Jade Lee - [Bridal Favors 03] by What the Bride Wore Read Free Book Online Page B

wince, to realize he’d just begged for an extension, when he’d started this meeting by decrying that possibility. My, how little he’d changed. Meanwhile, Lawton continued speaking, every word heavy and cold. “You and your brother have led me on a merry dance, haven’t you? Getting me to cover all the improvements before you stole it out from under me.”
    Grant looked up, his mind trying to wring sense from Lawton’s words. “Stole it? How? Damn it, I want to buy it!”
    Lawton shook his head. “You know, your brother is worth ten of you. I might forgive him. I’m bloody well going to have to, aren’t I? But I’ll be damned if I let the likes of you steal it all away now.”
    Grant shoved to his feet, his hands clenched in a fury. This was his Great Moment! How had it suddenly gone wrong? And what the hell did all this have to do with his brother? Yes, Will was ten times the man he was. But that’s what this whole five years had been about: proving that Grant was a man too. That he deserved the title. That… “I have the money,” he whispered. “The mill will turn more profit—”
    “You don’t have the money,” Lawton said coldly. “And I won’t be selling a single rock, bush, or drop to you ever. Good-bye, Crowle. And if you cause a scene at the wedding, I will beat you senseless.” With that, the man grabbed his hat, nodded at his solicitor, and strode from the room.
    It was a quick exit, perfunctory and final. It took awhile for Grant to process what had happened. He would not be getting back his family’s land. After five years of blood and sweat, it was all over. He’d failed. He’d shamed his name, failed his ancestors, and now, he had no way to redeem himself in his mother’s or his brother’s eyes. After everything, he’d proved himself useless. Again.
    The disappointment of that crushed him completely. In truth, it was a shock to realize some fifteen minutes later that he was still alive.
    It wasn’t until he stumbled back to his tiny inn room that his madness chose to reassert itself. Two words formed a question with no answer.
    What wedding?

Four
    What lingered most in Irene’s mind was the way he’d smelled: clean. Not with the perfume of the aristocracy. He smelled of the same harsh lye soap she’d used as a child at school. That, plus a fresh mint leaf, as if he’d chewed one, probably right before she’d arrived. It had been just a hint on his breath, but it had made her lean toward him when he spoke. And once she’d leaned in, the rest had happened as if by magic. The talk, the dance, the kiss.
    Well, she hadn’t kissed him, had she? Not in truth, but in her fantasies? Oh yes. In fact, they’d kissed a million times in the barely twenty-four hours since she’d first met the sweet-smelling Mr. Grant. Which was wonderful and terrible all at once.
    Wonderful, because really, what woman didn’t dream of kisses? It was a sign that she was coming back to life as a grown woman, not a widow. Terrible, of course, because Nate had been the one to teach her about kisses, and she should not be thinking of another man’s mouth on hers. There was no moral or legal law against it, of course. Nate had died three years ago. And yet, she felt as though she were betraying the man she still loved with all her heart.
    “Lady Irene! I deeply apologize. We’re having a bit of a problem, and I was delayed.”
    Irene turned around, her mind stumbling at the use of her correct title. Few people knew her as the daughter of an earl. To nearly everyone, she was simply Mrs. Knopp, the widow of a sailor and daughter-in-law to a wealthy shipping family. “Father Michael,” she said with a smile, holding her hand out to the young priest. “No apology necessary. I was just enjoying the delightful architecture here at St. Clement,” she lied. Then she winced, thinking that of all places, a church was not the place to lie.
    “Why yes, it is stunning,” Father Michael said as he settled into a