Happily Never After

Happily Never After
Kathleen O'Brien

Members of the wedding party are starting to die.No one could believe that Thomas Beckham was the kind of man to leave a woman at the altar, but he couldn't marry his bride-to-be. Not after what he'd seen her do. His only choice was to leave and never look back–and to keep to himself everything he'd witnessed.After the wedding-that-wasn't, everyone, including Kelly Ralston, went on to other things. Or so it had always seemed. But ten years later, Kelly finds herself attending the funeral of another one of the bridesmaids–the third member of the wedding party to meet a tragic death. Kelly can't help but wonder if the deaths are a coincidence. Or are they linked? If so, who will be targeted next?Thomas Beckham may be her only chance to find the killer. Before the killer finds her…

“Tom? Are you there? It’s Kelly.”

“Yes,” he said. “I’m here. What’s wrong?”

Tom understood that something must have happened. Something bad. Kelly hadn’t called him in ten years, though at first he had deluded himself that she might.

“I don’t know if you heard about Lillith Griggs. I mean, she became Lillith Griggs—you knew she and Jacob got married, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I knew that.” He and Jacob still kept in touch, still wrote now and then, though of course, Jacob didn’t admit that to Lillith, who had, like Kelly, been one of Sophie’s bridesmaids and therefore subscribed to the official position that Tom Beckham was scum. “What about Lillith?”

“She was killed in a car accident. Three days ago.”

Tom hadn’t known Lillith well, but she’d always seemed much more…alive than most people. She was a beauty, a brain and a class clown all in one. What kind of accident had been potent enough to extinguish all that?

“I’m sorry to hear that. How is Jacob?”

“He’s a mess,” Kelly said. “That’s why I’m calling. The funeral is tomorrow and he hopes you can come. He needs a friend…and you seem to be the one he wants.”

It was subtle but he could hear how inexplicable she found that fact to be. “Okay,” he said.

“You’ll come?” She must have been expecting an argument.

“Yes. Tell him I’ll be there. What time is the funeral?”

“One. But Tom, if I tell him you’re coming, and then you…”

“Kelly, I’m telling you I will be there. Have I ever lied to you?”

“No,” she said slowly. “Not to me.”

Happily Never After

Kathleen O’Brien

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

Dear Reader,

Sometimes, true love makes an appearance at the worst possible moment. When you’re too young, when you’re living on another continent, when you’re on opposite sides of a stormy issue. Or when you’re about to marry her best friend.

For Tom Beckham, the hero of Happily Never After, falling in love with Kelly was the dumbest thing he could do. Well, maybe the second-dumbest. The first was getting engaged to beautiful but troubled heiress Sophie Mellon.

The three glamorous Mellon siblings have always been clouded in a miasma of rumors. Their neighbors hear things they can’t quite understand—and don’t dare to repeat. But Tom, a young, ambitious lawyer, didn’t care. Sophie’s good looks and impressive mansion could help his career, and that was all that mattered.

Until he fell in love with her bridesmaid. Until ugly rumors became hideous truth. Until he left Sophie at the church, dressed in antique lace, her beautiful face streaming with tears.

He spent ten years trying to forget Kelly—and the terrible truth about the woman he almost married. But now members of the wedding party are starting to die. He’ll have to face all his old demons—including his love for Kelly—if he’s going to survive.

I have a special fondness for the “reunion” romance. I adore the thought that, like water seeking an outlet, true love can trickle through the years, overcoming the most daunting barriers, navigating the most amazing bends and turns. And then, somehow, find its way safely home. I hope you enjoy watching Tom and Kelly earn their second chance.

My next Harlequin Signature Select book, Quiet as the Grave, will also feature a couple who must endure years of separation. Thanks to my Firefly Glen readers who wrote asking for Mike and Suzie’s story, these two fascinating characters will finally find out whether puppy love has the strength to survive in the real—and very dangerous—adult world.

I love to hear from readers! Please visit my Web site at www.KathleenOBrien.net, or write me at P.O. Box 947633, Maitland, FL 32794.

Warmly,

Kathleen O’Brien

Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN