My Best Friend's Bride (21 page)

“Seems like it belongs to both of them now,” Mauve said, observing Hunter giving the animal’s head a pat.

“That’s just like them,” Cassandra said in a snarly tone. “To go and get cozy, and just when we thought we were beginning to figure things out.”

They watched as Jill and Hunter both got to their feet and cleared their plates from the outside table. Then they disappeared through the front door, the large yellow Lab leading the way.

“Guess there’s not much left to do here,” Mauve said.

Cassandra frowned at him. “Is it possible I was wrong about them? What if their marriage is for real?”

“There are worse things that can happen, you know. People jump into hasty marriages all the time. Sometimes they work out, at others they don’t.” He stared back at Jill’s house. “From the looks of things tonight, this one seems pretty successful to me.”

Cassandra packed her binoculars away. “Well, I’m not giving up on it yet. Not until I know what Jill’s next book is about.”

“After tonight,” Mauve said, “I’m afraid Fred might stop paying me. If there’s nothing to make this marriage look suspicious, it seems that Hunter is in like Flynn with Mr. Abrams, and there’s not a lot Fred can do to stop that.”

“He’s pretty sneaky, isn’t he?” Cassandra asked. “This Fred guy?”

“We’re pretty sneaky, Cassandra.”

“Oh yes, I know it’s true.” She preened, then said in hushed whisper, “But it’s kind of fun being sneaky together.”

Mauve’s neckline colored. “Yeah, it is.”

Cassandra trailed a hand down his arm. “So... Even when you go off Fred’s payroll, you’ll continue to help me?”

Mauve shot her a grin and it alarmed her, because it was almost…saucy. “Are you saying you can’t get by without me?”

Cassandra blinked. “I… No! It’s just that, I thought you might want to, that’s all. I mean, aren’t you the least bit curious to see how all this ends?”

“I’m curious on a couple of counts.” To her amazement his lips drew near, and she wasn’t totally repulsed by them. “I’d like to see how a lot of things end, to tell you the truth.”

Cassandra licked her own lips, her mouth feeling dry. “Well, then, perhaps we should continue our collaboration?”

Hunter hesitated a moment when he and Jill reached their separate bedroom doors. He’d help her clean up the dishes, then both had decided to turn in early. Hunter was glad they were speaking again because it relieved some of the tension in the air. Even when he hadn’t been seeing her in person, it had seemed a thick and weighty presence in the house each morning when he’d arisen and every late night he’d come home. “I’m glad that we talked,” he told her, the words scraping from his throat.

“Me too.” Her pretty brown eyes peered up at him through dark lashes. “It sure beats not talking.”

“I’ll be coming home earlier, now that the Kaleidoscope Kids account is nailed down. I hope that’s all right?”

“You landed it? Why, Hunter, that’s terrific!” Her cheeks colored and Hunter had to resist the urge to reach out and hold her the way he had in Niagara Falls. “And of course it’s all right that you’ll be getting home sooner. I look forward to it. Maybe we can eat together again?”

“I’d like that.”

Her mood perked up. “What shall I fix us for dinner?”

“I don’t want you cooking for me.”

“I’ll be cooking for myself anyway.”

“Then I’ll have whatever you’re having, just make more.”

She wrinkled her nose at him. “You’ll eat tofu and bean sprouts salad?”

“Maybe I’ll pick up Chinese.”

To Hunter’s delight, she laughed. “All right, but just this once. Over dinner tomorrow we’ll work out a plan. We never really talked about that, you know. How we’d handle the food part.”

“I usually do carry-out.”

“But Hunter,” Jill protested. “That’s not healthy, not on a regular basis.”

Hunter grinned, surprising her. “Spoken like a real wife.”

Jill set a hand on her hip. “Well, maybe so. You can count that as one of your perks. After living here with me, your health will improve.”

Hunter turned and stifled a sneeze. “That’s another thing.” She looked up at him, a serious expression on her face. “I meant what I said about getting in a service. Carpet and upholstery steamers, whatever it takes. I want you to feel comfortable, Hunter. Comfortable in your own home, because this is your home, at least for the next little while.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Hunter awoke the morning of the Fourth of July feeling phenomenally good. For the past few nights, he’d slept like a dream. Jill had stayed true to her word and had completely revamped the house. When that woman was determined, she was on fire. She’d brought in cleaning specialists and pet allergy experts. Yesterday evening he’d even been able to sit in the living room and enjoy the playoffs on his widescreen television without his sinuses making him miserable. Each evening when Hunter came home from work, the house looked in better order. Soft jazz music played from Hunter’s high-end stereo system and decorative candles burned on the mantle. What’s more, there was always something delicious cooking in the kitchen, and the heavenly smells greeted him the moment he stepped in the door—right after Sport had raced toward him and given the back of his hand a lick. Mimi was a little more standoffish, but that seemed to be working well for the two of them. Hunter didn’t dislike cats, but their dander sure didn’t agree with him.

Hunter lay there in bed with his eyes closed, reveling in the quiet of the morning. He could hear birds chirping outdoors and a few rattling noises in the kitchen. Jill was likely making coffee and would have it ready by the time Hunter was dressed. Ah, yes, this was a lifestyle a man could get used to. The only thing that would make it better would be having a real relationship with his wife and waking up each morning with her snuggled up against his chest.
 

That’s when Hunter realized there
was
something resting there: a warm heavy thing that was rumbling like a motor and spiking tiny needles through the threads of his T-shirt. Hunter’s nose twitched and his eyes sprang open. Big yellow cat eyes stared down at him, nearly frightening Hunter out of his wits. “Jill!” he cried at the top of his lungs. Hunter sat up abruptly, wiping the coating of cat hair from his shirt. It swirled all about in the air. Mimi yowled and bolted off the bed. Hunter sneezed violently and grabbed for some tissues, breaking into a sneezing fit all over again.

Jill tore down the hall and stopped in his open doorway, surveying the scene. “What happened?”

“It’s Mimi!” he cried, breaking into another sneeze. His eyes were running and his throat burned, feeling scratchy and dry.

“Not after everything we’ve done!” Jill wailed. She frantically scanned the room, finding Mimi crouching behind a chair. “You bad boy,” she told him. “I can’t believe you’re such a sneak!”

She hauled the cat from the room as Hunter hacked and
achoo
ed. “I don’t know how he got in here.”

Hunter spoke between fitful attacks. “I don’t think…the latch…always sticks on the door.”

Jill turned to face him, the cat in her arms. “You don’t lock it?”

“Why would I?”

Jill colored from head to toe. “You’re right and I’m sorry. Terribly sorry about this, Hunter. Let me just go and put Mimi outside.”

“I think I’d better shower,” Hunter said, “and launder these linens and clothes.”

Jill fumed at the cat as she carted him down the hall. “Now look what you’ve done, Mimi! You’ve left your cat fur all over Hunter’s room!” The cat looked at her sadly and a pang of guilt stabbed Jill’s heart. “You’re right,” she acknowledged hoarsely. “It was really your room first.”

By the time Hunter arrived at the breakfast table Jill had made up her mind. They would have to trade rooms. She couldn’t put Hunter through another night of this, and her animals clearly weren’t cooperating. At least, one of them wasn’t.
 

After her honeymoon trip, Jill had resumed her biweekly visits with her grandfather and each time she’d seen him his spirits had seemed brighter. He was so glad that Jill had found someone special. Her new marriage to Hunter recalled her grandpa to several happier times involving his late wife, Rose. Suddenly he was replete with stories about his newlywed years and the trials and joys he and Rose had lived through. Jill loved hearing these tales, especially as her grandfather had never thought to share them before. The thing that interested Jill was that each of her grandpa’s vignettes seemed to hold a common theme: one of sacrifice. There were things he and Rose had done for each other and other things they’d forgone merely out of love for one another. That’s what real love was, her grandpa said. It wasn’t all about the easy stuff like attraction; it was about sticking together through the hard times, and putting the other person first when you knew it meant their happiness.

Jill fought back her tears, thinking of her grandparents’ beautiful union. Her parents had been in love too, but in a more fun-loving, contemporary way, whereas her grandparents had been very traditional. Jill supposed this was part of the marvelous equation that made some relationships work. If you had common values, you had a way to understand each other. And when you truly cared, as any good-hearted person should, you learned to sacrifice. Jill understood with certain clarity that this also needed to be a chapter of her new book. But first she had to start by putting that theory into practice here.

Hunter didn’t typically eat much for breakfast, but she at least had him eating hard-boiled eggs. If she had them ready and in the fridge, he’d often have one with his coffee, which was better than his eating nothing. He peeled one now as Jill dug into her low-fat yogurt. She could hear the washer whirring in the next room, indicating he’d already started his laundry. “I’ve made a decision,” she told him. Hunter paused with the pepper shaker in midair. “I want you to move into the master bedroom.”

His neck and the tops of his ears colored slightly. “With—?”

“I mean, I think we should switch,” Jill rushed in, suddenly realizing what she’d implied. “Swap rooms!”

“But you’ve always had the master.”

“That doesn’t mean that things can’t change.”

“That’s really nice of you, Jill, but I don’t want to put you out of your own bed.”

“You’re not. I’m putting myself out.”

“But why?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do, and it’s a way we can both live here peaceably over these next several months. Together, with Fifi and…Mimi.”

He took a bite of his hard-boiled egg, considering her proposition. “Are you sure you can live with that?”

“Yes, and I want to. We can move things around when we get home from Max’s cookout.”

Hunter grinned. “Why, thanks, Jill. That’s really nice of you. And, to tell you the truth, it would probably help things.”

“Good, then that’s settled,” she said, standing to refill their coffees. “What time are we expected at Max and Diane’s?”

Hunter parked his SUV in front of Max’s house, then he and Jill followed the sound of happy chatter along the side path that led to the backyard patio. A sprightly middle-aged woman with springy golden curls hurried toward them, her arms spread wide to wrap Hunter in a hug. “Congratulations on landing Kaleidoscope Kids! You know I was pulling for you.”

She released Hunter to graciously appraise Jill. “And you must be the lovely new wife I’ve been hearing so much about. Welcome, Jill. My name is Diane.” She gave Jill a warm hug and a lump rose in Jill’s throat. Diane was the kind of woman who made everyone feel at home. Unexpectedly, that made Jill miss her mother.

“You and Max were so sweet to include us,” Jill said. “We brought a few things for the party.” She handed Diane her plate of brownies and Hunter presented his bottle of wine.

“How nice of you, Jill and Hunter. Please follow me. Let me introduce you around.” Diane presented them to an assortment of neighbors and her daughter, Marina, who cradled an infant. Max stood beside the grill with a younger man Jill took to be his son-in-law. The patio abutted a big swimming pool that appeared to be brimming with happy neighborhood kids doing cannonballs off the diving board and frolicking in the water.

“You didn’t tell me it was a pool party,” Jill said, once the introductions were done and Diane had disappeared to get them some drinks.

“I didn’t know myself,” Hunter said. “Though it looks like only the kids are swimming.”

Max caught Jill’s eye and strode toward her with a cheery laugh. “My dear, we’re so glad you could make it. This old man of yours has been working too hard,” he said nudging Hunter. “It’s good to see him taking a breather.”

“Thanks for sending him home in time for supper,” Jill said good-naturedly. “Hunter told me you insisted he stop working late.”

“That’s true,” Max said, motioning them both toward the grill. “Why don’t you come on over and meet Dave? Hunter, he’ll be relieving Marina of the baby in a moment so she can help Diane in the kitchen. Would you mind assisting with the burgers?”

Hunter glanced uncertainly at Jill and she could tell he was a tad worried about leaving her by herself. That just showed how little Hunter knew her still. Jill could hold her own in any crowd. “I think that’s a fine idea,” she encouraged. “Why don’t you do that and I’ll see if Diane needs more help in the kitchen?”

Twenty minutes later, when Hunter carried in the plate of cooked hamburgers and hot dogs, he was greeted by uproarious laughter in the kitchen. A crowd of women and a couple of men were gathered around Jill as she stood at the center island, tossing a salad and holding court. “And that’s only the
second
thing you need to know about starting relationships.” The group cheered and applauded, someone even calling out,
“Brava!”

Diane sidled up next to Hunter, who stood there stunned. “You never told us that Jill was so charming, nor so full of funny stories! The things she’s heard about in her line of work! You’d never imagine. It seems she gives some pretty sound advice.” Diane lowered her voice in a confidential manner. “Some couples can be so crazy.”