Read Online Wind Chime Wedding (A Wind Chime Novel Book 2) by Sophie Moss - Free Book Online
Authors: Sophie Moss
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on the mystery woman he’d brought. He might as well put a stop to the charade before his stepmother got her hopes up any higher. “Becca and I met last fall on my first trip down to Heron Island. I invited her tonight so she could talk to Dad about her school. We’re friends, Natalie. That’s all.”
Natalie blinked. “Friends?”
“ Just friends.”
“Well,” Natalie said, undeterred, “your father and I were friends for years before…”
Colin reached for Becca’s left hand, lifting it up so his stepmother could see her engagement ring.
Natalie trailed off, staring down at the tear-shaped diamond. “You’re…engaged.”
Becca nodded, confusion clouding her eyes as she looked back and forth between them. “I’m getting married in a few weeks…at the inn where Colin’s opening the veterans’ center.”
“Oh.”
Natalie looked so crestfallen, Colin couldn’t help feeling a prick of guilt. He knew his stepmother meant well. She might have only been married to his father for the past three years, but she’d been more of a mother to him than his own ever had.
Natalie was the one who had come to sit with him every day when he’d been recovering at Walter Reed last year. Natalie was the one who had cared for him when he’d been discharged from the hospital and he’d spent the first few weeks stumbling around the house on his new prosthesis, ready to take out his anger on anyone who came near him.
Natalie was the one who had driven him to his physical therapy appointments those first few months, bringing him ice packs and heating pads when she’d picked him up, never saying a word as he sat in miserable silence beside her, wallowing in his own self-pity. There were very few people who had seen him like that.
He didn’t care to remember the person he’d been back then.
But she had never once treated him like a victim. She had never made him feel like there was anything wrong with him that he couldn’t overcome. She had waited patiently for him to heal and then she’d sat him down and told him, in no uncertain terms, that it was time for him to find a nice woman to marry and settle down.
Natalie had never had any children of her own. All she wanted now was a few grandchildren to spoil and a daughter-in-law to pamper.
He knew it wasn’t that much to ask.
But the thought of making that kind of commitment again, only to have it thrown back in his face…
He didn’t know if he could take that kind of rejection a second time.
He leaned down, giving Natalie a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’m sorry to disappoint you.”
“That’s okay,” Natalie said, her tone wistful as she waved him toward the bar. “Go do what you need to do. I’ll introduce Becca around to some of our friends.”
He started to turn, and it was only then that he realized he was still holding her hand.
Becca must have realized it at the same time, because he heard her sharp intake of breath as she jerked her hand free.
What the hell?
Her fingers darted up to the charm on her necklace, moving it back and forth on the chain.
The need to reach for her again, to feel her soft hand tucked back in his, whipped through him fast and hard. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he turned. A dozen questions fired off in his mind all at once, but he didn’t have time to answer any of them because, three steps later, he came face-to-face with his father’s campaign manager.
Glenn Davis, a short, wiry man in his mid-fifties, gestured toward a quiet corner of the room. “We need to talk.”
“Now?”
Glenn nodded.
Reigning in his irritation because his father’s campaign manager often thought the world was coming to an end when it wasn’t, Colin followed him through the groups of laughing, chattering people to the edge of the room. “What is it?”
“There’s been a complication.”
Tell me about it, Colin thought as another waiter carrying a tray of drinks appeared by his side. He snagged a pint of stout off the
Natalie blinked. “Friends?”
“ Just friends.”
“Well,” Natalie said, undeterred, “your father and I were friends for years before…”
Colin reached for Becca’s left hand, lifting it up so his stepmother could see her engagement ring.
Natalie trailed off, staring down at the tear-shaped diamond. “You’re…engaged.”
Becca nodded, confusion clouding her eyes as she looked back and forth between them. “I’m getting married in a few weeks…at the inn where Colin’s opening the veterans’ center.”
“Oh.”
Natalie looked so crestfallen, Colin couldn’t help feeling a prick of guilt. He knew his stepmother meant well. She might have only been married to his father for the past three years, but she’d been more of a mother to him than his own ever had.
Natalie was the one who had come to sit with him every day when he’d been recovering at Walter Reed last year. Natalie was the one who had cared for him when he’d been discharged from the hospital and he’d spent the first few weeks stumbling around the house on his new prosthesis, ready to take out his anger on anyone who came near him.
Natalie was the one who had driven him to his physical therapy appointments those first few months, bringing him ice packs and heating pads when she’d picked him up, never saying a word as he sat in miserable silence beside her, wallowing in his own self-pity. There were very few people who had seen him like that.
He didn’t care to remember the person he’d been back then.
But she had never once treated him like a victim. She had never made him feel like there was anything wrong with him that he couldn’t overcome. She had waited patiently for him to heal and then she’d sat him down and told him, in no uncertain terms, that it was time for him to find a nice woman to marry and settle down.
Natalie had never had any children of her own. All she wanted now was a few grandchildren to spoil and a daughter-in-law to pamper.
He knew it wasn’t that much to ask.
But the thought of making that kind of commitment again, only to have it thrown back in his face…
He didn’t know if he could take that kind of rejection a second time.
He leaned down, giving Natalie a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’m sorry to disappoint you.”
“That’s okay,” Natalie said, her tone wistful as she waved him toward the bar. “Go do what you need to do. I’ll introduce Becca around to some of our friends.”
He started to turn, and it was only then that he realized he was still holding her hand.
Becca must have realized it at the same time, because he heard her sharp intake of breath as she jerked her hand free.
What the hell?
Her fingers darted up to the charm on her necklace, moving it back and forth on the chain.
The need to reach for her again, to feel her soft hand tucked back in his, whipped through him fast and hard. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he turned. A dozen questions fired off in his mind all at once, but he didn’t have time to answer any of them because, three steps later, he came face-to-face with his father’s campaign manager.
Glenn Davis, a short, wiry man in his mid-fifties, gestured toward a quiet corner of the room. “We need to talk.”
“Now?”
Glenn nodded.
Reigning in his irritation because his father’s campaign manager often thought the world was coming to an end when it wasn’t, Colin followed him through the groups of laughing, chattering people to the edge of the room. “What is it?”
“There’s been a complication.”
Tell me about it, Colin thought as another waiter carrying a tray of drinks appeared by his side. He snagged a pint of stout off the
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