Read Online The Bride's Curse by Glenys O'Connell - Free Book Online Page B

let you buy the dress back. She doesn’t look the type to give up something she wants gracefully.”
    Noelia had hit the problem on the head. “I don’t even want to ask her until I’m sure what’s happening. I need to find out who the dress belonged to and why … well, why it seems to have this weird ability to screw up other brides’ wedding plans. I mean, you’d think a wedding gown would carry happy vibes, wouldn’t you?”
    “If Brett thinks it belongs to his aunt, can’t you just outright ask him who she is and why the dress is, well, cursed?”
    Kelly chewed her bottom lip, a habit she had when trying to figure something out. Noelia waited patiently for an explanation. “If I ask Brett, first it means I think I might have his dress—and I haven’t told him that for sure yet—but also he’s very protective of his aunt. She’s been ill. More to the point, I think he’d either go ballistic if I asked if she had cursed the gown … ”
    “ … or he might think you’re a nut job for even suggesting such a thing.” Noelia smiled triumphantly. “You really do like this guy, don’t you? Not that I can blame you. He’s definitely eye candy.”
    “Noelia!”
    “What? I might be … of a certain age, but I still know an attractive man when I see one … like now. Anyhow, I think I might have something that could help … ” Noelia paused and then went on. “I was doing a bit of cleaning up at the store, and there’s something I need to show you, back at the shop.”
    “I hope it’s a bill from the furnace guy, saying he’s fixed that cold draft.”
    “Not exactly. In fact, he couldn’t find anything wrong.”
    Kelly struggled to her feet. “Whatever. I need to get into the store. If you’re not there and I’m not there … ”
    Noelia gave her a long look. “Maybe you should get more rest. The store is quite safe; it’s only eight-thirty and we don’t open for another hour.”
    Kelly gave her a sheepish grin. “It’s just that it’s already been a long day … ” She pushed herself to her feet, half afraid that the searing pain in her head would recur. To her vast relief, there was no trace of a headache and no dizziness. In fact, she felt just fine.
    And part of the reason for that feeling fine just walked back into the room. “Where do you think you’re going?” Brett asked, taking the opportunity to drop a quick kiss on her cheek and enjoying the surprised expression on her face.
    “To see a man who isn’t there. And a woman about a dress.”
    Small wonder Brett looked puzzled as he watched her make her way upstairs to dress for work.
    • • •
    He didn’t want to let her go alone. How could he explain to her what he’d felt as she’d gone deathly pale, screamed in pain, and crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut? The fear that he was going to lose her before even getting to properly know her had burned in his soul.
Dammit, she’s been through enough.
    He wanted to stay by her side and protect her, yet being protected by a man was probably the last thing she needed. Let’s face it, she’d shown herself capable of coping in more dangerous situations than he’d encountered in his own work, although there’d been a few close calls in some of the third world countries where he’d worked for the non-profit organization building schools and wells and whatever else was needed. The idea that this woman, so slender and feminine, had been in such danger had sent adrenaline racing through his system. But the rage quickly faded into admiration that Kelly was strong enough to face down insurgents and save the life of a fellow soldier. He could only imagine the courage that must have taken.
    There was so much more he wanted to ask her about: the aftereffects of her wound, the hallucinations, how it affected the rest of her life. Darn it, he didn’t even know if she had a significant other and here he was, daydreaming that they were so much more to each other than they could