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He was smiling broadly, she saw through the crowd. Probably the implications of having a big splashy wedding hadn’t dawned on him. Well, he appeared to have won at least the first round against his sister, and that was reason enough for elation.
MASON WAS ALMOST GRATEFUL to Marge. If she’d spoken with more diplomacy, Gina might not have felt compelled to declare that she was marrying him.
He didn’t harbor any illusions about her being in love with him. It was the girls she cared about, and that was fair enough.
“So,” he said to the press, “where does a guy rent a tux around here?”
“I’ll tell you if you promise to invite me!” Chelsea Markum said.
He shook his head ruefully. “This isn’t a media circus, it’s a wedding. However, I’m happy to invite as many private guests as Mrs. Maitland is willing to accommodate. Including the staff of Maitland Maternity.”
“Most of them will be working, but I think we can make a few exceptions,” Megan said. “Starting with Gina, who is on paid vacation as of this moment.”
“When is this event going to take place?” his sister asked suspiciously. “Despite your generous offer, Mrs. Maitland, it could be weeks!”
“Would tomorrow be soon enough?” asked the CEO. “It’s all right with me if it’s all right with our happy couple.”
Mason heard Gina’s sharp intake of breath. Was she regretting her decision, or simply worrying over logistics? As for him, the sooner the better. It gave her less time to change her mind.
“Suits me,” he said. “How about you, Gina?”
His bride-to-be had gone pale, or perhaps it was the effect of bright sunshine on her ivory skin. “I don’t know. I’ve never been married before. I mean…don’t we need a license? And I’ll have to buy a dress. Not to mention arranging for a minister and flowers.”
“I’ll put my staff on it immediately.” Megan Maitland beamed at the prospect. “Don’t you worry about the details. Just get the papers and the gown, and we can even assist with that if you like.”
“Can I be your maid of honor?” Katie asked.
“Of course! I was just about to ask you!”
Mason had to admit he hadn’t considered how complicated weddings were. His cousin Ed, the ranch foreman, and his wife, Linda, had gotten married on the Blackstone spread twenty years ago, when Mason was fourteen. All he remembered was a lot of music and colorful clothing.
Marge, who had been unaccustomedly silent, found one more tiny point to seize on. “And where are my precious nieces going to sleep tonight?” she cried. “In some hotel room where they won’t even have proper cribs?”
Her concern might have been more touching, Mason reflected, had she gone over to see Lily and Daisy instead of remaining rooted in place. She hadn’t even held them in her arms once, or gazed into their eyes, or touched their cheeks.
“They’ll stay at my house,” Megan declared. “We’ve got plenty of baby supplies and furniture, and I’ll hire a special duty nurse for tonight. The bridal couple need to get ready!”
Suddenly the impact of what was happening flooded over Mason. These important people, virtual strangers to him, were opening their hearts to help Lily and Daisy and, of course, Gina and him.
Realizing the TV camera was still rolling, he said, “People talk about city folks as if they were cold and uncaring. I guess we can all see that in Austin, that isn’t true.”
“Certainly not! It isn’t true of Dallas, either!” Margaret was determined to squabble whether anyone wanted to argue with her or not. “Which reminds me, brother. Do you intend to invite our relatives from the ranch, or have you forgotten about them?”
“I’ll call them right away.” As soon as he could get rid of these reporters, he wanted to add. Not to mention Marge and Stuart.
What he really wanted to do was be alone with Gina, to reassure her that she’d made the right decision. But it might be awhile before he got the chance.
“A WEDDING! How wonderful!” Mrs. Parker, Gina’s landlady for the past three years, clapped her hands. “I hate to lose such a good boarder, but it couldn’t be for a better reason.”
Gina felt herself blushing. She couldn’t tell anyone but Katie the truth about this marriage, and even her friend seemed to have forgotten that this was to be a union in name only.
Gina herself was still in shock. Events had taken on a momentum of their own, carrying her relentlessly forward. All she could do was tread water to keep from drowning.
She wasn’t sure what she would say to Mason when they had a private moment. In any case, his sister and brother-in-law had dragged him off for lunch, while Megan Maitland had asked Gina to get the twins settled at her mansion. She’d waited until the private duty nurse showed up, then shopped until her feet ached. She hadn’t yet found a dress.
Even amid all the activity, Gina missed Mason. She missed their leisurely conversations in the nursery, and their casual contact. She missed watching his face as he studied the babies in a haze of love.
If only her parents were here to advise her, she might be able to figure out whether she’d made the right decision. Instead, she felt off center and a little dizzy.
“And tomorrow, so soon!” her landlady continued. “Have you found a gown yet?”
“No,” she admitted. “Nothing seemed quite special enough.” Quickly, she added, “I hope you’ll come! The ceremony’s at five o’clock.”
“Thank you, yes!” said the landlady. “Now, don’t you worry about packing, except for your personal needs. You have so many pretty things from your mother that need to be wrapped carefully. I’ll handle the china pieces myself.”
Yet another task Gina hadn’t considered! “I’d be grateful,” she said. “As for the furniture, would you mind putting it in storage?”
That way, she wouldn’t have to ship it all back when the marriage broke up, Gina reflected.
“Certainly, but there’s no hurry,” her landlady continued. “I can’t find new boarders in July, not until classes at the university start this fall, so I’ll leave your room as it is for a while. But listen, Gina! I have a special request!”
“I’d be glad to do whatever I can.”
“Come with me.” The landlady led her through the overstuffed sitting room to her cheery bedroom. From one of the closets, she reverently produced a garment bag and, after hanging it on the back of the door, unzipped it with care.
“What’s this?” Gina came closer. “Oh!”
Encased in clear plastic was a ballerina-style wedding dress. Above the layered, gauzy skirt, the elegant bodice rose to a square-cut neckline and short, lacy sleeves. From a separate case, Mrs. Parker produced a white cloche hat with an attached veil.
“It was my wedding dress, in the early sixties.” The landlady wore a wistful expression. “Such a happy time! It was inspired by Jacqueline Kennedy, who always wore such elegant clothes. I hoped to see my daughter walk down the aisle in it, but she said it was too simple for her. Would you possibly consider wearing it? I think it’s just your size.”
Of course Gina would wear the dress! She loved the design, but more importantly, the gown had special meaning. Her own parents had eloped, so there’d been no heirloom wedding dress. Now, at last, she had one.
“It’s beautiful. Thank you!” she said.
“My dry cleaner can have it pressed and freshened by tomorrow morning,” Mrs. Parker said. “I’ll take care of that. It will be my wedding present.”
Gina hugged the matronly woman. “That’s so kind of you!” She hoped her generous landlady would never find out that the marriage hadn’t been intended to last.
But since this might be the only wedding Gina would ever have, she might as well pretend, just for a while, that it was real.
THE NEXT MORNING, Mason arranged to meet his bride-to-be at the courthouse so they could fill out the appropriate forms. She gave him a quick, nervous smile, but otherwise kept her attention on business.
If he was seeking a clue to her state of mind, he couldn’t find it. To Mason, she seemed as even tempered as ever.
“How’s your sister taking the prospect of our wedding?” she asked as they waited for the clerk to issue their marriage license. “Is she angry?”
“I think her pride is hurt more than anything else,” he said. “I can’t figure out why she’s so determined to adopt the girls, unless it’s sheer competitiveness with me.”
“Yesterday, she scarcely seemed to notice them.” Gina had clipped her hair behind her ears with barrettes, and wore hardly any makeup. To Mason, she looked perfect. “Has she shown any interest in them since then?”
“She and Stuart dropped by the mansion last night,” he said. “They stayed about ten minutes, long enough to pat the girls on the head and try to figure out how to tell them apart. When I suggested Margaret hold them, she said she wasn’t dressed for it.”
Gina shook her head. “She’s totally wrong for them.”
“We haven’t heard the last of her,” Mason remarked. “My sister’s like a bulldog. Once she sinks her teeth into something, she doesn’t let go.”
“She may have to,” said his wife-to-be.
A few minutes later, they left the courthouse with the license in hand. At the afternoon ceremony, Gina’s family’s longtime pastor would officiate. Their witnesses, they’d agreed, would be the maid of honor and best man: Katie Toper and Mason’s cousin Ed, who would arrive from the ranch in early afternoon.
They’d handled an amazing number of practical details. The only matters they hadn’t dealt with were the ones that really mattered.
“Gina, could we talk for a few minutes?” Mason asked as they left the courthouse. “Let’s have coffee.”
She checked her watch. “I’m having my hair and makeup done in an hour…. Oh, of course we can talk! I’m so flustered, I hardly know what I’m saying.”
The confusion in her blue eyes brought out a fierce protective instinct that he had never felt toward anyone except his nieces. Catching Gina’s elbow, he guided her toward a nearby café. Built of red brick, it had trendy bright green trim and lots of windows.
A waitress guided them to a table by a window. When she started to hand them menus, Mason waved them away. “Black coffee, please.”
“I’ll have hot tea,” Gina said.
The woman returned with their mugs, a coffee carafe, hot water and a basket filled with tea bags. Mason hadn’t realized the beverage came in so many flavors.
“I don’t really know much about you,” he said. “I didn’t even know you drank tea.”
“That’s because you’ve seen me drinking coffee at work. I need it to keep alert,” she explained as she selected something called Peppermint Delight. “This is a strange situation, isn’t it, having a marriage without a courtship?”
“Thanks for what you did yesterday.” He’d been wanting to say that for hours. “Until you announced our engagement, Margaret was scoring all the points with the media.”
“As for my, er, announcement…” Gina hesitated. “Mason, I—I think we should be honest with each other.”
He didn’t want to let her confess that she hadn’t intended to marry him. Even at this late date, she might remember all the reasons for her decision and back down. “You hadn’t given me an answer yet, so I assumed you were still making up your mind.”
“You could put it that way,” she conceded. “Until I blurted it out, I wasn’t sure…I mean, Mason, the idea of a temporary marriage goes against everything I believe.”
“But so does abandoning the people who need you,” he added quickly.
“Yes.” She nodded. “It does.”
Reaching across the table, he cupped his hands over hers. “What you did for the girls was wonderful. Honey, I appreciate it more than I can say. I hope it’s not too much of a sacrifice.”
Her lips clamped together. After a moment, she said, “It’s as much a sacrifice for you as for me. Isn’t it?”
“Not at all,” he said.
“Oh?” She brightened a little.
“I’m not the one who has to give up my job and my home,” he explained. “I want you to know, Gina, that I’ll do everything possible to make your stay comfortable. Anything you need, just ask.”
A long, slow breath escaped her. “I see. Is that all?”
What had he left out? “You’re welcome to invite your friends to visit. Also, if there’s anything you’ve been wanting to do on a ranch—ride horses, whatever—it can be arranged.”
“Thanks.” She didn’t look happy, though.
Mason wished he understood women better. Or, more particularly, that he understood Gina. He hoped she wasn’t concerned about his taking advantage of the situation. “We’ll have separate bedrooms, in case you were worried about that.”
“That’s—a good idea,” she said. “How long do you think it will take?”
“The adoption?” he asked. “It depends on Margaret and Stuart. Once they stop seeking custody, it could be finalized quickly.”
She rested her chin in her palm. “What do you think it will take to discourage your sister?”
“An act of God?” he teased.
“If only we understood her motives,” Gina said. “Obviously, she hasn’t bonded with the babies. I don’t get the impression she needs to solidify a shaky marriage, either. Maybe she’s trying to ease the empty-nest syndrome, since her kids are getting older.”
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