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Jack gestured for her to go first. “My mother’s name is Liza. My sister is Elaine. Then there’s my aunt Gwen and my cousin Melanie, Hunter’s sister.”
Kristy repeated the names to herself as they made their way along the hall and down the main staircase. Garlands of fresh cedar adorned the railing and banisters. The charming scent filled the air.
A small group of people stood chatting in the great room. Hunter asked Jack a question as they walked through the door. Kristy could see Cleveland in a conversation in the middle of the room, a crystal tumbler in one hand, and Dee Dee parked by his feet. He was sporting a Santa hat, perched jauntily atop his head. Leaving Jack behind, she moved closer to Cleveland, then she crouched down slightly.
“Dee Dee,” she sang softly to get her dog’s attention.
Dee Dee raised her head, but didn’t come to her feet.
“He’s spoiled her,” came a female voice next to Kristy.
Kristy straightened and smiled at the young woman. “I may have to leave her here when I go.”
She was a brunette, twentysomething, and she arched a finely sculpted eyebrow. “You’re going somewhere?”
“London,” said Kristy easily. Then she held out her hand. “I’m Kristy Mahoney.”
The woman gave a gentle handshake. “Not Osland?”
Kristy shook her head.
“Well, I’m Elaine Osland. We appear to be sisters-in-law.”
“It’s good to meet you.”
“You, too.” Elaine took a sip of her martini, watching Kristy closely. “I hear it was a small wedding?”
“About as small as you can get.”
“In Vegas?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Out of the blue I take it?”
“It was a whirlwind courtship.”
“That’s not like Jack.”
“It’s not like me, either.”
“More like his grandfather.”
Kristy laughed, but it sounded nervous even to her ears. “Really.”
“I hear you’re into fashion design.”
“I am. And what do you do?”
Elaine waved a dismissive hand. “Let’s talk about you.”
Kristy paused. “I take it you’re the interrogation committee?”
Elaine had the good grace to grin sheepishly. “That’s because you haven’t met my mother yet.”
Kristy glanced around the room.
“In the green sequin jacket,” said Elaine.
The woman’s shrewd eyes met Kristy’s gaze, and Kristy quickly looked away.
“Any tips?” she asked Elaine.
Elaine chuckled. “Stand up straight, don’t let her intimidate you and always tell the truth.”
“Are there any electrodes or heart-rate monitors involved?”
“Only if you make her suspicious.”
“Suspicious of what?”
“Your motivations for marrying my brother, silly.”
“I had no motivations.”
“See, she’s going to wonder.”
“It was a crazy weekend romance in Vegas,” Kristy told Elaine honestly. “He took me on a balloon ride, and I was a goner.” She wasn’t even lying about that part.
She felt a hand on the small of her back and knew immediately it was Jack.
“Everything okay here?” he asked.
“The electrodes haven’t come out yet,” said Kristy.
“We’re just having a chat,” Elaine put in, giving her brother a quick hug.
“You be nice,” Jack warned his sister.
“I’m always nice. I hear you fell in love on a balloon ride.” She cocked her head to watch his expression.
“You heard right,” said Jack. “It was over the Grand Canyon, and I was charming as hell.”
“Hmm,” said Elaine.
“Don’t ‘hmm’ me,” Jack retorted.
Elaine glanced back and forth between the two. “Only two days?”
Jack sighed. “Back off. And tell Mom to back off, too.”
Elaine snorted indelicately. “Yeah, right.” She turned her attention to Kristy again. “So, tell me all about your design business.”
“I mean it,” said Jack.
“I’m simply making conversation,” Elaine retorted.
Jack took Kristy’s arm. “I’d like to introduce you to my mother.” He guided her away.
“Will I do any better with her?” she whispered as they crossed the room, feeling as if she was being put in front of a firing squad.
“You’re doing fine.”
“I’m going with the truth. It was a whirlwind courtship in Vegas, and you were charming.”
He nodded. “That works.” Then he put a broad smile on his face as they approached the slender woman in the emerald-green jacket.
“Mom,” he said. “I’d like you to meet Kristy.”
The woman turned to face them. She was somewhere between fifty and sixty, and her hair, makeup and jewelry were obviously the products of considerable wealth. Kristy recognized the jacket as a Delilah Domtar, and the slacks as William Ping.
She was tall and beautiful, but the warmth in her eyes when she greeted Jack dimmed somewhat when she looked at Kristy.
“Kristy, this is my mother, Liza.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” said Kristy, bravely holding out a hand.
Liza looked her up and down. “The pleasure is mine, I’m sure.”
The words were correct, but the tone left Kristy wanting to apologize for something.
“There you are, Kristy!” Cleveland’s voice boomed. “Meeting my youngest daughter, I see.”
Kristy smiled in relief, and she bent down to pick up Dee Dee, a welcome distraction. “Hello, Cleveland. Nice hat.”
“Thanks. Kristy here is a genius,” Cleveland said to Liza.
“I’m sure she’s quite the little scholar,” said Liza.
Hugging Dee Dee close, Kristy caught an apology in Jack’s eyes.
“Don’t get yourself in a snit,” Cleveland admonished Liza.
Liza glanced at Kristy and then Jack. “An invitation to the wedding was too much to ask?”
“It wasn’t really a wedding,” Kristy blurted, experiencing a pang of sympathy for the woman. Her own mother would be—
Her mother.
Good Lord, her mother.
She turned to Jack, feeling the blood drain from her face. “I have to make a phone call.”
He looked confused. “Now?”
“I’m sorry.” She handed Dee Dee to Cleveland and started to move away.
Jack caught her arm to stop her.
She mouthed the words my parents.
He drew back, comprehension dawning in his eyes.
“Will you excuse us for a moment?” he asked the group of guests.
“Dinner is in fifteen minutes,” warned Liza.
With Jack at her side, Kristy left the great room and paced to the rotunda foyer.
“This is a disaster,” she hissed.
“Just tell them what we’re telling everyone else.”
She stopped and turned around in front of the settee. “They’re my parents.” Joe and Amy Mahoney were hardworking, generous and hopelessly romantic. Amy’s wedding dress had been preserved in blue tissue paper for thirty years, waiting for either Kristy or Sinclair to find the right man. And when they sold their house in Brooklyn, instead of buying beachfront in Florida, they bought something modest, a block away, to make sure they could afford fashionable weddings for their two daughters.
He gestured back to the great room. “Who do you think we were just talking to?”
“That’s different.”
His lips compressed. But then his eyes unexpectedly softened. “You’re right. It is. Tell me how I can help.”
She looked at the floor. There was nothing he could do.
Her mother would be thrilled, thrilled to hear that Kristy had fallen in love. Her father would hold off until he met Jack—which would be as soon as humanly possible. Then there’d be talk of grandchildren. Her parents would emotionally engage in some big, complicated fantasy of the future. Then their hopes would be dashed when the divorce was announced.
Kristy groaned.
Jack slipped an arm around her. “It’s going to be okay,” he muttered. “We’ll make it okay.”
She shook her head in denial. It wasn’t going to be okay. It was going to be horrible. “They’ll want to get on a plane. They’ll want to meet you in person.”
“I’ll send the jet.”
“They can’t come here.”
Jack nodded. “Oh, right. That would be way too complicated.” He gripped the back of his neck. “What about London?”
“London?”
