Back To Us (Shore Secrets 3) (25 page)

Turning to face the auditorium, Ward asked, “Do you think Piper should give me one last chance? Answer from your gut, the same way you would if I wrote it in the journal anonymously. No personal history clouding the issue, no judgment. Just a guy saying he loves a girl to pieces and will work for the rest of her life to make her happy. Should she come back to me?”

It was a risk. For a guy who’d spent his life taking the long shot, it was the biggest one of all. But Ward thought she deserved the big gesture. Sure, love conquered all, but with both their businesses so tied up with everyone else on Seneca Lake, he needed the buy-in of the town to make this work. The jabs they’d endured the past twenty-seven days proved that.

He’d given Gray and Zane strict instructions not to do anything. The answer had to come from the town as a whole, not his friends. He could see them holding Ella and Casey’s hands, not letting them do anything either. It only took one breath, one heartbeat, before the first applause rang out. More followed. Fast. Faster than he’d hoped. A chunk of people in the back stood up, hands overhead clapping. Within seconds, the entire room was on their feet, whooping and applauding and stamping their feet.

It was a start. Only missing one thing. Slowly, Ward turned to look at Piper. Her front teeth bit down on her hot pink-slicked lips. She motioned for everyone to quiet down.

“This is all wrong,” she stated in a firm voice.

Shit.

“Ward did screw up. What he doesn’t realize is that I screwed up just as badly. Ward, I kept something from you, too. I love you. The thing is, I never stopped loving you.”

What the hell? Piper Morrissey was a slam dunk and he hadn’t even known it? Ward felt his jaw drop.

“In all the years we were fighting and snarking at each other, I loved you every single day, Ward. I didn’t need you to spend a month convincing me to date you again. You’re my best friend. You always have been. I’ve wanted to be with you again since that day ten years ago I broke up with you. Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe it was a gap we needed to grow up, I don’t know. I do know that I shouldn’t have let you think I wasn’t in love with you. Nothing could be further from the truth. All I’ve ever wanted was to spend my life with you.”

More applause rang out, a seemingly endless wave. Ward swore it was the damn spotlight glinting off the crystal chandelier that made his eyes water at that moment. “You love me? And I didn’t even need to sing ‘Do-Re-Mi’ next to a biker dressed as a nun to make it happen?”

She bit her lip again. Raised her eyebrows into the fakest expression of innocence he’d ever seen. “Of course I want you back. The catch is that I won’t let you take this all on yourself. It’s up to us to make this work. I know we can. Third time’s the charm.”

Ward dug in his pocket. “You deserve a diamond for sticking with me. A big one. Casey showed me the web page with all your dream wedding stuff pinned to it. Emerald cut, right?”

Tears brightening her eyes, Piper nodded.

“Seeing as how you broke up with me six days ago, I felt like I’d jinx the whole thing if I brought you a diamond tonight.” That elicited laughter, both from Piper and the crowd. “Hope you’ll take this, though, as a promise and a placeholder. You took it once before. Because we’re coming full circle with our love.” He held out his high school class ring. The big blue center stone sparkled in the stage lights. “Last time I gave it to you, I asked you to be my girl. To go steady.”

“That still works. As long as it lasts forever, this time.”

“It’s a deal,” he said as he slid it onto her thumb. And then, finally, Ward moved in to kiss her, one hand around her waist like he’d done a thousand times before. Piper tightened her arms around his neck, blue eyes blazing with passion and promise.

Simon rushed at them from the edge of the stairs. “Hand over the journal.”

Seriously? “This is my meeting, Simon. If you’ve got an issue, you can damn well wait to write in it tomorrow.”

“I want to sign my name. Like on the Declaration of Independence. I want to write in the journal that I think you and Piper belong together, and sign my name to it.”

Three more people lined up behind him. “Me, too.”

Slow and steady, people streamed across the stage, each signing their name and handing off the pen. Unbelievable. Guess he’d been right when Gray asked him why he stayed on Seneca Lake. Because this place was home. And this woman was his heart.

Ward dipped Piper backward over his arm, lips on hers for their third-ever first kiss. This one, though, was different. It was the first kiss of the rest of their lives.

* * * * *

Available Now from Carina Press and Christi Barth

PLANNING FOR LOVE

The first book in the Aisle Bound series

Hopeless romantic Ivy Rhodes
and
anti-Cupid Bennett Westcott
request the pleasure of your company for
their disaster of a courtship.

Read chapter one of PLANNING FOR LOVE:

Chapter One

All weddings are similar
,
but every marriage is different.

~
John Berger

Ivy Rhodes lay sprawled at the bottom of the stone steps, feet tangled in the straps of a large black duffel bag. Everything hurt and, to top it off, she thought she’d heard her dress rip. At the very least, the pale pink satin had to be smudged from her ungraceful slide down the sweep of old stones dominating the foyer of the Great Hall at Café Brauer. Worst of all, the round lens of a video camera bobbled less than an inch from her nose.

“Are you kidding me? You’re filming this?” Ivy’s voice rose to a high squeak on the last word. Her famous, unflappable composure threatened to crack. Because who wouldn’t be flustered when their humiliating clumsiness got recorded for posterity on a wedding video? She dropped her cheek back to the cool stones and waited for a wave of dizziness to subside. Hopefully, if any of the caterers needed to walk by her to finish setting up the ballroom, they’d avoid stepping on anything important, like her dress or her head.

“Ollie, you idiot! Get out of the way.” The deep, baritone voice issuing the command buzzed with almost as much annoyance as Ivy felt.

A pair of highly polished dress shoes entered her limited field of vision, replacing the scuffed loafers belonging to the cameraman. Hoping this indicated the camera was gone, Ivy lifted her head once more. Not only had the camera disappeared, but an incredibly handsome man now crouched in front of her.

Although it was true almost every man looked good in a tux, this one in particular was downright yummy. Broad shoulders filled out his jacket. Impeccable tailoring emphasized the vee shape of his torso. His chin had a movie-star cleft deep enough to anchor a small boat. A streaky thicket of blond hair set off piercing blue eyes. Combined with his unusual-for-April-in-Chicago tan, it gave him a bit of a surfer look.

“Are you okay? Here, let me help you up,” he said, without waiting for an answer. Strong arms lifted her off the floor, cradling her against a very firm chest. Her long dress, albeit possibly streaked and torn, cascaded down to his knees. It was like a scene out of a movie: the formalwear, the romantic pose, the Prince Charming look-alike carrying her. Or, to be perfectly honest, one of several favorite fantasies she mentally thumbed through instead of counting sheep. Ivy’s heart did a quick flip flop. These things never, ever happened to her. This moment was well worth a few scrapes and bruises.

“Not that I’m complaining, but where are we going?” she asked.

“To find you a chair. We need to assess your injuries before you try to stand.”

What a strangely technical thing for him to say. Not at all the warm, charming words she’d hoped to come out of his lips. “Are you a paramedic?”

“Nope. But I am certified in advanced first aid. I just don’t want you to sue me.”

“What?” Ivy craned her neck around to meet his eyes. “You’re being nice to me to sidestep litigation?” And with that, her personal ocean of humiliation snaked out a riptide, sucking her even deeper. Prince Charm-less was more like it. “Put me down right now,” she demanded.

“As soon as I find a damn chair!” He turned left into the Great Hall. Early afternoon sunlight beamed in through the wide windows, casting a golden haze across the top of the enormous room.

Ivy waved her hand at two hundred gilt Chivari chairs framing the round banquet tables in perfect arcs. “Take your pick.”

He toed out the nearest chair, dumped her on it, then planted his hands on his hips. “Well? You hurt anywhere?”

“Pretty much everywhere.” Like black ink from an enraged octopus, the sexy stranger oozed with annoyance and attitude. Ivy just couldn’t figure out why her tripping down the stairs had set him off. At the most he looked to be in his mid thirties. Far too young for a case of terminal crankiness.

“I meant did you break anything?” The man knelt on the floor and looked at her with expectant eyes.

“I only fell the last few...hey!” He’d pushed the hem of her dress to her knees and rotated her left ankle. She jerked in response and tried to pull her foot out of his grasp.

“Like I said, I’m certified in first aid. Stop wriggling around and let me check you out.”

His touch was surprisingly gentle, and the warmth of his hands soothing. Wonderfully big, deft hands. She wondered how many other of her body parts he planned to handle in a similar fashion. Whoops. Far too long since her last date if her body responded this quickly to someone so disagreeable. “Usually I get at least a cocktail before someone gropes under my skirt.”

He ignored her quip. “Good movement on this side.” In short order he checked her other ankle, and performed an equally thorough examination of her knees and wrists. She hissed in a breath when he found the cut on her arm. “Doesn’t look too bad. More like a deep scrape.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not the one wearing it.” Irritated equally by his demeanor and the stinging pain in her arm, she shook him off. “Who are you?”

“Here we go.” He let out a long sigh and pushed to his feet. “Bennett Westcott, True Life Productions.” After a quick rummage in his lapel pocket he produced a business card. “Obviously you’re a bit shaken up, but overall I’d say you are fine. However, if you feel it necessary to contact a lawyer regarding this incident, I understand.”

Confused, Ivy took the card, glanced at the bold red and black lettering. “Did I miss something? I fell down a couple of stairs. Unless you totaled my car in the parking lot or plan to kneecap me later, it’s safe to say litigation isn’t even a remote possibility.”

“Look, I’m trying to step up and do the right thing by not denying responsibility for your fall.”

A few wisps of hair brushed her cheek when she slowly shook her head. “Still not a clue where you’re coming from.”

“You must’ve tripped over our tripod bag. Ollie kicked it in front of the stairs right before you landed.”

Aha! Now it made sense. In this crazy world where people sued over coffee being too hot, she understood at least a little of his paranoia. “Bennett, I slipped on an ice cube. The caterers dropped a bag of ice earlier, and missed a few when they cleaned up. Your duffel bag didn’t help me stick my landing, but it didn’t cause the problem, either.”

The scowl dropped off his face and everything in his body relaxed. “You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that. Ollie!” he bellowed. “Get your butt in here and apologize.”

A thin, wiry man who barely looked strong enough to support the video camera propped on his shoulder shuffled slowly through the entryway. His eyes were downcast, his entire demeanor that of a beaten puppy. “I’m really sorry,” he mumbled.

“We’re in the clear. She’s not going to sue,” her rescuer announced, relief pinging in every word. His speech pattern also changed. The witness-on-trial formality of his speech pattern relaxed into a normal, conversational tone.

“I promise. Truly, I don’t blame you at all. Do you need me to sign an affidavit to that effect?” Ivy asked, at this point only half joking.

Ollie swung the camera to the floor and rushed forward to pump Ivy’s hand. “Thank you so much. It was an accident, you know. I kicked the bag behind me without looking, and when I turned around you were on the floor, so I started filming. Reflex, you know?”

“You can make it up to me by erasing that footage.” No response. Ivy watched Bennett and Ollie exchange a glance loaded with subtext. Too bad she couldn’t translate it. “The wedding hasn’t even started yet, so you won’t need to edit much,” she continued, letting a pleading tone slip into her voice. Their persistent silence was a bad sign. Petty though it might be, there was no way she’d allow her ungraceful tumble to be saved on some random cousin of the bride’s wedding video. “Come on, guys, this is ridiculous. I’m not even a guest at this wedding.”

In a blur of unexpected speed, Ollie retrieved his camera from the floor and aimed it at her. The record light glowed red. “Can you say that again, and look straight into the camera for me?”

“What? I will not,” she fumed. “Bennett, what’s with your friend?” Enough was enough! As the wedding coordinator, it was her job to handle crazy relatives. A deft mix of courtesy, charm and humor usually did the trick. But there were times a line had to be drawn, and this was it. No way could she do her job with this nut shoving a camera in her face every two minutes.

To her surprise, Bennett gestured to Ollie to keep recording. “Are you confirming you did not receive an invitation to this wedding? And you got all dressed up and came anyway? That you are, in fact, a wedding crasher?”

Ivy lifted a hand to her mouth to halt an onslaught of giggles. She couldn’t wait to tell her assistant, who would laugh her ass off at the accusation. “Oh, my God. Is that what you think?” No wonder the two acted so weird. And really, who could blame them? Catching an unwanted guest in the act could’ve guaranteed their footage ending up on the local news. Plus, they’d be touted as heroes for “saving” the wedding. The truth would be a huge letdown.

“Didn’t you admit as much?” Bennett countered.

Ivy vigorously shook her head from side to side. “Hardly! I’m not a guest, but I’m certainly not crashing, either. My name is Ivy Rhodes. I’m doing day-of coordination for Tracy and Seth.”

“You’re the wedding planner?” Ollie turned on his heel without another word and left the hall, head down and shoulders rounded in disappointment.

Bennett’s reaction was the complete opposite. He pulled out another chair and straddled it, arms crossed over the back. “Sorry. The kid’s young, and is sure every gig we do has the potential for major drama. Instead of paying his dues, he plans to catapult to stardom on a clip of the bride falling off a chair during the Hora. Anyway, it’s a huge relief to know you’re one of us. No wonder you took the whole thing in stride. Now we can relax and get to know each other before all the craziness starts.” He flashed a killer grin. It revealed the matched set of dimples bracketing his lips.

It was the kind of grin certain to charm a woman, and Ivy was no exception. Absolved of the threat of pending litigation, his personality had done a complete turnaround. Standoffish, irritable guy now exuded warmth and friendliness from his sky-blue eyes. If she read the signs correctly, he was trying to hit on her. Temptation and harmless flirtation beckoned.

Then her mind caught up to her hormones and told her something was off. He spoke as if they were in this together, but she’d reviewed all the vendor contracts just this morning in preparation. She’d stake her entire paycheck for this event on not having one for a videographer. “Back up a minute. Now I need to turn the question back to you. Aren’t you a wedding guest?”

“Nope. I told you, we’re with True Life Productions.” He reached forward and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. His glancing touch sent a shiver down her spine. Ivy wanted to dismiss it as an unwelcome distraction. Oh, who was she kidding? There was nothing unwelcome about his fingers trailing softly from her ear down the side of her neck. Irritated at her body’s betrayal, she swatted his hand away.

“But the bride and groom didn’t hire a videographer.” Ivy took a deep breath and smoothed her hair to make sure the triple layer of hairspray still held the majority of her French twist in place. “Look, I didn’t plan this whole wedding. Day-of coordination means I only show up to run the rehearsal and actual wedding day. But Tracy and I met last month to discuss all the details. We went over every vendor contract. You must have your dates or venue wrong,” she insisted.

“Chicago. Great Hall of Café Brauer. Sunset. Third weekend in April.” Bennett ticked the points off on his fingers. “It all adds up to me. Why do you care, anyway? Got something against videographers? Cause if that’s it, you can relax. I’m also the director, and as a rule, we’re much more suave and exciting.” He waggled his eyebrows at her.

Ivy bit back a smile at his antics and mustered a stern glare. “I care because this wedding cost a fortune, and I’m sure your services run into the thousands.” Then she remembered a seminar on con artists from her last association meeting, and another possible angle flashed through her mind. “Are you the ambulance chasers of the wedding world? Do you follow catering trucks around to find the hot weddings? Is this a scam, where you show up and tape everything, and then strong arm the bride and groom into paying?”

“Oh, they aren’t paying for us. We’re paying them.”

Utter confusion swamped her. They were talking in circles. The clink of glassware filtered in from the hallway. It was a timely reminder the caterers had yet to place the wineglasses and water goblets on the tables. Once they finished, she would set the place cards in their Star of David-shaped holders and hand-written menus. In other words, lots to do and the clock was ticking. A glance at her watch confirmed less than two hours before the wedding march began. Her to-the-minute itinerary didn’t include a time slot to solve the mystery of the uninvited, albeit borderline irresistible video guy! “Bennett—”

“Call me Ben.” He rose from the chair, and Ivy was forced to tip her head back a little to maintain eye contact. Easily several inches over six feet, most of it was in his legs. The satin stripe on his tuxedo pants only emphasized his height. “I can see what happened. Tracy didn’t tell you she won the contest. Probably thought you’d flip out or something. Most wedding coordinators aren’t wild about us interfering with the big day.”

“What contest?”

“Our show holds a contest every year. Whoever wins not only gets featured on the show, but we pay for their honeymoon. The only catch is that if they do win, we have to tag along and film the whole thing.”

“What show?” Suspicion reared inside her. Reality wedding shows were a dime a dozen, and Ivy loathed most of them. Her profession tended to be portrayed in an unflattering light.