course,” Cora Jane responded. “The entire wedding party was invited.”
“Of course they were,” Samantha said, shaking her head. “You and Emily don’t give up, do you?”
“I have no idea what you mean,” Cora Jane insisted, trying out the innocent look she’d had years to practice, but still hadn’t exactly perfected. Judging from Samantha’s skeptical reaction, it wasn’t terribly effective this time, either.
“Do you have any idea how much you and Emily are humiliating me?” Samantha asked. “Ethan’s going to get the idea that I’m desperate or something.”
“Oh, honey bun, there’s no chance of that,” Cora Jane assured her. “Any man looking at you is only going to wonder why no one has had the sense to snap you up. You’re beautiful and, even more important, you have this huge heart. You’re smart and talented and quick-witted. Any man would be lucky to have a chance with you. And a smart man wouldn’t blow that chance.”
Samantha looked pained by the recitation of her attributes, but by the end she was grinning. “So you’re saying if Ethan doesn’t take you up on this golden opportunity you’re throwing his way, then he’s a dolt?”
Cora Jane chuckled. “Well, I might have put it a bit more diplomatically, but yes, that’s exactly what I’d conclude. Just so you know, though, I think Ethan is an awfully smart man. Now go inside and put on something pretty.”
Samantha looked down at her capris and the colorful matching blouse that even Cora Jane recognized as coming from a famed New York designer’s summer collection. She’d seen an ad for it in Vogue or one of those other fashion magazines that the girls had left lying around the house.
“Prettier than this?” Samantha inquired doubtfully.
“I’m thinking a sundress,” Cora Jane said. “One that shows a little cleavage.”
“Grandmother!”
Cora Jane wasn’t bothered by the dismay she heard in Samantha’s voice. She merely held her gaze. “Can you think of a better way to let a man know what he’s missing?”
This time Samantha groaned, but she turned and headed for the house. Of course, it was anybody’s guess if she’d come back wearing that sundress Cora Jane had recommended or something that covered her from head to toe. The girl did have a perverse streak that kicked in when she’d been pushed too far. Cora Jane realized that she might have tiptoed a little too close to that particular boundary, but she still had high hopes that the evening would end with one more breach in those walls of defenses those two young people had around their hearts.
5
“Would you get a move on?” Boone called out as he paced Ethan’s living room. “We’re going to be late. If we are, Emily will have a cow.”
“You could go on without me,” Ethan called back. “I’m perfectly capable of driving myself over to Cora Jane’s.”
“But the question is, will you?” Boone replied. “I’ve been getting the distinct sense that you’re not exactly getting with the program. One of my assignments for tonight is to make sure you show up and play nice.”
Ethan walked out of his bedroom, a scowl firmly in place. “If, by that, you mean that I haven’t tumbled straight into bed with the maid of honor, then you’re right. I’m not getting with the program. Has it occurred to any of you that Samantha is no happier about this matchmaking scheme than I am? You’re humiliating her.”
For just an instant, Boone looked nonplused. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. My God, man, you’re all but offering her up like a sacrifice in some ancient ritual. I’m surprised she hasn’t packed her bags and flown back to New York.”
“She’d never do that to Emily,” Boone said, though he looked vaguely shaken by Ethan’s assessment. “At least I don’t think she would.”
“You said there was some sort of issue between the two of them. Can you see any possible way that this is helping, rather than making things worse? How would you feel if I kept pushing somebody on you after you’d declared you had no interest?”
Ethan realized he’d taken the debate one step too far when amusement sparkled in Boone’s eyes.
“You did your share of pushing when Emily and I were trying to put things back together and you thought we were getting offtrack.”
“Entirely different,” Ethan claimed. “You were meant to be together. That much was clear even to someone as antiromance as I am.”
“And you and Samantha aren’t meant to be?”
“We aren’t,” Ethan said adamantly. “As my friend, you certainly are well aware of my stance on relationships and love. I’m a nonbeliever.”
“You’re just scared,” Boone countered.
Ethan gave him a scowl that should have shaken him to his core.
Instead, Boone looked amused. “Okay, let’s say you’re not terrified of taking a risk. What makes you think you know what she’s thinking? Exactly how much time have you spent with her?”
“Come on, Boone. It’s plain as day. We couldn’t be any more different. She’s a glamorous actress living in New York. I’m a small-town, one-legged doctor,” he said with brutal honesty. “It just doesn’t compute.”
The expression in Boone’s eyes turned surprisingly angry. “If I ever hear you sell yourself short like that again, I swear I will knock you off that good leg of yours and pummel some sense into you.”
“Just being realistic,” Ethan said, though he was admittedly a little touched by Boone’s quick and vehement defense. For a guy who’d once looked up at Ethan as if he were some sort of hero, Boone didn’t seem the least bit shy about calling it as he saw it now. He was the kind of friend a man needed, even if Ethan wondered whether or not he deserved it.
“Nonsense,” Boone declared. “Give the woman a chance. That’s all any of us are asking. What’s the worst-case scenario? You’ll have spent a couple of weeks in the company of a very sexy woman. No harm, no foul.”
Since a similar thought had crossed Ethan’s mind, he could hardly muster a believable argument against the casual interlude Boone was describing. It just felt wrong, though. Someone was bound to get hurt. No matter how innocently things started, in his experience someone always got hurt.
“And if one of us winds up getting hurt?” he asked Boone. “Are you going to carve out my heart if it’s Samantha who gets burned?”
“I’m pretty sure Samantha can take care of herself.” Boone leveled a curious look at him. “Are you thinking that could happen to you, though? Are you more attracted to Samantha than I realized?”
“Absolutely not,” Ethan said, probably a little too forcefully. “I’m just saying it could happen to either one of us. Do you and Emily and Cora Jane and whoever else is involved in this romantic conspiracy want to take responsibility for that? Because if you push and things blow up, that’s on you, too.”
