Mollie Molay - The Groom Came C.o.d.

Melinda’s heart was racing. She’d admired Ben in high school. He was a flawless package of sheer masculinity.

“What in the blazes do you call this?”

Her caller was shaking the morning newspaper under her nose.

Local Businessman To Marry Childhood Sweetheart.

Beneath the headline, Melinda caught a glimpse of her name coupled with Ben’s. The words were too familiar to ignore. No wonder he was so angry. It was what she deserved for giving in to a wedding fantasy and choosing him for the groom.

She was going to faint. Before she could fall, Ben caught her. Even through her distress, she felt herself respond to his touch.

Melinda sagged in his arms. “I have no idea how that got in there!”

But she did. She did.

Dear Reader,

Come join us for another dream-fulfilling month of Harlequin American Romance! We’re proud to have this chance to bring you our four special new stories.

In her brand-new miniseries, beloved author Cathy Gillen Thacker will sweep you away to Laramie, Texas, hometown of matchmaking madness for THE LOCKHARTS OF TEXAS. Trouble brews when arch rivals Beau and Dani discover a marriage license—with their names on it! Don’t miss The Bride Said, “I Did?”!

What better way to turn a bachelor’s mind to matrimony than sending him a woman who desperately needs to have a baby? Mindy Neff continues her legendary BACHELORS OF SHOTGUN RIDGE miniseries this month with The Horseman’s Convenient Wife—watch Eden and Stony discover that love is anything but convenient!

Imagine waking up to see your own wedding announcement in the paper—to someone you hardly know! Melinda has some explaining to do to Ben in Mollie Molay’s The Groom Came C.O.D., the first book in our HAPPILY WEDDED AFTER promotion. And in Kara Lennox’s Virgin Promise, a bad boy is shocked to discover he’s seduced a virgin. Will promising to court her from afar convince her he wants more than one night of passion?

Find out this month, only from Harlequin American Romance!

Best wishes,

Melissa Jeglinski

Associate Senior Editor

The Groom Came C.O.D.

Mollie Molay

www.millsandboon.co.uk

For Harrison Ty Bauer.

Now there are eight. Welcome.

After working for a number of years as a logistics contract administrator in the aircraft industry, Mollie Molay turned to a career she found far more satisfying—writing romance novels. Mollie lives in Northridge, California, surrounded by her two daughters and eight grandchildren, many of whom find their way into her books. She enjoys hearing from her readers and welcomes comments. You can write to her at Harlequin Books, 300 East 42nd St., 6th Floor, New York, NY 10017.

HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE

560—FROM DRIFTER TO DADDY

597—HER TWO HUSBANDS

616—MARRIAGE BY MISTAKE

638—LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

682—NANNY & THE BODYGUARD

703—OVERNIGHT WIFE

729—WANTED: DADDY

776—FATHER IN TRAINING

799—DADDY BY CHRISTMAS

839—THE GROOM CAME C.O.D

Miss Melinda Carey

and

Mr. Ben Howard

are pleased to invite you to their wedding on

Saturday, August 5

at 8 p.m.

at the Oak Tree Distillery, Ojai, California.

Proudly giving their niece and nephew

in marriage are

Miss Bertilda Blanchard

and

Mr. Joseph Howard.

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Epilogue

Melinda Carey skimmed the dismal financial data on her computer screen. There was no doubt about it—the bridal shop was slowly but surely sliding into a sea of red ink.

It was the second week in June—traditionally, the most popular time for weddings. A time when romantic hearts and minds were supposed to turn to thoughts of weddings, home, hearth and family. But what should have been the shop’s busy season looked as if it were going to be the slowest month of the year.

August, the second most popular month, didn’t look as if it were going to be an improvement. And no matter how difficult it was to face, the rest of the year looked alarmingly bare.

“It wasn’t supposed to be this way,” Melinda muttered as she changed screens to check future bookings. Not in the bridal business, anyway. Things had been different before local brides had decided to shop in nearby Santa Barbara.

The screen told the story; after years of comfortable income, Bertie’s Bridal Shop and Bridal Referral Service hung precariously on the brink of bankruptcy.

Melinda gazed out the window at the small park across the street. Newly watered spring greenery sparkled under the bright morning sunshine. Red, purple and white petunias lined gravel paths. Rose bushes displayed all their glory.

She’d always loved the little walk-in park. She’d fantasized about getting married under the weeping willow tree that hung gracefully over the newly painted white gazebo. Fat chance. The way her life was headed, her dream didn’t have a chance.

It hadn’t been for the lack of a suitor, she thought sadly. She’d been engaged to the man she’d worked for in San Francisco, and they were about to set the wedding date. Luckily, she’d discovered Paul was self-centered and self-serving before it was too late.

Now there was her Aunt Bertie to consider. What man in his right mind would want to take on a thirty-something spinster and her fey aunt—Ojai’s beloved town character?

She willed the figures on the monitor to change. Instead, they remained solidly in the red. Not even the bridal referral service she’d started a few months ago managed to turn red ink into black. With no ready answers to the financial problems facing her, her thoughts wandered.

She was thirty, almost thirty-one. Single, with no prospective groom in sight. Let alone a man she was attracted to. Her biological clock was ticking loudly. Loudly enough to keep her awake at night. Almost without deliberate thought, her fingers surfed the Net, creating a dream wedding of her own.

No groom? No problem. Her bridal referral library service had access to every possible item a bride could want. After all, this was a harmless fantasy, wasn’t it?

Her fingers raced over the computer keys and clicked onto a dating service Web site. In seconds, she was looking at photographs of men available to “rent” for all occasions. Including that of a stand-in groom for wedding rehearsals. She gasped as she took a second look at a new entrant, tall, athletic, blue-eyed Ben Howard.

He was an older version of the boy she’d had a secret crush on in high school. The school’s top athlete, Ben had been the handsome hero of every young girl’s dream. Including hers.

Drawn to him in a way that still made her blush, she couldn’t take her eyes off the screen. To her dismay, his eyes seemed to bore into hers with a message she found herself responding to. The faint smile that hovered at his lips sent heat rushing through her middle.

Her hormones raced as she recalled the single dance they’d shared at a high school Sadie Hawkins Day party years ago, when the girls chose their partners instead of waiting to be asked. At the time, he was the high school’s star basketball player. She had been a silent, adoring fan.

Even today, she could feel his strong arms around her as he whirled her around the dance floor. She’d been lost in a dream world—until he’d planted a chaste kiss on her forehead and told her he’d see her around.

Twelve years later, here he was again. And although he was only a photograph on a screen, he was still the man of her choice. She studied his image wistfully.

She’d heard he’d gotten married and divorced while he was still in college. Maybe that was the reason there was something about the determined look in his eyes and the edge in his body language that told her he’d turned into a no-nonsense type, definitely not given to indulging in romantic dreams. For sure, he’d changed from the laughing young boy she remembered to the sober, socially prominent and wealthy distillery owner.

What was he doing on a dating Web site?

Still, there he was. Large as life—and for hire. Since this was only a fantasy, she chose him. No one would ever know.

The date of the ceremony? The sooner the better. With an eye on the calendar, she chose a date one month away.

The location? The small walk-in park, of course.

The wedding dress? No problem there, either. A simple three-quarter-length sheer silk slip-dress with pink and pale-green hand-embroidered flowers and a matching jacket from the bridal shop. A simple wreath of pink roses for her hair.

The minister? The Reverend Charles Good, a long-time friend of Aunt Bertie’s.

Deep in her fantasy, she included a caterer to provide a picnic lunch of turkey sandwiches, fresh veggies, fruit and cookies.

Flowers? The local nursery to provide gardenia bushes.

Her excitement grew as she drafted and “sent” an announcement to the local newspaper.

The telephone rang. “Melinda!” a plaintive female voice moaned. “You’re never going to believe what’s happened! You’ve got to do something to help me!”

With her eyes on the monitor screen, Melinda asked absently, “What’s wrong, Sue Ellen? Your wedding is all taken care of. There can’t be anything left to worry about.”

“Frank is allergic to live flowers!”

Melinda’s fingers froze above the computer keys. “He can’t be! Not at a time like this! Your wedding is only two days away!”

“He is! He couldn’t breathe when I took him to the flower shop this morning to show him the flowers I ordered for the church! I thought he was going to faint! When I finally got him into the fresh air, he told me he’s allergic to all kinds of flowers!”

With Sue Ellen Fry’s wedding only two days away, Melinda knew she had to move fast. She improvised mentally. “Don’t worry. I’m sure I can locate enough silk flowers here and in Santa Barbara to decorate the church!”

“But my bridal bouquet! And the bridesmaids’ bouquets!” her caller wailed. “I can’t get married without flowers!”

“I’ll think of something for you and the bridesmaids. And for Frank to wear in his lapel. Don’t worry, Sue Ellen. I’ll take care of everything. Just make sure you and Frank are at the church on time.”

She hurriedly set her fantasy wedding aside to turn her attention to the problems confronting a real-life bride.

A quick trip out of town was clearly in order.

The pounding on the front door was loud enough to wake Sleeping Beauty.

Still groggy after a weekend spent scrounging for every silk flower arrangement within a fifty-mile range of Ojai, Melinda stopped in mid-stride on her way to the kitchen. Thank goodness she was invisible to whomever was determined to break down the door. Maybe the caller would give up and go away if she didn’t answer.

She was frazzled. She’d been coping with a wedding featuring a disappointed bride, an allergic groom and eight bridesmaids who couldn’t seem to understand why they had to carry small white prayer books decorated with sprays of silk lilies of the valley.

Footing the extra cost for silk flowers hadn’t helped. She had to figure out a way to return the live flowers so she wouldn’t lose the slim profit Bertie’s Bridal Shop would eventually realize on the wedding.