“So is everything okay?” Kate asked, as Joe appeared, two lattes in hand.
“Yes,” Lisa said. “Why? What do you mean? Do you mean something?”
“No! But yesterday you were a little freaked out—”
“Pre-wedding jitters,” Lisa said dismissively. Kate could hear her moving around, could hear water running. “Everyone says that’s all it is.”
Joe handed Kate a latte. She smiled at him. “So you’re okay?” she asked again.
“Yes, I am okay,” Lisa said, sounding like her normal self. “I mean, sure, Kiefer could have been slightly more supportive and all that, but I know that a guy like him only comes around once in a lifetime.”
Kate lifted her gaze to Joe. He winked at her. “Tell me about it,” she said. “By the way, I’m bringing someone to the wedding.”
“Who?”
“The guy on my flight who helped me get across the country,” Kate said. “His name is Joe Firretti.”
“Yeah, bring him, bring him!” Lisa said excitedly. “Do you know that everything is shut down from Colorado east? It’s a miracle you got as far as you did. We want to hug him!”
“No, please—”
“When are you getting in?”
“Ten this morning,” Kate said.
She made arrangements with Lisa for someone to pick her up, then hung up and smiled a little tentatively at Joe. “They can’t wait to meet you,” she said.
“I can’t wait to meet them,” he said.
Yes, well, he might change his mind after the full force of the Prestons had been visited upon him.
Chapter 9
They were lucky to be on the same flight, Joe figured, even if they couldn’t sit together. He could see just the top of Kate’s head above a middle seat a few rows ahead of him and wondered if she’d begun her attack on the armrest yet. Every once in a while, she would sit up, turn around, and smile at him. She had happy eyes, he thought. Big, green, happy eyes. He wouldn’t mind starting every day with big, green, happy eyes.
It seemed ridiculously unfair that Joe would meet a girl like Kate just as he was about to take the biggest step in his career. If he believed in fate, he would be calling it a few choice names right now.
They landed without a hitch in Seattle, but Joe could hear the guy behind him on the phone as they taxied to the gate. He was irate that the next leg of his flight had been canceled. Weather or air traffic, Joe didn’t know. He was thankful he was at last where he needed to be. Disaster had been averted; he would meet the boss from Switzerland and begin his new job.
He didn’t feel quite as excited about it as he had forty-eight hours ago.
Kate was waiting for him in the passenger ramp, the pink raft propped up beside her. She smiled brightly at him when she saw him and caught his hand. “Wait,” she said as he tried to move forward, and pulled him to the side.
“What’s wrong?”
“Okay,” she said, “Listen. My family is tight.
Joe smiled at her angst. “Kate, it’s okay,” he said. “I can handle them.” He picked up her garment bag, tossed it over his shoulder, and took her hand in his.
“So here we go,” Kate said, looking down at their clasped hands as they made their way up the passenger ramp.
“Here we go, two people who have been brought together by an epic travel meltdown.”
Kate smiled. But her smile didn’t seem quite as bright as it had earlier this morning, when she’d been so deliciously naked in his bed. Families had a way of doing that to a person.
At the baggage claim area, the little scream of happiness Joe heard turned out to be for Kate. He turned just in time to see an older woman who looked like Kate barreling right toward them, a couple of guys and another woman with her.
“Oh thank God, you
“Right there,” Kate said, pointing at Joe. Joe wondered how anyone in Seattle could have missed the arrival of the dress. “Mom,” Kate said, “this is Joe Firretti.”
“And the dress,” Joe added, holding up the pink raft.
“Oh, thank God again,” the woman said, her shoulders dropping with relief.
“This is my mom, Sandra,” Kate said. “And my dad, James. And my brother Colton and my sister Cassidy.”
“With a C,” the young woman said.
“Pleasure,” he said to them all, and he was still smiling when Kate’s mother moved. Joe thought she meant to take the dress from him. But instead, she threw her arms around him. “Thank you so much for bringing my baby home,” she said, sounding almost tearful.
“He didn’t bring me home,” Kate said. “We were on the same flight, and we were both coming to Seattle.”
“Don’t try and downplay it, Katie-Kate,” her mother said, beaming up at Joe. “We owe this young man a debt of gratitude.”
“We’ll pay him later, Sandra,” Mr. Preston said, and clapped Joe on the shoulder as if they were old friends. “You didn’t take any liberties with my little girl, did you, son?”
“Dad!” Kate cried, clearly mortified.
Mr. Preston squeezed Joe’s shoulder and laughed. “Kidding! Come on, let’s go. I told Glen I’d help him get the bar set up.”
“And we have hair and makeup this afternoon,” Mrs. Preston added. “Come on, Joe, we’ve made up a cot for you in the library.”
“That’s not necessary,” he said quickly, holding up a hand. “I’ve got a reservation—”
“Nonsense!” Mrs. Preston said firmly. “You will come with us. We have plenty of room, and after what you did for Kate, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Just call the hotel and tell them you’ll be there tomorrow.”
“What makes you think he did it all?” Kate asked. “It’s not like we mushed across the country.”
“Don’t be a sourpuss,” Mr. Preston said cheerfully, and grabbed her tote bag, handing it to Colton.
Kate looked helplessly at Joe. “See?”
He winked at her. He liked the Prestons. He liked them a lot.
The Prestons lived in the Queen Anne district of Seattle, an area of old and well-loved homes. The Preston house was a rambling turn-of-the-century, five-bedroom, three-bath home with wood floors and dark window casings and a view of Lake Union. It was charming and a little quirky, just like Kate.
As they pulled into the drive, people rushed from the house, shouting for Kate, embracing her as she emerged. One would think she’d spent forty days in the desert instead of two days traveling across country.
She glanced back at him more than once, her expression apologetic. “They’re nuts!” she insisted.
“They love you,” he said as they were swept along on a wave into the house.
“Here, dude, a beer,” someone said, shoving a bottle into his hand. It wasn’t even noon. But Joe wasn’t turning down a beer. He’d just taken a sip when he heard a woman shout from the top of the stairs. Everyone paused and looked up.
The bride, Joe realized, had appeared.
She grabbed Kate, hopping up and down, babbling about backup maids of honor. “The
