The Bride's Curse (4 page)

She shivered as she began her work—maybe the afternoon sun had gone behind a cloud or something, because it did seem chilly. An elderly man dressed in a classy looking business suit sat on the street bench across from the store. He seemed to be staring directly in the window at her. Kelly shivered again. He’d been there several times over the past few days, and she wondered if he was new to town and lonely.

Then he disappeared from her mind as the mother of one of the brides whose wedding she was planning came into the store to discuss mother of the bride dresses. After nearly an hour looking at catalogues, magazines, and designer sketches, and discussing what the most appropriate wear was for a middle aged woman who wanted to look glamorous but didn’t want to upstage the bride, they finally settled on a robin’s egg blue linen dress with a matching jacket.

The delighted customer arranged an appointment to come in for a fitting when the clothes arrived, then asked Kelly to put together a selection of jewelry and accessories for her to try as well.

Another happy customer! Kelly was about to return to her window dressing when the woman turned at the door and said: “You know, it’s awfully cold in here—maybe you have the air-conditioning turned up too high?”

Kelly stared at her departing figure. It was at least 80 degrees outside, unusually warm for early autumn. Why was it so cold in here? She wrote a quick note asking Noelia to get the furnace guy to check that it wasn’t blowing cold air or something, then slipped her lightweight jacket on, gathered up her briefcase, a pile of brochures and catalogues, and headed out the door.

She was actually going to get home at a reasonable hour for a change. Her gaze was drawn to the empty street bench as she crossed the road. Maybe that old man was having an early night, too.

He was there again the next morning.

Kelly thought it odd, an old guy in a smart business suit sitting alone on a street bench right across the road from a wedding dress shop. Was he waiting for someone? Or maybe the poor guy had just lost his job and was filling in time. Why didn’t he sit on one of the benches in the park square behind him? Surely that would be more pleasant than sitting on the street bench, with a lot more to look at besides the commercial buildings.

He looked so sad and lost and somehow a bit creepy, the way he sat staring so hungrily through Kelly’s store window at the bridal gown, honeymoon underwear, sexy garter belts, and other accessories. He didn’t look the Dirty Old Man type, but she was pretty sure his presence wouldn’t help potential customers feel comfortable enough to come into the store. Almost all her customers were female and Kelly was sure they would react to the old guy in the same way she was—with a shiver.

Sometimes she considered her job to be a bit like the spider and the fly—she created an enticing display in her window and the clients came in and got stuck in a web of beautiful wedding things. But that was the key—first she had to get them to venture into her web.

She seriously doubted that this old man was planning a romantic wedding and unforgettable wedding night. Despite his good grooming, he looked pale and thin as if he’d been ill for some time.

Maybe she should call the sheriff. She knew Selma Francis wouldn’t mind popping over and having a word with the man, just to see what his fascination was with Wedding Bliss and to encourage him to find another perch. Selma had been one of her customers, purchasing some ravishing honeymoon wear from the store earlier in the year. The two women had become friends and Kelly knew the law officer was capable of talking to the stranger without giving offense.

As she dithered about what to do, Kelly saw yet another customer stop and gaze in the window, move to come inside, and then hesitate, glance around toward the bench, and walk away.
That did it!
She had to do something. Her military training had taught her how to handle difficult situations, but this wasn’t some dusty town in Afghanistan. This situation needed tact and gentle diplomacy. Not really being the sort to run off to authority figures, having not always seen eye to eye with authorities herself, she decided to go out and tackle the man on her own. Surely he’d understand if she explained the situation to him calmly?

She poured two cups of hot free trade coffee, liberally doused them with cream, and carried both out to the bench. On closer inspection, the old man seemed younger than he’d first looked. His skin had that kind of pallor that goes with long illness and Kelly felt suddenly guilty about her mission. After all, if he was convalescing and enjoying sitting out here in the sun, what harm was he doing?

She almost turned around and headed back into Wedding Bliss when the old man spoke. His voice sounded rusty and unused, but his question startled her. “Why did you take the dress out of the window? I thought that woman had returned it.”

Kelly slopped hot coffee down her shirt as she stared in shock. A shiver ran through her as he made no attempt to take the coffee mug she offered him. “What happened to the dress?” he repeated.

“Why?” she asked, a tremor in her voice. “Did that dress catch your eye? We have many more inside that are just as lovely.”

Without looking at her, he answered: “But that one is special. It’s the only one that will do.”

“Are you planning a wedding? For your son or daughter, perhaps?”

Still he didn’t look at her. “No. But a good friend of mine—someone I once wronged … ”

Kelly drew in a deep breath. This really wasn’t going as she’d planned, and now she wished she’d waited until a time when Noelia was in the store. The older woman definitely had better people skills. Suddenly, the scar on her temple began to ache, the forerunner of the blinding headaches she’d suffered from time to time ever since she’d been wounded. She slopped more coffee as she tried to hold two cups in one hand while pressing the other to her head.

He finally turned to look at her then, as if he knew she was in pain. “It will go away.” His voice, though still rusty sounding, held an unexpected kindness.

“You need to go away!” There was something off about this man—how had he known about the pain in her temple? He was giving her the serious creeps now and what little ability she had to be tactful had flown. “You’re upsetting customers coming into my store, staring at them as you do …. ”

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a tall young man dressed in jeans and a denim shirt entering Wedding Bliss. Not the usual kind of customer for her store. The store was empty because Noelia was taking the morning off, so she had better go and see what he needed. She turned back to repeat to the old man that he had to go away, but he was already gone. He’d left quietly while she was struggling with the sudden headache, she guessed.

Warily, she stood up from the bench, feeling woozy. She hadn’t had one of these headaches for a long time but when they happened she sometimes lost her balance and fainted. But the pain seeped away as she walked back toward the store and by the time she stepped inside, much to her relief, it had gone altogether.

• • •

Kelly blinked to adjust her eyes to the store’s interior after being out in the bright sunlight. She pushed the old man on the bench out of her mind as she stepped forward to introduce herself to the young man who stood in the middle of the store as if he were befuddled by all the lovely frilly, lacy, silky things.

“Good morning. I’m Kelly Andrews. Can I help you find what you’re looking for?”

He turned and gave her a friendly smile. Kelly was momentarily dazzled. This guy was hot. Older than she first thought, probably thirty or so, with blond hair and the kind of tan you only get from working outdoors. Briefly she wondered if he’d been in the military like herself, but nothing else about him suggested military work.

His eyes widened as looked her up and down and he gave a low appreciative whistle through his teeth. “Well, hello, there, Red!”

The dazzle swiftly turned to irritation. No one had mocked her red Scottish coloring since she was old enough to make them wish they had never tangled with her. Tucking an unruly curl behind her ear, she sidled forward until they were almost nose to nose. Then she rose up on tiptoe, her mouth close enough to his ear that her breath tickled his skin and murmured: “The last guy who called me that is still in the hospital.”

His deep brown eyes widened. Then he laughed a low, deep sexy sound. “Sweetheart, I love a woman with red hair and the temperament that goes with it.”

She stepped back a pace and gave him a feral smile. Obviously he wasn’t intimidated by her threat.
The fool.

“So, all flirting aside, can I help you with something?”

The slow, lips to feet and back again appraisal he gave her made her palms itch to thump him. She reminded herself of Rule #1 of business: Do not slap customers.

“I’m looking for a wedding dress.”

“Oh!” Laughter licked through her like a sudden rain. She returned the long, slow, head to toe and back again stare. “I’m not sure we have anything in your size. Maybe your partner … ?”

He actually blushed. “No, it’s not for me—” He stopped when he saw her laughing. In fact, Kelly was laughing so hard she had to drop onto one of the chairs.

“Oh, lord—you should have seen your face! Gotcha!”
Revenge is so sweet.

He grinned. “I suppose I deserved that, Red.”

“Keep on with the Red, and you’ll see the nasty side of me.”

• • •

Brett Atwell was tempted to say he’d like to see any side of her at all, this drop dead gorgeous woman who’d followed him into the store. His busy imagination conjured up images of all that lush red hair spread across his pillow like wildfire …

“You’re staring.”

Oops.
He needed to shake himself out of the lust that had swamped him and to focus on the job at hand. It wasn’t like him to let his mind wander, but then it wasn’t every day he met a woman who appealed to him like this one did.

Brett tore his thoughts away from the swell of attraction that had caught his breath. This was a business call. From her questions, he guessed she was a salesperson or the owner. He’d never set foot inside a wedding store before and, having seen all this lace and frilly underwear, he was pretty sure he never would again. He had to admit that some of those cute bikini panties—nothing more than scraps of lace, really—were definitely appealing.

Would be even more appealing on a model. Red, for example.
He just loved the way her eyes narrowed and sparked when he used that nickname. She’d certainly got him with that crack about not having a gown in his size. Drop dead gorgeous and a sense of humor, he amended.
What more could a man ask for?

“When you’ve finished staring at those bridal garters … ”

“Those what … ?” Her question had brought him back to the present and to his purpose for being in the bridal shop.

“Bridal garters. They’re the things brides … ”

“I know what they are,” he cut in hastily, wondering just how explicit her description was going to be.

“Okay, so you don’t want a wedding dress for yourself. Most grooms don’t shop for the dress for their bride, so I’m assuming you’re not actually looking to buy a wedding dress. Why, exactly, are you here?” Those blue eyes were throwing off sparks again, and he had to shake himself to concentrate on the matter at hand. Her long-suffering sigh made it obvious he’d better get down to business, and quickly. Who knew what a red-haired woman like her might do if she lost her temper?

The very thought was toe-curlingly delicious in its possibilities.

Red was now at the arms folded, toe-tapping stage. “Would you please stop standing there like you’ve been turned into a pillar of salt and tell me what I can help you with? You do realize, don’t you, that this is a store? It’s a place where people come to look for things they want to buy and if the store owner, that would be me, is lucky, they will actually buy something. Now, are we clear on that?”

“I’m not actually looking to buy anything … ”

“Then maybe you should leave. There’s a Walmart on the highway. They’re a bit more sympathetic to people who are just looking to browse.”

“I am looking for a wedding gown—just not to buy. This one was bought illegally … ”

He could have bitten off his tongue.
What a stupid thing to say!
He could almost see Red blowing steam out of her ears. Why couldn’t he stop looking at her like a lovesick schoolboy and kick his mind into gear?

Very quietly—dangerously quietly—she asked, “Are you saying that I illegally procured a wedding gown? That I
stole
—”

“No, it’s not that at all.”

“Well, fella, you’d better explain exactly what you do mean and what you want from my store. You’ve got ten seconds … ” She glanced at the wall clock and he got the impression she really was counting those seconds. “Nine … ”

“It’s a long story. My aunt had this wedding dress, it’s old and she hadn’t seen it in years. Well, my sister, Sasha, she got it into her head that she should sell some of my aunt’s stuff. You see, she’s going through a divorce and a bit short of cash. My aunt wasn’t there at the time. She’s in a home and … ”

Red stopped tapping her foot and pointed to the door. Stepping right up into his space, she spoke slowly as if she thought him slow on the uptake. “Too. Much. Information. We’re not a charity. I don’t want to hear your sob story about your aunt. I don’t know what your game is, but I think you need to get back to your crazy-sounding family. Or simply get out of my store. Now.”

He could tell by the frown line between those blazing blue eyes that she meant what she said. It would be a whole lot safer for him to leave now and come back later when she’d calmed down and he’d gotten his equilibrium back so that he could manage to string a proper sentence together. Then again, when had he ever played things safe?

Without even thinking, he gathered her into his arms and captured her mouth in a sizzling kiss. Taken by surprise, she struggled momentarily and then seemed to melt against him, causing his pulse to race.

Then she pushed herself away, both hands on his chest, and snarled: “Why you … you … !”