Asking for Trouble (30 page)

Joe opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. Not the popcorn-textured
one this time, because for the first time ever in Chico, he was staying
someplace other than the Kincaids’. In a suite at the Hotel Diamond, to be precise.
Alone.

Half an hour later, he was thumbing his phone.

“Yep,” Alec answered.

“Got it,” Joe told him.

“With all the trimmings?”

“Yep. Meet you in the lobby in fifteen?”

He heard the sigh over the line. “The things I do for you.”

But Alec and Rae showed up as promised all the same, and
they brought Dixie with them, too. Joe gave them some last-minute instructions,
then climbed into the Audi and headed for the Kincaids’, June bursting forth in
all its glory around him, flowers, trees, flowers
on
trees, and all.

Everyone was still at breakfast, he saw with satisfaction, Susie
bustling around feeding people, Dave and Gabe and a hugely pregnant Mira
eating. And Cheryl, because Cheryl was there, too. He’d offered her the hotel,
but Alyssa had offered to share her room. Cheryl had gone for sharing, sounding
so happy to be asked, and seeing her here now was good, and knowing she’d be
there tomorrow was better.

But really, he was only looking at Alyssa, who was just
sitting down, or just getting up, he couldn’t tell which.

“Oh, good,” Susie said when he came in the kitchen door and
through to the dining room. “Settle this girl down, would you please, Joe? I
can barely get her to eat a slice of toast.”

Joe would have done it, but her mother was right, Alyssa was
already up and in his arms.

“Did you miss me?” she demanded when he’d got done kissing
her hello, which he’d had to pull her into the laundry room to do to her
satisfaction. He’d tried to keep it family-friendly, but she’d been
enthusiastic enough that Gabe had uttered a pained, “Come on, Liss. PDA.” Not
that Joe minded that one bit.

“You know I did,” he said, still with an arm around her
waist. “You getting your mom all nervous?”

“I keep
thinking
of
things,” she tried to explain. “I woke up in the middle of the night and realized
we hadn’t thought about how we’d get the b
outonnieres
to
you and Alec tomorrow, and I got so worried that I wrote it down, and then I
looked this morning and realized it was already on Rae’s list. Of
course
it was on her list.”

“Well,” he said, “you’ve never been married before, so I
guess it’s natural.”

“When is Rae coming?” she demanded. “Did you talk to Alec?
Because if we’re going to get the church decorated, we need to start.”

“Sweetheart,” he said, and he was smiling, he couldn’t help
it. “Does Rae or does she not have a list of tasks annotated with estimated
times?”

“Well, yes,” she admitted. “But what if it takes longer?”

“Hmm. Then Alec and Gabe and I will have to come to the
church and help you, I guess.”

She sighed and rested her head against his shoulder. “I’m
being silly, aren’t I?”

“No.” He tipped her chin up and kissed her again. “You’re
being excited and nervous, because it feels like a big deal. Which is because
it
is
a big deal. I’m nervous too.”

“You are?” She looked at him doubtfully. “You don’t look
nervous. You look the same as always.”

“We’ve talked about this, remember? If you want to know how
I feel, you have to ask me, and I’ll try my best to tell you. I’m excited, and
I’m nervous, and I can’t wait for tomorrow. How’s that?”

“Pretty good. So when’s Rae coming?” She headed to the back
door, and he caught her by the hand and pulled her back into the kitchen, on
into the dining room.

“She’ll be here,” he promised. “You need to sit with me and
eat your toast and keep me company while I eat my eggs. Love, honor, and obey, isn’t
that the deal?”

“I am not promising that,” she said, but she took a bite of
toast. “Today
or
tomorrow.”

He sighed. “Worth a shot.” And he did get her distracted for
long enough for him to eat his eggs, and for Alec to show up.

“Hey, guys,” Alec said, getting Dixie set, then pulling out
a chair and sitting down himself. “What’s that thing outside?”

“What thing?” Susie asked.

 
“You didn’t notice?”
Alec was overdoing the startled expression, Joe thought. “Wow. You’d better go
have a look.”

“Something wrong?” Dave asked.

Alec sighed. “Holy cow, is this ever an unobservant family.
If
nobody’s
noticed . . . I don’t
know what to think about you all. Doesn’t anybody even look out the window?
You’d all better come see.”

He got up with a show of reluctance, Rae and Dixie popping
up next to him, neither of them doing a very good acting job at all, and the
others following suit, Mira needing some help from Gabe to get vertical.

Alec reached into his pocket on the way to the door, handed
Joe the contents. “Felt like an idiot,” he said. “Everybody was honking. You
owe me.”

“Thanks, man.” And then Joe had to hustle to catch up,
because Alyssa was already out the door.

She stopped at the end of the driveway, screeched to a halt
exactly like a cartoon character and stood staring speechlessly at the red
Porsche Boxster parked at the curb, the one with the giant silver ribbon
stretching in four directions from the massive silver bow decorating its top.
Joe had had a red ribbon in mind, but the salesman had said silver would be
better, and he’d been right. Silver looked great.

“Oh,” she breathed. “Oh. Joe. Is it mine?”

He handed her the keys he’d just taken from her brother. “It
is. It’s your wedding present. I was trying for something as beautiful as you,
but unfortunately, this is as close as I could get.”

“Joe,” she said helplessly, and she was laughing, though
there were some tears coming, too, he was pretty sure. “You already gave me a
diamond ring. A really
big
diamond
ring.”

Exactly as big as Rae’s, because Joe had checked. He hadn’t
made it bigger, but he’d made damn sure it was just as big.

“Doesn’t count,” he said. “That’s an engagement ring. This
is me letting you know how I feel about you. This is me saying you’re special.”

Now she
was
crying,
and so were Susie and Mira, and Cheryl and Rae and Dixie were all looking pretty
rattled too.

“I love you, Joe Hartman,” Alyssa managed to say at last. “And,”
she said with a choked laugh, the tears sparkling on her dark lashes, “I
really, really,
really
love my new
car.”

“Then,” he said, “I guess you’d better get in and take me
for a ride.”

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Also by
Rosalind James:

THE KINCAIDS
series:

Book One (Mira and Gabe’s story): WELCOME TO PARADISE

Book Two (Desiree and Alec’s story): NOTHING PERSONAL

Book Three (Alyssa and Joe’s story): ASKING FOR TROUBLE

The
ESCAPE TO NEW ZEALAND
series:

Book One (Hannah and Drew’s story): JUST THIS ONCE

Book Two (Kate and Koti’s story): JUST GOOD FRIENDS

Book Three (Jenna and Finn’s story): JUST FOR NOW

Book Four (Emma and Nic’s story): JUST FOR FUN

Book Five (Ally and Nate/Kristen and Liam’s stories): JUST
MY LUCK

Many people assisted in the research for this book. However,
any errors or omissions are my own. My sincere thanks to (in alphabetical
order):

Fashion:
Erika
Iiams, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Idaho

Foster care issues:
The Hon. Barbara Buchanan

Motorcycles:
Rick
Dalessio

San Francisco real
estate:
Jeffrey Marples, Managing Broker, Spinnaker Real Estate Group

Special thanks to Susan Redmon, for opening her home to a
needy author and showing me just how cool Joe’s condo could be!

As always, my heartfelt thanks to my awesome critique group:
Barbara Buchanan, Carol Chappell, Anne Forell, Kathy Harward, and Bob Pryor.

And, of course, to my husband, Rick Nolting, for his support
and tolerance of a wife who does her cross-country skiing with an abstracted
expression, because she’s plotting out a Bad Boss Takedown.

Cover design by Robin Ludwig Design Inc.,
http://www.gobookcoverdesign.com/