A Proposal at the Wedding

Smiling a little, Bonnie said, “Yes, I think so.”

“Single?”

“Very.”

“You Carmichael siblings,” Nora said with a teasing shake of her head. “All work, all the time. At least Kinley is in a romantic relationship now, but I’m beginning to wonder if you and Logan are married to this inn.”

“Let’s just say we’ve made the inn our top priority for the past few years,” Bonnie replied lightly. “We’ll get around to other things, eventually.”

She glanced at her watch and then motioned toward the tables. “We should get started again. Who would like to volunteer to be my assistant during this next segment?”

“I volunteer Paul.” Nora shot a mischievous grin at her only male classmate. “I think he’d look especially cute in an apron.”

If Nora had hoped to see him embarrassed, her teasing gambit failed. Paul accepted the challenge with alacrity. “I’d be happy to help,” he said, moving around the table to stand beside Bonnie.

Bonnie donned a red-and-white gingham, bib-style apron embroidered on the center pocket with the Bride Mountain Inn logo. She tied a loose bow behind her back, then smiled as she picked up a matching apron for Paul. “This will be a little short for you, but it will keep you from splashing oil or pesto on your clothes.”

While the rest of the class grinned appreciatively, he bent to allow her to slip the top loop over his head. His face was very close to hers as she did so, and she couldn’t resist looking at his mouth. He had such a nice mouth. His eyes met hers for a moment and the glint in them made her wonder uncomfortably if he had read her thoughts. But then he straightened and turned so she could secure the ties behind his back. His strong, straight back. With a firm, tight…

Clearing her throat abruptly, she turned back toward the demo table. “Fresh herbs, whether grown in your own kitchen garden or purchased from the market, are a must for any home chef,” she began, greatly relieved that her voice sounded reasonably normal to her ears.

Now if only she could get through the rest of this demonstration without making an utter fool of herself. Considering how distracting she found her handsome assistant, it was going to take all her concentration.

Paul hoped the handouts Bonnie had provided contained all the information he needed to glean from her class. As hard as he’d tried to pay attention to her lectures and demonstrations, he couldn’t guarantee he’d remember half of what she’d said. Not because the class hadn’t been interesting or because Bonnie wasn’t knowledgeable about her subject. Every time he tried to pay close attention to her words, he found himself noticing how soft and musical her voice was, how much he enjoyed just listening to her. And every time he focused intently on her face, he got lost in admiring her big blue eyes, her porcelain skin, the tiny dimple just at the right corner of her mouth.

So, just how long had it been since he’d even been on a date with a woman? Obviously too long, judging by his strong and decidedly physical reactions to Bonnie Carmichael’s many charms. He’d had a brief association with Michaela Havers close to a year ago, but that had lasted only a few months. They’d had different interests, different friends, different priorities. Outside the bedroom—where they’d gotten along well enough—their interactions had become awkward and forced, until by mutual agreement they’d called it off. He’d seen her at a party recently. She’d been with a new guy and had looked very happy. They’d chatted amiably for a few minutes, parting as friendly acquaintances, if not actually friends.

He seemed to have a knack for remaining on cordial terms with his exes, he thought wryly. He didn’t want to analyze too deeply what that said about his potential for long-term commitment, something that seemed less likely with each passing year. Since Michaela, there’d been a few pleasant evenings out with other women, but nothing serious, no uncomfortable expectations on either part. But it had been a while since he’d even done that.

He wasn’t sure he had any more in common with Bonnie Carmichael than he’d had with Michaela, yet still he buzzed like a live wire every time he was close to her. He didn’t want either of them to get burned by that electricity, but from what she’d said to Nora, it didn’t sound as though Bonnie was looking for anything serious right now, either. Made sense. She was young, busy and ambitious with her plans for the inn. She had plenty of time to think about starting a family in a couple of years, perhaps, once she was satisfied the inn was secure. At this point, she was probably just wishing for a little fun away from work sometimes.

He liked having fun, too. And if he and Bonnie could share some good times together, without either of them thinking wedding bells and baby booties, all the better.

Somehow, despite his wandering thoughts about the teacher, he made it through the demonstration without chopping his fingers along with the basil, or blowing up the food processor, or breaking any of the delicate little jars she’d provided for the pesto samples. To good-natured applause from his classmates, he took a bow at the conclusion of the session.

Dismissed by Bonnie with a reminder of the farmers’ market visit next Tuesday, the women gathered their belongings and moved toward the doorway, still talking and laughing. A garrulous group, but affable, he thought. They’d made him feel quite welcome this evening.

The friendliest member of the class lingered when the others departed. Her long, lean body nicely displayed in a formfitting summer dress, Jennifer took her time storing her pesto, class folder and cell phone in her canvas tote bag. “Looks like we’re the last ones,” she said to Paul, as if that were a surprise to her. “We can walk out together to our cars.”

He supposed he should be flattered by her attention. She was certainly attractive, though he noticed only in an objective, rather detached manner. He didn’t mind her blatant flirting. He wasn’t the type of man who thought the male should always be the instigator. He actually enjoyed being asked out—unless he wasn’t interested, in which case he always felt bad about declining. He wasn’t interested now, so he hoped he was wrong about Jennifer’s intentions.

He glanced at tiny, curvy Bonnie, and his pulse rate jumped in a way it hadn’t when Jennifer smiled at him. There was the primary explanation for his lack of interest in Jennifer. His gaze met Bonnie’s, and he saw what he thought was understanding cross her face.

“Paul isn’t leaving just yet,” she said with a smile for him. “He and I need to discuss something about his daughter’s upcoming wedding.”

Jennifer blinked slowly a couple of times as she looked at Paul again. “Your, um, daughter?”

He nodded. “Cassie’s having her wedding here at the inn in just over a month. Bonnie’s been a tremendous help to us.”

“I see. Well, I’m sure that’s been keeping you very busy lately.”

Paul laughed lightly. “Cassie’s been keeping me busy for the past twenty-one years.”

“Do you have any other kids?”

“No, just the one. In just a few weeks, I’ll be a contented empty-nester.”

Jennifer looked somewhat speculatively from him to Bonnie and back again, then gave a little shrug. “I’m off, then. See you both next week. Great class tonight, Bonnie.”

“Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it.” Bonnie waited until Jennifer had let herself out before turning to Paul. “I hope I read the look you gave me correctly. You did want an excuse to stay a few minutes longer, didn’t you?”

“I did,” he confessed. Maybe he had misinterpreted, but he thought he’d seen the expression on Jennifer’s face before—recently divorced single mom looking to fill a position he had no interest in auditioning for. He hoped she’d gotten that message, if he’d been right about her initial interest in him. “She seems very nice, but…”

Bonnie merely nodded and started gathering the supplies from the class. He knew she was much too ethical to discuss one of her other students with him. To justify staying behind, he helped her clean up.

“How are the wedding arrangements coming along?” Bonnie asked as they carried the supplies into the kitchen. “Do you know of anything Cassie needs from us at the moment?”

He wasn’t sure if she was simply making small talk or keeping him honest about his excuse to stay a bit longer. He was amused by his suspicion that it was mostly the latter. “As far as I can determine, everything’s on track. She told me her dress is almost finished and all the decisions have been made and orders have been placed. Now it’s just a matter of getting through all the showers and parties scheduled for the next few weeks—and she still has four and a half weeks of school to complete.”

The last of those showers would actually take place here at the inn, he remembered. Cassie had mentioned that her bridesmaids had met with Bonnie and Kinley and booked the dining room for the first Sunday afternoon in August, a week and six days before the big event. Somewhat late for a shower, Holly had said with typical disapproval at the lack of efficient organization, but Cassie had only laughed and said her friends were all busy young professionals and students and they’d booked the only day they could manage. Besides, she had reminded her mom, she hadn’t exactly given everyone a lot of notice. Cassie and Mike hadn’t even chosen a wedding date until mid-May, only three months before the event.

“I’m so impressed that she’s actually making her own dress from her own design,” Bonnie marveled.

“Oh, yeah, she’s a whiz with a sewing machine.”

“Sounds like a busy time for her. How’s she holding up?”

He chuckled. “My Cassie is not easy to rattle. She goes with the flow. She’d consider a wedding disaster just another great story to tell her kids someday.”

“Oh, how I wish more brides had that attitude,” Bonnie said as she closed a cabinet door.

“I suppose you’ve seen your share of meltdowns.”

Her smile was wry. “A few, and I’m sure I’ll see many more in the future.”

She was optimistic about the long-term success of her establishment, he noted. An admirable attitude, reminding him how very attached she was to the inn. How deeply she’d planted her roots here.

“Cassie made all her friends promise that if they saw even a glimmer of ‘Bridezilla’ making an appearance in her, they were to give her a swift kick in the butt.”

Bonnie laughed softly. “That’s cute. So many brides act like one little glitch in their obsessively detailed plans will ruin their lives forever.”

She bit her lip suddenly, looking as though she wasn’t sure if she’d stepped over a professional line. “Of course, we do our best here to make sure all our events go as smoothly as our clients desire,” she assured him.

Trying to hide his amusement, he nodded solemnly. “Surely you don’t get blamed for things that are out of your control.”

Forgetting herself again, she rolled her eyes. “A bride once threatened to sue us because it rained on her wedding day.”

“You’re kidding.”