Patt Marr - The Doctor's Bride

At the car, Chloe slipped her new shoes on. They were only a couple of straps across her toes, but they did make her legs look great. Sliding into the passenger side of Carmen’s sports car, she reached for her seat belt. It would wrinkle her new dress, but a few wrinkles might make her feel more like herself.

With her long hair swept up at one side and secured by one of Cate’s combs, she hadn’t recognized herself. In the past she would have chosen something so awful that the contrast between her appearance and her sisters’ would have seemed deliberate, not something she had no control over.

But tonight the apprentice swan had done what she was told, and Chloe had to admit she looked pretty good—not as good as Carmen, who was petite perfection in her little black dress and big diamond earrings, but no one looked as good as Carmen. She carried their beautiful mother’s genes and the DNA of her gorgeous birth father. Chloe had seen a picture of him once.

Before she started the car, Carmen turned to her and said, “Chloe, do you understand why Zack invited me tonight?”

“I think you’re sort of a decoy.”

“Right. He says his mother is crazy about you.”

“No! It’s just the clown connection.”

“Zack says it’s more than that, and I believe him. You, Chloe Kilgannon, are exactly who Bonnie Hemingway wants for the mother of her grandchildren.”

Chloe swallowed hard. She wouldn’t be having anyone’s biological grandchildren. She would love to, but her body couldn’t do the job.

“Zack thinks you’re great, but—”

“I got it, Carmen. He’s not about to let his mother push him into marriage, yet he’s not the kind of guy who can say, ‘Back off, Mom,’ especially when she’s celebrating her birthday.

“That’s it. Zack’s been a good friend, and I’m willing to help him by playing the decoy, but I’m terrible at acting. I won’t be believable playing the role of prospective bride.”

“Then use my motto. Keep it simple, keep it honest, and pray before you act…or in your case, try to act.”

“What is it with you and prayer?” Carmen asked, exasperated. She turned on the ignition of her car and backed out of her drive very fast. “I pray for the Lord to guide my hands in surgery. I pray for Him to do what medicine can’t. But I’m not going to bother God with prayers about things I should handle myself!”

“Okay, but the Bible says you’re supposed to.” She’d prayed for openings like this. “The Word says we’re to pray about everything…all the time!”

Carmen shook her head.” I don’t know. Every day I see situations where God is a person’s only hope. It just doesn’t seem right for me to take God’s time with whiny prayers about the little stuff.”

“There is no ‘little stuff’ with God,” Chloe said, unwilling to argue past that. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll pray that Bonnie will relax and not worry about her son. I’ll pray that God gives you the words you need for tonight, and I’ll pray that Zack—” What should she pray for him? “I’ll pray he’ll enjoy his mother’s vacation as much as she does. How’s that?”

Carmen shrugged her shoulders as if it didn’t matter.

Lord, You gave me an opening to talk about You, and I think I blew it. If You give me another chance, I’ll try to do better.

“Chloe, if you’re really going to do all that praying could you throw in something about Dad’s reaction when he realizes Zack and I aren’t seeing each other?”

“He doesn’t know that?” Chloe didn’t want to be around when he found out. “Why haven’t you told him? Having second thoughts?”

“No! I’ve tried to tell Dad, but he’s just obsessed with Zack becoming part of our family. He’s never gotten angry with me before, but I’ve seen how he gets with you. You can take it, but I don’t have your courage.”

Courage? It was more like she’d had no choice. Dad could lose his temper with her any time, any place, and she’d never known when it was coming.

“Carmen, I can pray that Dad takes the news calmly, but that’s a very big prayer. I’ll need your help with that one.”

The corners of Carmen’s mouth twitched. “You’re probably right. Tell me what to say.”

Chloe laughed out loud. “To begin with, you don’t need a script. When I talked to the Lord while I was getting dressed—“

“You did that?” Carmen sounded shocked.

Chloe nodded. “I asked the Lord to keep my head straight tonight. Since neither you nor Cate fell for Zack, there’s no reason to think I will, but he was all I could think about this afternoon.”

“And what’s wrong with that?”

“Everything. Nothing. It just makes me nervous to be this interested in a guy.”

Carmen grinned knowingly. “You could always try praying that away.”

Z ack pulled up to The Hilltop and watched his mom’s face light up. High on a hill as the name suggested, the view from the restaurant was one of the best in Los Angeles. They would catch the tail end of a spectacular sunset and, later, watch the city’s twinkling lights.

It was the kind of restaurant Zack’s dad would have despised. He’d have griped about turning the car over to a parking valet and complained about waiting to be seated by the maître d’. When he saw the fancy menu, prices and manners of the waitstaff, he might have walked out.

Zack remembered how self-conscious he’d felt the first time he’d dined here. When the waiter had plucked the white linen napkin from the goblet and flipped it onto his lap, Zack had felt exactly like who he was—a country boy from Illinois. Tonight he took the waiter’s flourish for granted and smiled when it surprised his mom.

He’d made sure she was seated at an angle so she could see the fabulous view or scan the room and perhaps see a celebrity she recognized. He’d taken the seat beside her so he could watch for Carmen and Chloe.

But Mom saw them first. “There’s Chloe! Oh, my. The girls are lovely!”

Carmen looked fabulous as usual, but it was Chloe, in a terrific red dress, who made his heart rate pick up.

He stood when they approached the table. Carmen gave him a wink that said she was ready for his matchmaking mom. Chloe headed straight to Mom, gave her a warm embrace and said, “I’ve brought you a big birthday present, Bonnie. Here she is, my sister, Carmen. She’s a surgeon like Zack, but she’s ready to settle down.”

Had Carmen coached her to say that? It was perfect.

Chloe stepped aside so Carmen could give Mom a pair of Hollywood air kisses and a little hug. “I have a present for you, too,” Carmen said, producing an elegantly wrapped gift.

“Should I open it now?” Mom asked, already tearing the paper off.

Zack recognized the designer gift box before Mom pulled out the tiny crystal bottle of perfume.

“If you don’t care for it, we can exchange it for a scent you might prefer more,” Carmen said.

“Oh, no! The fragrance is lovely!” his mother exclaimed. “And it will make me think of you, Carmen.”

“That’s a nice gift,” Chloe said, producing a small colorful bag, “but you’re going to like mine better.” Mom dug under the bright tissue and pulled out a red clown nose with an attached tag that read, “IOU one clown lesson and all of my ‘how-to-clown’ books.”

His mom squealed with delight. Carmen sat beside him, and they brought her up to speed about Bonnie’s clown obsession. The waiter took their drink orders, and Zack leaned back in his chair.

His mother had a birthday glow that made his heart swell with gratitude. The joy and contentment on her face was worth more than money could buy. Carmen flirted with him as planned, to throw his mother off track about his interest in Chloe.

He knew Mom had noticed him and Carmen. She’d given him a bunch of assessing looks, as if she were trying to determine if he and Carmen had more going for them than he’d claimed. Exactly what he’d hoped for.

Was he only imagining it, or was Chloe flirting with him, too? Her brown eyes sparkled with fun, and she was just so pretty he could hardly take his eyes off her. With Mom concentrating on Carmen, he didn’t have to be as careful.

He noticed her sweet consideration of his mom, her quick glance of gratitude toward the waiter who filled her water glass, the way she graciously accepted her menu and her pleased expression as she looked at the menu offerings.

He hadn’t thought about it, but being unimpressed with fine dining was part of the code of conduct among the rich. He’d probably adopted that attitude as well, but not Chloe. Enthusiastically, she described her favorite dishes to Mom and said this was her favorite restaurant in Los Angeles.

He’d never been this interested in a woman. He was sure of it. When his foot accidentally touched hers, his heart actually raced. Did she have any idea of how pretty she looked in that red dress? She didn’t seem to, and that made him like her even more.

Chloe gripped her menu, the better to steady her nerves. What was the matter with her? She’d dined at the Hilltop so often it should feel like a second home, but she’d almost tipped over her water goblet and her salad fork had just skittered off the table and landed noisily on the hardwood floor.

It wasn’t the end of the world, and Flower the Clown wouldn’t have been embarrassed, but Chloe was…until Zack’s dinner knife clattered to the floor, too.

With all eyes on him, he merely shrugged, smiled and said to their food server, “We seem to have flying silverware.”

Had Zack copied her clumsiness to make her feel less like a klutz? Bonnie beamed at him as if she thought he had.

“You aren’t worried about your reputation, Doctor?” Carmen teased. “Who’s going to trust a surgeon who can’t keep his silverware on the table?”

“I may have to consider a new career and enroll in Chloe’s clown class,” he said. “Any chance I can get Mom’s rate?”

Chloe smiled to herself. She’d give him lessons for free.

They placed their orders and made small talk until their waiter served their appetizers. Bonnie looked at Zack, and without missing a beat, he said, “I’ll say grace.” He offered one hand to Bonnie and the other to Carmen, who looked a little startled, but quickly followed suit. They might be the only diners holding hands while they prayed, but Chloe loved it.

Zack bowed his head and spoke in a normal conversational tone. “Lord, we praise Your name, especially on Mom’s birthday, and we thank You for Your many blessings. Thank You for giving me a wonderful mother. May this next decade be the best in her long, healthy life. Bless the food, Lord, and thank You for letting us share this special occasion as family and friends.”

Zack looked up to see his mom blinking back tears. He hadn’t done anything that special. Maybe she was glad he still knew how to pray.

“That was a beautiful prayer, son,” his mother said. “The best gift a mother can receive is knowing her child has a relationship with God.”

Temporarily flushed by his mother’s praise, Zack cleared the lump in his throat and said, “When I planned this dinner for you, Mom, I had no idea that your favorite conference speaker would turn out to be our new friend, Chloe, or that Chloe’s sister would be my old friend, Carmen.”

“‘Old?’” Carmen protested playfully. “Watch it!”

“Sorry,” he said with a grin. “It’s great that such a cool coincidence brought us together.”

“It is wonderful that we’re together!” Bonnie agreed. “But I would say it was more God’s direction than coincidence. When I look back over my life, I see how often I thought God wasn’t hearing my prayers, but He was. Often the bad times were preparation for the good things God had ahead for me.”