Read Online Stand-In Groom by Kaye Dacus - Free Book Online Page B

response was the most words Anne had heard him string together since meeting him. She watched him from the corner of her eye as they crossed the cobblestone street. He carried himself regally, broad shoulders high and proud, chin parallel with the ground, eyes forward. He wasn’t a lawyer. He “represented” a client of Forbes’s. Some kind of an agent, maybe?
    “You’ve seen a lot more places than I have,” she admitted with a sigh.
    “It’s part and parcel of the job. I go where my employer needs me. Since my current employer roams the earth, I must make sure he lands in the correct spot.” He opened the front door of the restaurant and motioned for her to enter ahead of him.
    The hostess hugged Anne. “Hey, Miss Anne. You haven’t been in for a couple of weeks. We’ve been worried about you.”
    “Hi, Sarah. It’s June—you know, the busiest month for weddings.”
    The college student giggled. “I know.” Sarah looked over Anne’s shoulder, and her eyes widened when she saw only George standing there. “Table for
two
?” the college student asked with a grin.
    Anne shook her head, exasperated, but smiled. “Yes, please. By the back windows if there’s anything available.”
    “Right this way.”
    From the expression on the girl’s face, Anne knew that before the server came around, the news that Anne Hawthorne, the spinster who planned everyone else’s weddings, had come in with a man would have gotten back to the dishwashers. She fully expected a slow but steady progression of employees past the table in the next fifteen or twenty minutes. Never before had she come in with only a man. Usually she came in alone to eat and meet with one or both of the owners to discuss events. Sometimes she would bring in clientswho weren’t familiar with the restaurant. Speculation would run wild.
    “Sarah, can you let Samuel or Paul know that I’ll need to talk to them after we have lunch?”
    “I’ll do it, Miss Anne.” The hostess’s blond hair bounced as she made her way to the kitchen.
    By the time Anne and George placed their meal orders, four different people had come to the table to make sure they were being served. Anne could barely contain her laughter. She hated to think how many it would have been if they’d come in after the five-thirty dinner shift came on duty.
    “Now that we have a few minutes,” she said, taking a fresh yeast roll from the basket George offered, “I’d like to go over a few of these forms I’ll need you to fill out.” It was all she could do to be polite and cut the roll open, spread butter slowly onto it, and leave it sitting on the bread plate rather than stuffing the whole thing in her mouth.
    8
    George anointed the steaming roll with cold butter. His stomach rumbled at the yeasty aroma as he tore off a bite-sized piece and brought it to his mouth. The saltiness of the butter mingled with the sweetness of the bread and melted on his tongue. He had to stop himself from sighing in contentment.
    The shuffling of papers across the table drew his attention back to Anne.
    “Now that the terms of the contract have been agreed upon, there are a few fact-finding forms I need filled out.” She handed him a packet of several pages stapled together. “This is the registration form.”
    He glanced over the first page. Bride’s full name, groom’s full name, maid of honor’s name, best man’s name, number of bridesmaids, number of groomsmen…. Guilt robbed him of his appetite.
Lord, how am I going to keep up this charade?
    “Some of the items on this list are going to be very important tome as I work on the final budget next week. I would appreciate it if you could get the information back to me by Monday morning.”
    Another server stopped at the table and asked if they needed refills of their mostly untouched beverages. George didn’t quite understand the smile on Anne’s face when she declined the offer. He found the constant interruptions somewhat annoying.
    As