Nantucket Romance 3-in-1 Bundle (42 page)

Kate
left the foggy bathroom, feeling somewhat refreshed, though still sleepy. She should have asked Lucas to order a latte. She walked into the room, where the breakfast food was set out on the coffee table. Lucas sat in the armchair, waiting to dig into his home fries, over-easy eggs, toast, and stack of crispy bacon. In front of Kate’s seat was a plate of fresh melon, granola, and yogurt. Her stomach protested.

She put her dirty clothes in a plastic laundry bag, settled on the couch, and stabbed a berry with her fork, sliding it into her mouth.

“What’s wrong?” Lucas loaded his fork with potatoes and took a bite of bacon.

“Nothing.” The berries were good. Sweet and juicy. Healthy.

“I didn’t know what you liked.”

Of course he didn’t. It wasn’t like they’d dated. He didn’t even know how she took her coffee or that she liked to sleep in. “This is fine. It’s good.” She took a bite of granola to prove it. It was homemade, crunchy and sweet. Just not what she’d been in the mood for.

“Here.” Lucas scraped an egg and half his potatoes and bacon onto the plate his toast had been on.

Her mouth watered. “I’m fine, Lucas.”

He slid the fruit to the side and pushed the plate in front of her. “Eat up.”

They ate quietly, and by the time Kate set her fork down, she’d made up for the meal she’d skipped the day before.

“I went out and got the paper while you were getting ready.”

“Which one?”

“The
Mirror
and the
New York Times
.” He produced sections of the papers from the coffee table’s shelf.

Her insides were an ocean buoy in the wake of a speedboat. “Did you read them? What did they say?”

Oh, please, please
.

She grabbed the
Times
first. There they were, her and Lucas, on the cover of the “Style” section. A photo of them dancing. They were looking into each other’s eyes, and the photographer had captured Lucas’s smile.

“See for yourself,” he said.

Her eyes flitted to the article. Its heading read “
Dr. Kate Marries
Mr. Wright.
” She smiled. “Clever.”

“Thought you’d like that,” Lucas said.

She read aloud. “‘Syndicated columnist Kate Lawrence, known to audiences as Dr. Kate, married Nantucket native Lucas Wright in a ceremony last evening on Jetties Beach in Nantucket. The wedding was scheduled to coincide with the release of Dr. Kate’s book
Finding
Mr. Right-for-You
.

“‘The identity of the groom was kept secret until the ceremony—part of the publicity campaign surrounding the book’s release.

“‘Lawrence said she met her Mr. Wright when she rented the space above his furniture shop in Nantucket Town. “He renovated my apartment and my office. Then I guess he renovated my heart.”’”

Kate glanced at Lucas, her face warming.

His lip quirked. “I had no idea,” he said.

“Dream on.” Kate went back to the article.

“‘Lucas Wright is a furniture maker, known locally by wealthy vacationers who summer on the island. When asked about their future plans, Lawrence said, “We plan to stay in Nantucket, of course. It’s our home.”

“‘
Finding Mr. Right-for-You
is Dr. Kate’s first book. She will appear on the
Dr. Phil
show later this summer, and she plans to continue her column while she works on her second book.’”

Kate put the paper down. “It’s all good,” she said in wonder.
We
did it.
They’d pulled it off—at least, if the
Times
was any indication. “What does the
Mirror
say?” She picked up the next section. The photograph was a close-up of them in the carriage, waving good-bye, the tulle of her veil blowing to the side. It had much of the same information as the
Times
, though presented with a more local approach.

When she was finished, she picked up the
Times
again, noticing the way the paper trembled in her fingers. “Rosewood will be thrilled. I can’t believe how relieved I am.” Relieved wasn’t the word. If she’d gone through with the wedding only to be found out, it would’ve done more damage than being jilted.

“Did we cover all our bases?” she asked. “We have to be sure those who know aren’t going to say anything.”

“I told Mr. Lavitz when he fitted me for the tux about the need for discretion. He’s an old friend—I know he won’t say anything. And you know Nancy and the justice will keep quiet. They’re town officers. They know how to be discreet.”

“Pam and Chloe and Anna won’t say anything. My dad’s a given. Who else knows?”

“Bryan’s family,” he said.

It was the biggest risk of a leak. Had Bryan told them? Kate chewed on her lip. What if one of them read an article and told a friend or two the wedding was a farce? What if they contacted the media?

“Maybe you should call him and make sure.” Lucas leaned forward, planting his elbows on his knees, bracing his coffee cup between his palms.

Kate had been thinking it herself, but dreading it all at the same time. It hurt to think about Bryan. She’d been up half the night thinking about him, about how he was supposed to be in bed beside her.
This was supposed to be the beginning of our life together.

Suck it up, Kate, and move on. You’ve done it before, and you can
do it again.
She’d made a lot of sacrifices along the way, and she wasn’t giving up now.

“You’re right.” Her watch said it was just after eight. Late enough to call.
What, am I worried about waking the man?
She should have called him in the middle of the night. He’d kept her awake, after all. It would’ve served him right.

“Why don’t I go home and get my things while you make the call?”

Kate nodded, wondering what to say to Bryan. “What about your parents? You need to call them before they see the papers.”

Lucas folded the paper and stood. “Already did, while you were in the shower.”

“What did they say?”

Lucas shrugged. “They were shocked, naturally. I told them we’d kept it low-key because of the media.”

“Weren’t they angry they weren’t here for the wedding?”

“Disappointed. They were glad Brody and Jamie were there.”

Kate tucked her damp hair behind her ears. “Oh, good. Well, I guess we’ll have to make it up to them when they return.”

Lucas left, and Kate retrieved her cell phone. She dialed Bryan’s number, her heart drumming a syncopated beat.

The phone rang twice before a woman answered. “Hello?”

Kate’s words clogged her throat. She was there? In his apartment? In the apartment that was supposed to be
theirs
?

“Hello?” the woman repeated.

Kate took the phone from her ear and started to hang up.

But she had to talk to Bryan, had to make sure he’d spoken with his family. She put the phone back to her ear and heard shuffling sounds, then Bryan’s voice.

“Hello?” His voice was morning scratched.

Kate clamped her teeth together. Were they in bed together? What had happened to their agreement to save themselves for marriage? Apparently it had only been Kate’s conviction.

“Kate?”

“Yes,
it’s Kate. I can’t believe she’s there with you. For heaven’s sake, Bryan, we were supposed to get married yesterday.”

She heard a rustling noise—sheets? “Excuse me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you just spend the night with your new husband?”

His comment made her skin tingle, made the flesh under her arms go hot. “After you deserted me on our wedding day!”

“What do you even know about him, Kate?”

“What do you care?” She stood and paced the length of the room. What was she doing? She had to settle down. It would accomplish nothing to have Bryan angry at her. “I didn’t call to argue. I called to make sure you’d talked to your family. Did you make them understand how important it is that they keep their mouths shut?” She could’ve worded it more nicely, but he wasn’t exactly on her favorite-people list right now.

“I talked to them. I told you I would.” His voice was tight.

What did he have to be angry about when he had another woman there in bed with him? While she’d been crying over him in their honeymoon bed, he’d been—She closed her eyes and shook her head to dislodge the image. She couldn’t bear the thought of it right now.

“My career is riding on this, you know,” she said. “Do they understand the magnitude of—”

“Yes, yes, they understand. Do you think I want to be in the spotlight as the jerk who jilted Dr. Kate at the altar?”

“Well said.”

The silence was deafening. She should hold her tongue; she really should. She was a counselor, for crying out loud. Where was her control?

“I’ll let you go.” Perhaps he’d get the double meaning. “I just wanted to be sure things were taken care of.”

She hung up before she said something she’d regret later. When she set the phone on the coffee table, she realized her hand was shaking.

Bryan was in bed with her. Kate’s Mr. Right in bed with someone else on what was supposed to have been their wedding night. Could life be more unfair?

At least he’d made his family understand the importance of keeping quiet. That was the main thing. And the articles were positive.
Look on the bright side. I’m going to live through this and come out
stronger.
The year with Lucas would pass quickly, and then she could get on with her life and career.

She realized she hadn’t told Bryan the marriage was temporary, but given the situation, she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. Let him think she would be bound to Lucas for the rest of her life. Maybe it would make him squirm just a little.

Eventually something in the display
window might compel you to enter the
store. Decide first if you’re ready. And
if you are, shop wisely.

—Excerpt from
Finding Mr. Right-for-You
by Dr. Kate

Chapter Seven

Kate shrugged off her cover-up, took her list from the tote, and lay belly down on the beach towel beside Lucas. She squinted against the sun’s reflection on the bright white paper.

“Okay, we need a story. We already told people how we met, but I think we need more details to make it realistic. Your family will probably want to know what we do together. They’ll expect us to know things about each other.”

“I know you take your coffee with cream and sugar.” Lucas leaned back on his elbows a foot away from her. The wind blew his hair away from his face.

“But you don’t know that I drink a triple-shot latte every day before work. Or that I prefer showers to baths. Or that I’m allergic to cats.”

“Hope you’re not allergic to dogs.”

“Do you have one?”

He lay back against the towel, folding his arms behind his head, his eyes closed against the sun. “A sheepdog named Bo. You’ll love him.”

She wasn’t much of an animal person, but she supposed she could deal with one dog. Wasn’t a sheepdog like a miniature Lassie? She could deal with a little dog as long as he was well trained.

“Found him alongside Milestone Road when he was a pup,” Lucas said. “He was missing a bunch of fur on his neck, and I couldn’t find his owner, so I kept him.”

She jotted down the information.
Sheepdog, Bo.

“What else should I know about you?” she asked.

She watched his chest rise and fall, glistening under the glare of the sun. His skin was dark, his chest well defined. She wondered if he worked out or if the muscles came from his work.

Stop staring!
She sneaked a glance at his face to be sure she hadn’t been caught looking. He’d probably think she was checking him out. Which she hadn’t been.

Well, not too much.

“I like to sail, watch documentaries on TV, and fix anything broken.”

Kate scribbled more notes. “Anything else?”

A muscle twitched in his jaw. “I was married before. I guess you need to know that.”

How had she not known? “What happened?”

His eyelids fluttered, and he swallowed, then shifted, clasping his hands together on his flat abdomen.

“Sorry if I’m prying, but—” His family would expect her to know. She wondered if his ex-wife lived on the island. Maybe Kate knew her.

“Her name was Emily. She died five years ago.”

Oh.

She studied him. His tone was so soft, it obviously still affected him. Did he still love her? Maybe that’s why she hadn’t seen him with another woman.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“Her family used to summer here. I met her when she came to the shop for a rocking chair. The business was getting off the ground, and we started dating. The rest was history.”

Kate waited for him to finish. The only sounds were that of the waves crashing the shoreline and the laughter of children playing in the shallows. “Is that when you built your house?”

He crossed his ankles. His legs were long and thick, covered in wiry black hair. “No. We lived in a cottage in Cisco after we married. I didn’t build my house until . . . until after.”