The Surprise Princess (16 page)

So what. That wasn’t such a big deal. He’d seen games turn around in seconds. Teams come back from seemingly insurmountable odds. Spin from surefire loss to glorious victory.

Why was he thinking about comeback wins? Why was he thinking about basketball at all? This was no game.

He sure as heck didn’t know one millionth as much about it as he knew about basketball.

He’d been so sure this was the only solution. When Katie argued with him it had made him all the more certain. But now they were here – now
she
was here. Not arguing, but actually going through with his idea to give her security by marrying him. The security she needed to explore another life so far beyond him that—

That didn’t matter. She was a princess for God’s sake. That was her destiny. That’s what she deserved.

Besides, it wasn’t like they’d have a marriage, even if they were married.

“You’re not going to throw up, are you?”

He glared at Thomas Abbott.

“Just wondering. Because I made the reservation at Angelo’s like you asked and I don’t want my appetite ruined.”

“You didn’t tell Filomena—”

“Will you quit worrying about that? I didn’t tell her anything except there’d be four for dinner and we’d like the small back room.”

“Good, because remember, you’re not supposed to tell anybody about this. Not anybody. Especially—”

“Coach or Carolyn. I know, I know. Don’t understand why you and Katie wouldn’t want them to know. But I also don’t understand why Katie wouldn’t want a real wedding with all the trimmings like every other female. That’s half the reason I haven’t gotten married yet. All that hoopla.”

“Yeah. Somebody shy and retiring like you would melt under the spotlight. I feel for you.”

Abbott grinned, but gave the obligatory objection. “I am sensitive. Very sensitive. That’s why I decided against law school and politics.”

“That and you realized you’d make more money in business.”

“That, too.”

With the important issues covered, Brad grumbled, “Why the hell would you ask if I was going to throw up?”

“You used to before big games, so I thought—”

“I did not.”

“Yes, you did.”

Frank strode over to them, deserting Katie where she stood by a tall window.

Brad couldn’t stop looking at her. She wore a straight-lined dress in a green that was so pale it was almost white but wasn’t. It was a nice green. Calm. Sophisticated.

He should have gotten her something other than daisies. Not even a real bouquet. Just a bunch tied with a ribbon by the lady in the florist shop.

“Can’t leave you two alone for a minute,” Frank said.

Brad was still looking at Katie. The dress had something over her shoulders that were a cross between small sleeves and wide straps.

She had great shoulders. Why had he never noticed that before? Was it possible he’d never seen them? She didn’t wear sleeveless tops to the office, much less strapless. But surely he’d have seen her shoulders sometime over the years.

Shoulders weren’t the only thing that dress showed off. The front curved down in the middle. Not revealing too much – that wouldn’t be Katie’s style – but enough to remind you ever damned second that there was plenty to be revealed.

She wore a necklace that curved several inches above the top of the dress. It was a gold chain with white pearls spotted along it.

It was pretty enough. Delicate, which suited her long neck and smooth, pale skin.

He hated it.

Which was stupid. Why would he hate a necklace? He didn’t care about necklaces. If Katie liked it, why shouldn’t she wear it?

Because it should be his necklace she wore. Because he wanted only a necklace he’d given her to slide against that delicate, pale skin. Because he wanted nobody and nothing to touch it except him. He wanted everyone on earth to know that only he—

“I was saying he used to throw up before big games and since this is a helluva lot more pressure than a game—”

“Why don’t you go talk to Katie, Thomas. I’d like a word with Brad.”

With something like relief, Brad jerked his attention from Katie and thoughts that might have been okay for a guy really getting married, but for someone in his position were downright nuts.

He flicked Thomas’ shoulder and warned him, “Don’t go telling her lies about me throwing up before big games.”

“But you did, so—”

Frank nudged Thomas toward Katie and took Brad’s arm to steer him toward the opposite end of the room. “You did, you know. Not every game, but some.”

Brad shook loose. “You, too? What is this?”

“We’re concerned about you – both of you. You and Katie. Brad.” He waited until Brad looked up to meet his eyes. “I know it’s something—”

“I don’t know what you—”

“—don’t try to tell me it’s not. Not when you don’t have Ellis or Coach or Carolyn here. But I’m not asking you what. Some people made the mistake of thinking you were a flibbertigibbet—”

“
Flibbertigibbet
? What are you? A hundred and fifty years old?”

“—but I was never one of them,” Frank finished serenely. “Especially not the way you feel about Katie.”

“I don’t—.” He bit it off because he didn’t know what he
didn’t
. Especially what he didn’t feel about Katie. But he had to say something because Frank was looking at him the way he did sometimes because he was two years older than the rest of them, which you’d think he’d have gotten over since they were no longer college kids, but apparently not. “Katie’s part of the team.”

Frank’s brows went up. There was surprise in the expression, but something more. If it had been Thomas, he’d have said mocking, but Frank didn’t mock.

“She is,” Brad insisted. “She didn’t come on until later, but she’s still part of it. Like you and Ellis and Coach and Carolyn and Thomas.”

Frank looked over his shoulder toward Katie, then to him. Brad braced for a challenge that “teammate” was not how he viewed Katie.

Instead, Frank said, “You almost always had good reasons for what you were doing. You almost always did them for the good.”

Brad had nothing to say to that.

“Almost always,” Frank repeated. “So, tell me this, Brad, do you have a good reason for what you’re doing? A reason that’s good for Katie?”

“Yes.”

“And good for you?”

“Yes.” Because it was good for Katie.

“Are you doing this for the good?”

“Yes.”

Frank continued to look at him before slowly nodding. “Okay.”

He heard that low sound Katie made in her throat when she was trying not to laugh. He turned, seeing her grinning up at Thomas, who was trying to keep a straight face. He supposed he needed to be grateful to his old teammate for easing Katie’s tension. But mostly he wanted to go grab her and pull her away.

That thought hadn’t even finished when the clerk said, “Davis and Spencer.”

Their eyes met. He gave one small nod, strode toward her and held out his hand. She’d hesitated an instant, so when they met he’d gone more than halfway. But she put her hand into his as if it belonged there and they walked into the courtroom side by side, with Frank and Thomas behind them.

“P
lease stand here,” the judge said after the introductions and other preliminaries.

“What are you doing?” Frank asked from behind them.

“Getting ready to take video,” Thomas said.

“Video?” Katie looked around, apparently alarmed.

“Oh, everyone wants a video, dear. Someday you’ll be glad you have it,” said the woman who’d escorted them in.

“Sure,” he said, hoping Katie caught both the warning lift of his eyebrows and the humor in his voice. “We’ll be glad we have it someday.”

“Oh. Yes. Thank you, Thomas.”

They turned back to the judge.

The three minutes and thirty-four seconds that followed were flashes for Brad.

We are gathered here in front of these witnesses…

The judge was talking and Katie was watching him with such intense concentration.

Love, honor, comfort, and cherish as long as you both shall live.

The judge asking, “Will you join right hands?”

He reached across and took her hand in his. For half a heartbeat he thought she’d balk, pull back. Instead, she shifted toward him, reducing the stretch of their arms and settling their hands together more comfortably.

“I, Bradford Alan, take you, Katherine Mary, to be my wedded wife

“From this day forward

“To love and to cherish till death do us part.”

Forsaking all others.

“I, Katherine Mary, take you, Bradford Alan, to be my wedded husband

“From this day forward

“To love and to cherish till death do us part.”

The rings were there, in his hand when he needed them, though he had no recollection of Thomas handing then to him.

“As a symbol of our constancy and a token of our vows, with this ring, I thee wed.”

Her rings glided on – the wedding band they’d selected together and the diamond engagement ring he’d gone back for.

“Brad,” she whispered, surprise, admonition, and was there the tiniest bit of delight?

He held the rings there at the base of her finger, looking at them, at their joined hands until the judge cleared his throat.

Katie’s hand shook as she went to put the band on his finger. But when it didn’t slip right on, she concentrated and the shaking stopped.

“It’s good it’s a tight fit,” the judge said with a smile, “because you don’t want it falling off.”

Katie smiled back at the judge.

“Now, by the authority vested in me by the state of Wisconsin, it is my pleasure and my privilege to pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Katie’s eyes came to his. He gave her a small nod of reassurance, cupped her shoulders, his hands sliding under the loose fabric there to rest on her warm, smooth skin. He leaned down and she looked up.

Their lips brushed softly, gently. Parted. But only by a breath before they came together again.

Then they both stepped back.

There was more, but the next thing Brad heard that formed into words was “Congratulations. Okay, we’ll go sign some paperwork and make this official.”

He and Katie were married.

Angelo’s wasn’t the best restaurant in Ashton, but it was the best-loved.

It offered the quintessential red-checked tablecloths, candles in wine bottles, Americanized Italian cuisine, and the warmth of staff that had been there as long as the doors had been opened. It had been the scene of celebrations and consolations for the basketball team and those connected to it for more than a decade.

They had just ordered when a stir at the doorway of the private room introduced a new arrival, a dark-skinned young man with intense and intelligent dark eyes behind stylish glasses.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t find you?”

“Ellis!” She, Frank, and Thomas greeted the newcomer with delight. Brad demanded, “How’d you know?”

“Frank, of course.”

Brad swiveled around. Frank shrugged with an unabashed grin.

“You didn’t think you were going to keep this gathering from me, did you?” Ellis Manfred asked, reclaiming Brad’s attention. “Or what it is celebrating. Yes, I know that’s not for public consumption. I seriously doubt it’s a lack of faith in my discretion that explains why I was excluded from both the event and the news. Though I have a fair idea why you might have wanted to exclude me.” He gave Brad a hard look.

“Why?” Thomas demanded.

“Because,” Ellis said in measured tones, “he knew I’d try to talk Katie out of it because we all know she’s way too good for him.”

“Well, that’s true,” Thomas said.

“Oh, yeah, like you’re such a great bargain for Amanda,” Brad shot back at Ellis. “And you’re too late to tell Katie anything.”

He slid his hand under hers, displaying the ring.

Katie’s accelerating heartbeat made her lungs burn.

“Then, first, I’ll kiss the bride.” He kissed her soundly on the cheek. “Second, tell you that you’re one lucky son of a gun.” He slapped Brad on the back with more force than absolutely necessary. “And, third, be glad that I already told ilomena I’d like the broiled trout, green beans, and house salad. Because that means I can sit here next to Katie and let you try to explain why you didn’t want me to know you two were getting married.”

Silence.

“It’s complicated,” Katie said. Even to herself she sounded breathy and uncertain.

“It always is with Brad.”

“No, no, none of this is his fault. He’s helping me.”

Brad chuckled. It wasn’t bad, either, though she heard strain in it. “They’ll never buy that, Katie. They know I don’t put myself out for anyone else.”

“That’s true,” Thomas said. At the same time Frank said, “That’s not true.”

Ellis looked from her to Brad and back. “What do Coach and Carolyn say?”

“They don’t know. They can’t know,” she added quickly. She touched Ellis’ hand. “Please.”

“Why can’t they know?”

“You know. Nepotism in the office and all that,” Brad said. “Once we’ve shown we still work together without our, uh, relationship causing problems, then we’ll let them know.”

When Ellis finally spoke after a pause, she was aware of Brad releasing a breath. “How long do you think that will take?”

She turned, but Brad didn’t look at her. He shrugged. “We’ll play it by ear.”

Ellis considered him, then asked Thomas, “Do you know what’s really going on?”

“Nope. You think Spencer would tell me and not you? Well, I guess he did about today, didn’t he, huh? Maybe it’s something he thinks you’d disapprove of.”

Ellis turned to Frank. “Do you know what’s going on, Gordo?”

“No. Brad asked me to come, so I came. But you know Brad wouldn’t do anything to hurt Katie. Besides, you heard – she’s the one who said Coach and Carolyn can’t know.”

“Good point.” Now Ellis’ gaze came to her. “The way you’ve got this set up, is it something that can hurt them?”

“No.” She cleared her throat and got it out with more volume on the second try. “No.”