by Gina Wilkins
“No. I just wanted to visit with you. I’ll see you Friday.”
“Yes. Friday.”
“I love you, honey.”
“Love you, too, Mom. Bye, now.”
Grace hung up the phone, then hid her face in her hands. She had known from the beginning that this plan of Bryan’s wasn’t going to be easy. She just hadn’t realized exactly how complicated it would be.
She hadn’t understood how deeply involved she would become with her co-conspirator.
Chapter Ten
Grace was almost relieved when Bryan was summoned out of town for a business crisis late Wednesday afternoon. He called her at the shop to tell her he had to go, and to promise that he would be back in time for the party Friday evening.
“Are you sure you’re up to making a trip like that?” Grace couldn’t help asking.
His reply was tinged with exasperation. “Give me a break. A minor burn is hardly going to keep me bedridden. Despite your concerns—and Donovan’s and Jason’s—I’m perfectly capable of doing my job.”
She knew that, of course. Even if he did tend to downplay his injuries, and to deny the discomfort he must still be feeling, there was no reason Bryan couldn’t handle a routine business trip. And his being gone for a few days would give her a chance to get her feelings about him under control. She had trouble thinking clearly when he was too close.
“Take care of yourself,” she said simply.
“You, too. And Grace…”
“Yes?”
“Promise me you won’t try to ditch the security detail while I’m gone.”
She groaned. “You’re going to have me watched the whole time you’re out of town?”
“Watched over,” he corrected her. “It will be public knowledge that I’ll be in Seattle for the next couple of days. I’m not leaving you completely unprotected while I’m gone.”
“I’ll be perfectly safe. I’ve been watching out for myself for years.”
“Yes, but that was before I came along to complicate your life,” he reminded her. His cheerful tone didn’t hide the fact that he had no intention of allowing her to change his mind.
“You got that right,” she muttered.
“I’ll miss you, Grace.”
She frowned at the telephone, not sure if he was still teasing. He’d sounded serious that time. But he was a very talented actor, she reminded herself. “Well…um…have a good trip.”
He sighed heavily, the humor back now. “I suppose it was too much to hope that you’d miss me, too. But that’s okay. I’m not one to give up easily once I set my mind to something.”
Now he was making her nervous. “Goodbye, Bryan.”
“Bye, darling.”
She hung up before he could add whatever blarney he came up with next. And, damn it, she was going to miss him.
“I hope Bryan gets here in time for the party.” Evelyn Pennington looked out her living-room window for the seventh or eighth time in the past hour.
“He said he would do his best,” Grace reminded her from a doily-decorated wing chair across the room. She glanced at her watch. “He still has nearly an hour to get here before we need to leave, and I gave him directions to the club if he misses us here.”
“I’m sure he’s trying his best.” Patting her spray-stiffened silvery hair, Evelyn stepped away from the window. “Are you sure I can’t get you anything, honey? Don’t you want a soft drink before you change for the party?”
Grace shook her head. “There will be plenty to eat and drink once we get there.”
A mixture of voices preceded three people into the room. Chloe, Donovan, and Hank Pennington had been out in the backyard to examine Hank’s prized new bass boat, which Grace had already seen and dutifully admired.
“Bryan hasn’t called?” Donovan asked Grace.
“No. I guess he’s running a little late.”
“I hope he hasn’t been detained by a business problem,” Chloe fretted.
The seemingly casual remark fell rather heavily into the room. Grace imagined the others were remembering the same thing she was. The last time Bryan had been detained on a business trip, he’d asked Donovan to give Chloe a lift to his vacation resort. Before Bryan had been able to join them there, Chloe and Donovan had been kidnapped.
Realizing what unpleasant memories she had unintentionally invoked, Chloe spoke again quickly. “I’d better go change for the party.”
Grace stood. “Yeah, me, too.”
Leaving Justin and Bob to close the shop, they had left early that afternoon, bringing their party clothes with them. Donovan’s things had been stashed in Chloe’s old room; Chloe and Grace would dress in Grace’s former bedroom.
Grace and Chloe had both brought cool and casual dresses for the party. It was nice to be able to dress comfortably for a change, Grace reflected as she buckled the strap of one low-heeled sandal. Her feet were particularly relieved.
“You’re sure you’re okay about tonight?” Chloe asked as she stood in front of the mirror, fastening her gold hoop earrings. “I know it will be awkward for you, having to pretend in front of everyone that you and Bryan are a couple.”
“We’ve been participating in that pretense for several weeks now.”
“Yes, but that was for strangers. This is different.”
Since Grace had just been thinking very much along the same lines, she couldn’t argue. “I’ll get through it. We don’t have to lie, really. Bryan and I have been dating—we don’t have to explain why. We’ve never implied to anyone that we’re engaged or even discussing a long-term relationship. All we have to do this evening is act like very good friends and answer any questions politely but vaguely.”
“You and Bryan have become friends, haven’t you? I’ve noticed that you seem to enjoy being together.”
“Chloe…”
Her sister gave her an innocent look. “I’m not matchmaking. It was only an observation.”
“Humph.” Unconvinced, Grace stood and stepped to the mirror, and picked up the hairbrush that had been lying on the dressertop.
There was an eerie sense of déjà vu to getting dressed in her old bedroom with Chloe. Evelyn had changed the décor of the room during the past eleven years since Grace moved out, transforming it from a teenager’s room to a guest room, but the furniture was the same. It didn’t take much imagination for Grace to see the room as it once had been, decorated with beads and stuffed animals and posters of long-haired rock stars. Chloe’s room had been “prissier”—lace and porcelain and Degas prints. The twins had always made an effort to express their individuality, and yet the bond between them had always been strong.
Things were changing, Grace mused wistfully. Not so long ago, she had been the most important person in her sister’s life. She was fully aware that she had now taken second place. When Chloe and Donovan had children—and Chloe wanted them soon—Grace would slip even further down the priority scale. As it should be, of course. She and Chloe would always be close, but Chloe’s first loyalty must be to her own family.
Evelyn’s voice cut through Grace’s temporary melancholy. “Grace, honey, there’s a call for you. It’s Bryan.”
Chloe frowned. “I hope he isn’t calling to say he can’t make it. Donovan and I really want him to be with us this evening.”
Grace didn’t mention that she felt much the same way. As awkward as it would be for her to try to deceive her old friends and neighbors, she suspected that it would be even more problematic going to the party without Bryan. There would be questions about him to field, speculation about whether they’d broken up, concerned reminders about how quickly time passed for a single woman approaching her thirties. This was still an old-fashioned community in some ways. Women Grace’s age were expected to be married—or at least putting a great deal of effort into attaining that goal.
She walked to the kitchen to take the call, since there was no extension in her old room. “Bryan?” she said while her mother hovered in the back
ground, quietly unloading the dishwasher. “Is something wrong?”
“My plane was delayed a couple of hours in Dallas. I’m in Little Rock now, just leaving for Searcy. Do you want to wait for me there at your parents’ house or should I join you at the party?”
Because she knew what her mother would want her to do, Grace answered, “You can join us there. Don’t rush. There’s no need to risk your life trying to get here too quickly.”
“Okay. Sorry about the holdup.”
“It isn’t your fault. Are you having someone drive you?”
“I’m driving myself. My arm is much better, hardly even sore now. Jason picked me up at the airport and dropped me off at my place, so I’ve got the car.”
Grace had convinced Donovan to return the Corvette to Bryan’s house while Bryan was away, telling him—and herself—that there was no need for her to keep it any longer. “Be careful,” she urged again.
“I will. See you soon, gorgeous.”
For some stupid reason, she was blushing a little when she hung up the phone—and she was quite sure her sharp-eyed mother noticed. “Bryan’s going to be a little late. He’ll join us at the club.”
“I’m glad he’ll be able to come. How is his arm?”
“He said it’s much better. It’s probably still more sore than he’ll admit, but he seems to be healing quickly.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” Evelyn studied Grace’s black-and-white color-blocked sleeveless dress. “I like that outfit. Is it new?”
Grace lifted her arms and made an exaggerated runway model’s turn. “Found it on a clearance rack.”
“It’s very flattering. I’m sure Bryan will like it.”
Uh-oh. Not her mother, too. “Mom, don’t forget Bryan and I are simply putting on an act to draw gossip away from Chloe and Donovan.”
Grace knew now where Chloe had gotten that innocent-little-me expression she’d used earlier. Her hazel eyes wide, Evelyn said sweetly, “I know, honey. I was just making a comment about how pretty you look this evening.”
“Right.” Grace didn’t believe her mother any more than she had her sister earlier. What was with her family today? Was the imaginary scent of orange blossoms clouding their thinking?
Surely they understood that she and Bryan were completely wrong for each other. Grace had no interest in sharing his social fishbowl, watching everything she said or did in case it appeared in a gossip column the next day. And Bryan was undoubtedly looking for someone more patient and biddable, more gracious and tactful than Grace. Someone like Chloe.
Hank marched into the kitchen, frowning at his watch. “Shouldn’t we be going? We’ll be late. Grace, where’s your sister?”
Struck by nostalgia again—her compulsively punctual father had spent most of her life hurrying the family to one event or another—she smiled and said, “I bet she sneaked into Donovan’s room.”
Hank scowled. “Well, go tell them to hurry up. Folks are waiting for us.”
She kissed his weathered cheek as she passed him. “Yes, Daddy.”
There was already a good-sized crowd at the country club when they arrived, Grace following the others in her own car.
“See?” Hank muttered when they gathered outside the entrance door. “I told you we’d be late.”
“We weren’t expected to be the first ones here,” Evelyn replied mildly. “Everyone will want to greet Chloe and Donovan when they enter.”
Hank tugged at the tie his wife had made him wear. “Let’s get this over with.”
Donovan looked almost as enthusiastic as Hank at the prospect of the evening ahead. Grace sympathized with both men.
The ballroom had been decorated in white gauze and gold lamé. Gold and white balloons floated serenely above the floor. Creamy candles and magnolia blossoms filled nearly every available surface. Grace could see the hand of Cassie Barnum in the decorations. It had been Cassie who had decorated for every dance and homecoming party when they’d been in high school together. Since graduation, Cassie, now a florist and mother of three, had decorated numerous weddings, parties, pageants, proms and other local festivities.
Cassie rushed forward to greet them first. She had gained forty pounds or so since high school, but her smile was still bubbly and infectious. “Chloe!” she squealed, hugging her old classmate. “You look beautiful.”
Chloe returned the warm squeeze, then motioned toward her fiancé. “Cassie Barnum, this is Donovan Chance.”
Grace almost laughed at Donovan’s expression when Cassie promptly threw her arms around him. She hoped Chloe had warned Donovan that their old friends tended to be a “huggy” bunch. He was going to be embraced by total strangers and welcomed like a long-lost son. For a reserved, undemonstrative man like Donovan, it was going to be a long evening.
While the rest of her family was surrounded by friends, Grace became the object of Cassie’s attention. After the customary hug, Cassie asked, “Isn’t Mr. Falcon going to be here this evening?”
“Bryan’s been delayed. He’ll be joining us shortly.”
“Oh, good. I can’t wait to meet him.” Cassie leaned closer and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Is he really as handsome as he looks in photographs?”
“Better,” Grace answered candidly, thinking of the impact of Bryan’s beautiful blue eyes when seen up close and personal.
Cassie sighed. “Oh, my goodness. I just hope I don’t embarrass myself by stammering when I meet him.”
Grace’s response was dry. “I’m sure he’s used to it.”
Within the next fifteen minutes, it seemed that everyone in the room had asked her where Bryan was. There was plenty of attention given to Chloe and Donovan, of course, but Bryan was considered the real celebrity. It wasn’t every day that a man who had been discussed in People, Forbes, and Newsweek mingled among them. A man who had dated supermodels, dined at the White House and hobnobbed with captains of industry. Not only that, he was a real-life hero who rescued small children in his free time.
Grace understood why her friends were so fascinated by Bryan. And why they were finding it so hard to imagine her dating such a man. She found that rather hard to believe, herself.
She stayed close to her parents as they worked the room, after discovering that people were less likely to get too personal about her relationship with Bryan when her mother and father were standing beside her. There were several comments about Chloe’s new short hairstyle, and how much easier it was to tell the twins apart now.
“You girls still look just alike, though,” her mother’s old friend Elsie Carpenter remarked. “It’s no wonder all those gossip columnists got the two of you mixed up.”
It made it easier for Grace to keep playing the part of Bryan’s “frequent companion” when she had such validation that the plan had been successful. Among their friends, at least, it seemed to be taken for granted that the media had been wrong, and that the couples had been paired off this way all along.
She was chatting with her old history teacher, Mrs. Kinnelly, when a stir from the other side of the room caught her attention. Unless she was mistaken, her date had just arrived.
A moment later, she spotted him being escorted across the room by her mother. Evelyn clung to Bryan’s right arm, looking so comfortable with him that one would have thought she’d known him forever rather than having met him only recently. “Look who finally made it,” Evelyn sang out cheerily.
Her pulse racing through her veins, Grace cleared her throat in an attempt to make her voice sound normal when she greeted him. She could only assume that her sudden attack of nerves was due to the knowledge that everyone in the big room was watching them. It surely wasn’t only excitement at seeing Bryan again—even if he did look spectacular in his pale-gray jacket, charcoal slacks and crisp white shirt. His bandages were hidden, and he looked completely healthy. His tie was a geometric print of grays and white, and had probably cost more than Grace’s clearance-rack dress.
Cassie wa
sn’t the only one who was in danger of stammering at the sight of him.
She was pleased that her voice came out steadily. “Hello, Bryan.”
She should have been prepared for his next move—but she hadn’t been. She was in his arms with his mouth on hers before she could brace herself for the impact.
The kiss didn’t last long, but it still turned her knees to gelatin. She had to cling to his right arm for support when he finally drew back. She knew her cheeks were flaming. He’d kissed her right there in front of everyone—including her mother and her old history teacher!
She could tell from his wicked smile that he knew full well what he had done to her. “Hi, darling. Miss me?”
“Of course.” She lifted her chin and gave him a look that ordered him to behave. “How was your trip?”
“Much too long.” He turned his high-voltage smile on Mrs. Kinnelly, who was watching them avidly. “Hello. I’m Bryan Falcon.”
Proving that even seventy-year-old women weren’t immune to his charms, the retired teacher tittered a little as she replied, “I know who you are, of course. And I’m Helen Kinnelly.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”
Mrs. Kinnelly smiled at Grace’s mother. “Both of your daughters have found such polite young men, Evelyn. But I knew they would. You raised them well—even if Grace did raise a few eyebrows when she was a teenager.”
His arm around Grace’s shoulders, Bryan chuckled. “I’ve always admired women with spirit. I bet you raised a few eyebrows in your day, as well.”
Mrs. Kinnelly blushed like one of the hundreds of schoolgirls she had taught during her career. “I got into my share of mischief.”
Bryan winked at her and then turned to greet someone else who was trying to get his attention, leaving the older woman smiling and fanning her face with one hand.
“Can you believe this guy?” Grace asked her sister a short while later. “All he has to do is walk into a roomful of strangers and he suddenly has everyone eating out of his hands.”
Chloe looked across the room to the refreshments table where Bryan and Donovan had gone to fetch drinks. “He really is amazing.”