“That’s fine, too.” She opened the refrigerator for a bottle of water, then sighed when she turned back to see Laurel staring at her.“No, he hasn’t mentioned the fact that I told him I loved him, and neither have I. And no, he hasn’t reciprocated. I’m fine with that.”

“Liar.”

“I’m trying to be fine with that, and mostly succeeding. Plus there’s too much to do to think about it.” She smoothed at the hair she’d coiled into a sleek twist for the rehearsal party. “We’re in a good place, and that’s ... fine. Don’t make me say fine again. Let’s just focus on Mac and Carter.”

“Okay.Where is the blushing bride?”

“Taking a bath to soothe her nerves. She needs to start getting dressed,” Parker realized as she checked her watch. “We’re going to start in—”

“Parker, relax. We’re having the rehearsal dinner here.You can ease up on the timetable, at least a little. Does she know Linda’s not coming tonight?”

“Yes.And I think she’s relieved.We talked about tomorrow, and she’s glad her mother’s coming to the wedding. So, tomorrow’s soon enough for Linda.”

“What about—” Laurel broke off as Malcolm came in.“I wear a seven medium, just like Parker. Just in case.”

“I only buy shoes for women I’m sleeping with.” He grabbed a cookie from the plate on the counter. “If I slept with you, Del would get pissed off.”

“He’s so narrow-minded.”

“Did you—”

“Picked up and delivered to Carter’s, as instructed.”

The weight on Parker’s shoulder slipped off. “Okay. Thank you. Thank you.” She took his face, kissed him.

“He’s here.” Laurel stepped away from the cake. “You pulled it off.”

With a hand on her hip, Parker angled into a pose. “You doubted me?”

“I’m so ashamed. You can be Super-Parker. I need to go change my shoes, which unfortunately aren’t those,” she said with another envious glance at Parker’s feet.“Freshen my makeup, and so on. I’ll get Mac moving if she’s not.You did good, Parker.” She grabbed Parker, kissed her hard on the mouth.

“Could you do that again?” Mal asked. “In slow motion?”

“Perv.” But tears sparkled in Laurel’s eyes as she turned and laid one on him.“She said again and again it didn’t matter, but it did.” She sniffled, smiled at Parker. “We know it did. Back in fifteen.”

“Everyone’s getting the crying out of the way tonight.”

“Thank God. I’m having a hard time holding it in.”

“Funny guy.” She drilled a finger in his belly.“I need to check on the caterers, and the Parlor, and the Grand Hall, and—”

He grabbed another cookie and went with her.

THERE WAS ALWAYS A BUZZ IN THE AIR BEFORE AN EVENT, MAL thought, but not like this buzz.This one almost shocked the skin. The photographer Mac had trusted for her wedding already worked with her assistant, getting candids as Carter’s family came in and the noise level rose.

He watched Parker move among them, offering drinks, crouching down to talk to the kids. In short order the big foyer, the Parlor vibrated with people and movement. Flowers—he imagined they were a mild prelude to tomorrow’s—perfumed the air.

He tried the champagne and glanced over as Parker talked with his airport pickup.As he started toward them, Mac came racing down the staircase.

“I’m not late!” She laughed, searched Carter out of the crowd. Her smile only beamed brighter. “I just wanted to—”

Malcolm saw her face change, and for a moment the utter shock on it made him wonder if Parker had made a mistake.

Then her eyes welled. “Dad?”

Geoffrey Elliot, handsome, charming, and absent for most of his daughter’s life, stepped forward, opened his arms. “Baby.”

She ran into them, pressed her face to his shoulder.“I thought you couldn’t make it.”

“As if I’d miss my baby girl’s wedding.” He drew her back, kissed her on both damp cheeks. “Aren’t you a pretty picture?”

“Dad.” She laid her head on his shoulder, found Parker, blinked her eyes clear. She mouthed thank you.

No mistake, Malcolm thought, and snagging a second glass of champagne, took it to her. “Nice work, Legs.”

She took the champagne and pulled a tissue out of her pocket to dry her own eyes. “It’s what I do.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

IT SNOWED.AND IT WAS FLUFFY AND BEAUTIFUL. BY NOON PARKER had the parking lot and walkways cleared, and the bride was stretched out upstairs, enjoying the hot stone massage her friends had given her as a wedding-day gift.

The entrance and the staircase both glittered and gleamed with the work Emma and her team had completed. Massive pillar candles flanked the wide doorway of the Grand Hall in groups of three, with masses and masses of richly hued flowers at their creamy white bases.

At dusk, miles of lights strung on the exterior of the house and on the small forest of miniature pines lining the walk in their silver pots would flicker and glow. Candles would shine in every window where wreaths of flowers hung, trailing long white ribbons.

The house, Parker thought as she circled it and checked every detail, was a celebration that would sparkle and shimmer through the night.

Emma had outdone herself, and with the added bonus of snow, guests would wander through that winter wonderland, then step through the garland-draped portico where bride-white poinsettias stacked into fanciful trees to flank the staircase.

She ran the morning schedule like a seasoned general preparing for the most important campaign of her career, zipping from room to room, floor to floor, in running shoes, praising, pep-talking, issuing orders.

“You’re going to wear yourself out before this gets started.” Del stopped her forward motion with his hands on her shoulders. “Take a breath. I thought Monica from the bridal shop was subbing for you today.”

“She and Susan will be here in a half hour. What’s Carter’s status?”

“A-okay, Captain.”

“Seriously, Del, does he need anything? If you guys stayed up half the night boozing and playing poker—”

“We had him tucked into bed by twelve thirty, as instructed. The rest of us stayed up boozing and playing poker.”