“James, you’re an idiot,” Laura said. “You’re willing to risk the love of your life because of tradition, because you want to please your parents.”
“They’ll disinherit me.”
“I want to meet your boyfriend when we’re both back in Napier. If he’s agreeable, we’ll go to functions with each other, but we willnotmarry. Is that clear?”
“Why do you want to help me?”
“Because I’m dating someone who is totally unsuitable and would send my parents into hysterics. The difference is I’m not willing to follow along like a little lamb because I know a marriage would make us both unhappy.”
“Who?” His despair transformed to lawyer slice and dice. “Someone I might know?”
“I doubt it.”
James swallowed the last of his brandy. “You have a deal. We’ll have dinner this week and discuss the details.”
Laura nodded, pleased with her work. She might have a bit more talking to do, but she was sure James’s boyfriend would stand squarely on her side.
The wedding took place with military precision. Laura walked up the aisle of the flower bedecked church, wearing the hideous apricot gown with ruffles that widened her body by several inches.
Along with everyone else, Laura turned to watch her cousin sashay into the church on her uncle’s arm. The cream of her gown suited her sleek darkness to perfection, and like most brides, she glowed with happiness and in her cousin’s case, a little of the smug.
As Laura listened to the minister’s words, she could practically feel her mother’s gaze boring through her back. Laura wished her mother and her aunts didn’t take their rivalry to such heights. Marriage wasn’t a competition, especially if it ended in divorce. Blue bloodlines and plump bank accounts did not a successful marriage make.
With the ceremony completed, Laura walked down the aisle, her arm linked with James’s.
“I spoke to my…friend last night. He wants to meet you.”
“Oh?”
James’s lips twisted into a grimace before smoothing his expression for the photographer. “A woman who can knock sense into my thick head—his words—is someone he wants to cultivate as a friend.”
“Maybe between the two of us, we can make you see sense. How are you at dancing?”
“Fair.”
“Do you enjoy dancing?”
“I do,” he said.
“Good, so do I. At least we can have fun at the reception. If we dance together, our parents will back off.”
