No Groom Like Him. Jeanie London

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СКАЧАТЬ didn’t.” Not a question.

      “Well, it is news.” He didn’t sound in the least bit repentant. “Big news.”

      “Max, you knew I was trying to lay low—”

      “Excuse me, got to run. I hear Madeleine.”

      Before the call disconnected, she could hear his throaty laughter.

      Argh!

      Her feet hit the floor and slid right into the slippers perched beside the bed. She snatched her robe off the poster and thrust her arms into the sleeves while heading out the door. With the bulk of her life spent traveling, her wardrobe was public ready. Hotels. Rentals. Recreational vehicles. Whatever. She’d long ago established routines to make temporary housing comfortable, which meant being always prepared to meet people.

      The shadowy house in the quiet predawn felt vaguely familiar as she descended the stairs with the phone cradled against her ear. Another lifetime. She bypassed the front door because the telltale clinking of china let her know someone was awake. She found her dad at the kitchen table.

      No surprises here. He’d always been an early riser, preferring a leisurely awakening over coffee and the newspaper before heading to the hardware store. Her mother had probably set up the coffeepot last night before she went to bed, so the brew would be ready by the time he’d gotten the paper from the yard and settled at the table. A once-familiar routine.

      “You made the front page,” he informed her without glancing away from the sports section.

      How he knew it was her was another question. Lily had long ago accepted Dad had a sixth sense when it came to his kids. Her and Mike, anyway. They were later-in-life blessings, as her mother always called them, which meant her dad had gotten a head start with parenting her siblings. He’d been tough to put one over on.

      “I knew it,” she said when he handed her a section of the paper. Only in Pleasant Valley would I be front page news. In the civilized world, I’m relegated to local and society pages, and that’s fine by me.

      She reassembled the mess her dad had made of the newspaper enough to find the front page. The headline read:

      Extreme Romance Hits Hudson Valley

      She scanned the article. Title aside, which made Worldwide Weddings Unlimited sound like the worst sort of reality show, the piece was well-written and slanted to stake claim to her success. Max had provided the details of her arrival and established her roots in the area from her birth at St. Francis Hospital through graduation from Vassar College. He plugged the hardware store, too.

      But his account of the Carmichael/Girard wedding was factual—currently under inquiry. And while he detailed his brother-in-law’s intention to campaign for governor, Max was very clear on the fact the wedding hadn’t been contracted yet.

      She couldn’t fault him anywhere.

      And she wanted to, so badly.

      Why was he under her skin so completely? Because he was bullying her? Must be. Tossing the section on her dad’s pile, she headed toward the coffeepot while dialing Mara again.

      “I had a thought,” Mara said. “Could the blogger be monitoring the wire services? If so, he or she might have read what happened when you got off the plane yesterday.”

      “That was my thought. We need to see what time the entry posted.” Grabbing a mug from the drain board, she poured coffee then headed to the enclosed porch so she could talk without disturbing her dad.

      “You know what bothers me, Mara? The way the legit media is monitoring that nobody blog. That’s worrisome.”

      “Agreed, but don’t be too surprised. It’s dog-eat-dog out there. Print media is fighting to survive in the digital age. They’re monitoring everything to get a jump on everyone else.”

      “Tabloid reporters, maybe.”

      A chuckle on the other end. “You wish. If you didn’t want to risk a leak, then you should have kept your arrival quiet like you said you were going to.”

      “I did.”

      There was a beat of silence. “Oh, my apologies. I assumed you changed your mind and didn’t see fit to notify me.”

      Lily was already tired of assumptions and the sun wasn’t even up yet. “Why would you think that? If I didn’t tell you, how would you keep me organized on this trip?”

      “Like you need my help with that. You’re a machine, and you know it. I’m just making it possible for you to take on more work than humanly possible when you’re already superhumanly tired.” Mara gave a short laugh. “Any clue who sprung the leak? You told everyone to keep their mouths shut. I can’t imagine anyone deliberately… Max didn’t say anything, did he? Is this a strong-arm tactic?”

      “I thought so at first, too, but he received an email about my arrival. I don’t think he’d lie.”

      “This has gone beyond the mere celebrity stalker with nothing better to do than rant online,” Mara said. “I’m getting a sense this blogger has a bitch to square with you. What about your ex? Or his new girlfriend?”

      “I can’t imagine he’d stoop that low.” At least, she hoped not. Could she honestly have missed that the man was that depraved? “And Lucas doesn’t have a new girlfriend from what I understand. He dropped the fling as soon as he found out she was the one to give the story to the press. He doesn’t want the bad publicity any more than I do. His company has taken an even worse hit. So what possible bitch could the ex-fling have to square with me? I’m not the morally bankrupt gold digger, remember?”

      “You make her look bad.”

      “I didn’t say one word.” Lily rested her forehead against the chilled glass. “All I’ve said is no comment.”

      “Of course. You’ve been brilliant. That’s why she looks so bad. Try to come at it from her point of view. She makes a bid for the big leagues by getting involved with your fiancé. She tips off the paparazzi, so they’re caught and she’s suddenly all over the news. You dump the jerk and call off the wedding. The jerk freaks with the media explosion and dumps the fling. The whole situation is Emmelina in reverse. Look at what that fiasco has done for Drew Hatcher’s ex-wife. She jumped from television to movies and landed a fifteen-million-dollar deal.”

      Just what Lily wanted to do—go from the media’s favorite wedding planner to their favorite victim. “Shoot. Me. Now.”

      “Oh, come on, now. If Martha can weather jail, you can weather a breakup and some bad press.” Mara was nothing if not pragmatic. “Now what do you want me to do about the exclusive?”

      “Give it to them. Tell them not to put so much stock in worthless internet speculation.” She heaved a sigh. “Tell them I reviewed the inquiry last night. It’s official if they want to go to print. I’ll be hammering out the details today and will make them available by their first deadline. If they break the news online, all I can tell them now is the function will be at Overlook around Thanksgiving and will launch Raymond Girard’s political career. Max’s article will prove I didn’t give the jump to anyone.”

      She might have to thank him instead СКАЧАТЬ