LITMIR.BIZ

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vantage point on the stage, Kara scanned the crowd. Her gaze found Laurel, and her eyes lit up. Then she turned around.

      Oh, no.

      As Kara tossed the bouquet of red roses backward over her head, Laurel quickly ducked. Then she spun around to see who the lucky recipient had been of the bouquet obviously intended for her.

      Elizabeth stood behind her clutching an armful of roses and wearing a bewildered expression.

      “Well, congratulations, Mom, it looks like you’re set to be the next bride.” Taking pity on her mortified mother, Laurel placed a hand under her elbow and led her from the floor.

      “Laurel, what are people going to think? Your father has only been dead for four months. Now I’m standing on a dance floor, a wedding bouquet in my arms. This is catastrophic.”

      Her mother needed a Get a Life list of her own, Laurel decided. She’d spent far too many years of doing the Right Thing. “Mom, stop worrying about what other people think. It’s your life…. Live it. Let Kara arrange your wedding, invite your real friends to dance at it—and make Cutter a happy man. Marry him. Be happy.”

      “Be happy?” Elizabeth repeated. The lines around her mouth lessened and her eyes brightened. “You’re so right, darling. I will be happy. Thank you.”

      Laurel swallowed the lump in her throat. Was it really that easy?

      Then Lily was there, too. “Great catch, Mom!”

      “Oh, go on.” Elizabeth’s cheeks wore flags of scarlet. Yet she looked more vibrant than she had in years.

      Kara arrived in a rustle of fine bridal fabric. She frowned at Laurel, who smiled back angelically.

      “It was a mistake.” Elizabeth shrugged apologetically to her middle daughter. “I know you intended for Laurel to catch it.”

      Laurel’s smile broadened at the confirmation of the conspiracy she’d already suspected. Triumph at the success of her covert rebellion overtook her.

      “Laurel needs a groom before she can have a wedding, so throwing her the bouquet was probably a little premature,” Lily pointed out to Laurel’s increasing amusement. But her relief was short-lived as Lily started scanning the men crowded around the dance floor. “Let me see. There must be someone we can introduce Laurel to. One of RJ’s friends—or maybe Daniel knows someone suitable.”

      Again, her family was organizing her life.

      “Hey—”

      Kara overrode the objection Laurel was about to make. “Eli already introduced her to Rakin.”

      Laurel shifted uncomfortably as both her mother and Lily focused on her. “Rakin?”

      “He’s standing there—at the edge of the dance floor with RJ and Matt right now,” offered Kara.

      “Don’t point.” Laurel could have happily wrung her interfering sisters’ necks as all eyes swung in his direction. With a touch of desperation, she begged, “And please don’t stare.”

      “Why?” Lily was the first to turn back. “Are you interested in him?”

      She flushed. “Not exactly. But nor do I want you causing the poor man any embarrassment. He’s too nice for that.”

      “Nice? He’s gorgeous!” Kara didn’t mince words.

      “Hey, that’s the guy you were talking to so cozily on the terrace,” Susannah chipped in.

      “Ooh, you were on the terrace with him?” This time Brooke hounded her. “You’ve been holding out on us.”

      “I’ve only just met him!”

      “But it sounds like you’ve gotten close pretty quickly.” Lily raised an eyebrow.

      Under the force of her family’s combined interrogation, Laurel gave in. “Okay, he’s invited me to go to Vegas.”

      “To Vegas?” It was a chorus.

      “Hush, not so loud!”

      “You’re going, right?” That was Kara again.

      “I don’t know….”

      “But you must.”

      “Or are you too busy at work?” asked Lily.

      “Laurel can’t use work as an excuse,” piped Kara. “I know for a fact that her honeymoon was booked for the two weeks after her wedding, and I know she left those weeks open—even after the wedding was called off. There’s nothing that can’t be cleared from her calendar.”

      “I needed a break. It’s been a busy few months.” Laurel avoided Lily’s keen eyes. She’d planned to take some time after the wedding to assess what she wanted from life. Now it looked like she was going to spend some of that time with Rakin. A dart of anticipation shafted through her. It would be fun. But what about her mother? “I promised Mom I would call Detective McDonough and arrange a meeting with him later in the wee—”

      “I can do that, darling,” her mother said quickly. “Don’t let that stop you.”

      “No, I’ll do it,” said Brooke.

      Laurel exchanged a long look with her future sister-in-law and saw the plea in her eyes. If it made Brooke feel like she was helping, that would be worth it. “That’s a good idea, Brooke. Nikki Thomas might be able to help—you may want to give her a call, too.”

      Susannah put a hand on Laurel’s arm and bowed her head close to say softly, “I know you’ve been carrying a lot of the stress of the past few months, more than we probably realize. I remember it was you who called to let Matt know Elizabeth had been taken into custody.”

      “All of us have been under strain,” Laurel responded in a low voice, so that her mother didn’t hear. “I know that Matt has been incredibly worried about—generating new business to stanch the losses Jack Sinclair caused.”

      Susannah shrugged. “There are rumors of fresh defections all the time. But they can only be dealt with one at a time. Nothing you can do right now. You’ve done your bit. I know that like RJ, you’ve kept in close touch with the police and kept us all informed of developments. You need a break.”

      Then her mother was beside her. “I heard the end of that—and I agree with Susannah. Take some time off. It’s your life…. Live it.” Elizabeth directed a private smile to Laurel. “You deserve some fun.”

      “Ah, Mom.” In gratitude of her mother’s unexpected understanding, Laurel flung her arms around the older woman. Coming from the always correct Elizabeth, the words meant a great deal. “Thank you!”

      At the back of her mind had been the thought that her mother would need her. With her other daughters now married, Laurel was the obvious choice to cosset her after her traumatic arrest for Reginald’s murder. But her sisters—and Susannah and Brooke—had relieved her of the responsibility. The final—and most weighty—mental block had been removed. There was no reason for Laurel to decline Rakin’s invitation.

      “Now you have no excuse,” Kara said with satisfaction—and Laurel didn’t even try to stop the laughter that overflowed as her sister’s words echoed her own thoughts.

      Instead she said, “I should be mad at you. But how can I be? It’s your wedding day—and you’re matchmaking as many of us as you can.”

      Kara looked mystified at that. “What do you mean?”

      “You can take all the credit—since you talked Eli into introducing Rakin to me.”

      But Kara was shaking her head. “Honestly, it wasn’t me.”

      Her sister’s reply left Laurel lost for words.

      Laurel came toward him, her step light and buoyant, causing the silver-gray fabric of her dress to swirl around her

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