The Wedding Reject Table (Choc Lit) (Nashville Connections Book 2)
Page 12
She groaned and heard him chuckle as he headed off towards the bedroom.
Chapter Twenty-Two
‘Ready for Round Two?’ Maggie’s cheery voice made Chad look up from the tables he’d been arranging. ‘I bet you didn’t think you’d be back at Polvennor House again?’
That was the understatement of the century. ‘You could say that. How’s our dear Emily this morning?’
Maggie laughed. ‘About as calm as you’d expect a hormonal, overwrought woman to be. Thankfully Aunt Judy is holding her hand while we get the last details finished for the reception.’ She glanced around with satisfaction. ‘I still can’t believe we were lucky enough to get an opening here at the last minute.’
‘It’s a neat place,’ Chad agreed and held out his arms to Maggie. ‘You look like a woman in need of serious kissing.’
‘And why would you say that?’ The question was at odds with the way she hurried to nestle against him, making happy sighs as he stroked his hands up and down her spine. When she fixed her deep blue eyes on him and slowly trailed her tongue around his mouth Maggie drove him nearly out of his mind.
‘You little minx,’ he half-heartedly complained.
‘We need to get the cake in from the car.’
‘Yeah, cake, will do.’ Chad murmured and went back to kissing her.
‘Um, I’m afraid it has to be now.’ Maggie wriggled out of his embrace and frowned at her watch. ‘We’ve got twenty minutes to finish up and get back to the house.’
‘Slave driver,’ Chad groused. She didn’t take him seriously and popped a quick kiss on his forehead before flitting back to the kitchen. He followed along behind, exactly as he’d done that first day and didn’t make any attempt to wipe the smile from his face.
Maggie hadn’t expected to find Emily’s wedding day so emotional and without Chad’s steady presence would have spent it as a blubbering wreck. As it was she’d held out until one o’clock when Emily walked down the stairs ready to leave for the wedding before dissolving into tears. The champagne silk dress made her sister’s skin glow and the circle of creamy roses nestled in her blonde hair were the perfect final touch. ‘Oh, Ems, you look so beautiful. I wish Mum and Dad were here to see you.’
‘Me too.’ Emily held Maggie’s hands. ‘But I’ve got you and I’m so grateful for that.’
‘The car’s here if you’re both ready,’ Chad said, strolling in from outside. ‘I’m a lucky guy to have two lovely ladies to admire.’
‘You certainly are. Make sure you appreciate it,’ Maggie joked.
His eyes darkened as he checked her out. ‘Oh, I do, honey. No question about it.’ Chad fingered the stiff taffeta of her dress. ‘Where did you find this? It’s gorgeous.’
Maggie lowered her gaze to the floor under his intense scrutiny. ‘Emily and I sneaked off last week to your favourite shop in Redruth. The lady was most helpful when we mentioned your name, probably because you made all her business dreams come true when you spent the equivalent of a small country’s gross national income there.’
‘She had some good stuff,’ Chad explained unapologetically.
‘I told her I was interested in something vintage but not a straight up and down flapper dresses because it wouldn’t suit my figure. She told me this was a tea gown from 1930.’ Maggie loved the way it draped around her curves, falling barely to her ankles, and making her feel pretty and feminine. The cream background and small pale gold pattern was a perfect foil for Emily’s wedding dress.
‘You could at least pretend I’m the most beautiful, after all it is my wedding day,’ Emily pretended to be offended.
‘You are definitely the most beautiful bride, and Maggie’s the most beautiful bridesmaid. How’s that? Everyone happy now?’
‘I certainly am.’ Maggie linked her arm with his. ‘I’m pretty sure my annoying sister is too. Let’s go and get her married.’ She opened the front door and let her Aunt Judy and Emily walk out first. They got into the cream Rolls-Royce trimmed with fluttering silk ribbons. Chad was driving them in his rental car so they could get away quickly after the ceremony. She wanted to make sure everything was ready at the reception before her staff took over. Maggie knew she wouldn’t enjoy herself if she didn’t make sure there’d be no repeat of the mutilated cake incident.
Out in the car Chad didn’t start the engine straight away but stared at her again, touching her face so gently her heart flooded with love for him. He wore the same suit he’d had for Fiona’s wedding and the memories slammed back, only a few weeks on the calendar but so much more in her head. He’d looked handsome then but today everything was quite different. Maggie knew about the scar on his knee from a bad fall on the basketball court, the odd way his middle left toe was longer than any of the others and his new craving for English chips with salt and plenty of vinegar.
‘Does it seem quite as crazy now?’ he whispered. ‘I’ve jumped off the cliff, you goin’ to join me?’
‘What’re you asking?’
‘Come with me to Colorado next week.’
‘Would we go to Nashville as well while we’re there?’
He brushed his lips across hers, barely a kiss but sending a waft of citrusy cologne her way. ‘Only if you want.’
Maggie nodded and Chad’s contented smile brought tears flooding back to her eyes. She blinked really hard, determined not to spoil the make-up Emily had spent far too long applying earlier.
Nothing more needed to be said, not now. He turned the key in the ignition and whistled the Wedding March as he pulled out from the kerb.
Chad had never been as uncomplicatedly happy in his life and wanted to savour every moment. Weddings didn’t usually get to him emotionally but today’s did. Maybe it was seeing Emily and Jonathan so sure of each other now, their eyes never leaving each other’s faces as they said their vows but Chad decided it had more to do with the woman tucked into his side. She fitted there as if she’d been made for him and his fanciful side thought she probably had been.
He’d felt his grandmother’s satisfied smile over the phone when he’d called to say he might bring someone to meet her soon. Of course he’d got her standard interrogation but must have answered in a satisfactory manner because she ended the conversation by ordering him not to wait too long because she didn’t have long to live. She’d been threatening the family with her imminent demise as long as he could remember and, although she was nearly ninety, it still seemed a far off possibility.
Maggie brushed away a tear from his cheek. ‘You big old softie. I’m supposed to be the one crying.’
‘I got something in my eye, that’s all,’ he muttered.
‘Right. Come on. Let’s follow them out. We’ll hang around for a couple of photos and then make our escape,’ Maggie ordered. Chad wished they could run off on their own now. It’d been beyond cruel of her to describe her new cream lace underwear when they were on their way to the wedding. He could only thank the Lord it was an afternoon wedding and by four o’clock the happy couple would be on the train from Truro, off to enjoy a brief honeymoon in London.
Soon they were back at Polzennor House where it’d all begun. They held hands as they walked into the entrance hall, automatically stopping at the door into the reception room.
‘No seating plan today?’
Maggie gave him a sly smile. ‘It isn’t necessary with twenty guests.’
‘So I’m not going to be stuck on the Reject Table with a bunch of losers?’
She poked his ribs. ‘No. You get the privilege of sitting next to the second most beautiful woman here today.’
‘Why do I get cheated out of the number one hottie?’
‘Because her new husband would hit you if you make a move on her.’
Chad fake-sighed. ‘I guess I’ll have to put up with you then.’
‘If you’re not careful I might sit by Jonathan’s brother. I hear he’s got an extensive toy train collection.’
‘Maybe we’ll land him with Tonya at …’
Chad bit his tongue. He’d almost cracked a joke about their own wedding but she might not find the idea funny – yet. ‘I just meant whoever gets married next. Um, they could …’ His throat closed up and he stared down at the floor.
‘Let’s sneak a glass of champagne before everyone else arrives.’ Maggie took a firm grasp of his hand. ‘We should drink a toast to Reject Tables everywhere.’
‘Absolutely.’ He kissed her, tasting the sweetness that was uniquely his Maggie. ‘For some reason I’ve suddenly become a big fan.’
About the Author
Angela Britnell
Angela was born in St. Stephen, Cornwall, England. After completing her A-Levels she worked as a Naval Secretary. She met her husband, a US Naval Flight Officer while being based at a small NATO Headquarters on the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark. They lived together in Denmark, Sicily, California, southern Maryland and London before settling in Franklin, Tennessee.
Angela took a creative writing course in 2000 and loved it so much that she has barely put her pen down since. She has had short stories and novels published in the US. Her novel Sugar & Spice, won Choc Lit’s Search for an American Star competition and is her UK debut. She has three other books published by Choc Lit which are available online: What Happens in Nashville, Celtic Love Knot and The Wedding Reject Table.
www.angelabritnellromance.com
www.twitter.com/AngelaBritnell
www.facebook.com/angelabritnell
More Choc Lit
from Angela Britnell
Sugar and Spice
The Way to a Hero’s Heart…
Fiery, workaholic Lily Redman is sure of two things: that she knows good food and that she always gets what she wants. And what she wants more than anything is to make a success of her new American TV show, Celebrity Chef Swap – without the help of her cheating ex-fiancé and producer, Patrick O’Brien. So when she arrives in Cornwall, she’s determined to do just that.
Kenan Rowse is definitely not looking for love. Back from a military stint in Afghanistan and recovering from a messy divorce and an even messier past, the last thing he needs is another complication. So when he lands a temporary job as Luscious Lily’s driver, he’s none too pleased to find that they can’t keep their hands off each other!
But trudging around Cornish farms, knee deep in mud, and meetings with egotistical chefs was never going to be the perfect recipe for love – was it? And Lily could never fall for a man so disinterested in food – could she?
Available to purchase from:
Kindle UK
Kindle US
Kindle CA
Kindle AU
Celtic Love Knot
Can two tangled lives make a love knot?
Lanyon Tremayne is the outcast of his small Cornish village of St. Agnes. Susceptible to fits of temper and with a chequered past behind him, he could even be described as a bit of an ogre. But nobody knows the painful secret he hides.
Olivia Harding has learnt a thing or two about ogres. She’s a professor from Tennessee, specialising in Celtic mythology and has come to St. Agnes to research the legend of a Cornish giant – and to lay to rest a couple of painful secrets of her own.
But when Olivia meets the ruggedly handsome Lanyon, her trip to Cornwall looks set to become even more interesting. Will she get through to the man beneath the bad-tempered façade, or is Lanyon fated to be the ‘ogre’ of St. Agnes forever?
Available to purchase from:
Kindle UK
Kindle US
Kindle CA
Kindle AU
What Happens in Nashville
‘What happens in Nashville, stays in Nashville!’
Claire Buchan is hardly over the moon about the prospect of her sister’s hen party; travelling from the UK to Nashville, Tennessee, for a week of honky-tonks, karaoke and cowboys. Certainly not straight-laced Claire’s idea of a good time, what with her lawyer job and sensible boyfriend, Philip.
But then she doesn’t bank on meeting Rafe Castello. On the surface, Rafe fits the cowboy stereotype with his handsome looks and roguish charm but as he and Claire get to know each other, she realises there is far more to him than meets the eye.
Can Claire keep to the holiday mantra of ‘what happens in Nashville, stays in Nashville’ or will she find that some things are far too difficult to simply leave behind?
What Happens in Nashville is available as an ebook on:
Kindle UK
Kindle US
Kindle CA
Kindle AU
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