Lauryn Chandler - Just Say I Do

Cover Page

Excerpt “Annabelle and I are…engaged,” Adam announced, turning to face her family. Then he swept Annabelle into his arms. He felt her gasp against his parted lips and decided he’d better keep the kiss reasonably chaste. The contact lasted only a few seconds, but for one charged moment, the room and the people in it - seemed to fade away, their exclamations of surprise sounding like a roll of very distant thunder. Gaze locked with hers, he tried to convey the message Trust me, but to tell the truth, he was starting to feel a little disoriented himself. Annabelle stared at him with fists bunched by her sides. Stunned could not describe how she felt Confused, breathless, furious and eager didn’t cut it, either. For one suspended moment as he kissed her, she had almost believed his announcement was real. Engaged to Adam Garrett. Just the idea of it caused her body to tingle in curious places.

Dear Reader Dear Reader , This July, Silhouette Romance cordially invites you to a month of marriage stories, based upon your favorite themes. There’s no need to RSVP; just pick up a book, start reading…and be swept away by romance. The month kicks off with our Fabulous Fathers title, And Baby Makes Six, by talented author Pamela Dalton. Two single parents marry for convenience’ sake, only to be surprised to learn they’re expecting a baby of their own! In Natalie Patrick’s Three Kids and a Cowboy, a woman agrees to stay married to her husband just until he adopts three adorable orphans, but soon finds herself longing to make the arrangement permanent. And the romance continues when a beautiful wedding consultant asks her sexy neighbor to pose as her fiancé in Just Say I Do by RITA Award-winning author Lauryn Chandler. The reasons for weddings keep coming, with a warmly humorous story of amnesia in Vivian Leiber’s The Bewildered Wife; a new take on the runaway bride theme in Have Honeymoon, Need Husband by Robin Wells; and a green card wedding from debut author Elizabeth Harbison in A Groom for Maggie. Here’s to your reading enjoymentl Melissa Senate Senior Editor Silhouette Romance Please address questions and book requests to: Silhouette Reader Service U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

Title Page Just Say I Do Lauryn Chandler www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dedication In loving memory of Vicki Triplett Lee, a woman of grace, intelligence and courage. Thank you for giving the world Judy, who is a woman like you and a wonderful friend to walk through life with.

About the Author LAURYN CHANDLER Originally from California, Lauryn now lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, where she can look out her window and see deer walking down the street. She holds a B.A. in Drama and when not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family and fiancé, going for long hikes with her dogs and finding new ways to cheat at Crazy Eights. Lauryn is the recipient of the 1995 Romance Writers of America RITA Award for Best Traditional Romance.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Epilogue

Copyright

Adam announced, turning to face her family.

Then he swept Annabelle into his arms. He felt her gasp against his parted lips and decided he’d better keep the kiss reasonably chaste. The contact lasted only a few seconds, but for one charged moment, the room and the people in it - seemed to fade away, their exclamations of surprise sounding like a roll of very distant thunder.

Gaze locked with hers, he tried to convey the message Trust me, but to tell the truth, he was starting to feel a little disoriented himself.

Annabelle stared at him with fists bunched by her sides. Stunned could not describe how she felt Confused, breathless, furious and eager didn’t cut it, either. For one suspended moment as he kissed her, she had almost believed his announcement was real.

Engaged to Adam Garrett.

Just the idea of it caused her body to tingle in curious places.

Dear Reader,

This July, Silhouette Romance cordially invites you to a month of marriage stories, based upon your favorite themes. There’s no need to RSVP; just pick up a book, start reading…and be swept away by romance.

The month kicks off with our Fabulous Fathers title, And Baby Makes Six, by talented author Pamela Dalton. Two single parents marry for convenience’ sake, only to be surprised to learn they’re expecting a baby of their own!

In Natalie Patrick’s Three Kids and a Cowboy, a woman agrees to stay married to her husband just until he adopts three adorable orphans, but soon finds herself longing to make the arrangement permanent. And the romance continues when a beautiful wedding consultant asks her sexy neighbor to pose as her fiancé in Just Say I Do by RITA Award-winning author Lauryn Chandler.

The reasons for weddings keep coming, with a warmly humorous story of amnesia in Vivian Leiber’s The Bewildered Wife; a new take on the runaway bride theme in Have Honeymoon, Need Husband by Robin Wells; and a green card wedding from debut author Elizabeth Harbison in A Groom for Maggie.

Here’s to your reading enjoymentl

Melissa Senate

Senior Editor

Silhouette Romance

Please address questions and book requests to:

Silhouette Reader Service

U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

www.millsandboon.co.uk

In loving memory of Vicki Triplett Lee, a woman of grace, intelligence and courage. Thank you for giving the world Judy, who is a woman like you and a wonderful friend to walk through life with.

Originally from California, Lauryn now lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, where she can look out her window and see deer walking down the street. She holds a B.A. in Drama and when not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family and fiancé, going for long hikes with her dogs and finding new ways to cheat at Crazy Eights.

Lauryn is the recipient of the 1995 Romance Writers of America RITA Award for Best Traditional Romance.

Annabelle Simmons fixed an attentive smile on her face and commanded her eyes not to cross.

If headaches were dollar bills, she decided, I would be rolling in dough.

As the owner of Wedding Belles, Elegant Weddings for the Romance of a Lifetime, Annabelle knew that headaches were simply part of her job description. Far from rolling in dough, she was closeted in her office, gritting her teeth against the rhythmic pounding of her temples as Celeste Costello detailed the most recent in a seemingly endless series of last-minute ideas for her daughter’s May wedding.

“I’m thinking doves,” Mrs. Costello enthused. “One hundred snow-white doves released at the exact moment Maria and Rosario kiss.” She fluttered her hands toward the ceiling, an approximation, Annabelle supposed, of the effect she was after.

“Real doves.” The older woman pointed a redtipped finger in warning. “Don’t give me pigeons and try to pass them off as doves.” She sat back in her chair, holding her purse tightly against her ample stomach. “And money is no object.”

Mrs. Costello ended every request with “And money is no object.” Annabelle waited politely for her customary follow-up.

“You could do it for what?” Mrs. C. tapped acrylic nails on the Lucite clasp of her purse. “One, maybe two hundred dollars?”

Annabelle swallowed a sigh.

Generally, she was able to handle customer demands with grace and equanimity. After six years of coordinating weddings, she was used to requests ranging from the simple to the downright outrageous. She gave each bride’s needs her time, attention and very best efforts. She worked at challenging logistics with the tenacity of a dog chasing a flea.

Doves, she knew, were not impossible—just absurdly impractical in the formal traditional church ceremony Mrs. Costello and her daughter had planned. Father DiAngelo would be forced to dodge bird droppings while he blessed the happy couple.

Annabelle didn’t mind explaining the difficulties one hundred flapping birds would create, but Mrs. Costello was unlikely to stop at doves. Yesterday she’d called to discuss the possibility of a pumpkinshaped carriage pulled by six horses, and the day before that, a skywriter to scrawl, “We Love You, Maria and Rosario,” across an early May sky that would likely be too overcast to see the plane, much less the message.

To further complicate matters, Maria had requested a “simple” wedding, and Mrs. Costello might say that money was no object, but she didn’t mean it.

Annabelle’s headache expanded from her temples to the top of her head.

I’m losing my sense of humor, she thought. A few months ago, Mrs. Costello and her horses and planes and canapés shaped like Maria’s profile would have seemed cute. Unfortunately, Mrs. Costello wasn’t Annabelle’s only problem at the moment.

“I think doves are a lovely idea,” she began care-fully, folding her hands on the lap of her peach linen skirt. “They’re romantic and very dramatic.”

Mrs. Costello beamed and nodded as much as she could over the folds of her heavy chin.

“But it’s just not practical to include them at this point.”

The smile slipped from the other woman’s face, and Annabelle hastened to explain her reasoning.

“The plans for Maria and Rosario’s wedding are already so lovely. And the wedding is less than five weeks away. At this point, it’s really much wiser to set the ideas we’ve already discussed and to concentrate on executing them to the very best of our abilities.”

Mrs. Costello digested this advice. “No doves.” She pursed her lips when Annabelle shook her head. “Tell me, for your wedding, aren’t you going to have anything fancy? A little something extra?”

Annabelle froze. She had mentioned her wedding to Mrs. Costello and her daughter more than four months ago, back in the days when there was actually going to be a wedding. Steven had called a halt to the proceedings two weeks ago today. The “some-thing extra” at this point would be the groom.

Taking a conspicuous glance at her watch, Annabelle gasped loudly. “Oh, dear. The time…I had no idea…I have an appointment with the baker.” She rose, straightened her skirt and reached for the matching peach jacket she’d draped over the back of her chair. “We’re going to discuss your idea of shaping the top tier of the cake to resemble the Vatican.”

Mrs. Costello. smiled broadly as she remembered this bit of inspiration and hastened to rise, also. “Good, good. You tell me what the baker says. I’ll be home all afternoon. My cousin Sophia and I are working on the wedding favors. We’re thinking of using live oysters, so the guests can find their own pearls.”

Oh, dear God. Weakly, Annabelle put a hand to her aching temple. “Have you discussed this with Maria?”