Marnieitchedfor a grandchild. A small boy or girl she could pour all her time and effort into. A child who would reap the rewards of her industrious youth. In one respect, she was thankful for Tom’s choice in Sasha. Sasha was a heartless, money-grabbing woman, no doubt about it, but she was also a woman who could be easily bribed. Always one to prepare ahead, Marnie had already hired the services of a New York lawyer famed for child custody battles. A.A. Andrews, attorney at law, was ready to take down Sasha if needed, so that Marnie and Tom could retain full access to his children. Marnie hadlearned the hard way that family came first, and she intended to put hers at the forefront forever more.
Though, not being an idiot, Marnie kept these thoughts to herself. Sasha was vapid enough and stupid enough not to see beyond Marnie’s tight smiles and vaguely hidden insults, and as they sat, discussing wedding plans with the people from Queen and Country Weddings, she threw out several. Sasha missed every single one of them, only having eyes and ears for the blond-haired wedding planner who fawned sickeningly over the bride. But the blue-eyed woman next to him, quiet and thoughtful, glanced at Marnie surreptitiously several times. Ari Lightowler was smart, Marnie realised, watching the woman sip at her wine. In just ten minutes, Marnie was fairly sure Ari had figured out exactly what the situation was here and Marnie, who appreciated people who were honest and without pretence, warmed to her instantly.
For a few moments, Marnie watched the wedding planner pick at a small salad, trying to find fault with her, but found she couldn’t. No. There was something genuine about her, something true and down to earth, and Marnie tried and failed to dislike her. Ari’s brother, on the other hand, she already detested. Sebastian Lightowler was putting on an act, Marnie knew, and simpering for Sasha’s approval in a way that Marnie found she just couldn’t respect.
Marnie took a deep breath. Queen and Country would plan this wedding, of that there was now no doubt. Sasha wanted them, and what Sasha wanted, she invariably got. That didn’t mean Marnie had to make it easy for the two wedding planners though, who were probably twitching with excitement at the commission this wedding would earn them. Still, while it was easy enough to dismiss Sebastian, it wasn’t so easy to dismiss his sister, who answered all of Marnie’s questions thoughtfully, with a clear voice and pleasant smile.
No. The more she talked, the more Marnie liked Ari Lightowler.Tom would like her too,a small voice piped up in Marnie’s mind, which made her sit up with surprise.It’s the truth,she realised,Tom would like this woman.In fact, Marnie suspected he would like her very much.
“Good news!” came the hair-raising, sing-song voice of Sebastian. “We’ve had a chat, a little rethink, and we’ve decided we can do anything you want us to, darling.”
Marnie watched as he sank into the chair beside Sasha, who clasped her hands together in excitement.
“If you want Luis De León,” he continued, “we’ll get him for you. If you want Stella Snow, well, you’ve come to the right people.”
It made Marnie want to be sick, the way Sasha embraced him, as if he was an old friend and not someone who had already spent — mentally anyway — at least half a million dollars of Marnie’s money.
“And you can do everything inseven weeks?” Marnie asked, emphasising once again the tight time frame.
“Oh, absolutely!” he gushed, still holding Sasha’s grasping hands. “Of course, it won’t be easy, or cheap.” He winked at her. “But we can do everything our little poppet has her heart set on.”
Marnie nodded, reaching over to take a large swig of her own drink. She looked at Ari, who seemed slightly worried, a small crease in her forehead as she stared at her food.
“What was the issue?” Marnie asked her. “What did you need to talk about?”
“Oh . . .” Ari blushed. “It was nothing. Sebastian and I have sorted it.”
“It took you a good ten minutes to work through that ‘nothing’,” Marnie remarked. “Are you sure?”
Sebastian, who must have a bloodhound’s nose for smelling trouble, looked up. “It was just a little issue about childcare. We worked it out though.”
Marnie looked from Ari to Sebastian and back again in confusion. “You mean... The two of you have a child? I’m sorry — I thought you were brother and sister.”
At that, Sebastian burst into laughter, and a small smile even graced Ari’s face.
“We are,” she explained gently. “I have a daughter. She’s seven. Luis watches her whenever Sebastian and I are out on the wedding circuit. He’s a good uncle. He’ll bring her over with him when he comes to do Sasha’s dress fitting.”
“Youhave a seven-year-old?” Marnie asked in disbelief, taking in Ari’s young features and slim frame. “I don’t mean to pry, but you can’t have been very old when you became a mother.”
“Twenty-one,” Ari admitted.
Twenty-one,thought Marnie with dismay.Too young to be a mother.
“Are you married? Or divorced? Or . . .”
Or.At that question, Marnie saw what she thought was a hint of pain cross over Ari’s pretty features.
“No,” Ari said softly. “No. My daughter — her name is Reine — anyway, her father is... not on the scene. At least, not at the moment.”
There was something poignant in the girl’s words. So poignant, sad even, that Marnie opened her mouth to speak before thinking better of it. She didn’t want to pry into what was clearly a point of pain.
Sasha, however, wasn’t quite so tactful. “What does that mean, ‘not at the moment’?” she asked.
Marnie nearly groaned.
“Oh, trust me, this is a can of worms you two don’t need to open,” Sebastian intoned playfully. “Let’s talk more about your wedding. So, then, Sasha. How are you feeling about a veil? Is it a yay or a nay?”
Marnie eyed Sebastian sharply. Beneath his flippant tone, she was certain she could detect a kind of concern. Suddenly, she was convinced he was trying to move the conversation away from Ari and back to Sasha — not out of deference to the bride, but out of concern for his sister.
