No Groom Like Him

“No problem.”

His opinion, maybe, not hers. She’d need to arrange for a rental. Driving was the only way to get around this town. No matter what kind of wedding Riley wanted, there would be running around to pull everything together.

Good, Lily’s head was back on business, and she was starting to wrap her brain around things. She walked beside Max as he wheeled the trolley toward the terminal entrance. She darted ahead to grab the door, remembering the restored Karmann Ghia he’d owned once upon a time. Hopefully whatever he drove today had a bit more room. She’d packed for a month-long trip.

Max led her to a late-model SUV parked directly in front. He clicked open the hatch to reveal a cluttered space. Bed pillows in bright pink pillowcases. A Hello Kitty blanket hanging over the backseat. A Dora the Explorer backpack. A rhinestone slipper that could have been Cinderella’s.

His daughter’s things.

The sight of his large, competent hands shoving aside pink blankets and frilly pillows to make room for her luggage struck Lily like a fist in the gut.

This was reality. The reality that he’d lost his wife, the woman he’d loved. Lily swallowed around the lump in her throat. She’d been running, working, running. The last time she’d been home had been for another funeral. For her funny, kindhearted, always-crusading-for-lost-causes twin brother.

Her better half, as he’d always said.

Both she and Max had lost people they’d loved and life would never be the same again.

CHAPTER TWO

“LISTEN, MAX.” Lily placed a hand on his sleeve, waiting until he looked down with a gaze that suddenly felt unfamiliar. “I haven’t seen you since Felicia and your son. I never had the chance to tell you how sorry I was.”

His lips compressed, his expression so very resigned. He knew this drill. “You sent your regrets.”

“I know. Flowers and Mass cards. You replied with a thank-you. It’s not the same as telling you. Mom and Joey keep me up on how you and Madeleine are doing. I just wanted you to know.”

He didn’t say another word, but his chiseled jaw tightened as he packed her bags into the vehicle. It was as if he’d drawn an invisible shield around him that warned her to back off. There was something so solitary about this Max, so dramatically different than the Max of her memory.

That Max used to show up at her family’s totally average split-level house for any excuse under the sun, from meals to cards to football to hanging out with her brother Joey. That Max also had a cook on staff and lived in a grand historic home overlooking the Hudson that had been in his family for generations and had boasted neighbors such as the Roosevelts and Vanderbilts.

Despite the rose-colored glasses of her teenage crush, Lily had never understood him or how he could be so enamored of her family. As wonderful as they were, they didn’t exist in the same realm as the Downeys. The family business was a hardware store in the Valley, while the Downeys had so many business interests she couldn’t have counted them on two hands.

The differences in him were accounted for by tragedy. That hurt. She hated seeing how life had battered around the kind, often-charming guy who had evoked loyalty and devotion so deep down inside her.

Had inspired her wildest fantasies.

Despite her annoyance with him, she wanted him to know that her expression of sorrow was more than words. But she didn’t want to remind him of painful memories and changed the subject.

“Mom says Madeleine started kindergarten last month,” she said. “How’s that going? Does she like school?”

Lily knew she’d struck gold before Max turned over the ignition. Everything about him relaxed, and she recognized him again, could even see a hint of a dimple in his animated expression.

“She loves it. Can’t wait to get out the door in the morning. She was student of the week the very first week.”

“That’s wonderful. You must be very proud. I hope she stays excited straight through college.”

“Wouldn’t that be nice?” He gave a laugh. “I suppose I’ll take whatever I can get. I had no clue what to expect, and Riley was killing me with her horror stories.”

Lily’s sister-in-law had worked for Max since an internship at Vassar College. Max had actually been the one to send Riley on assignment to cover the concert where she’d met Mike. Riley still worked for Max, only as a managing editor now, which had more predictable hours for a widow with twins.

A widow who would soon be a bride again.

“I’m sure Madeleine is a total doll,” Lily said. “Not like Camille and Jake. Twins can be a handful on a good day.”

“As you would know firsthand.”

“True, true.” Only she and Mike would never get into trouble together again. “But I don’t remember Mike giving Mom a hard time about going to school the way Jake gave Riley. Of course, I was an angel.”

Max snorted.

“Seriously, it must be a boy thing. You have nothing to worry about.”

Max sliced his gaze her way, clearly gauging whether or not she was teasing him.

Lily kept a straight face, determined to keep things light. For a long few moments, they sat in silence as Max drove toward the Valley. There were houses where forested hills had been. There had been road expansions. There was even a strip plaza filled with businesses around the corner from her old elementary school. “I can’t believe how much this place has grown since I’ve been home. It hasn’t been all that long.”

“Four years.”

“I’ve been a topic at the dinner table.” Not a question.

Max nodded, clearly knowing better than to offer more information.

“All right, be like that. Let me ask you, though—who called me the prodigal?”

“I did.” She got the sense he was picking his way through a mine field. “Seemed to fit.”

“How’s that?”

He raised his hands against the steering wheel, as much of a conciliatory gesture as he could make while still driving. “Not looking to weigh in with an opinion. It just seemed to work because you’ve been away awhile.”

Lily might accept that at face value, but the deeper implications bothered her.

Was PMS or exhaustion making her touchy today? Or was it anxiety about returning home for the first time since Mike? Or was Max unsettling her because he’d blindsided her at the press conference and brought up that stupidity with the blog? Or worse still, was she annoyed with herself because she couldn’t forget her crush on him?

Lily didn’t know. She hadn’t intended to rise to the bait, either, but…the years had only defined Max’s chiseled cheekbones. And his haunted eyes had an appeal all their own. “Okay, Max. I’m sensing something here. Are you annoyed I didn’t agree to contract your brother-in-law’s wedding when you put me on the spot? And while we’re at it let me ask if there was any point to bringing up that ridiculous blog.”

He had the audacity to look surprised. “I thought the point of a press conference was to give the media something to write about. Raymond’s campaign and that controversial blog will give you tons of mileage. I thought I was doing you a favor.”

“I’d prefer not to give the blogger any attention.”

“A platform for someone with an ax to grind?”

“Possibly. But if that’s the case, I can’t imagine whom.”

“Emmelina seems pretty upset.”

“Emmelina would love someone to blame. She trashed her career for a man who cheated on his wife and left her at the altar. But she hasn’t mentioned me because she knows better. Mara’amu wasn’t responsible. Had the winds been up, I would have moved the ceremony indoors.”

“What happened then?”