A Bride by Christmas Read online

“My expertise?” Maggie said, cocking her head slightly to one side. “About what?”

  “Weddings. I am responsible for planning a wedding, every detail, beginning to end. No expense spared.”

  Dear heaven, no, Maggie thought, feeling the color drain from her face. Luke St. John was getting married. How could he do such a thing? He hadn’t even brought a date to his brother’s wedding, for crying out loud. And crying out loud was what she was about to do, because she could feel the tears stinging at the back of her eyes and…

  “Are you all right?” Luke said, frowning. “You’re very pale all of a sudden. Why don’t we sit down on this nice love seat you have?”

  “I’ll sit on the love seat,” she said, shooting him a dark look, “and you sit on that easy chair.”

  Luke raised both hands palms out. “No problem. Whatever makes you comfortable.”

  Once seated, Maggie directed her attention to an invisible piece of lint on one of her knees.

  “I must say, Luke,” she said, wishing her voice sounded steadier than the quivering little noise she was hearing, “that I’m surprised by your announcement. I mean, you didn’t have a…a companion with you at Ginger and Robert’s wedding or…

  “What did you do? Put all your women’s names in a hat, pull one out and decide to marry her because your brother is obviously so happy, so what the heck, why not?” She paused. “Sorry. That was rude. Very rude.” She cleared her throat. “So. You wish to hire me—Roses and Wishes—to coordinate your wedding. I appreciate your confidence. It is a bit unusual that you’re tending to this and not your bride-to-be, as it’s traditional that the woman… Forget that. To each his own. How many people are you going to invite?”

  Luke propped one ankle on his other knee and smiled pleasantly. “A lot.”

  “Could you be a tad more specific?”

  “Not at the moment. Just go with a lot for now.”

  “And when do you plan to have this life-changing event?” Maggie said, looking over at him.

  “The sooner the better,” he said. “But I’m not exactly sure at this point in time.”

  “I see.” Maggie frowned. “No, I don’t. Call me stupid, but this isn’t making one bit of sense. You want me to coordinate a wedding for a lot, number unknown, of guests, and it’s to be held the sooner the better, but you don’t have a clue as to when.”

  Luke nodded. “That’s it in a nutshell.”

  A rather hysterical giggle escaped from Maggie’s lips. “Do you know anything for certain? Like, for example, who the bride is?”

  “Oh, yes, ma’am,” he said. “That is etched in stone.”

  “How nice,” she said miserably. “What I mean is…I’m not sure what I mean. This is very confusing.”

  “It is?” Luke said, an expression of pure innocence on his face. “I need a wedding planned, you’re a wedding planner—coordinator, whatever.” He shrugged. “Seems to me I’ve come to the right place, especially after seeing what a dynamite job you did for Ginger and Robert.”

  “But Ginger knew what she wanted and when she wanted it,” Maggie said, throwing up her hands. “Well, sort of. She did change her mind about a ton of things, but generally speaking, she knew. You know—three hundred, give or take, guests, a summer wedding, seven bridesmaids, yogurt-covered almonds in the nut cups, details like that.”

  “Oh,” Luke said, nodding. “Well, I don’t know any of that stuff. Except forget the almonds. I don’t like almonds, yogurt-covered or otherwise.”

  “Oh, well, with that data I’m ready to roll,” Maggie said, throwing up her hands again. “No almonds in the nut cups.” She shook her head. “This is insane.”

  “Tell me this, Maggie,” Luke said, leaning toward her. “How long does it take to put on a production like Ginger and Robert’s shindig?”

  “At least six months,” she said, “and that’s going full speed ahead.”

  “Really? That long? Grim, very grim. Well, if that’s the best you can do… Okay, let’s aim for a Christmas wedding. How’s that?”

  Sure, Maggie thought, feeling the threat of tears again. Merry Christmas to Maggie Jenkins. She could watch Luke St. John get married. Hooray.

  Darn it, what difference did it make? Why was she falling apart because Luke suddenly realized he was in love with one of the high-society women he dated and wanted to get married and live happily ever after? It had nothing to do with her beyond being a real coup for Roses and Wishes.

  So why did she feel so sad?

  Why did she want to crawl into bed and cry for a week?

  Forget it, just forget it. She wasn’t talking to herself about this anymore because she was being absolutely, positively ridiculous.

  “Maggie?” Luke said. “Does that work for you? A Christmas wedding?”

  “Yes,” she said softly as she looked at a spot in space a couple of inches above Luke’s head. “A Christmas wedding will be just fine, very beautiful and…special. Definitely a Christmas to remember forever.”

  Five

  Luke nodded and rubbed his hands together. “Actually this schedule will work out perfectly. A holiday wedding. That’s really romantic, don’t you think?”

  “What? Uh, yes, very romantic,” Maggie said with a rather wistful sigh as she shifted her gaze to the opposite wall. “It’s a magical time of year as it is. And to be getting married then, too? Goodness, that’s over the top or however you want to put it.”

  “Yep.” Luke paused and looked at Maggie intently. “I’ll tell…them…the good news.”

  Maggie snapped her head around to stare at Luke. “Them? Them who?” She paused. “You mean the families?”

  “Nooo,” Luke said slowly. “I was referring to the bride and groom.”

  “Pardon me?” she said, obviously confused.

  “Oh,” Luke said, snapping his fingers, “I didn’t make myself clear on this at all, did I? I do apologize, Maggie. The wedding we’re discussing is for my cousin and his fiancée.”

  “What?” Maggie blinked. “You mean you’re not…What?”

  “Let me start at the top,” Luke said, lacing his fingers on his chest. “My cousin…Clyde…”

  Jeez, what a name, he thought, inwardly groaning. He should have given thought to the identity of these people before he got here. The bride, the bride. What was the bride’s name?

  He looked frantically around the room, his gaze falling on the cover of a thick photograph album imprinted with the words Precious Memories in gold.

  “…and the love of his life…Precious,” he went on, “are in London working for the State Department.”

  “Clyde and Precious?” Maggie said, raising her eyebrows.

  “Yep, good ol’ cousin Clyde. Anyway, they decided they’d best get married here in Phoenix to keep the families from murdering them. However, they agreed to stay on in their positions as long as possible to train their replacements before returning to the States.

  “They did stipulate to their boss, though, that they definitely wanted to be back home for the holidays. So, you see, a wedding at that time of year keeps everybody happy. Are you happy, Maggie?”

  “I’m ecstatic,” she said, smiling. Because Luke wasn’t getting married. He wasn’t. Thank goodness, because… Because why? She didn’t know, but there was no denying that the dark cloud that had settled over her was gone, poof, just disappeared, because Luke wasn’t talking about his wedding. “Ecstatic because…Yes, because this is wonderful news for…for Roses and Wishes.”

  “Of course,” Luke said, nodding. “Now let me make something very clear. Precious is a rather unusual young woman. She’d much prefer to just go to City Hall in her jeans and marry her beloved Clyde, but the mothers would freak and Clyde and Precious would never hear the end of it.

  “So when I spoke with them on the phone yesterday I suggested that they hire you to arrange the whole she-bang and all they have to do is show up. They’re thrilled. Precious said she’d go along with any decisions you make. Clyde? H
ey, guys don’t care about this kind of stuff. It’s a woman thing.”

  “You mean I get to plan the whole wedding, make it the way I want it to be and… What about the mothers? The mothers will never let me do that. They’ll want to step in and put this production together.”

  “No way,” Luke said. “They’re as different as day and night, those mothers. My aunt and Precious’s mom together are a war waiting to happen. They’re not going to know a thing about it.

  “They’ll get an invitation in the mail, just like everyone else who is invited. They’ll pout for a while, I suppose, but then they’ll jump right into fast-forward and start thinking about becoming grandmothers, and all will be well.”

  “This is crazy,” Maggie said, shaking her head.

  “No, this is exactly the way it should be done.” Luke leaned forward, only inches from Maggie as he looked directly into her eyes. “You pretend this is your dream wedding, Maggie. Make the decisions based on what you would want if you were getting married.”

  “Oh…my…gracious,” Maggie whispered.

  “The thing is, Clyde and Precious feel they’d better be kept up to date on what’s what, you know what I mean? Just in case the moms quiz them later on why they decided on something. For example, if you have them get married in a hot-air balloon, they want to be prepared with a solid story about how they have this thing for hot-air balloons. Get it?”

  “I…”

  “Therefore, I’ll be sticking pretty close to you through this whole endeavor so I have all the details straight to pass along to them as we go. My father will take up the slack for me at the office to free up some of my time because Clyde is his favorite nephew. My dad is semiretired, but for this occasion he’s willing to put in extra hours.

  “So I’d say that about covers it. Remember, no expense spared. Oh, and Precious is about your size, so there shouldn’t be any problem about your picking out her wedding dress—if you want a traditional wedding dress. That’s up to you. Any questions?”

  “I-I’m stunned,” Maggie said, shaking her head. “I’m having difficulty comprehending all this because it’s so… I can’t even think of a word to describe it.”

  Try brilliant, Luke thought smugly. The Plan was nothing short of brilliant. Maggie would produce the wedding of her dreams. He had set it up perfectly to be able to stick close to her through the whole thing and he’d be chipping away at those walls of hers little by little, brick by emotional brick.

  She would come to love him, just as he loved her. God, she just had to fall in love with him, want to marry him and spend the rest of her life by his side. Ah, please, Maggie.

  “Will you do it?” Luke said. “I mean, take on this project?”

  “Well, yes, of course I will. Yes.”

  “Great. That’s even more than great. Thank you, Maggie, from the bottom of my heart. I’m really grateful. That is, Clyde and Precious will be very grateful to you for doing this.” Luke paused. “I realize that you don’t wish to ever marry, but that doesn’t mean you haven’t thought about the kind of wedding you’d like to have if you intended to marry, even though you don’t…intend to marry. Right? Did that make sense?”

  “I think so,” Maggie said, frowning slightly. “Yes, I understand what you said. And I suppose I do wonder about how I would do things each time I coordinate a wedding. It’s human nature, you know what I mean?

  “For example, when Ginger finally settled on pale yellow as one of her colors, I couldn’t help feeling that with so many blond bridesmaids a deeper shade would have been more striking. Of course, I didn’t say that to Ginger, but I was thinking it.”

  “There you go,” Luke said, nodding. “That’s exactly what I was referring to. Have you ever put together a holiday wedding before?”

  “No.”

  “Then you won’t be influenced by a previous bride’s choices. The decisions will be exclusively yours.” Luke beamed. “Won’t that be fun?”

  “I…”

  “You’re not scheduled to do another wedding right away, are you?” Luke said. “You’re free to concentrate totally on Clyde and Precious’s do?”

  “Their wedding will have Roses and Wishes’ undivided attention,” Maggie said, smiling.

  “Great.” Luke frowned. “Mmm. The church. Which one would you pick?”

  “Me? Well, I happen to be Episcopalian, but—”

  “Terrific. You can book the same church that Ginger and Robert had. That will suit Clyde and Precious just fine.”

  “Well, sure. Okay. Goodness, my head is spinning. This is rather overwhelming because it’s so…strange. What about bridesmaids? The dresses have to be custom-fitted, you know.”

  Oops, Luke thought. Quick, St. John, come up with a solution to that.

  “Well,” he said slowly. “Who would you choose as your attendants?”

  “Me? My sister and my best friend.”

  “That’s all? Just two?”

  Maggie laughed. “Not everyone has seven bridesmaids like Ginger, Luke.”

  “True,” he said. “Two. I’ll pass that on to Precious. Why don’t you find out what size dresses your two choices wear, and the seamstress or whatever you call her can adjust to the size of Precious’s bridesmaids.”

  “Well, it’s not perfect, but it might work if there’s time enough to nip and tuck before the actual wedding—provided, of course, that everyone is at least close to matching in size. My sister Janet wears a twelve. My best friend Patty is a ten.”

  “And you?”

  “Me? I wear a size eight.”

  “Got it. I’ll double-check all three of those numbers with Precious.” Luke paused. “There. Problem solved. We’re a good team, Maggie Jenkins.” Luke looked directly into Maggie’s big brown eyes. “A very good team. You. Me. Together.”

  “Together,” Maggie whispered as she stared into Luke’s mesmerizing eyes.

  She was about to start planning her fantasy wedding, Maggie mused dreamily. The one she would never have but had thought about so very much. And Luke St. John would be beside her every step of the way, as though he was the groom and she was the bride and… This was totally bizarre.

  And very, very dangerous.

  She had to keep herself grounded in reality through the months ahead, not get emotionally caught up in what she and Luke were doing. It was an unusual project assigned to Roses and Wishes, that’s all.

  The bride was Precious, the groom was Clyde. She must remember that at all times. And keeping her head and heart straight would be a lot easier if she quit gazing into those compelling eyes of Luke’s.

  “Well,” Maggie said much too loudly and causing Luke to jerk at her sudden outburst, “this has certainly been an interesting meeting.” She got to her feet. “As the owner of Roses and Wishes, I’d like to sincerely thank you for your confidence in me to coordinate the perfect wedding for Precious and Clyde.”

  “You’re welcome,” Luke said, rising. “Just out of curiosity, what will you do first?”

  “Select the colors. There are so many things—details, details, details—that have to tie into them that it’s important they are chosen early on.” Maggie laughed. “The way Ginger kept changing her mind about her colors was nerve-racking, to say the least.”

  “You won’t have to worry about that type of thing this time, will you?” Luke said, smiling. “You’re planning your wedding—so to speak.”

  “Well, yes, so to speak. But not really. Well, sort of, because whatever I decide is how it will be. But then again… Never mind. It’s going to take a while to adjust to such a once-in-a-lifetime endeavor.”

  “That’s what weddings should be, don’t you think?”

  Luke said quietly. “A once-in-a-lifetime, forever-and-ever event for the bride and groom?”

  “Of course.” Maggie sighed. “But in today’s society the forever-and-ever part doesn’t mean much to some couples.”

  “There hasn’t been a divorce in our family,” Luke said, “for as
far back as anyone can remember.”

  Maggie’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding. That’s amazing.”

  “Not really,” Luke said, shaking his head. “I believe that St. Johns are just very good at listening to their hearts, knowing what is right and real and falling in love with someone who is on the same wavelength. My dad fell in love with my mother when they were in the seventh grade. I kid you not, it’s true.”

  “Awesome,” Maggie said. “That’s a rather dopey word to use, but it fits. Seventh grade? And there hasn’t been even one divorce in your family history? Totally awesome. Almost unbelievable. You don’t suppose some of those couples stayed together even though they were miserable because they didn’t want to be the first to break that magical spell, do you?”

  “Nope,” Luke said. “No way. A stranger seeing any of my family with their partners would be able to tell that they’re deeply in love. Ginger and Robert will grow old together and be just as happy as they were at their wedding. So will…Precious and Clyde. Yeah, so will Precious and Clyde.”

  “That’s so beautiful,” Maggie said wistfully.

  “What about your family, Maggie?”

  She frowned. “We’re…” She mumbled something that wasn’t quite clear.

  “Pardon me?” Luke said, frowning.

  “Never mind,” she said quickly. “Well, I have my work cut out for me, don’t I? And the first order of business is choosing colors for a Christmas wedding.”

  “I’ll leave you to get started on the plans,” Luke said, “but I’ll be in touch very soon. Goodbye for now, Maggie, and thank you.”

  “Oh, I thank you, Luke. Goodbye.”

  As Luke closed the door behind him, Maggie sank onto the love seat and drew a steadying breath as she continued to digest all that had just happened. Then she shifted her gaze to the center of the table that held the albums.

  It had been her plan when she’d opened Roses and Wishes, she thought, to always have a vase of roses, her very favorite flower, right there in that spot. She soon realized, however, that the budget would not allow for such an extravagance.

  Roses. She would carry… No, no, Precious would carry a bouquet of red roses with baby’s breath and Christmas greenery all tied together with one red and one white satin ribbon.