Here Comes the Bride (Chapel of Love Book 3)

by Hope Ramsay

Laurie laughed. “Is that your biggest problem?”

  “I hate wearing monkey suits.”

  “Well, if you don’t want to wear a tux, I believe it’s acceptable for retired military to wear their service dress uniform. And you know, Ryan, I’d like to see you dress up like a Marine.”

  He smiled at that. “Would you?”

  “Yeah, I would, actually.” Plus that uniform would intimidate the crap out of Brandon.

  A little blush crawled up Ryan’s cheeks. “Well, in that case, I’d love to go with you to the ball.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Lindsay Mayfield wore the ugliest evening gown Andrew had ever seen. It was dark purple with black lace around the deep V of the neck. The lace did nothing to hide the ample curve of Lindsay’s breasts, which bounced every time she moved or laughed.

  She laughed a lot, at all the wrong times, and her laugh sounded like a cross between an adolescent giggle and a braying donkey. The drive from D.C. to Shenandoah Falls was interminable, made even longer by an unexplained traffic delay through Tyson’s Corner. And while the traffic crawled, Andrew tried to keep a conversation going.

  But he and Lindsay had absolutely nothing in common. Not movies, books, music. Nothing.

  Thank God they weren’t making the return trip to D.C. together. She was home to visit her folks for a few days. And he would spend the night at Dad’s house and then go back in the morning. Alone.

  Unfortunately, in addition to a two-hour drive, he had a three-hour dinner dance to endure. The only saving grace was the fact that August Kopp would be at this party, and Andrew hoped to escape Lindsay’s clutches for long enough to corner Brandon’s father and ask him a few pointed questions about law firm mergers and acquisitions.

  Andrew wasn’t at all convinced that Uncle Charles knew everything that was happening at Lyndon, Lyndon & Kopp. And if by some chance Andrew’s theory was correct, then August was the man who could solve Noah’s unspoken partnership problems and save Laurie from tumbling into a bad marriage.

  Eagle Hill Manor was awash in light when Andrew finally escorted Lindsay into the large banquet hall, which had once been a carriage house. The ballroom’s post and beam construction had been exploited to give the venue the feel of an old barn. Twinkle lights swayed from beam to beam, lanterns in various sizes lit the tables in a warm, friendly glow, and the floral arrangements included grapes on the vine. That last touch, an homage to the grape harvest that was so important to the regional economy, had Amy’s fingerprints all over it. Andrew’s sister, it turned out, had mad skills at floral arranging and decor.

  “Oh my goodness,” Lindsay said on a puff of air, “it’s like an autumn garden party.” She gave his arm a squeeze.

  They were late, of course, and the room was already crowded with guys in tuxes and women in long gowns. “Let’s get a drink,” he said, pulling Lindsay in the direction of the bar. He got halfway across the room before he saw Laurie.

  Everything faded to gray except the guy standing next to her.

  Ryan Pierce was the only man in the room not wearing black. And damnit all, that blue jacket with all those brass buttons marching up his chest, not to mention the medals and ribbons, was pretty damn impressive. But not nearly as impressive as Laurie’s dress, which was the color of champagne with lacy sleeves, a neckline that showed off her long neck and collarbones, and a big skirt. She looked drop-dead gorgeous with her hair pulled back. He stopped moving and lost the ability to breathe.

  “Who is she?” Lindsay asked, a little breathless herself. “She looks like that movie star who married the prince. What’s her name?”

  “Grace Kelly.”

  “Whatever. Who is she?”

  “Her name is Laurie Wilson.”

  “You know her?”

  “Yeah. She’s my boss’s daughter.”

  “Introduce me. I need to know where she got that dress. It’s gorgeous.”

  Resistance was futile. He allowed himself to be dragged in Laurie’s direction, but when she turned her head and their gazes met, his heart twisted in his chest. What an idiot he was. He should have known that getting intimate with Laurie Wilson would mess with his mind.

  She was on the rebound. Experiencing life. Not ready for anything steady.

  And, of course, she was off limits as long as he worked for Noah.

  But his emotions weren’t swayed by any of this logic. Right now, he wanted to call Ryan Pierce out and tell the guy to take his hands off her.

  Instead he buried those feelings deep, plastered his best mild-mannered smile on his face, and said, “Hi, guys. I wasn’t expecting to see you here. Let me introduce my date.”

  He made the introductions, and only Lindsay missed the awkward undercurrent. She invaded Laurie’s personal space. “I just love your dress. Where did you get it?”

  Tacky, tacky, tacky.

  But Laurie grinned and leaned in with a sparkle in her eye. “At the Haggle Shop.”

  “Where is that? Downtown D.C.?”

  “No, it’s here in Shenandoah Falls. It’s one step up from the Salvation Army. I’m redoing a house, and I went in there day before yesterday looking for decor and furniture. And this dress caught my eye. I think it might be a Carolina Herrera. But the label is torn out.”

  “No kidding?”

  Laurie shook her head. “I won’t tell you how much I paid for it. I’m an untenured college professor so I can’t afford couture. The store owner had no idea how much it was actually worth, and I didn’t tell her.” She frowned for a moment and glanced at Ryan. “Was that wrong?”

  His mouth quirked. “Absolutely not,” he said, looking down at her with a gaze that irritated the crap out of Andrew.

  “Well,” Andrew said in a sterner voice than absolutely necessary, “it was nice seeing you guys. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we were just heading toward the bar.” He yanked Lindsay away from Laurie and her secondhand dress.

  “That was kind of rude. We’d just started talking with them,” Lindsay said.

  “Look, let me make myself clear. I don’t want to spend any time with the boss’s daughter or her Marine boy, okay?”

  “She seems really nice and down-to-earth.”

  Yeah, that was Laurie. He flashed on an image of her wearing GW sweats and bunny slippers. She’d been just as beautiful that day too. Hell, Laurie was more than nice and down-to-earth. She was smart, adorable, and sexy. “I need a drink,” he said.

  Laurie watched Andrew walk away, her heart in tatters. What was up with him anyway? He sleeps with her, and then the next day she sees him hovering around his ex-girlfriend. And a week later, he’s got his hands all over a much younger woman with a chest out to there.

  Well, at least she hadn’t come to the party solo. That would have been humiliating in the extreme. Instead, she was on the arm of the only man in military dress. And Ryan was certainly causing a stir. Unfortunately, Brandon didn’t seem to be here tonight. So Ryan was causing a stir with all the wrong people.

  Still it was kind of nice being on his arm for the evening. His presence immediately banished the pity talk that she hated. Obviously she was getting over Brandon, and she had Ryan by her side looking rather regal with his medals and ribbons.

  “Remind me to thank Courtney for backing you into a corner,” she said as the cocktail hour wound down and they began searching for their table.

  “Why’s that?” he asked in a low voice.

  “Because you look fabulous in your uniform, and everyone is staring at you.”

  “Me? Laurie, they are not staring at me. Believe me.”

  She smiled at him. “You are a good guy, you know that, Ryan?”

  “I try my best. Besides, I’m having fun. I never knew what it was like to be the guy escorting the best-looking woman in the room. It kind of rocks, actually.”

  She gave him a long, earnest stare. “You do realize that I’m not taking you home tonight, right?”

  He snorted a laugh. “It’s all right, Laurie
. I’m happy to be your friend. And I’m well aware of the fact that you’ve been waiting for Brandon all evening.”

  “Am I that obvious?”

  He pointed toward the front of the room, near the podium. “Oh, look, there’s our table. Hey, it’s right up front. You clearly have some pull with the organizers.”

  It suddenly occurred to Laurie that she’d been placed at this table back when everyone expected her to come with Brandon. Her worst fear materialized when Roxy showed up solo, wearing a slinky black dress and looking gorgeous as always.

  Her eyes widened. “You’re here,” she said.

  “I am. I bought tickets, remember?”

  “Yeah. I just…”

  Laurie launched herself into the silence by introducing Ryan.

  A moment later, Andrew and his date arrived, followed by Daniel, Matt, Jason, and Edward Lyndon. All of the Lyndon men, aside from Andrew, appeared to be traveling solo, and they made an incredible statement in their matching tuxes. Good thing Ryan was perfectly capable of holding his own with any of them, especially with all that polished brass on his uniform.

  Ryan leaned over and whispered in Laurie’s ear, a gesture that was probably misread by everyone assembled there. “Mission accomplished,” Ryan murmured. “Brandon may not be here but I think he’s going to hear all about it.”

  With that, Ryan stood at attention and pulled out a chair for her. She made a big show of thanking him, and he smiled down at her with the sappiest smile she’d ever seen in her life. Thank God for Ryan. Without him, Brandon’s friends would have battered her self-esteem.

  It was clear they didn’t want her at their table. They made her feel unwelcome the moment she took her seat. Matt and Jason periodically stared at her as if they wanted her to fall through the floor directly into hell. Daniel pointedly ignored her while surreptitiously glancing at Roxy with a sad, puppy-dog look. Yet Roxy seemed utterly unaware of Daniel’s regard. Instead she tried to be nice to everyone, and failed. Andrew stared down at his plate while his date for the night chattered on about one banal subject after another.

  It was painful. And the more Lindsay talked, the more Laurie wondered why on earth Andrew had asked her out. She was too young, too brash, too opinionated, and too socially inept for him. Plus she drank way too much wine, while Andrew nursed a single beer.

  Oh, how she wished she could get up and rescue him from that woman. But she couldn’t. And as much as she longed for Andrew’s touch, the barriers between them were so clear. All she had to do was look around the table.

  Roxy and these Lyndon men were loyal to Brandon. They’d known him longer. They loved him like a brother. They didn’t want her around because Brandon had dumped her. What truly stung though was the realization that, if she were to stand up and tell them that she’d slept with Andrew last weekend, no one at this table would believe her. Hell, Andrew would probably deny it, which was enough to make Laurie’s heart wrench in her chest.

  Even so, it wasn’t Andrew’s fault. She’d made the choice. She’d been honest and clear with him about what she wanted. She hadn’t asked for commitment. She didn’t even want commitment. What she wanted was to sleep with him again.

  But that was out of the question.

  Her throat unexpectedly knotted up. She needed to leave. Now. She leaned toward Ryan, “I need to powder my nose,” she said. Then she stood and made her escape.

  Laurie almost knocked over her chair in her haste to leave the table, and Andrew didn’t blame her for escaping. If he hadn’t been chained to Lindsay, he might have chased after her, which wouldn’t have defused the situation but would have made him feel useful.

  He was about to rebuke everyone at the table about their manners when Matt heaved a big sigh and said, “Good riddance,” in a loud enough voice for everyone to hear.

  “What was that you said?” Ryan asked. He stood, and he was really quite impressive as he looked down his slightly crooked nose at Matt. Ryan was at least two inches taller than Andrew’s idiotic cousin.

  “Um, I…” Matt stammered.

  “Stop,” Roxy said, standing up. “I’m disgusted with all of you. Thank you for supporting my brother, but you all seem to have forgotten that Laurie was the one who was left at the altar. Brandon is the one who did all the hurting that day. The breakup wasn’t Laurie’s fault. And it sure wasn’t Laurie’s fault that she ended up at this table. That was my bad. I guess I just didn’t think she would come, you know?” Roxy’s voice wavered, and tears formed in her eyes.

  “The thing is…I adore Laurie. I wanted her as my sister. And that’s not going to happen, and it really steams me to see you people being so cold to her. Especially you, Matt. Grow up, okay?”

  She turned and fled in the direction of the ladies’ room, and to Andrew’s astonishment, Daniel got up and ran after her.

  “Way to go, Matt,” Andrew said.

  Matt’s eyes rounded in surprise. “What? You gotta admit she doesn’t belong at this table.”

  “Why not?” Lindsay asked. “She seems like a really nice person.”

  “It’s a long story,” Andrew said.

  “Okay, I’m listening.”

  Christ on a crutch. How had he ended up with this clueless, rude, idiotic woman? “Not here,” he said.

  “But why?”

  Matt pushed up from the table. “It’s a very long story,” he said. “Why don’t we take a little stroll out onto the terrace, and I’ll fill you in. I need a smoke.”

  Lindsay gave Matt a wide smile and then looked up at Andrew. “You don’t mind if I go with Matt? The truth is, I could use a cigarette myself.”

  “No, not at all.”

  Matt and Lindsay exited the scene, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. “Why do I have the feeling that Aunt Pam set you up with that woman?” Edward said.

  Andrew nodded. “Because she is the last person on earth I would ever be attracted to?”

  “Well, I think you’re off the hook. Matt was very impressed with her,” Edward said in a snarky tone.

  Jason turned toward Ryan, who remained standing. “Look, I know what my brother just said was kind of stupid, but hey, you need to understand that we’ve known Brandon since we all wore Pampers together.” That was Jason, all right, always defending his brother no matter what.

  Ryan, who had assumed a chest-out military position with a stone face, said nothing.

  Andrew locked gazes with him for a long moment. “Take care of her,” he said.

  Ryan gave a tiny nod. “I intend to.”

  Andrew had no doubt that Ryan Pierce was a man of his word. Andrew hated the idea of Laurie and Ryan together, especially since Ryan was so clearly worthy of her. In any event, he wasn’t about to sit there and watch the two of them. It was time to escape.

  “I’ll see you guys,” he said, and then headed off across the room. Andrew had been watching a table on the other side of the dance floor for the duration of the uncomfortable dinner. A moment ago, just as Laurie had escaped to the ladies’ room, August Kopp had gotten up from his assigned table and headed in the direction of the bar.

  But as Andrew headed in August’s direction, Aunt Pam intercepted him, threaded her arm through his, and pulled him in the opposite direction. “Darlin’, I’m wondering how you like Lindsay.”

  “She can carry on a conversation without much problem,” he said, trying to find something nice to say about her.

  Pam gave him a steely, blue-eyed stare. Sometimes it was easy to dismiss his aunt, but as the daughter of a governor and the wife of the United States senator, she was no pushover. “I see you’ve let Matt take Lindsay out to the terrace, so I’m thinking you prefer someone a little less talkative. Someone more like Laurie perhaps? I must say she looks spectacular with that Marine.”

  Boy, Pam must be furious with him or something. There was no other explanation for the way she kept throwing Laurie in his face. “Okay, Aunt Pam, I apologize. I know I shouldn’t have gone out dancing with Laurie. I
t’s made everyone so unhappy. But honestly, it’s not what you think, okay? We’re just friends. And the Marine’s name is Ryan. He’s a member of the SFPD.”

  “Oh, so she’s serious about him?” Pam asked with a gleam in her eye.

  “God, I hope not.” Andrew almost spat the words. Then he bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from saying more.

  “He’s quite handsome.”

  “Look, Aunt Pam, I hate to run, but I need to talk to August Kopp about something. I promise I’ll make sure Lindsay gets home in one piece.”

  “Of course you will. You’re such a good boy.” She paused a moment. “Sometimes I think you’re just a little too good.”

  “Thanks, Aunt Pam. Now, really, I need to run before the program starts.”

  She finally let go of his arm, and he hurried toward the bar, where he finally caught up with August Kopp, just as he reached the front of the bar line. “Hello August, you have a moment?”

  Brandon’s father had lost much of his hair, and he’d put on a little weight since his wife’s death a few years ago. But he still had a likable face with a ready smile and keen gray eyes. “Andrew,” he said, “what are you drinking?”

  “I’m good, but I was wondering if I could speak with you for a moment.”

  August accepted his scotch on the rocks and stepped away from the bar. “From your tone, I get the feeling you don’t want to chat about the weather.”

  “No. And I’d prefer speaking privately.”

  “The terrace calls, then,” August said with a smile. They crossed the ballroom and emerged on the terrace, where propane heaters were running full blast to take the chill out of the late September air.

  Luckily Matt and Lindsay had gone elsewhere to smoke…or whatever.

  “So,” August said, “did Brandon send you to negotiate? I should tell you before you start that it nearly broke my heart when I told him he couldn’t join the firm. But the thing is, Brandon doesn’t really know the meaning of hard work. Or commitment. I was so ashamed of him when he walked away from Laurie. And my God, did you see her tonight? Such a vision. What an idiot my son is.”