LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter One

      I can’t break this appointment again, Grant McCarthy thought as he bundled the twins into their car seats. He’d already put the wedding planner off twice.

      Timmy gazed up at him, round-eyed, then smacked him upside the head with a plastic truck. For a little guy, the two-year-old packed a mean punch.

      Dolly squalled from the moment he started carrying her toward the car, as if being strapped in made her want to lash out irrationally. Being two and developmentally delayed, instant meltdowns had become a chronic reaction. While Tim looked on, Dolly blubbered nonstop, and pools of water seemed to come from everywhere.

      “Dowwy’s sad.” Timmy gazed across the backseat of the minivan. His lower lip quivered in sympathy. His eyes started to fill, and Grant knew he had to act fast.

      “She’s fine, Timmers, I promise,” Grant reassured his little son. He trotted around the front of the car, climbed in and started the engine. “She hates being tied down, that’s all.”

      He smiled at Tim through the rearview mirror, but didn’t dare glance Dolly’s way. She’d stopped crying for the moment, but if he made eye contact, she’d start all over again. It was bad enough that his aunt came down with the same virus the twins had shared a few weeks ago, but to get it today, when he was supposed to meet with the wedding planner for his sister Christa’s wedding, spelled disaster. On top of that, Aunt Tillie had chewed him out for attempting to plan the wedding, take care of two babies and a house while running the town highway department. She told him he was downright foolish to even try.

      At the moment, he was inclined to agree.

      He drove into the shopping district of Grace Haven, New York, a quaint town tucked in the picturesque Finger Lakes region. He made a right turn into The Square. Originally a small-town hub surrounding a cozy central park, The Square was now a shopping destination beloved by tourists and locals. The predicted rain hadn’t hit yet, and he hoped for a roadside parking space along the popular series of shops.

      Unfortunately, not a single spot was free, and that meant he’d have to maneuver both kids through the back parking lot once he got them unlatched and he was already ten minutes late.

      He hated when people held him up on his job. Time was money and expectations in local government were high, just as they should be. But here he was, doing the exact same thing to whatever Gallagher sister they assigned him. As he hopped out of the SUV, he hoped it wouldn’t be the beauty queen. After his upscale wife had left him and two babies high and dry, he’d had enough of appearance-loving women to last a lifetime.

      He snugged Dolly into his shoulder and ushered Timmy through the lot as fast as stubby toddler legs would go. The west wind bit sharp, a sure sign of the coming winter. Once wind and cold and snow hit full force, his road crews would work nonstop to keep the valley and upland roads safe for travel, a busy and sometimes frantic season for northern highway departments. And a wedding, on top of it—

      But he was honored to help his sister. He loved her courage and tenacity. He loved her.

      Timmy caught his foot on the edge of an all-weather mat as they stepped through the door. He sprawled onto the floor and burst into tears partially because he was brush burned, but mostly because it was nap time. The timing had seemed ideal when Kate & Company had suggested a weekend meeting. A Saturday afternoon, two kids napping, his aunt to babysit them and he’d take care of getting things going for his sister’s special day.

      Wanna hear God laugh? Tell Him your plans. His mother’s old adage hung true, especially today.

      He bent low. Allison Kellor noticed him from the gracious, formal entry facing the street. She offered a sympathetic wince as he stood, gathering Timmy into his free arm. He strode forward, carrying both toddlers, and crossed the elegant entry as if he belonged there.

      “Grant McCarthy?”

      He turned toward the voice and took a deep breath. The beauty queen, of course, looking absolutely, perfectly put together from the thick auburn waves of hair to the designer outfit and red high heels.

      Doomed.

      He didn’t belong there. She did. And maybe Aunt Tillie was right—maybe he was stupid to think he could handle spinning multiple plates in the air. A wave of negativity rose inside him.

      He forced it down and faced the beautiful woman descending the curved, open stairway and said, “We made it.”

      “So I see.”

      For a split second he was tempted to make a run for it. But then the redhead came closer. She held out her arms. Normally effusive Timmy ducked his head, probably struck dumb by her beauty.

      Her good looks weren’t lost on Grant. This woman was downright appealing and absolutely lovely. That gave him reason enough to maintain his distance. He’d spent years thinking appearances mattered, then one broken heart later, he learned they shouldn’t really matter at all.

      “Ba.” Dolly peeked up at the woman and did something she hadn’t done in a long time. She opened her arms to someone other than him, Aunt Tillie and the occupational therapist that stopped by the day care facility twice a week. “Oh, ba.”

      “Come here, precious.” The redhead didn’t seem to care that Dolly’s face was blotched from anger, tears and ghastly unmentionable things she’d smeared on Grant’s coat. Her little jacket was dotted with something unidentifiable and had remnants of vanilla wafer crushed into the zipper, but when the former beauty queen took her, Dolly wove two tiny hands into the prettiest red hair he’d ever seen and chortled. “Ba! Ba!”

      “Red.” The woman ducked her head while Dolly explored her hair, then peeked up at the girl and pulled a strand of that long, gorgeous hair sideways for the little one to see. “Red hair.”

      “Wad!” Dolly laughed, amused, as if the wedding planner got her joke.

      “Miss Gallagher, I’m sorry we’re late.” He made a face of regret and nodded toward the clock. “We missed the first appointment because Dolly had that nasty upper respiratory virus that’s been going around. Then Timmy got it. And now, my Aunt Tillie—”

      “Tillie Gibson, right?” she asked, and nodded toward Allison. “My mom and Allison handled her daughter’s wedding last spring. I heard it was wonderful.”

      “They were thrilled with how it all came out,” he admitted. “And that’s what made me think of Kate & Company for my sister Christa’s wedding. She and her fiancé, Spencer, are both deployed, they’re pursuing air force careers, and I wanted to make this wedding nice for her. I know these aren’t exactly ideal conditions.”

      The redhead frowned. “Not ideal conditions? Why?”

      She acted as if she really didn’t have a clue and that made Grant drag a hand through his hair. It seemed thinner on top right now, and why would he notice that at this moment? Was it because of the drop-dead beauty standing there, holding his precious child and looking

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