Kaye Dacus - Stand-In Groom

“Oh, I have the perfect pink faux-fur rug for this room. It would make such a cute nursery.” Mrs. Landry gave George a significant look over her shoulder from the doorway of the last room on the third floor.

He shuddered internally as he inclined his head toward the woman who fit the stereotype of nouveaux riches every person in the service industry feared working for.

Courtney checked her watch. “Oh, Mama, we need to go if you’re going to have time to get ready for the homeowners’ association meeting tonight.”

He stepped out on the front porch with them, astonished to see a Rolls-Royce in the driveway. The chauffeur scrambled out and opened the back door.

“Mama, you go on. I need to speak with George for a moment.” Courtney watched her mother climb into the car. As soon as the door closed, she turned back to look up at George. “I’m so sorry I sprung that on you without any warning. My friend I thought I was going to stay with ended up going to Australia for the summer, so I’m having to stay with Mama instead.”

“And she didn’t know you were engaged?”

“Not until I told her at breakfast this morning right before you and me went to meet Miss Anne. Mama wanted me to go to the beauty salon with her and was like, ‘Where are you going?’ And I was all, ‘I have plans.’ But she was like, ‘You just got here—how can you have plans?’ and got all up in my face until I blurted out where we were going. It wasn’t exactly how I wanted to tell her—I wanted her to find out when everyone else does at the engagement party.” She grabbed his hands and stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “Thanks for playing along.”

Mentally, George added elocution lessons to the etiquette he planned to teach Courtney between now and the engagement party. “That’s what I’m here for.”

“Come to dinner with us tonight?”

“Of course.”

She gave him directions to the restaurant, although he’d Map-Quest it as soon as he got inside. He waited on the porch until the car disappeared between the tree rows, then leaned against the front door after closing it and resetting the alarm. The deception had just gotten a little bigger. Now Courtney’s mother believed he was the fiancé. But concealing the truth of his identity from the wedding planner had felt much worse than this.

The wedding planner.

He cut off all the lights and descended toward the service level. Anne Hawthorne.

When he’d seen her at the restaurant, he’d immediately wanted to get to know her better. No one had affected him like that in a very long time. And he must lie to her to protect his employer’s identity and keep his job.

He shook his head as he regained his seat at the island. The next five weeks were going to be, like , the longest of his life.

“What in the world is wrong with you, Grumpy McGrouch?”

Sitting at the large table in the back room of her cousin Jenn’s rustic seafood restaurant Monday evening, Anne thought she was doing a good job of hiding her emotions. But Jenn was right: Anne had been in a bad mood ever since Courtney and her fiancé had left her office that morning. Not available . Just wait until Forbes got here!

“No joke,” chimed in Meredith. “All you’ve done since you walked in is shred every napkin on the table. Was the wedding this weekend really that bad?”

Anne glanced around at the blizzard of white paper on the table. “I’m sorry, y’all. I asked for us to have dinner tonight instead of Thursday, and here I am being completely unsociable. It’s just been—a stressful day.”

Meredith squeezed Anne’s shoulder. “No, we’re sorry for teasing you.”

Jenn flopped into the chair on her other side. “Hey, you were going to tell us about that guy you saw. The one having dinner with Forbes the other night. Forbes is running late. So tell us.”

Anne snorted. “Well, when I first saw him, I thought he was handsome—and I seriously felt like maybe God had finally answered my prayers.” She crossed her arms and slouched down in the plush red chair.

“But something changed?” Meredith prompted, pushing back a piece of hair back from Anne’s face and letting her hand rest on Anne’s shoulder.

“He’s engaged . He and his fiancée were my ten o’clock consultation this morning.”

“Oh, Annie.” Jenn vigorously rubbed Anne’s other shoulder.

“That’s not the worst part. The worst part is that his fiancée is Courtney Landry.”

Meredith cocked her head. “Courtney… which one is she?”

“The baby. The one who’s barely nineteen years old. I mean, this guy has to be at least forty. You’d think Forbes—”

“Did I hear my name?”

“Speak of the devil.” Jenn stood to allow her oldest brother to take the chair on Anne’s left.

“Devil indeed.” Anne punched him in the arm as soon as he sat down. “Not available?”

“Ouch! Wha—?”

“George Laurence! I felt like such an idiot this morning when he and his fiancée walked into my office. The least you could’ve done was tell me he’s engaged. Then I wouldn’t have—” Oops, she’d almost said too much.

Forbes stood and shrugged out of his suit jacket. “Wouldn’t have what?”

She scrambled for something believable. “Wouldn’t have acted so surprised when they walked in.”

“You didn’t have their names written down in your calendar?” Forbes sat and shoved the pile of shredded napkins to the middle of the large round table. “Really, Anne, you’re usually so much more organized than that.”

That little half grin, dimple, and sparkle in his blue eyes weren’t going to work this time. “When the information downloaded from the Web site, all it had was her last name, which is pretty common in this state, if you haven’t noticed. I arranged the appointment by e-mail, and she never signed her name to any of the correspondence.”

“But it’s going to be worth it, huh?” He nudged her with his elbow.

“Hrrrrr.” She groaned, smiled, and shook her head. “Yeah, it’s going to be more than worth it—if they’re telling me the truth.”

Forbes’s left eyebrow shot up. “What leads you to believe they’re not telling you the truth?”

“No limits to what can be spent? Come on. Everyone has their limits.”

“Oh.” He loosened his tie and turned to look over his left shoulder. “Hey, Jenn?” he called across the room to his sister.

She waved at him but didn’t turn from her conversation with two of her servers. When she was finished, she rejoined them. “What’s up?”

“That new music come in yet?”

“Yep—even those tracks Annie wanted me to order.” Jenn poked Anne’s shoulder. “And I just want you to know, those were hard to come by, too.”

“Thanks. I’ve got to expose y’all to the classics. All this new music—”

“Good grief!” Jason, a younger cousin to all of them, flopped into the chair beside Meredith. “Karaoke hasn’t even started, and she’s already griping about modern music.”

Anne laughed along with them. She’d save the lecture for the next couple choosing their reception music. Once the other cousins arrived and the food was served, they cajoled Jenn into opening up the microphone an hour early.

“You’ll have to get up and do a couple of those songs you want us all to hear so much,” Forbes said.

Anne shook her head, and her stomach flip-flopped. “No. You know I can’t sing in front of a crowd.”

“Once you’re up there with the spotlight on you, you can’t see anyone. Just concentrate on the words going across the TV screen, and you won’t think about anyone else being here.” Jenn jogged across the restaurant to the stage.