by Bella Riley
Chapter Two
Sean Murphy heard the applause and cheers as he walked through the inn’s front door. From the flower petals drifting out of the event room into the inn’s entry, he could easily guess it was a wedding.
It instantly struck him as strange. Why would Stu schedule another wedding at the inn on the same weekend as his own? And how exactly had his brother planned to clean up this wedding party and still have time to set up for his own rehearsal dinner that night?
But those questions left his mind as quickly as they had entered, the noise coming from the event room digging at the headache Sean had been riding out all day. Frankly, all he really cared about right now was getting upstairs to his suite to take a shower.
The red-eye from China didn’t usually take it out of him like this. But it had been a crazy three weeks of constant flights, of hotel rooms he’d barely had time to check in to before he was leaving for the next airport, the next meeting. Today, he’d hoped to have time to get back to his house in Boston to shower, to transfer clothes in his luggage, to flip through his mail before heading to Emerald Lake for his brother’s rehearsal dinner, but his flight had been delayed. So he’d headed straight to the inn.
Sean usually made it a point to stay as far away from weddings as he possibly could, but he hadn’t been home in so long that curiosity had him dropping his bags behind the check-in counter and walking across stray rose petals toward the large room that overlooked the lake.
Standing at a side door behind a large potted plant, he instantly recognized the bride and groom. Sean had been a couple of years ahead of Andi and Nate in school. As long as he remembered, they’d always been a couple. How was it that they were only just getting married? He would have thought they’d have gotten hitched a long time ago and popped out a handful of kids by now.
A moment later, Sean’s gut inexplicably tightened at the sight of Andi and Nate kissing. Worse still, something that felt way too much like envy stole through him a beat later.
Despite his discomfort, Sean forced himself to keep his gaze on the happy couple so that he could dissect whatever it was that was putting these strange thoughts in his head.
In twenty years of dating beautiful women, he’d never wanted to get married, had never been even remotely tempted to get down on one knee and ask one woman to be his for eternity. As he watched two people he’d known as children make their vows to each other, Sean could see that Nate and Andi thought they were in love. And maybe they were.
For now, at least.
But it was what happened later—ten, fifteen, twenty years down the road once they had kids and were supposed to be a cohesive family unit who all looked out for each other—that Sean had no faith in. In fact, the only thing he knew for certain was that the people who got hurt when love failed weren’t just the man and the woman who had once made vows to each other on their wedding day. No, the net was cast much wider than that.
Pushing the rogue emotions away, he scanned the occupants of the room. It had been a long time since he’d been back to Emerald Lake but he recognized most of them. The old football coach. The owner of the general store. Several other people he’d gone to school with.
About to move away from the doorway, sure that a hot shower and a beer would go a long way toward unknotting the tightness in his gut, his eyes caught a flash of movement that held his gaze—and his feet—in place.
Long golden-brown hair was gliding like silk across a woman’s back as she moved out from behind a tall elderly man. And then she turned her face toward him and his breath actually lodged in his throat as he looked at her. Her eyes were glittering with tears, her cheeks were flushed. She was biting her lip, and her hands were covering her heart.
And she was beautiful.
What was wrong with him? He’d never been drawn to a delicate woman like this who looked like she could sprout fairy wings and fly away. He always chose the women who shared his bed very carefully, making sure they were strong enough to never make the mistake of falling in love with him or thinking they could change him in some way.
But there was no denying his elemental reaction to this woman.
It was long past time to turn away, to go upstairs and take that shower he’d been looking forward to. Even more than that, he knew there were several documents waiting in his e-mail for his approval. He needed to leave. Right now.
But instead of doing any of those things, Sean Murphy simply stood right where he was and stared at the woman who wasn’t only taking his breath away but who was making his heart beat faster, too.
Details had made Sean millions in the years since he’d left Emerald Lake. He never got them wrong. But now, as the sun came in through one of the large windows that looked out on the frozen lake and lit her up like a spotlight, he realized her hair was neither brown nor gold. Because as she shifted slightly and the silky curtain of hair moved, he saw clear flashes of red.
More than ever, he knew he needed to get moving before she saw him standing there gaping at her like an adolescent in the throes of his first major crush. But he didn’t move, couldn’t stop himself from running his eyes over her from head to toe.
She wasn’t tall, but she wasn’t short either. Her figure wasn’t too slim or too rounded.
She was perfect.
Sean shook his head to try and clear the word away, but when he did, he just ended up back at beautiful.
He was renowned for his clearheaded assessments of not only companies but people, too. Sean forced himself to study the woman’s clothes in an analytical manner so that he could put together a better, more accurate picture of her, one that had nothing to do with words like perfect or beautiful.
Her green dress was well-tailored, but not particularly flashy. The pearls at her earlobes and around her neck were elegant, but not at all intended to draw a man’s eyes. Neither were her shoes, low-heeled and silver. He got the sense she wasn’t the kind of woman who would ever try to draw attention to herself.
Even though she had every ounce of his.
The crowd was starting to file out of the room, following Andi and Nate, but the woman hung behind, bending over to pick up stray flower petals strewn around her seat.
Something jogged his brain, a prickle that was more than just a man’s awareness of a beautiful woman, a warning that he knew her from somewhere, but he couldn’t quite grab hold of it.
Finally, when the room was empty save the two of them and she was continuing to grab handfuls of flower petals off the floor, she faced him with a look of surprise on her face.
She was closer now, near enough that he could see just how delicate her features were, from her high cheekbones to her slightly pointed chin and the tiny indentations in each cheek as she smiled.
“Oh, hello.”
In her surprise at seeing him standing in the doorway, a big chunk of the rose petals fell out of her hands and fluttered to the floor. She gave him a wry smile as she bent down to try and pick them back up, cradling the pile in her hands and arms.
“These smell good, but they’re so messy.”
Sean knew she was expecting him to say something, to tell her who he was or what he was doing staring at her like that, but for the moment, he was just enjoying listening to her speak. Her soft, melodic voice was another piece of the puzzle he’d been putting together from the moment he’d seen her silky hair glide across her back.
But most of all, her smile made him want to smile back.
Which was crazy.
She finally shook her head and said, with a small frown, “I’m sorry, you don’t need to listen to me babble about roses.”
But he did. Just as he hated seeing the frown replace her smile.
No, not just crazy. Insane.
Sharpening her focus on him, she continued with, “I didn’t think anyone new was checking in today, so I wasn’t monitoring the front desk.” The welcoming smile on her face instinctively drew him closer to her. “Can I help you with something else? Are you visiti
ng a guest at the inn, perhaps?”
Finally, he told her, “I’m Sean Murphy. I’m here for my brother’s wedding.”
In an instant, her smile disappeared. Her mouth opened slightly in surprise and her cheeks grew even more flushed.
She took a quick step backward and bumped into one of the covered folding chairs.
He waited for her gaze to drop to his scar and hold there, certain that was the reason for her sudden, too-strong reaction. But her eyes never left his, never once raked over the mark that bisected the lower half of his left cheek, from earlobe to chin.
“Oh my gosh. Of course you’re Sean. I knew something about you looked familiar. I should have realized it earlier, but the wedding must have scrambled my brain.”
All the while, as she spoke, she was blinking up at him, her big green eyes stealing his brain cells away one at a time. It felt like a hammer was pounding away in his brain.
How did she know his name when he couldn’t for the life of him think of hers?
She bit her lip, drawing his attention to their full, soft shape. For all the conservative nature of her dress and shoes and jewelry, her full mouth and silky hair seemed to show a deeper truth about her. A sweet sensuality she couldn’t hide.
Half of him wanted to ask her how she knew his name. The other half wanted to ask her to say it again, to let her soft voice wrap itself around him like it had just a minute ago.
“Do you know where Stu is?” he asked, instead.
Her eyes grew even bigger. And, if he wasn’t mistaken, more than a little horrified.
“You don’t know what happened?”
The hammer pounded harder, joined by a warning bell inside his brain that told him something was definitely wrong. Hadn’t he known it from the minute he’d walked into the inn and realized there was another wedding taking place?
Immediately worrying that something had happened to his younger brother, a brother he’d always looked after when they were kids but hadn’t been around to check on much over the past few years, he said, “Tell me now. What happened?”
The woman’s eyes were wide enough now that he saw how green they were, like fresh growth on bare trees in spring. She was clasping her hands together in front of her so tightly that her knuckles were turning white and the rose petals were getting crushed beneath her grip.
“I was sure he was going to tell you, that he was going to talk to you.” She shook her head, tightened her hands more. “He should have told you. You’re his brother.”
He moved toward her then, worry for his brother making him put his hands on her shoulders before he realized it.
“Where is my brother?”
Her muscles and frame were surprisingly strong beneath her soft flesh. Her sweet scent wrapped around him, a faint blend of maple and vanilla.
“I don’t know where he is.”
Suddenly, he could feel her starting to tremble beneath his hands.
What was he doing manhandling a total stranger?
“I’m sorry,” he said automatically. “I shouldn’t have grabbed you like that.” Sean started to lift his hands off her when he suddenly realized why she looked familiar.
“You’re Stu’s fiancée.”
Stu had sent a picture of her when they’d announced their engagement and Sean’s secretary had laid it out on top of the rest of his business correspondence. He’d been between meetings and had barely had time to look at the picture before it was filed away. But from what he recalled, while he’d thought his brother’s fiancée had seemed pretty in the picture, nothing about her had drawn any special notice.
He could hardly place this woman before him to the one beside Stu in the staged photo. Same hair, same eyes, same face, same features, but totally different.
As if she’d somehow come into focus since that photo was taken.
“Yes,” she said. “I’m Rebecca. I was his fiancée.”
He couldn’t miss the was.
She hadn’t intended for him to miss it.
“You’re supposed to be getting married tomorrow.”
“Yes,” she said again, but she was shaking her head even as she agreed with him. “We were, but—”
A door flung open and Sean heard his mother’s voice. “Rebecca, have you seen my wrap? I think I left it at my sea—”
The words fell away as Elizabeth realized her oldest son was standing there. She was dressed in a long, sparkling silver dress and even though he hadn’t seen her in the audience, he’d known she had to be at the wedding. Local weddings had always been a town affair.
She looked back and forth between him and Rebecca with surprise—and then a deep, confused frown.
Rebecca jumped out of his grasp so fast he swore he felt a blast of cold air in the spot she’d been standing.
“Sean?” His mother moved toward him, her gaze immediately going to his scar and holding there for several seconds. Finally, she pulled it away. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here for Stu’s wedding.”
“I thought he would have told you,” Rebecca said again.
But before he could return his focus to Stu’s ex-fiancée, Sean’s mother was exclaiming, “Oh, honey, I’m so glad you’re finally home. It’s all been such a mess. For all of us. Your father and I kept trying to reach you, but your secretary always said you were in a meeting.” She lowered her voice. “I didn’t want to leave such a personal message with a stranger.”
“So there’s no wedding?” He directed the question to Rebecca rather than his mother.
“No,” Rebecca said. “I’m afraid not.”
“Why?” Again, he directed the question to Rebecca, but this time she didn’t answer. She simply stood there and stared at the floor.
His mother reached for his hand and gripped it hard. “Stu didn’t say. He just left me and your father a note saying he needed to go away for a while to think about things and that the wedding was off. Isn’t that right, Rebecca?”
Rebecca finally came unstuck and took a step forward. Her chin tilted slightly up to face his mother, who was several inches taller, and she said, “Yes,” and for a moment he was struck by her surprising strength.
The impression deepened as she turned to Sean with her explanations. “Stu and I both agreed that the engagement and wedding were a mistake, but that we’re still friends.” Her words were soft but firm. “There are no hard feelings between us. None at all. We both just want what’s best for each other.” She paused. “Unfortunately, in the morning he was gone.”
Rebecca’s earnest words seemed genuine, but Sean wasn’t satisfied with the explanation. Clearly, his mother wasn’t either, as she said, “I just wish he’d come to tell me that himself, instead of disappearing in the middle of the night with only a note saying he’d left you in charge of the inn. I just don’t feel right about it at all.”
Yet again, the woman who’d trembled in his arms stood strong in front of his mother.
“Your son is a wonderful man. And I’m sure he’ll be back soon to let us all know what’s going on.”
“When?” Elizabeth asked.
To anyone else’s ears, Sean knew his mother’s question was simply full of worry for her youngest child. But there was ice at its core. It didn’t make sense that his first instinct was to protect Rebecca. But sense or not, the instinct was still there.
Fortunately, Rebecca didn’t seem to need his protection. She simply shook her head and said, “I wish I knew. But I don’t.”
Again, Sean knew Rebecca was telling the truth simply because there was no hesitation behind her words. Only when asked why Stu had left had she stayed quiet.
She turned her face to his again. “Are you sure he didn’t try to reach you, Sean?”
His name on her lips sent another jolt through him. Telling himself it was simply that he was feeling every one of the two hours of sleep he’d gotten on the red-eye—or rather, the twenty-two he hadn’t gotten—he ran a hand over his face before answering. “Not
as far as I know.”
Damn it, if Stu was in trouble, why hadn’t he come to his older brother? Had Sean done that bad a job of taking care of his brother these past years that Stu didn’t know his door was always open? Stu was the one person he’d always loved with his whole heart. Stu was the only person he knew he could trust wholly and completely.
But now, out of the blue, his brother had done a runner. Not just on his fiancée and family. But on the inn as well.
Sean hated feeling that his trust had been misplaced. By absolutely everyone he’d ever loved.
“He left the rest of us letters,” Rebecca said. “Perhaps yours got lost in the mail.”
“I’ve been out of the country for three weeks. I came here straight from the airport. I’ll have my assistant go through my mail tonight. If there’s a letter waiting for me, she’ll find it.”
And hopefully if there was a letter, it would give them all more of a clue as to where his brother had gone.
The door creaked again and footsteps sounded on the old wooden floorboards. “Rebecca, I think I’ve got a tear in the seam of my dress and I was wondering if you could—”
Andi skidded to a stop halfway into the room, looking between Sean and Elizabeth and Rebecca.
“Sean, what a nice surprise it is to see you.”
He forced a smile for the bride. “Congratulations, Andi.”
His smile had been mostly teeth, but when she smiled back at him, she was so full of happiness he could almost feel it cutting a little hole through the frustration in the room.
“Thanks, Sean.”
But then, as she looked from him to Rebecca and his mother, her smile fell away. “Rebecca, I really don’t want to interrupt, but I think I’d better stitch my dress up before it turns into a full-on tear.”
“No problem, Andi. I’ve got a sewing kit upstairs.” Rebecca hurried to the bride’s side. “I’ll just run up and get it.”
“Great, I’ll come up with you.”
A moment later, Sean and his mother were standing in a room full of empty chairs and hundreds of flower heads and petals.
“What exactly did Stu’s letter say, Elizabeth?”