Read Online Mad enough to marry by Christie Ridgway - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Christie Ridgway
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party—"
'*We're not talking about that other night!"
'*—^I thought you went to the Catholic girls' school across town. I thought you were a senior too. I think you know that."
Her face flushed, though she pretended she hadn't heard him. ' 'I bought a new dress and shoes with the babysitting money I'd brought with me from L.A. My grandmother curled my hair and Gabby painted my fingernails. They both helped me pick out a bouton-
niere for your lapel. Then the three of us waited for you to pick me up."
Logan looked away, coward that he was. *'I was wearing my tux. I'd washed and waxed my car, refusing to let anyone else touch it. The wrist corsage I bought you was in the refrigerator in the butler's pantry. Annie's mother was our—"
**Housekeeper, I know."
**She saw it and said the white baby roses I'd picked out were perfect. They were tied with a gauzy blue ribbon that I thought was the exact color of your eyes.'*
'*You said you'd pick me up at seven o'clock," Elena reminded him. "And then it was seven, and then seven-thirty. At eight o'clock I thought maybe I'd mixed up the plans and I was supposed to meet you at the high school. My grandmother thought I should stay home and wait, but I couldn't believe you would have stood me up. So our neighbor drove me to school and I waited outside the dance for you. I realized right away that people were whispering about me, but I pretended not to hear."
**You know that I eventually made it to your grandmother's."
**You know that I eventually made it back there myself."
**But we missed each other again when I went to school looking for you." Logan studied the way his hand covered hers and smiled a little. **Do you think if we'd had cell phones then that today the prom would just be a hazy, happy memory?"
He looked up and met her eyes. He even laughed. '*You're right.'* No matter what, he would have remembered each moment with her in vivid detail.
**But we went over all this that night, when we finally managed to be in the same place at the same time," Elena pointed out. "It was about 10:15 I believe. You gave me that wrist corsage and it was perfect."
**You didn't give me the boutonniere. You crushed it in your hand—pricking yourself with the pin as I remember—^then threw it and the corsage to the ground. You looked pretty perfect in that dress and those new shoes, by the way, even when you were using them to grind the flowers into the sidewalk." He had to grin, because he suddenly remembered how flummoxed he'd been, watching her stomp about, yelling at him in Spanish. He'd had no experience with someone so fiery and who so easily flung her emotions about.
He still didn't. **I never explained exactly what made me so late, though."
*'The battle between your second thoughts and your good manners, I imagine."
'That's not true, Elena. At least not in the way you mean."
'*Right."
**Fine. I'll admit I had second thoughts. I barely knew you, and it had been so...intense the night we met."
"We're not talking about the night we met," she said, sounding as if her teeth were clenched.
*'Okay, okay." He curled his fingers around hers and wasn't surprised when her hand remained stiff in his grasp. *'I was just about to leave to pick you up when my father called me into his study. An old friend had dropped by who he thought I should meet."
**You couldn't make your excuses?"
"You'd have to know my father—"
*'I do know your father." Elena sighed. "Okay, I can see him corralling you, even on the night of your prom."
"His friend was just like him. The minutes ticked on and on and they kept asking me questions, bombarding me with advice. Still, I might have left if my father's friend wasn't the president of Whitford College."
Elena stilled. "Where you were going to attend the upcoming fall?"
Logan nodded. "And I was in a big battle with my father over my major at the time. He wanted Economics or Electrical Engineering and I wanted Industrial Arts. That night, my
'*We're not talking about that other night!"
'*—^I thought you went to the Catholic girls' school across town. I thought you were a senior too. I think you know that."
Her face flushed, though she pretended she hadn't heard him. ' 'I bought a new dress and shoes with the babysitting money I'd brought with me from L.A. My grandmother curled my hair and Gabby painted my fingernails. They both helped me pick out a bouton-
niere for your lapel. Then the three of us waited for you to pick me up."
Logan looked away, coward that he was. *'I was wearing my tux. I'd washed and waxed my car, refusing to let anyone else touch it. The wrist corsage I bought you was in the refrigerator in the butler's pantry. Annie's mother was our—"
**Housekeeper, I know."
**She saw it and said the white baby roses I'd picked out were perfect. They were tied with a gauzy blue ribbon that I thought was the exact color of your eyes.'*
'*You said you'd pick me up at seven o'clock," Elena reminded him. "And then it was seven, and then seven-thirty. At eight o'clock I thought maybe I'd mixed up the plans and I was supposed to meet you at the high school. My grandmother thought I should stay home and wait, but I couldn't believe you would have stood me up. So our neighbor drove me to school and I waited outside the dance for you. I realized right away that people were whispering about me, but I pretended not to hear."
**You know that I eventually made it to your grandmother's."
**You know that I eventually made it back there myself."
**But we missed each other again when I went to school looking for you." Logan studied the way his hand covered hers and smiled a little. **Do you think if we'd had cell phones then that today the prom would just be a hazy, happy memory?"
He looked up and met her eyes. He even laughed. '*You're right.'* No matter what, he would have remembered each moment with her in vivid detail.
**But we went over all this that night, when we finally managed to be in the same place at the same time," Elena pointed out. "It was about 10:15 I believe. You gave me that wrist corsage and it was perfect."
**You didn't give me the boutonniere. You crushed it in your hand—pricking yourself with the pin as I remember—^then threw it and the corsage to the ground. You looked pretty perfect in that dress and those new shoes, by the way, even when you were using them to grind the flowers into the sidewalk." He had to grin, because he suddenly remembered how flummoxed he'd been, watching her stomp about, yelling at him in Spanish. He'd had no experience with someone so fiery and who so easily flung her emotions about.
He still didn't. **I never explained exactly what made me so late, though."
*'The battle between your second thoughts and your good manners, I imagine."
'That's not true, Elena. At least not in the way you mean."
'*Right."
**Fine. I'll admit I had second thoughts. I barely knew you, and it had been so...intense the night we met."
"We're not talking about the night we met," she said, sounding as if her teeth were clenched.
*'Okay, okay." He curled his fingers around hers and wasn't surprised when her hand remained stiff in his grasp. *'I was just about to leave to pick you up when my father called me into his study. An old friend had dropped by who he thought I should meet."
**You couldn't make your excuses?"
"You'd have to know my father—"
*'I do know your father." Elena sighed. "Okay, I can see him corralling you, even on the night of your prom."
"His friend was just like him. The minutes ticked on and on and they kept asking me questions, bombarding me with advice. Still, I might have left if my father's friend wasn't the president of Whitford College."
Elena stilled. "Where you were going to attend the upcoming fall?"
Logan nodded. "And I was in a big battle with my father over my major at the time. He wanted Economics or Electrical Engineering and I wanted Industrial Arts. That night, my
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