Sunday, Anne spotted Forbes as soon as service ended and beckoned to him across the crowded sanctuary with her crooked finger. She wasn’t going to let him off easy.
He enveloped her in a bear hug when he reached her. “I’m so glad you’re okay. Don’t ever do that again. Or at least take your phone with you next time.”
“While we’re on the subject of things never to do again…” She cocked her head toward George. “No more surprises, please.”
Forbes raised two fingers. “Scout’s honor.”
She pulled his hand down. “You were never a Scout.”
“Same difference.” He kissed her forehead. “I’m sorry, Annie. Really, I am.”
“Forbes, may I speak with you a moment?” George’s voice matched his serious expression.
Her cousin immediately switched from big brother to lawyer mode. “Certainly. Out in the vestibule?” He motioned toward the back doors of the sanctuary.
Anne frowned as they walked away. Something was going on or George would have said whatever he needed to say to Forbes in front of her. Fighting her desire to follow them, she slipped out of the pew to make her way up front where Jenn was holding court, surrounded by several guys from the singles’ group.
“Anne, I was so hoping to see you today.” A former client stopped her. “I wanted to ask if you would speak at this month’s Bonneterre Women in Business luncheon.”
“Speak?” Her heart quickened. “About what?”
“About being an entrepreneur. About being a small-business owner in our city. What it took to start your own business. You’ve been a BWB member for years now. Every month, we get suggestion cards requesting to have you speak.”
More than a hundred women attended those lunches. Anne had barely made it through the required public speaking class in a college class of thirty. “Let me get back to you?”
The woman handed her a business card. “Call me at my office anytime this week. I’ll need to know by Thursday.”
Anne nodded and tucked the card into her planner. She’d almost made it to Jenn when she was stopped again.
“I’m so glad I found you, Miss Anne.” A blonde who could grace any fashion runway in New York or Paris gave her a quick hug. “I wanted you to meet my fiancé, Heath.”
The young man she shook hands with looked like he’d stepped right off a magazine cover. He was fashionably dressed with boyish, curly golden hair, hazel eyes, and a grin that could melt steel. “It’s nice to meet you, Heath. Congratulations. You’ve found yourself a wonderful bride.”
“I know.” He put his arm around Elizabeth’s miniscule waist and gazed down at his fiancée in a way that twisted Anne’s heart with envy. “God has truly blessed me.”
Elizabeth’s color was high when she pulled her gaze away from Heath. “And thanks to your advice, we’re getting married the first weekend in August. Would you have time to work with me? I can’t afford much, but I’d really like your help, since it’s so soon and you have all the connections.”
“Of course.” Anne rested her hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder. “And don’t you worry about the cost. We’ll work around what you can afford.”
The young woman’s eyes filled with quick tears, and she threw her arms around Anne’s waist again. “Thank you so much—for everything.”
Laughter bubbled up in Anne. “Of course. Call me this week, okay?”
“Okay.”
Oh, to be young and in love. Anne shook her head and turned, only to be practically tackled by Jenn. Ending the hug, Jenn slipped her arm around Anne’s waist as they strolled toward the exit. “Did I see you and George come in together this morning?”
“Yes. He came and picked me up this morning. We’ve worked a lot of stuff out this week.” But even though he’d promised he wouldn’t lie to her again, he was holding something back. He and Forbes had been gone a long time.
“Is that a blush I see?” Jenn teased. “Did you ever find out if he has a younger brother who’s as good looking as he is?”
Anne rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Is that all you ever think about?”
“What?”
“Men!”
Jenn laughed. “What else is quite so entertaining?”
Meredith joined them from the direction of the choir room and gave Anne a long, gentle hug. She didn’t ask questions like her sister. Emotion lumped in Anne’s throat. Meredith’s deep understanding of her need for quiet or space was one of the reasons they were so close.
Anne put her arms around her cousins’ much smaller waists. “I guess we should head out for Uncle Errol and Aunt Maggie’s.”
Jenn gave Anne’s arm a light pinch. “Is George coming?”
“Yes. Do you think he would dare risk offending any of you?” The rest of the family was going to have a field day with him. If he thought Jenn and Rafe had given him a hard time at dinner Thursday night, once again trying to pry his employer’s name from him, he was in for a surprise.
The brass chandeliers overhead went dark, casting the sanctuary into dimness accented by the light flowing through the windows. She’d tried to talk several of her brides into leaving the majority of lights off in this sanctuary to showcase the beautiful stained-glass images of scenes from Jesus’ life, but so far, none had. If she got married in this church… Anne stopped her fantasy as soon as it started. The faceless groom she’d seen dimly for so many years had been replaced by George Laurence.
“There you girls are.” Forbes’s voice echoed from the rear of the nearly empty church. “We’ve been waiting for you out in the foyer.”
Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of George, who stood in the doorway with Forbes. She took a deep breath and pushed her emotions back. She couldn’t let her feelings get the better of her. When she reached him, his closed expression set her ill at ease.
Her skin tingled when his hand cupped her elbow. Forbes took her other elbow and started to lead her across the vestibule.
She stopped and pulled away from both men. “What have you two been talking about out here?”
“Nothing.” Forbes gave her his most charming smile.
Anne wasn’t buying it. She turned to George. His mouth was set in a grim line, and he wouldn’t meet her gaze. “George? Remember what we talked about Thursday morning? About honesty and trust?”
He closed his eyes and nodded, then turned and rested his hands on her shoulders. “It’s just some business I needed to take care of with Forbes for my employer.”
“That’s all?” She hated to doubt him but couldn’t help it.
“That’s the truth.” His voice, soft, deep, and holding promises she hoped would come true, settled her doubts.
She nodded and took his arm. “All right, then, let’s go.”
How was he going to tell her the truth? Anne deserved to know what she was in for when the identity of the man she was planning this wedding for broke in the media. On his way to pick her up this morning, his employer had called to warn him that reporters were starting to bug his publicist with questions about the rumor of his engagement. He had returned to New York, leaving Courtney in Paris to eliminate the risk they would be photographed together.
“George?” Anne’s mellow voice broke into his worries.
Some of his anxiety ebbed away when he locked gazes with her. He squeezed her hand. He loved that she’d taken it without hesitation as they walked through the very modern part of the church building.
Her fine brows drew together in a frown. “What were you thinking about so intently?”
She didn’t like surprises, but he couldn’t breach what remained of the confidentiality clause. He needed, however, to be as honest as possible. Forbes, Jennifer, and Meredith had walked faster and disappeared around a
