A Ring For Christmas: A Bride by Christmas / Christmas Lullaby / Mistletoe Manoeuvres

“She’s worried about me, Patty,” Maggie said quietly. “She’s afraid that I’ll spend all these weeks planning my dream wedding and then fall apart when I have to face the reality of it being for someone else.”

She sighed. “In fact, she’s concerned about me being a wedding coordinator in the first place. She thinks it was a stupid business for me to start considering I’ll never have a wedding of my own. She’s afraid I’ll spend my life being so sad because I’ll be constantly reminded that…Oh, you know.”

“What I know,” Patty said, shaking her head, “is you won’t budge on the subject of your not getting married, and your mom and Janet—and even your brother, for all I know—are on the same wavelength about it. I’m totally outnumbered when it comes to convincing you otherwise.”

“So don’t try. Heavens, look at this picture in this magazine. The bridal bouquet has green and red candles in it and they’re lit, for heaven’s sake.”

“It boggles the mind,” Patty said, laughing. “Talk about being hot. Which brings me back to the subject of Luke St. John. You said he’s really nice, not snooty even though he’s as rich as Midas?”

“Yes.” Maggie nodded. “He’s very, very nice.”

“And he has a sense of humor and a good relationship with his family and dances like a dream and looks as good in jeans as he does in a tux and…Maggie, you’d better be very careful during the weeks ahead. You’re going to be seeing a lot of Luke because of this wedding. Luke sounds like he’s capable of smashing hearts to smithereens. I don’t want one of those hearts to be yours.”

“Believe me, I don’t either,” Maggie said. “I’m very aware of Luke’s…attributes, shall we say. But fear not, because I’m on red alert, the walls are up, the door is barred. There’s not a chance on earth that I’ll fall head over heels in love with Mr. Luke St. John. Nope. That isn’t going to happen.”

“And now,” Luke said, “I have to make certain that Maggie falls head over heels in love with me.”

Mason St. John chuckled. “That’s definitely top of the list considering you want to marry Maggie Jenkins, have a slew of little St. Johns, then grow old and creaky together.”

“Right,” Luke said, then cut a chunk out of the enormous steak on the plate in front of him.

Father and son were dining at Mason’s club, which he had yet to convince Luke to join. Luke had made it clear several years before that he’d consider a membership once the private establishment got with the program and allowed women to join.

“I must say, Luke,” Mason said after consuming several forkfuls of succulent roast beef, “that I’m impressed with this plan you’ve come up with. It’s brilliant. And I’m more than happy to cover things for you at the office as this scheme unfolds.”

“I appreciate that, Dad. Remember, not a word of this to Mom. She couldn’t keep a secret if her life depended on it, plus she’d be calling me constantly with advice about how to win Maggie’s heart.”

“That she would, bless her,” Mason said, smiling. “I just wish you’d…Oh, Lord.” His shoulders started shaking with laughter as he pressed his napkin to his lips.

Luke frowned. “Don’t go there. I thought you were going to get us kicked out of here earlier because you were laughing so loud. Just don’t think about it.”

“I’m trying not to, but…Clyde and Precious?”

“I forgot to think of names for my fictitious bride and groom before I went to see Maggie. I was under pressure. I realize they’re grim but…” Luke shrugged.

“What’s Clyde’s last name?” Mason said. “Is he a St. John? Clyde St. John.” He started laughing again. “I can’t handle that.”

“Okay, okay. Knock it off. All right, let’s see. Clyde’s mother is your sister and she married…Who did she marry?”

“John Smith.”

“That’s really original,” Luke said, rolling his eyes heavenward. “All right. Whatever. Clyde Smith is going to marry Precious, um…Peterson.”

“Precious Peterson?” Mason said with a hoot of merriment that drew several frowns from other diners. “Sorry. So this extravaganza is the Peterson-Smith wedding. Got it. Having it during the Christmas holidays is a nice touch. Very romantic.” He took a sip of wine. “What happens next?”

“I wait for Maggie to make some decisions and contact me so I can pass on the data to Precious and Clyde. Well, Precious at least. Clyde will go along with things just like any other groom would. Your favorite nephew is a laid-back, go-with-the-flow guy.”

“Ah,” Mason said, nodding.

“I have to concentrate on Maggie, chip away at those barriers of hers, get her to allow herself to fall in love with me.”

“Ah.”

“There’s a special…something…already happening between Maggie and me, Dad, I know there is. It’s rare, important, real. You should have seen her face when she thought I wanted her to plan my wedding to some other woman. She tried to hide it, but she was upset, I know she was. When I finally told her that it was cousin Clyde’s wedding, she just lit up. She feels something for me, she cares. I have to nurture that, make it grow, get her to trust me, come to love me as I love her, then agree to be my wife for all time.”

“Ah.”

Luke glared at his father. “Can’t you say anything else besides ‘ah’? A little advice would be helpful here, you know.”

Mason set his fork and knife on the edge of his plate, folded his arms over his chest and looked at his son.

“Love is very complicated,” Mason said quietly. “But at the same time it’s very simple.” He shook his head. “It’s hard to explain. You construct a sturdy foundation together and build on that as the years go by. One of the bricks in that foundation, Luke, is honesty. Your plan to win Maggie’s heart is based on duplicity.”

“But—”

“I know, I know,” Mason said, raising one hand. “You’re convinced that if you try to court Maggie, she’ll refuse to see you, won’t run the risk of finding herself in a serious relationship. I understand the need for this plan you’ve come up with. The thing is, will Maggie understand when she knows the truth? Women don’t like to be duped. This whole thing could backfire on you.”

“You’re thoroughly depressing me,” Luke said, leaning back in his chair.

“Well, in all fairness, I don’t see where you have any choice but to do it this way,” Mason continued. “The usual wine-and-dine scenario is not going to work with your young lady, so you’ve been forced to come up with an alternative approach. A very clever one, I might add.”

He chuckled. “Except for the names! I want you to be happy, Luke. I hope your dream for a life with Maggie becomes your reality, I really do.”

“Thanks, Dad. This plan will work. It has to. A future without Maggie is not something I’m willing to accept. I’m going to win the heart, the love, of Maggie Jenkins.”

At one o’clock the next afternoon Maggie entered a popular downtown restaurant and immediately scooted into the ladies’ room. She stood in front of the long mirror above the half dozen sinks and glared at her reflection.

She was nervous, she thought, and furious at herself because she was. Luke had called her early that morning and asked if it would be too much trouble for her to meet him for lunch.

He was waiting for a scheduled long-distance call regarding a case he was about to wrap up and couldn’t leave the office to come to Roses and Wishes. The afternoon was jam-packed with bringing his father up to date on Luke’s ongoing cases.

He’d spoken with Clyde and Precious, Luke had told her, and wanted to pass on the information he had and blah, blah, blah.

“Oh, sure,” Maggie said, still glowering at her image. “Lunch? Do lunch? No problem.”

Right, she thought dismally. No problem, except for the fact that she was a nervous wreck. That was so dumb. Dumber than dumb. Luke was a client of hers, of Roses and Wishes, nothing more. They were working together to coordinate the wedding of his cousin Clyde and the bride-to-be Precious. The end.

The really humiliating part was that she knew why she was shaky about seeing Luke. Last night she’d had the most sensuous dream imaginable about the two of them. Goodness. She’d wakened in the night all…all hot and bothered, and try as she may she couldn’t erase the pictures in her mind of a naked Luke reaching for a naked her, taking her into his naked arms and…

“Stop it.” Maggie spun around and stomped out of the ladies’ room. “You are just so ridiculous.”

She gave her name to the hostess and was immediately shown to a table at the far end of the large room. Luke stood as he saw her coming.

Thank the Lord, Maggie thought giddily, he has his clothes on. Nice suit. Very lawyer-looking suit. Did she look frumpy in white slacks and a flowered blouse? She should have worn a skirt or dress but hadn’t wanted to arrive there with naked legs and…Oh, God, she was totally losing it.

“Hello, Maggie,” Luke said, smiling, when she reached the table. “It’s nice to see you.”

Maggie’s eyes widened. “See me?” She shook her head slightly and slid onto her chair. “Yes, of course, nice to see me. It’s nice to…see you, too, Luke. I really like that suit you’re wearing. Excellent suit. I’m so glad you’re wearing that suit.”