The Best Man's Bride

Chapter Two

Colleen matched her steps to Nick’s as they walked down the aisle and crossed the hall with the rest of the wedding party except for Clayton and Abby, who already stood inside the bride’s dressing room, nose to nose, as they argued.

Of course Clayton would blame Abby. And of course he’d be furious. Feeling responsible, as always, for all his father’s duties, Clayton had taken it upon himself to pay for the wedding and give away the bride. He’d said he couldn’t wait to have one less responsibility. Poor Clayton.

He just didn’t get it. He actually loved being in charge of his younger siblings. Colleen worked for him at the insurance agency he’d taken over after their father died. Although Clayton had given her the title of office manager, he’d never really given her any responsibility. So she didn’t feel all that guilty for the two afternoons a week she spent volunteering at the hospital in Grand Rapids, where the best man and the groom were on staff.

The jilted groom.

The wedding dress hung from a hook on one of the white walls, almost blending in but for the lace and satin that stirred in the breeze blowing through the open window. Molly had run away? Colleen’s stomach churned. Molly was too smart and strong to run. When they were growing up, Colleen had been the one to constantly run away—although no one had ever noticed. So she’d always come home, and Molly would, too. Safe and sound. She had to.

Abby’s argument with Clayton subsided as she unfolded a crumpled note. Of course Molly would have left a note. She’d always been as responsible as their older brother.

“What does it say?” Clayton demanded, asking the question that was burning on everyone else’s lips. “Come on, I’m worried about her. I want to know what it says!”

“It’s a good thing that she ran off,” Abby said, “before making the biggest mistake of her life.”

The groom gasped in surprise, and the muscles in Nick’s left arm tightened beneath Colleen’s fingers. His pale green eyes darkened with anger and a muscle twitched in his jaw, as if he had clenched his teeth to hold in something he was dying to say.

“Josh, I’m sorry.” Clayton offered the apology first, used to assuming responsibility for everyone else. Even Abby?

Nick’s tension didn’t ease, not even when the kids chattered, the twins pulling petals off each other’s boutonnieres. Colleen pulled her hand from his arm and curled her fingers into her palm to quell the tingling. She should have let go of him long ago. Actually she never should have touched him in the first place. He’d made no secret of his disdain for long-term relationships; the other volunteers and the hospital staff had warned her not to develop a crush on the handsome doctor. Nothing would come of it but a broken heart.

“I’m sorry.” Abby offered her apology to Josh. “She doesn’t say that in the note…about making a mistake. She’s just really confused right now.”

“What’s going on?” Rory asked, tugging loose the knot of his bow tie. Colleen was surprised her kid brother had kept it tied as long as he had. “Did Molly really skip out?”

Clayton shrugged. “Ask Abby. She’s the one with the explanation.”

“Is she all right?” Josh asked. His handsome face held none of the anger that was darkening his friend’s eyes.

From her years of volunteering at the hospital, Colleen felt she knew him well. Unlike Dr. Jameson Josh had noticed her, although not the way he’d noticed her sister, who’d only volunteered when she’d had time around her med school classes and studying. Even if he and Molly hadn’t dated all that long, Colleen understood why her big sister had accepted his proposal. Besides being ridiculously handsome, with dark hair and bright blue eyes, Dr. Joshua Towers was a genuinely nice guy.

“She’s okay,” Abby assured him as she clutched the note.

Colleen wasn’t surprised that Molly had trusted Abby with her explanation. She could keep a secret and she would only share what Molly wanted everyone to know.

Abby continued, “She’s just confused right now. She needs some time alone to figure out what she really wants.”

“Maybe she should have figured that out before she accepted Josh’s proposal. It’s pretty damned flaky to back out at the altar,” Nick muttered, pushing his hand through his hair and squeezing the back of his neck.

“Molly is not flaky!” How dare he say anything like that about her sister? He didn’t even know her. Neither had the groom, sadly. Despite dating for a few months, Molly had admitted that due to their crazy schedules, she and Josh hadn’t gone on that many dates. Was that why Molly had backed out of the wedding?

Actually, why had Molly, the focused and sensible McClintock sister, agreed to marry a virtual stranger? Even if he was nice and handsome. Molly wasn’t the type to believe in love at first sight. She never acted impetuously.

Colleen had always been the impetuous one. If any McClintock were to fall in love at first sight, she would be the foolish one.

“It’s my fault,” Josh said, with a heavy sigh. “I rushed her into this, even though I knew she wasn’t ready.”

Nick gripped his friend’s shoulder. “Don’t blame yourself. She could have told you no. This just goes to show you, they can’t be trusted.”

Colleen sucked in a breath, but she couldn’t really argue. She’d told lies. She’d kept secrets. Nick Jameson was wrong about her sister, but right about her. She couldn’t be trusted, despite how careful she’d been the past eight years to always do the right thing. She couldn’t trust herself not to do something foolish again. Like fall for a man who didn’t believe in love…

FAIRY LIGHTS IN RED and white cast a romantic pink glow, disguising the worn linoleum and painted paneling of the American Legion Hall, which everyone in Cloverville used for their wedding receptions. The biggest facility in town, the hall also hosted anniversary parties, graduation open houses and funeral luncheons.

Funereal described the mood of the wedding party, or at least Colleen’s mood as she stood before the gift table. Her eyes misted and all the vivid colors of the wrapping paper swirled into a kaleidoscope. Molly had asked for time alone to sort things out. But selfishly Colleen wanted to see her sister, to talk to her, so that she could sort things out, too. Like her feelings for a certain blond doctor. His noticing her, finally, had intensified those emotions, so that they couldn’t be dismissed like a harmless crush anymore. And as Colleen had learned in high school, there really wasn’t anything harmless about a crush.

An arm slid around Colleen’s waist and she received a gentle hug. She turned toward her mother. “We should have canceled the reception,” she told Mary McClintock.

Yet Colleen understood her mother’s reasoning in insisting they not cancel. Cloverville’s only caterer, Mrs. George, who was the sole provider for her family, had been cooking for days. She’d had help from Brenna’s parents, the Kellys, too. Regret filled Colleen at the thought of all their hard work going to waste. In addition, her mother had pointed out, the whole town had been looking forward to a party.

“And let all that food go to waste?” Her mother tsked, then shook her head, tumbling soft brown curls around her face.

“Your brother would have a fit, since he paid for it.”

Colleen’s lips twitched into a reluctant smile. “He’s probably having a fit about paying for it now.” Since their mother, the minute everyone had arrived at the hall, had turned the reception into a welcome home party for Abby Hamilton, the girl Clayton had always considered a bad influence on his sisters. Her smile slid away as guilt took hold. If he only knew that the real troublemaker had been his little sister.

Mom’s arm wound tighter around her waist. Did her mother know? Over the years Colleen sometimes had suspected that she did.

“Ah, it’s good for your brother when everything doesn’t go exactly according to his plan.” Once he’d realized there would be repercussions if he canceled the reception, he’d planned to turn it into an open house for the town. But his mother had had other plans. “Abby would be good for your brother.”

A smile pulled at Colleen’s lips. “Subtle, Mom.”

“You disagree?”

Colleen shook her head. “No.” Her older brother had always fascinated and infuriated Abby Hamilton and the reverse was equally true. “But throwing a welcome-home party for Abby doesn’t guarantee she’s actually going to move home.”

She sighed, thinking of the night before and their impromptu slumber party/bachelorette party, during which she’d tried to convince Abby to come home for good. Abby was looking for a location for the next franchise of her employment agency, Temps to Go. Colleen’s argument that Cloverville, which was growing rapidly, would be the perfect location had fallen on deaf ears. “In fact, she’s pretty set against moving back.”

Mary McClintock’s smile didn’t slip, and her dark eyes twinkled. “Then we’ll have to change her mind, won’t we?”

“Okay.” Colleen had learned long ago that it was easier to agree than argue with her mother. “I’m not going to play matchmaker with you, though.” Probably Abby and Clayton were both too stubborn to ever admit to the attraction that had always simmered between them. “But I want Abby and Lara to move back to Cloverville.”

And not just so Colleen wouldn’t continue to feel so guilty over her leaving. She’d missed her friend. E-mails, phone calls and letters weren’t adequate to fully convey the force of nature that was Abby Hamilton in person. Poor Clayton…

“I want Molly to come home, too,” Colleen admitted. “I’m worried about her.”

“Who says your sister isn’t home?”

“I called the house,” Colleen admitted. “No one answered. Do you think she just went home?”

Her mother shook her head. “She’s not at our house.”

“You know where she is?”

“I think we all know where she is.”

With Eric. He had always been the friend to whom Molly had turned for comfort and support. Maybe she’d backed out of her wedding just because he hadn’t been there.

“She’s okay,” her mother assured Colleen. “She just needs time, like she said in her note.”

Colleen narrowed her eyes and studied her mother’s carefully blank expression. “You talked to her,” she accused. Colleen, as well as Abby and Brenna, had tried Molly’s cell, but it had been turned off. They’d even tried Eric’s, but he’d claimed Molly wasn’t with him. But then, no one had ever been able to lie to Mary McClintock except Colleen.

“Look at all these gifts,” her mother said, suddenly changing the subject, as she gestured at the crowded table. In addition to the gifts, cards overflowed from a wishing well that Colleen had constructed out of cardboard and wrapping paper.

“We’ll have to send everything back.”

“I’ll have Clayton make an announcement for people to pick up their presents before they leave.” Her mother sighed.

“Or maybe I should do that. He has enough responsibility.”

“Clayton thrives on responsibility.” While he might grumble about paying for the reception, he would not allow anyone else to assume the duty he considered, like so many others, to be his. Dr. Towers had already said that he would pay for the reception, but Clayton had insisted.

Mary McClintock shook her head. “He needs more in life. He needs a wife. Children.”

Colleen snorted, well aware of the fact that her brother shared Dr. Jameson’s views on marriage. He had no intention of ever having a wedding of his own.

Her derision didn’t faze her mom, however, who continued, “The same things you need.”

“A wife?” she teased, used to dealing with her mother’s not-so-subtle attempts at matchmaking. Mary McClintock refused to accept that Colleen wasn’t ready for marriage—not now, and maybe not ever.

Mom squeezed her waist. “A husband.”

An image of Dr. Nick Jameson, standing at the altar, flashed into her mind, and Colleen’s pulse quickened. “I’m only twenty-three.”

Her mother smiled wistfully. “I was barely twenty when I married your father.”

And look how that had ended, with more heartache than any woman should have to endure.

Colleen blinked again to clear the mist from her eyes. That was why she wasn’t ready. She wasn’t strong enough yet to deal with the kind of loss her mother had experienced. She doubted she would ever be that strong. She far preferred unrequited crushes to a relationship.

“You and the best man made quite the dashing couple when he escorted you out of the church,” her mother observed.

“I wasn’t the only one to notice.”

Colleen bit the inside of her cheek, but the arrival of several of the town busybodies saved her from responding. The organist, Mrs. Hild, in a wildflower-patterned dress and wide-brimmed hat, pulled her mother into a hug. “Oh, Mary, you were so brave to turn the-wedding-that-wasn’t into a party.”

The wedding-that-wasn’t.

“And generous,” Mrs. Carpenter added. She was married to the owner of the hardware store, one of the thriftiest men in town.

“Poor Molly,” Mrs. Hild murmured.

Poor Molly. They shouldn’t be having her reception without her. Despite her request for time alone, they should probably be out looking for her. Maybe Eric had been telling the truth, and Molly really wasn’t with him. Colleen knew how it felt to run away and have no one care enough to come looking. She murmured some excuse, letting her mother handle the gossips. As she walked away, Colleen passed the cake table. The five-tier confection rose in a pyramid to the little plastic figurine standing at the top. Alone. Just the groom. The bride was gone.

“THIS IS A MISTAKE,” Nick said, letting the door close behind him as he stepped inside the men’s restroom with the jilted groom.

Josh crossed the green tile floor to a row of old porcelain sinks, then ran water over his palms to splash on his face. “I’m surprised you’ve controlled yourself this long.”

Nick tensed. “What?”

He should have known that he could hide nothing from his oldest, closest friend. Josh must have noticed how hard Nick had fought his attraction to the young bridesmaid, which hadn’t been easy plastered against her in the back of a limousine. Trying to make some space between the two of them, he’d inadvertently knocked the maid of honor off the end of the bench seat. He had to focus on his friend now, and not on some female who would probably prove as untrustworthy as her sister.

“I don’t know how you managed to wait this long to say I told you so.” Josh’s hands shook as he dragged them over his face.

“Man, that’s not why…”

“You followed me into the bathroom?” Josh finished for him.

“We shouldn’t even be here,” Nick said. “This is a mistake, coming to your reception when you’ve skipped the wedding.”

“I didn’t skip the wedding.” Josh laughed. “Only the bride skipped the wedding.”

“Why are we here?” Nick asked, concern for his friend increasing. Josh had had a rough time when his first wife abandoned him and the boys. What must he be going through now? Besides the obvious denial?

“Like Mrs. McClintock said back at the church,” Josh reminded him, “the food is already paid for.”

By the bride’s brother. But Josh had tried to pay—Nick had heard him offer more than once. That was the kind of guy Josh was, generous and selfless. Nick shook his head, bemused as always, that they were friends when they were so different.

“The whole town was looking forward to a party, and like I reminded you in the limo,” Josh continued, “we’re opening an office here. We need to meet our potential patients.”

Nick didn’t need the reminder about the office. Even before the bride had vanished, he’d been against opening a practice in Cloverville. While he couldn’t argue that the town was growing, it still wasn’t big city enough for him or close enough to the hospital where they had surgical privileges. But Josh’s dream had always been to open a small-town practice, a partnership. Nick had made Josh’s dream his—except for the small-town part. “All two patients?” he scoffed.

Josh snorted. “We’re going to have more than that. The only other doctor in town retired last year.”

“Retired or went bankrupt,” Nick muttered. “And he was a G.P. We’re not general practitioners. Does this town really need an orthopedic surgeon and a plastic surgeon?”

“Plastic surgery may be my specialty, but I intend to handle more,” Josh reminded him. “Cloverville’s just in the burbs of Grand Rapids. We still have surgical privileges at the hospital. We’ll have plenty of patients. They just have to get to know us.”

Nick wasn’t comfortable with anyone getting to know him.

“That’s why we’re here,” Josh continued.

“You didn’t have to come,” Nick pointed out. They hadn’t had to use the limo, either, even though it had already been paid for, too. But the entire wedding party had ridden together to the reception—well, everyone but the bride. “I could have represented us here.”

“And ushered us into the poorhouse,” Josh teased. “You’d scare away more patients than you’d attract. You’re not exactly known for your bedside manner.”

Who had time for small talk? He’d never had. He’d rather repair people’s broken bones or replace their hips and knees than discuss the weather. “I’m a surgeon.”

“I am, too.”

Dr. Joshua Towers had a bedside manner other doctors envied. Everyone loved Josh. Well, everyone but the women he loved. How did someone so smart keep falling for unsuitable women? Not that Molly McClintock had seemed unsuitable. As well as being beautiful, she was smart. Nick personally knew how tough medical school was. And the few times Nick had met her, she’d seemed sweet—far sweeter than Josh’s money-grubbing ex. In fact, she’d seemed the exact opposite of Amy. No wonder Josh had proposed so quickly.

“You’re also a man who just got left at the altar,” Nick said, knowing Josh was used to, and even relied on, his brutal honesty. When he needed it, Josh had always been there for him. “No one expected you to show up for the reception after what just happened. Come on, what’s really going on with you?”

Josh offered a halfhearted smile. “The boys wanted to party.”

Nick narrowed his eyes as his suspicions grew. “You think she’ll show up here? Is that what you’re doing? Waiting for her?”

Although he hadn’t really gotten to know Molly McClintock, he doubted she’d have the guts to show her face to the whole town after the stunt she’d just pulled. “She’s not coming.”

“Probably not,” Josh agreed.

Probably. So he held out some hope. Just how optimistic could the guy be? Too damned optimistic, Nick answered his own question.

Josh sighed. “I’m staying in Cloverville, and I know I should have told you this already. I don’t have possession of it yet, but I’ve bought a house here—for me and the boys.”

And the woman he’d intended to marry. Nick’s guts twisted with his friend’s pain.

“Why’d you do that?” He scrubbed a hand through his hair, trying to hold both his temper and his tongue. “The office isn’t going to be done for a while.”

“But it will be done, Nick.”

“Maybe it shouldn’t be.”

“We have a lot of money invested.”

Nick massaged the tense cords that stood out on the back of his neck. “This is a bad idea.”

Josh lifted his head, and Nick met his gaze in the mirror. “You can’t back out on me.”

“Never. You know that, man. I got your back.” He sighed.

“The practice isn’t the bad idea. It’s this town that is.”

“You never wanted the office here,” Josh conceded.

Nick resurrected his old argument. “It’s too far from the hospital. We can’t do surgeries out of the office…” If they got any business at all.

“But you agreed.”

“Because you’re my best friend.” Agitated, Nick blew out a ragged sigh. “And you thought there was something here for you.”

“There’s still something here for me.”

“She left you at the altar,” Nick said even though he was sure the jilted groom didn’t need the reminder. “Why would you still want her?”

Josh’s blue eyes hardened with determination. “I want to talk to her.”

“You’re…”

“Crazy?”

He certainly hoped not. He didn’t want his best friend doing anything stupid. Nick had already lost someone he loved to a broken heart—his older brother, Bruce, had fallen apart when his pregnant wife left him. Devastated to find out that the baby she was carrying wasn’t his, he’d started to drink. And he hadn’t stopped until he drove into a tree. Nick hadn’t been able to save his big brother, from his pain or from himself.

But he wouldn’t fail Josh as he had Bruce. He hadn’t stepped in with sympathy or support; he hadn’t been there, when his brother had needed him most. He wouldn’t make that mistake with Josh. He couldn’t lose his best friend as he had his brother. “No, you’re not crazy.”

Maybe he’d just gotten into the punch. Although the little brass plate on the crystal bowl described it as nonalcoholic, Nick definitely had tasted vodka in the fruity concoction. The alcohol still burned in his stomach but it didn’t take the edge off his anger. Right now, he hated Molly McClintock for putting Josh through more pain.

Josh sighed again. “Hell, maybe I am crazy.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Nick suggested.

“Yeah, I better find the boys. I thought they might be in here.”

“Think they’re flushing something down the toilet?”

Josh shook his head, but Nick doubted he was denying their capacity for naughtiness. Josh knew what hellions his sons were. He got regular reports from the boys’ nannies right before they quit working for him. Maybe that was why he’d wanted to get married. But hell, from the way Josh’s first wife had walked out on them, he had to know that a second wife could quit, too.

“I’m not talking about leaving just the reception,” Nick continued. “I’m talking about this town. Once the office is done we can sell the building and build or lease one closer to the hospital in Grand Rapids.”

“The house…”

“You said you don’t have possession yet. The seller was probably in church today.” Hadn’t the whole damn town been there? “He’d understand that you changed your mind. I’m sure you could back out.”

“We closed escrow already,” Josh said. “And I gave my word.”

Once Josh gave his word, he didn’t go back on it. Unlike his runaway bride. “Then you can sell it—”

“It needs some work.”

Nick shook his head. “Come on, let’s get out of Cloverville. There’s nothing for you here.”

“I think there is,” Josh insisted, his blue eyes bright with hope. He paused beside Nick and clasped his shoulder. “Maybe there would be for you, too, if you’d give it a chance.”

What? The town—or a certain brown-haired bridesmaid? He didn’t ask and Josh didn’t offer an explanation before his hand slid away and he left.

Nick let the door close behind his friend and walked to the sink to splash water on his own face. He should be relieved that Josh was still so optimistic. Optimism was way better than despair.

Nick acknowledged the fact that he probably didn’t have to worry about Josh, but his heart didn’t lift with relief. Maybe he wasn’t worried about Josh. Maybe he was worried about himself. Because the minute he stepped out of the restroom, he searched the crowded reception hall for her. Colleen, he’d heard her friends call her. She stood with the other bridesmaids huddled near the head table where they’d just eaten the most awkward dinner Nick had ever been a part of.

The bride’s mom had turned the reception into a welcome-home party for the blond bridesmaid and her young daughter, and while the guests had enthusiastically greeted the young woman and her child, they’d still had time to stare at Josh. And Nick.

Probably wondering when he was going to blow. How could Josh be so understanding and forgiving? Nick wanted to hurt someone.