The Best-Made Plans

by Leigh Michaels

  The Best-Made Plans

  by Leigh Michaels

  http://www.leighmichaels.com

  Copyright 2012 Leigh Michaels

  First published 1992

  All rights reserved

  Cover illustration copyright 2012 Michael W. Lemberger

  This is a work of fiction. Characters and events portrayed in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or real events is purely coincidental.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and may not be re-sold or given away to other people. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  CHAPTER 1

  The church was not silent. It was filled with tiny noises — the soft ripple of the organ playing a popular love song, the low murmurs of the congregation, the occasional cough and the rustle of Sunday-best clothes as a last, late-arriving guest was seated. Still, underneath the surface sounds, the church held an expectant hush that Kaitlyn Ross had learned to recognize. It used to bother her; it had seemed almost as if the guests were hopeful that something scandalous would happen. Now she knew it was always like this in the last few moments before the bride came down the aisle. It was nothing to fret about.

  She stepped quietly into a small nook near the altar, where almost no one could see her, for a final quick survey to make sure everything was in place. She didn’t intend to be noticed, of course; that was why, on days like this, she dressed so sedately — today, it was a very plain coffee-brown dress and only the simplest of jewelry — and moved so discreetly along the side aisles and through the back corridors, checking. Always checking.

  From this perfect vantage point, she could see every inch of St. Matthew’s, noting that each satin ribbon was neatly in place, each candle straight and burning freely, each flower nodding proudly on the altar. Moss green and peach this time — and a lovely combination it had turned out to be. She was glad she had steered Angela — and, what had been even more difficult, Angela’s mother — away from the heavy midnight blue they had originally talked of. Midnight blue on a hot June evening, for heaven’s sake!

  With her survey of the church completed, Kaitlyn peeked into the clergyman’s chambers to be certain the groom hadn’t fled in panic, and then made her way unobtrusively down the side aisle with only a silent nod and a smile to a friend here and a client there. Halfway back on the bride’s side, she noticed her mother; Audrey Ross caught her daughter’s eye and gave her a subtle thumbs-up sign.

  Encouragement? Kaitlyn blinked in surprise. This wedding was going to be a snap; what could go wrong at this stage? Still, it was sweet of Audrey to offer that sign of confidence, whether it was needed or not.

  She was nearly to the back of the church before she saw him.

  He was sitting by himself, in an almost-hidden corner, as if he had slipped in unannounced at the last moment. But he hadn’t been unseen; now Kaitlyn knew why her mother had issued that small gesture of support. Audrey had spotted him and she was reassuring her daughter. Reassuring her, and perhaps pleading innocence, as well — disavowing any previous knowledge that Penn would be here today.

  Not that it matters. So what if Penn came home for his cousin Angela’s wedding? There was nothing in his presence to upset Kaitlyn after all these years.

  Penn Caldwell. Charming, funny, fascinating Penn Caldwell. And also, she reminded herself, stubborn, determined, egotistical Penn Caldwell. Never the sort to settle down to one place — or to one woman.

  So Penn was home, after ten years of roaming the world.

  The funny thing was that a casual observer would have assumed the man was a lawyer or a doctor or the mechanical engineer his father bad wanted him to be. He looked solid and reliable and competent, with his perfectly-tailored pale gray suit and his expertly-cut black hair. Only the rich tan of his skin, which spoke of hours in the sun, didn’t quite fit with that professional image.

  What he certainly did not look like was a journeyman laborer, or a Peace Corps volunteer, or a part-time taxi driver, or an assistant dishwasher, or a surfing instructor — but he had been all of those incongruous things and more over the years. Not that he had ever sent so much as a postcard to Kaitlyn, but in a town the size of Springhill, a good story always got around. And when the story concerned Penn Caldwell — the promising young man who had taken such a puzzling turn after the tragedy that had struck his family — it got around very quickly indeed.

  Penn looked up as she approached, and Kaitlyn found herself staring straight into his cool dark gray eyes, her own green ones widening just a bit despite herself at the impact of that gaze. With an effort, she let her gaze slide across his and she walked on, a little faster, eager to reach the back of the church and get this wedding under way.

  But at the end of the pew where he sat, her foot came down wrong on the flagstone floor, and the high heel of her sandal squealed a protest as it slid sideways over the slick stone. Half the congregation’s members craned their necks expectantly at the sound.

  Penn’s arm shot out in front of her, and Kaitlyn clutched it until she regained her balance. “Thank you,” she muttered. She pulled away as quickly as she could and tried to suppress the embarrassed color in her cheeks as she hurried on down the aisle.

  Damn St. Matthew’s council, she thought irritably. The uneven stones were dangerous to start with, but instead of doing something helpful, the church authorities just kept adding coats of wax.

  The organist began to play another love song, and outside the sanctuary doors Angela’s mother stopped pacing and said, “Is that my cue?” She looked distractedly from the doors to the tiny anteroom where the bride waited as if she couldn’t make up her mind which direction to go.

  Kaitlyn patted her arm. “It will be fine, Mrs. March,” she told the woman, and sent her into the church on the arm of one of the ushers before she could do more than cast another longing look toward her daughter.

  Honestly, if people didn’t have someone to manage them on occasions like this, nothing would ever get done. What had kept things moving before there were wedding consultants to do the organizing?

  She glanced into the anteroom where the photographer was setting up a last pose of Angela with her bridesmaids and a tiny flower girl, who looked ready to cry.

  That’s all we need, Kaitlyn thought. “It’s time, girls. Better get into position inside the sanctuary, Jill.”

  The photographer, a young woman in a dark gray dress that made no attempt to conceal the fact that she was very pregnant, snapped the final shot and gathered up her equipment. “Ready when you are.”

  Kaitlyn marshaled the bridesmaids into line, signaled the organist, and counted the measure so each of the girls got off at the right moment, on the correct foot — a minor miracle in itself, after the way things had looked at rehearsal. She just hoped none of them stepped off the white carpet runner and onto that uncertain flagstone floor, for Penn might not be there to hold on to.

  The muscles of his arm had been like steel cables. Well, there was one story going the rounds about Penn that she would never doubt again; he’d been doing some sort of physical labor, somewhere, to build up that kind of strength.

  Under cover of the last few bars of the wedding march, Kaitlyn slipped up the side aisle again and into the spot beside her mother.

  “Dearly beloved,” the clergyman began. “We are gathered—”

  Audrey muttered, “Penn’s here.”

  “I saw him.”

  “You didn’t mention he was coming.”

  “I didn’t know he was. He didn’t have the good manners even to answer the invitation.” Kaitlyn buried herself in the wedding program, pretending fascination as if she’d n
ever seen it before.

  The gesture obviously didn’t fool her mother, but Audrey sighed and fanned herself with her own program and turned her attention back to the ceremony.

  As if he would have let me know. In ten years, he’s never even sent me a postcard. Not that I wanted to hear from him.

  She supposed a lot of other people were going to be wondering, too. People in Springhill didn’t forget. Though no one had brought the subject up to Kaitlyn for a year or more, it was foolish to think it had faded entirely into the past, for it was far too interesting to be forgotten altogether. The simple fact was that nearly everyone had expected, back then, that someday Kaitlyn Ross would marry Penn Caldwell.

  Nearly everyone in Springhill — including Kaitlyn.

  And they had all felt sorry for her when, after the tragedy, it turned out that Penn didn’t feel the same way at all, and he went abruptly off to roam the world instead of settling down.

  So now Penn was back, and everyone in Springhill was going to be watching.

  But not for long. The weekend — maybe three or four days — and he would be gone again. That was the one guaranteed thing about Penn. He’d never stuck to anything in his life.

  *****

  The limousine driver had orders to take his time transporting the newlyweds from church to country club, so that Kaitlyn had a few minutes to be certain everything was in place for the reception and that no careless waiter had fallen into the cake or managed to clog up the champagne fountain. All of that was really the caterer’s problem, of course, but if it didn’t go right, the blame would ultimately come to rest on Kaitlyn. That was why people hired a wedding consultant in the first place — because they wanted smooth, elegant perfection in everything from orchids to champagne punch to photographs. And because that way they’d have someone to blame if things went wrong.

  The dancing was well under way, and she was reminding the band leader of his promise to play all sorts of music, not just the youngest generation’s favorite kind, when the groom came up beside her with a courtly bow. “May I have this dance?”

  “Neil, you know I don’t dance at these parties. There are too many things to keep an eye on.”

  He looked around, his brow furrowed. “Like what?”

  “Like the waiters who are serving the cake.”

  “They look perfectly capable to me. Come on, Kaitlyn.” He gestured to the bandleader, who smiled mischievously and struck up a waltz. Before Kaitlyn could protest, she was in the middle of the dance floor, and Neil was saying earnestly, “Besides, you’re by far the best dancer here — it would be a waste to leave you on the sidelines. I’m surprised Marcus hasn’t dragged you out here by the hair.”

  “Marcus knows my rules. Business is—”

  “But this is business,” Neil objected. “It will be the only chance I get to tell you privately how grateful I am for all your help in restraining Angela’s mother. If she’d had her way, this would have been a three-ring circus.”

  Kaitlyn privately agreed, but she said, diplomatically, “Actually, all I did was carry out Angela’s wishes.”

  “Now what about my wishes? It looks to me as if everything is running smoothly, so you’re to enjoy yourself for the rest of the evening — and that’s an order. You’re our guest as well as the coordinator, you know.”

  She shook her head. “Just this dance, Neil.”

  There was a tap on his shoulder. “Go waltz with your bride, Neil, and let me say hello to Kaitlyn.”

  It had been ten years since she had heard that voice, and she would never forget hearing it raised in anger — fury, actually, mixed with frustration and pain.... But now there was only lazy good humor as Penn turned to her. “Dance with me for old times’ sake, Kitten?”

  Kitten. He had called her that, often, but she had almost forgotten how soft and sultry he could make it sound. For a moment she contemplated stamping her foot down on his and walking off the floor — just for old times’ sake. But she was precisely in the middle of the ballroom and there were too many eyes. People were watching, all right. She couldn’t cause that sort of scene in the middle of Angela’s wedding, no matter how much Penn deserved it.

  So she raised one hand to his shoulder and put the other hesitantly into his and let him swing her off across the floor. The last time he had held her—

  Stop it. You’re not going to start all that nonsense. It doesn’t matter anymore.

  “My name is not Kitten,” she said. Her voice was a little throatier than usual.

  Penn shook his head sadly. “Don’t tell me you’ve turned into a radical feminist while I’ve been gone.”

  “Of course I haven’t.”

  “I beg your pardon. A radical feminist wouldn’t be making a business of arranging fancy weddings, would she? She’d be outside the church with a picket sign, protesting that the ancient ritual demeans women.”

  “If your definition of a radical feminist includes opposing weddings,” Kaitlyn said sweetly, “you’re far more of one than I am — aren’t you?”

  His gray eyes turned silvery with laughter. “You haven’t let those claws get dull, have you? Are there really enough people getting married in Springhill to keep a wedding consultant busy?”

  She nodded. “It looks that way. It will take time to build up my business — I’ve only been doing this for eight months — so I do other parties, as well. But I’ve got some wedding bookings for almost a year from now.”

  Penn looked disbelievingly. “And these people all want to make public spectacles of themselves just so they can be married?”

  “They want nice weddings,” she corrected. “And these days not only does the bride have a job that keeps her from making all the arrangements herself, but her mother does, too. So it’s a perfect niche for an expert who can coordinate everything and leave the family free to enjoy themselves at the party.”

  “The expert being you. Self-appointed, of course.”

  Kaitlyn frowned at the tone of his voice, but she said firmly, “That’s right. And it’s not so crazy. I’ve been helping my friends with their weddings forever, unofficially, so I know what I’m doing now that I’ve gone professional.”

  Penn whistled admiringly. “Nice work if you can get it. I just hope you can keep your clients convinced that you’re indispensable.”

  The jab annoyed her. “At least be honest, Penn. It isn’t just weddings you think are unnecessary — it’s marriage, too. In fact, with the way you feel about the whole concept, I’m surprised you even showed up for Angela’s wedding.”

  “First one I’ve attended in years.”

  “Well,” she said with sweet sarcasm, “perhaps that accounts for why you were so rude you didn’t even bother to send back your response card.”

  He shook his head. “Oh, no — the invitation just took so long to catch up with me that there wasn’t time. I’ve been moving around a bit.”

  That came as no surprise. Good old Penn. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

  For the first time, she found herself wondering if he would have been that way if not for the tragedy. Had the accident that had swept away his family caused this restlessness in him, or had it simply released a tendency that had always been there?

  “Besides, I’m not opposed to marriage – for Angela,” he added, with wide-eyed earnestness.

  “Merely for yourself. I suppose some things never change.” She bit her tongue, a second too late.

  “Don’t tell me you’re still holding a grudge over that, Kitten. Just because I didn’t want to marry you—”

  “Of course I’m not holding a grudge,” Kaitlyn said crisply. “If I’d actually married you, I’d be a widow by now — serving time in prison for your murder.”

  “No doubt.” The idea didn’t seem to disturb him. “See what trouble I saved us all by refusing to indulge your little whim?”

  She deliberately missed a step and kicked him in the ankle, then gave him a pseudo-apologetic smile
as he protested. “I seem to be a little tired,” she explained. She’d never heard a waltz go on so long; the band leader must be getting even with her for reminding him of his promise to mix the musical styles.

  “Too tired to waltz? You? I don’t believe it. I used to go off to sleep every night thinking about waltzing with you, Kitten.”

  Her breath caught for just an instant and then she forced herself to release it.

  “That was when I was in the jungle, of course,” he added practically. “There wasn’t much else to think about.”

  This time he sidestepped her toe and smiled contentedly down at her. “What’s happened to Springhill, by the way? I was driving around this morning and I practically got lost.”

  She was relieved he didn’t seem to want to rehash the past. It was long over, and even an apology for the way he’d treated her wouldn’t help now — though she couldn’t think of anything less likely than the idea of Penn actually apologizing.

  “Whole new sections of this town have sprung up from nowhere since I left,” he added. “And there’s a For Sale sign on your old house.”

  For an instant, her heart fluttered at the thought of Penn driving past to see what her house looked like after his long absence. The memories it held must have been important to him, after all.

  Then the quivery rhythm settled back to normal. It would have been hard to avoid seeing it, if he’d been driving around town for longer than half an hour. The Ross house wasn’t a grand one, but it was located on a prominent corner. She shrugged. “After Dad died last year—”

  Penn caught his breath, and his hand tightened momentarily on hers. “I hadn’t heard that, Kaitlyn.”

  “I don’t know how you’d expect to,” she said sharply. “If you’re moving around so much—” She stopped abruptly. There was nothing so awful about his sympathy, was there? He knew how it felt to lose a father.