted to come with him. He’d just laid it out on the table that he was leaving in a week and that was that. She was done with dating. She was done with men. “There is no man in my near or the far away future for that matter, so I think you had best pass the headband on to Jane.”
“No!” Both Kara and Zoe said the same word simultaneously.
“It doesn’t work like that. You’re the next in line,” Kara said.
Copyright
Red, White, and Bridesmaid
Formally Love Comes for the 4th of July
Books to Go Now Publication
Copyright © Jennifer Conner 2017
Books to Go Now
http://www.bookstogonow.com
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Second Edition eBook Edition April 2017
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, any place, events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created from the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously.
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DEDICATION
With all my love to my two granddogs, Ralphie and Truffles.
Love them and their owners with all of my heart.
Look for Jennifer Conner’s Other Titles
Visit Jennifer at her website
https://jenniferconnerwriter.wordpress.com/
BOOKS AVAILABLE IN EBOOK, PAPERBACK, AUDIOBOOK, and FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDITIONS
Novels
Seattle Billionaires – A Cup of Danger
Shot in the Dark
Kilt by Love
London with a Dare
Coming Soon - Sleep Fall
Sweet Romances
Not Always a Bridesmaid Collection
The Professional Bridesmaid
A Home for Christmas
Love on the Airwaves
Love Uncorked
Christmas Dog Tails
Christmas at Central Bark
Christmas Gift that Keeps Wagging
Dog Tags for Christmas
Love Comes for Valentine’s Day
Love Comes for Saint Patrick’s Day
Love Comes for Halloween
I Hear Angels
Brewing up Some Love
Valentine Surprise
Cupcakes and Cupids
Christmas Chaos
The Christmas Horse
All I Want for Christmas is You
All I Want for Christmas is You
Sexy Romances
Bad Boy’s Second Chance
Cinderella Had it Easy
Love Potion Number 10
Ten Minutes for Christmas
In Love With Santa
The Music of Christmas
Make Me Burn
Winner Takes All
Valentine Encounter
New Year Resolution
Christmas with Carol
Auld Lang Sigh
Rush of Love
Fields of Gold
The Music of Christmas
Historical
The Duke and the Lost Night
The Wounded Nobleman
The Reluctant Heir
Redemption for a Rogue
Time Travel
I’ll be Seeing You Through Time
Walk with me Through Time
Anthologies
Code Redhead – Redhead Dead
Handmade for Christmas Series
The Love List Series
The Pancake Club Collection
A Christmas Kiss is on the List Anthology
Love in Time for Christmas Anthology
Christmas Romance (Best of Christmas Romances 2013) Anthology
Love Under the Christmas Tree Anthology
The Mobile Mistletoe Boxed Set
The Regimental Heroes Boxed Set
Yours for Christmas Anthology
Valentine’s Say I Love You
Chapter 1
Jess Caldwell couldn’t stop smiling. One of her best friends, Kara, was getting married in a few days and she was so happy she thought she’d burst. They met at the dress shop for one last fitting and everything was going smoothly. The white and gold wedding shop had free champagne for them to sip which was a bonus. Also, Jess loved her best friends and having extra time out of their busy schedules to spend it with them was worth it.
She put on the headband with the chunk of mistletoe dangling from it and did a grand curtsy in front of the full-length mirror. It started off with a few glasses of wine after Christmas and a pact that each of them would wear the mistletoe headband until a man kissed them. Kara and Zoe found their men while wearing it and Jess had to play along about being happy with the promise she’d made her girlfriends.
“Since I am the next in line to wear the prized mobile mistletoe, I feel it is my duty to wear it with honor and pride,” Jess stated. “You can all get your laughs in now, but I am not wearing the stupid thing at the wedding.”
“Hey, don’t make fun of the headband. I think there is something magical about it. I wore it and found Carrick, and Kara wore it first and now is marrying Jack. Jack’s the greatest guy in the world. Well, he’s the best guy in the world after Carrick,” Zoe corrected her statement.
“This mobile mistletoe headband has taken on a legendary status. Nevertheless, I hate to break it to you. It’s just some red velvet, a chunk of metal wire and plastic mistletoe. It doesn’t have magical powers,” Jess said.
Kara lifted her dress and looked at her satin ballet shoes.
“If you say so. But look at us. We’re standing proof.”
“Listen, ladies, I would like to believe you, but not today.” Jess waved a dismissive hand. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the idea of having Mr. Right in her future, but there had only been a long line of Mr. Wrongs. She’d spent a year with Brad, but he’d taken a job in India. Obviously, the pay increase meant more than staying with her. He hadn’t even asked if she wanted to come with him. He’d just laid it out on the table that he was leaving in a week and that was that. She was done with dating. She was done with men. “There is no man in my near or the far away future for that matter, so I think you had best pass the headband on to Jane.”
“No!” Both Kara and Zoe said the same word simultaneously.
“It doesn’t work like that. You’re the next in line,” Kara said.
“You just don’t want to wear it next. Does it matter?” Jess grumbled at Jane. “Why does it have to be me?”
Zoe shook her head. “No, you agreed to wear it next. Until you kiss a man, it’s all yours. If you don’t, it might mess up the magicalness-juju for Jane.”
“Don’t suck me into this debate.” Jane laughed and flopped down in a dressing room chair. She hooked her leg over the armrest and rubbed at the newly obtained and healing rose tattoo on her forearm. “No way. I haven’t decided if I’m taking the thing at all. You think there are no men in your future, Jess, you can times that by a hundred for my perspectives. It’s all yours, babe.” She pointed at the headband. “It’s bad enough you got me in this dress for the wedding. Don’t push it about the headband.”
“You don’t like your bridesmaid dress?” Kara’s face drooped. “I tried really hard not to get something gaudy or Stay Puft Marshmallows-looking. I think the dresses are more sundresses than bridesmaid’s dresses.”
Jane popped up out of the chair and wound her arm around Kara. “Hey, that’s not what I meant. You know me. I’m just not used to wearing girly stuff. I love the dress... as dresses go.”
“Look at us.” Jess gazed at herself and the other three girls’ reflection in the mirrors. “We all look beautiful. But not as beautiful as you, Kara.”
“I’m getting married!” Kara squealed in delight as she straightened the satin fitted gown. The dress fit her perfectly. It was simple and elegant for the outdoor wedding Kara planned.
“We’ve been together since we were kids.” Jess felt tears sting her eyes. “We’ve laughed and cried through schools, boyfriends, and college, and we’re still best friends. How will our lives change now that Kara has a soon-to-be husband and Zoe a serious boyfriend? Will we still get together for our girls’ night out?”
“Of course, we will,” Zoe said.
Jess didn’t want to face the possible truth. Life evolved. Friends fell in love. She would have to wait and see if she and her girlfriends’ relationships changed. She didn’t mind being single. She ran her own business, “The Petal Peddler,” a local flower shop and loved her work. But spending her day around women was not the perfect avenue to find Mr. Right. The men who came in were ordered anniversary arrangements or flowers for the women they already had in their lives.
She knew Kara’s older brother, Darrin, was back in town for the wedding and that wasn’t going to be easy. He’d probably have a gorgeous girlfriend on his arm. Jess secretly carried a mega crush on him for years— more like a decade— but there was no way it was ever going to happen. The last time she saw him, they were in high school and he wouldn’t give her the time of day. He’d always thought Kara’s friends were a pain in his rear. He was arrogant and the star of the football team. She was anything but a cheerleader and became a business major.
Sure, Jess kept tabs on him over the years. What she’d heard through the proverbial grapevine, was that one thing hadn’t changed about Darrin. He was still a ladies’ man and had pretty much worked his way through the woman alphabet since college. Not that she should know this, but she did keep track of him on Facebook. Jess heard he’d dated Anna, then Becky, then Caren...seriously, alphabetical. She’d just gotten rid of a man who passed her over, she didn’t need another heartbreaker or a one-night stand.
Darrin was out of the mix, but Jess made a silent pact with herself. If Kara and Zoe thought this silly mobile mistletoe had something to it, then maybe after the wedding, she would put herself out there again and try to date more. Get dressed up and go to... what... the library? She wasn’t a pick-guys-up-at-a-bar kind of woman. Oh well. She slid the headband back over her blonde hair. For now, she would wear the thing to make her friends happy.
Today was someone else’s day for love, not hers.
Jess looked at the large wall clock over the front desk counter. “We need to get out of these dresses, so I can take you to the shop. You still need to make the final decisions for the flowers, we only have two days.”
“You’re the flower gal, and I trust whatever you choose,” Kara said as she swished the satin train back and forth on the carpet.
“I would really like for you to look at them.”
“I’m picking up Jack in fifteen minutes,” Kara stated. “Then we’re meeting Darrin. Come with us, and we can go to the flower shop after we get the guys. Like I said, I trust your choice for the flowers. We don’t even really need to do this. You know it doesn’t matter to me.”
“I want your approval, but that will work.” Jess tried not to sound tense. “I think I have most of the flowers chosen.” She knew she was anal about details, but this was Kara’s big day. There was pressure to make it the best for her friend.
Kara’s bouquet should be mainly peonies... no ranunculus... more peonies. Jess ripped the mistletoe headband off her hair. She couldn’t think with the thing on, it was pressing into her brain.
She didn’t have time to think about finding a man, there was a wedding to plan.
Chapter 2
Darrin tossed his suitcase on the floor and sank into the overstuffed leather chair. When he arrived, he thought everyone would be getting ready for the big day. He was surprised he was the only one there.
He looked around the empty house and then at the row of family pictures above the fireplace. The younger version of him smiled back with his sister, mom, and dad. Weird to hear the house silent. It was always full of laughter and music growing up. There had never been a time when his mother hadn’t had her favorite music playing. His childhood had been far from perfect, but his grandparents tried to make up for things after his mom died.
There was a bark, and Darrin followed the noise to find a puppy in a crate in the kitchen. He bent and opened the front latch only to be pounced on by a flying dog. He scooped the puppy into his arms and was greeted with a sloppy kiss on the cheek.
“Hey, buddy, where did you come from?” His sister hadn’t mentioned anything about getting a dog.
The front screen door squeaked and he recognized a familiar voice. “Darrin? Are you here? I hope it’s you or we’ve got burglars.”
When his sister spotted him, she screamed, ran toward him, and then wrapped both arms around his neck. She planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek just like the puppy.
“Sis, I’m happy to see you too. Don’t squish the dog,” Darrin said laughing, as he fought to regain his balance.
Kara dropped back to her feet, turned and pulled the man who stood behind her, to stand at her side. “Darrin, this is my fiancé, Jack.”
He firmly shook Jack’s hand. “So, you’re the guy who swept my little sister off her feet?”
“You could say that, but she kind of swept me a bit too,” Jack said, with a chuckle. “If someone told me I was getting married five months ago, I would have claimed they were certifiable.”
“The two of you are in love. What can you say?” a tall brunette said, as she stepped through the door.
He stared at the woman for a long moment. He almost did a double take like in an old silent movie. Were his eyes deceiving him? “Jess? Wait...is that you?”
“Have I really
changed that much since we last saw each other?” Her flawless skin and rosy, pink lips distracted him for a second.
“It’s been a long time.” He allowed his eyes do a quick glance across her curves that hadn’t been there the last time they met. Before being caught staring, he snapped his gaze back to her face.
“I see you’ve met my new boyfriend?” Jess said as she set her purse on the chair and put away her sunglasses.
“Boyfriend?” Weirdly deflated, he looked over Jess’s shoulder expecting to see a man follow her in.
She grinned and pointed at the puppy. “Truffles. My new man. He’s an eight-weeks old Corgi, and I thought I’d better put him in his crate so he wouldn’t pee on anything.” She stepped closer and took the wiggling ball from his arms. She set Truffles down and then shook a finger at the dog. He jumped around on his short Corgi legs. “Be good or you’ll have to go back in prison.” She tossed her long, auburn, curly hair off her shoulders.
“It’s great to see you.” Was all he could think of to say...which was lame. Darrin’s mouth felt dry as he stepped forward to shake her hand. Her fingers were warm, and her skin was soft.
This couldn’t be the same, Jess. The kid he remembered had frizzy permed hair, she had a mouth full of braces, and was flat-chested. This Jess had auburn waves, dazzling white teeth and, well... was no longer flat-chested. Had the Invasions of the Body Snatchers pods hid in her basement and transformed her in the years he’d been away? No one could change that much.
“I’m going to leave you two.” Kara pulled Jack’s arm. “Let’s see if they delivered the tables and the tent for the reception. See you guys in a few minutes.”
Jess looked Darrin up and down. “You hated me when we were younger. I assume since five-years have gone by, we can be civil for the wedding?”
“Hate is a harsh word. I never hated you. My sister and her friends were younger than me, and I was the macho big brother.”
“You like girls now and don’t think we’re a pain?” There were a challenge and a twinkle in her green eyes.
“I like women, and I hope I’m not that obnoxious kid any longer.”