They’d spoken in funereal tones around her, told her she’d find another man and tried to set her up with any male able to suck in air and stand on two feet. But the whispers behind her back, the knowing, pity-filled glances had told her what they really believed—she was jinxed.
“What do you want me to do?” Grant asked, his voice soft and soothing in that irritating sympathetic tone she knew all too well.
“Can I get somone? Your bridesmaids?”
Annie shook her head, relieved she hadn’t asked any friends to stand by her today. She hadn’t wasted any money on useless gowns, either.
“Would water help?” Grant asked.
She stared at him. “Only if I can drown your brother in it.”
“I don’t blame you for that. In fact, I’d be glad to help. I understand how you feel.”
She shook her head. “You can’t possibly understand. No one could.”
Three’s a charm, she thought. Or a curse. How could she have been duped again? She must truly be jinxed when it came to marriage. What was that darn saying? Always the bridesmaid, never the bride? Or maybe she was doomed to always be a bride-to-be, never a full-fledged wife.
That was the story of her life. Her neighbors and friends had probably laid bets to see if this would happen again. She wondered what the odds had been this time.
At least her other two weddings hadn’t been canceled at the altar. No, this wedding won that whopping prize. She could shoot Griffin for dumping her this way, for letting her think it was really going to happen, for giving her hope. Why couldn’t she have seen it coming? What was wrong with her? Or was it the men she picked?
Neither question soothed her. None of the possible answers quieted her jumbled nerves. Her hands clenched in her lap. Well, by God, she wasn’t going to let it happen again! Not in her lifetime.
With renewed spirit, she stood. She was going through with her plans. She was leaving behind the sad memories that had haunted her since her parents’ deaths so many years ago and the humiliating ones of her past fiancés. She was going to start over, to see the world. She didn’t need a husband or a marriage to do that. She wouldn’t stay here and let her life pass her by. No sirree!
But a swift thought took the wind out of her veil. As pathetic and old-fashioned as it sounded, she couldn’t leave with folks thinking she couldn’t hold on to her man. She stuffed a soggy French fry into her mouth. The salty flavor made it hard to swallow. She wasn’t leaving town with her tail—or wedding train—tucked between her legs. Not if she could help it.
“I’m getting married,” she spoke the words out loud, surprising herself as much as Grant. “Today.”
“You don’t seem to understand.” He kept his hand firmly on her arm as if she’d lost her grip on reality. “Griffin left. You can’t get married without a groom.”
She gritted her teeth and shrugged off his hand. “I am getting married.”
She’d lived here her whole life. Instead of going off to college, she’d stayed home and commuted to class so she could help her ill mother. She’d wanted to move to a big city to teach, but she’d taken a job at the elementary school she’d attended as a child—all to help her parents.
Then her mother had passed away, leaving her with a last request—that Annie find a good man to marry. She’d tried! Boy, had she tried.
Not long after her mother’s death, her father had died of a broken heart. She’d stayed, living in their house, trapped by the fond and sad memories.
Then Rodney came along, swooped her off her feet, made her laugh again. By the time she agreed to marry him, his feet had grown cold. And she’d been left with enormous bills for their wedding that wouldn’t be.
Next, Travis strolled into her life. But her second fiancé had a change of heart, this time leaving her with more debt and more reasons to stay in Lockett.
She clenched her hands. “I’m leaving this one-stoplight town if it’s the last thing I do.”
Grant crossed his arms over his wide chest. “How do you propose to do that?”
“You’re going to help me. You offered to help me drown your rotten brother.”
“I did. But I was—”
“Don’t worry. I’m not planning anything illegal.”
“Look, Annie, I regret I had to be the one to tell you, but believe me it’s best you found out now how irresponsible Griffin is. He’s been like that his whole life. You don’t want him.”
“You’re right. I don’t.” Her gaze narrowed on him. Then she smiled as her new plan emerged. “I want you.”
“What?”
“You’re going to marry me…Grant, isn’t it?”
He nodded slowly, then shook his head. “Oh, no. I can’t help you. I’m not the marrying kind.”
“What is this? A family trait? A dominant gene? A birth defect?” She propped her hands on her hips and glared at Grant Stevens. “You’re going to marry me. And that’s final.”
“YOU’RE CRAZY.” Stunned, Grant stared at her as if she’d grown an extra head. Had she completely lost touch with reality?
“Possibly.” She walked around him, studying him, analyzing him, sizing him up as if he were a prize steer—or maybe not so prized. Not if she saw him being the same as Griffin, the jerk who’d left her at the altar. For some crazy reason, he wanted her to see the differences between him and his irresponsible brother.
“You and Griff really are identical twins. I mean, he told me he had a brother and that y’all were twins, but I assumed you’d only have a familial resemblance. This is truly amazing.”
From the fire in her electric-blue eyes, he could tell whatever resemblance he shared with Griffin was not desirable to her at the moment. He’d always hated being compared to his brother. Now he hated it more than ever. “We do not look alike,” he ground out between clenched teeth. “Griffin’s got a mole on his back, just under his shoulder blade. And I’ve got—”
Suddenly she grinned, disarming him with that wink of a dimple in her cheek. “This is perfect! Nobody has to know a thing.”
“Know what?”
“That you’re Grant instead of Griffin.” Her forehead creased with concern. “You didn’t tell anyone that Griff wasn’t coming, did you?”
Relief poured through him. “The groomsmen. So it’s too late for whatever it is you’re cooking up.”
“Drat.” Frowning, she paced another minute then stopped, the skirt of her robe giving him a glimpse of a sexy calf. “You can tell them you were wrong. Or better yet, that you were playing a practical joke. Griff loved to play practical jokes.”
She spoke of his brother as if he were dead. Maybe in her heart he already was. Grant well remembered his brother’s
