Cinderella's Sweet-Talking Marine Page 10

  “I don’t need a wedding dress. I can use that beige suit I have.”

  “No way.” Cyn looked horrified at the very idea. “You can’t wear a suit. It will clash with our bridesmaid’s dresses. Latesha and I bought them a year ago at a bridal store clearance sale. I told you we’d find a use for them,” she reminded Latesha.

  “I have a solution.” Frenchie spoke up for the first time since joining them a few minutes ago. “I have a dress that would be perfect. I bought it in Paris many years ago. I’ll be right back.” A few moments later she returned, and handed Ellie a zippered plastic garment bag. “Go try it on.”

  “I couldn’t.”

  “You must.” Frenchie gently shoved Ellie toward the bedroom. “Go on.”

  The dress fit her like a dream. It was ivory satin and clung in all the right places. The square neckline was simple but elegant, while the back was low cut.

  They knocked on her bedroom door. “Come in.”

  Latesha, Cyn and Frenchie all tumbled into her room. “Ohhhh, it’s perfect.”

  “Here.” Cyn reached into her tote bag to pull out a box filled with jewelry. “I have just the thing….” She selected an amethyst necklace and fastened it around Ellie’s neck. “It has matching drop earrings…” She handed them to her. “There.”

  “You look like a medieval princess. Way to go, Frenchie!” Latesha and Cyn both high-fived the older woman. “I do believe Cinderella is ready for her wedding on Saturday.”

  “Group hug,” Latesha announced.

  “Don’t wrinkle the dress,” Cyn warned as they all snuggled for an empowering embrace.

  Blinking back tears, Ellie said, “Have I told you guys lately how grateful I am to have incredible friends like you?”

  They all stepped back and reached for the box of facial tissues to dab at their damp faces. “Enough weeping,” Cyn said. “When is Ben’s family coming?”

  “They’re supposed to be arriving tonight. We’re all having dinner together at the steak house.”

  “What are his parents like?” Latesha asked.

  “Ben says they’re very nice.”

  “Does he have any brothers?” Cyn wanted to know.

  Ellie nodded. “Lots of them.”

  “I suppose they’re all married.”

  “Only one of them is,” Ellie assured them. “The other three are still single. They’re all Marines.”

  Cyn grinned and rubbed her hands in anticipation.

  “I’m not sure how many of them will be coming to the wedding, though,” Ellie added. “They may not be able to get away. I know that Striker is coming, but he’s the married brother. Ben thought his brother Rad will be here but he’s not sure about the twins.”

  “Did you hear that, Latesha? Twins. One for me, one for you.”

  “I’ve already found me a fine man,” Latesha announced.

  Cyn’s eyebrow raised. “You have? Since when?”

  “Since a few days ago.”

  “Who?”

  Latesha blushed. “Earl.”

  “Interesting. I’ll get back to you and Earl later.” Cyn’s attention returned to Ellie. “Twins run in families you know. Which means you and Ben could have twins.”

  If their marriage was going to be a normal one, that might be a possibility. But he’d made it clear that this would be a marriage of convenience only.

  The conversation had taken place in a deserted waiting room in the hospital shortly after she’d accepted his proposal.

  “I want to reassure you that this will be a marriage in name only,” he’d said. “I’m not expecting you to share my bed immediately.”

  Which meant what? she’d worried. That he expected her to share his bed further down the road?

  “I don’t want you worrying about that. Understand?”

  She’d nodded. She could still remember how warm his hands had felt against her cold fingers. Ben was dependable. He had a rock-solid presence.

  But she couldn’t fall for him. It would be oh-so easy to do so. There was a powerful chemistry between them. Fireworks went off when he kissed her.

  But she couldn’t lose herself. She had to stay alert, had to protect her heart. Because loving Ben would mean risking everything. Trusting him to take care of her and her daughter’s well-being was one thing. Trusting him with her innermost secrets and battered emotions was something else again.

  She was already afraid that she was taking advantage of Ben’s generous nature; she certainly wasn’t going to complicate things by adding love to the mix. She wasn’t going to make any demands of him.

  On the one hand she was telling herself not to fall in love with him and on the other she was telling herself not to make demands on him. Yeah, that made sense. Not.

  Which was part of the problem. She felt so mixed-up.

  The sound of her friends’ excited chatter faded into the background as Ellie told herself she was doing the right thing and to stop worrying about doing the wrong thing, even if it was for all the right reasons.

  “I don’t want to wear a dress.” Amy folded her arms across her chest and displayed her stubborn face as only a five-year-old can. “I want to wear my princess costume.”

  Amy had bounced back quickly from her asthma attack a week earlier, for which Ellie was infinitely glad. The cold departed as quickly as it had come. It had been virulent while it lasted, though, and Ellie was still extra vigilant of Amy’s breathing, monitoring her carefully.

  “I look pretty in my princess costume, don’t I, Ben?” Amy wandered over to him, leaning against him and gazing up at him.

  “Yes, you do, Lady Amy. You look outstanding.”

  If Ellie weren’t already so frazzled and nervous about meeting Ben’s parents, she would have insisted that Amy change. But they were already running late.

  Ben had warned Ellie that his parents thought this was a love match. Which was one of the many reasons Ellie was nervous about meeting them. The first time she’d met Perry’s mother, the older woman had accused Ellie of stealing her son away. Perry had just grinned and tossed off some mocking comment about loving his favorite women fighting over him. The evening had gone downhill from there.

  Ellie could only hope that this evening would not be a case of history repeating itself.

  To boost her sagging confidence, she’d worn her one good dress, a simple design in burgundy with a scooped neckline and a respectable hemline. It wouldn’t do to show up in the skimpy tank top and denim miniskirt she’d had to wear to work. She’d taken care with her hair, using the curling iron to create cascading curls that she pinned away from her face with a pair of cloisonné hairclips that Frenchie had given her for Christmas last year. A black velvet ribbon around her neck held a cloisonné heart.

  “Mommy looks nice, too, right Ben?”

  “She looks outstanding.”

  The heated look Ben gave her should have reassured her. But all she could think about was his parents and whether they’d notice that her clothes weren’t new and up-to-date.

  Ben looked great. He was wearing a sport jacket along with a light blue shirt and khaki pants. For the first time, he really looked like a Marine with money.

  Her nerves increased so that by the time they arrived at the steak house, Ellie was ready to turn around and head back home.

  “Mommy, you’re squishing my hand,” Amy said as they walked to the entrance.

  “Sorry, honey.” She loosened her grip.

  Ben draped a reassuring arm around Ellie’s shoulders. “Relax. They’re not going to eat you. They’re going to like you.”

  There wasn’t time to say anything else because they were greeted at the door by his parents. His mother had short brown hair and vivid green eyes. His dad had even shorter hair than Ben and a nice smile.

  Ellie held out a hand. “It’s nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Kozlowski.”

  “Call me Angela.” She grasped Ellie’s hand and squeezed it gently. “Or Mom if you’d prefer. Ben told me that your
parents passed away when you were young. That must have been difficult for you. I’m sorry. And I’m so sorry for the loss of your brother.” Angela tugged her close and hugged her. It was a real hug, not the polite kind that didn’t mean anything. Ellie blinked away the sudden and unexpected surge of tears. “But you’ve got a new family now. I realize there’s no way that we can be a replacement, but I hope you’ll let us into your heart.” Angela stepped back to smile at her and then at Amy. “And who is this beautiful princess?”

  “I’m Lady Amy and I’m starting kindergarten last year.”

  “Next year,” Ellie corrected her.

  “I left my helmet at home,” Amy added almost apologetically.

  “Ben introduced her to helmets. He’s been telling her bedtime stories.”

  Angela’s eyebrows rose. “About Marines in combat?”

  “No,” Amy corrected her. She bounced forward onto her tiptoes with excitement at being the center of attention. “About Lady Blush and Sir Goodknight.”

  “And Flamebo the dragon and a villain named Sir Breedembad,” Ellie added.

  His dad cracked up. His slap on Ben’s back was meant to indicate his approval.

  Ellie didn’t have much experience in the father department. She’d never known her own father, and Perry’s dad had died when Perry was a teenager.

  But Stan Kozlowski seemed to go out of his way to make her feel at ease. He wasn’t a man who spoke much, but when he did, it mattered. He also had a dry sense of humor, similar to Ben’s.

  The meal went by quickly and without any disasters, for which Ellie was infinitely grateful. Until Angela joined Ellie in the ladies’ room. Then her gratitude turned to uneasiness.

  Had Angela only been pretending to be kind while she was in front of the others? Was she going to corner Ellie privately and speak her mind?

  Ellie was proud of the fact that her hand remained steady as she faced the large mirror and redid her lipstick.

  Angela set her purse down on the counter beside Ellie and got out a lipstick of her own. “I’ll confess that even though I trust Ben’s judgment because he is an incredibly good judge of character, I was still a little nervous about meeting you,” Angela said.

  “You were?”

  She nodded. “But I feel much better now that I have met you. I have a good feeling about you.”

  “You do?”

  “You sound surprised.”

  Ellie was. She’d grown accustomed to people jumping to the wrong conclusion about her.

  “What did Ben tell you about me?” Had he lied about her? Ellie wondered. Was that why Angela liked her? Was that why she wasn’t accusing Ellie of being a gold-digger, marrying Ben for his money?

  “He told me that you’re wonderful. That you’re tough and strong but have a big heart. That you have a stubborn and independent streak. That you’re a great mom. That you reminded him of me.”

  “He said all that?”

  Angela nodded. “Yes, he did.”

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “You don’t have to say anything. Just take care of Ben. He’s so good at taking care of others that sometimes we forget that he needs TLC too. You’re a mother. You know how you worry about your child.”

  Ellie nodded.

  “Well, that continues even when they’re grown up. Not that I’d tell any of my sons that. They think they’re invincible. They’re Marines. It goes with the turf.”

  “I know.”

  “I figured you did.”

  They shared a smile in the mirror. “Yes, I think you’ll do just fine with Ben,” Angela said.

  “Your son is a very special man,” Ellie noted.

  “Yeah, I know.” Angela beamed with pride before giving Ellie a quick hug. “Now we’d better get back out there before my Marine son and husband have that adorable daughter of yours wearing camouflage to go with that helmet she left at home.”

  “Isn’t this more fun that hosting a rehearsal dinner?” Cyn asked Ellie. “The wedding tomorrow is going to be simple. That rehearsal we had in your apartment worked just fine. Except for Amy tripping and landing on Frenchie’s lap. And for Latesha’s skipping down the aisle.”

  “That was for effect. I won’t do it tomorrow.”

  “I’m more worried about what you two are doing tonight,” Ellie stated from the passenger seat. “About why you’ve blindfolded me and won’t tell me where we’re going.” Ellie tugged at the red bandanna Cyn had placed around her eyes.

  “Keep your hands off that,” Cyn insisted.

  “I’m getting car sick,” Ellie warned them.

  “We’re almost there.” Latesha pulled her car to a stop. “Don’t take off that blindfold yet, though.”

  “You’re not taking me to that male stripper place out near the interstate, right?” Ellie asked for the tenth time.

  “Of course not,” Cyn assured her.

  “No way,” Latesha stated.

  They led her from the car. “Where are we?”

  “Someplace where we can have a good time.”

  “Okay, now watch your step. Oh, wait, you can’t see so you can’t watch. Never mind, we’ve got this all under control.” Cyn stood on one side of her and Latesha on the other as they carefully guided her inside. Once there, they said, “Take the blindfold off.” When she did, they added, “Tah-dah!”

  It took a second for Ellie’s eyes to adjust to the bright light ahead of her. Only then did she realize that it was a spotlight aimed at a mostly naked guy gyrating on stage to Rod Stewart’s “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?”

  “You told me you weren’t taking me to a strip place,” Ellie said.

  “We lied,” Cyn and Latesha said in unison, clearly unrepentant.

  “Sit down, you’re blocking the view!” a middle-aged woman yelled at them.

  “That’s Mrs. Aronson, the pharmacist from Discount Drugstore,” Ellie said in dismay.

  “Come on.” Cyn took her by the arm and led her forward. “They’re saving us a seat up front.”

  “Who is?”

  “Frenchie and Angela.”

  “Angela?” Surely not…

  “Yeah. Your future mother-in-law is quite a lady! You lucked out, girlfriend.”

  Ellie wanted to crawl under the chairs but heaven only knew what was on the floor of this place. Her friends shoved her down the row smack in front of the stage, past women who were leaning forward to tuck dollar bills into the waistband of the guy’s tiny black briefs.

  “Sorry,” Ellie repeated over and over again.

  “There you two are! You missed part of the show,” Frenchie told them.

  “I thought you were baby-sitting Amy tonight.”

  “Ben and his dad are doing that.”

  “But I thought they were at a bachelor party for Ben.”

  “That was a ruse to get you to agree to come out for your bachelorette party.”

  “Ben is much too smart to have a bachelor party,” Angela added. “But just in case his brothers got any wild ideas of surprising him, he has Amy as his cover.” Two of Ben’s brothers—Striker and Rad—had arrived in town earlier that day. “They won’t do anything with her under his care.”

  “I’m so sorry you were dragged into this….”

  Angela patted her hand reassuringly. “I wasn’t dragged into anything. I knew what I was getting into. Just don’t tell my husband. He might not understand.”

  Ellie didn’t know what to say or where to look. But as the decibel level of the crowd’s cheers rose, she realized that a hunk dressed in a policeman’s uniform had come on stage to stare at the crowd with a theatrically stern warning about being too rowdy.

  Two seconds later he was yanking off his shirt and pants in one fell swoop.

  “Yeah!” Cyn yelled. “I do love a guy out of uniform!”

  Chapter Eight

  Ellie felt the room shudder and bounce, and momentarily wondered if they were having an earthquake before waking up sufficiently to pry an eye open and
blearily stare at her daughter’s beaming face.

  “Wake up, wake up, Mommy! We’s getting married today!”

  A look at the radio alarm clock on Ellie’s bedside table confirmed that it was barely six in the morning. She groaned and tried to pull the sheet over her head. Thanks to her rowdy friends Cyn and Latesha, Ellie hadn’t gotten back until almost two last night.

  “Come on, Mommy. Hurry!” Amy tugged the sheet away.

  Imagining she smelled coffee, Ellie sat up and hugged Amy. “Who is this wiggle worm in my bed?”

  “I’m not a wiggle worm. I’m Lady Amy.”

  Unable to resist a moment longer, Ellie followed her nose into the kitchen, where she found a brand-new coffeemaker, coffee already perked and ready to drink, along with a note.

  I figure Lady Amy will probably be up with the birds and that you might need a big cup of Joe to get you through the morning so I set the timer to 6:00 a.m.

  Enjoy,

  Your about-to-be-husband, Ben

  P.S. The coffeemaker is a wedding present from me.

  Ellie eagerly poured herself a big mug, adding milk and sugar just the way she liked it. As she gave Amy a bowl of her favorite cereal for breakfast, Ellie realized yet again she had a lot to be grateful for. Her daughter was responding to treatment after her last attack.

  And then there was Ben. How could she not be grateful for Ben? A man who programmed the coffeemaker to make her coffee on her wedding morning? It was real hard not to fall in love with a guy like that.

  But she and Ben had an agreement. Their marriage was to be based on practicality, not on romance. Because his parents didn’t know that fact, Ellie had had to pretend that she was a regular beaming bride-to-be, overcome by her fiancé’s love.

  In fact, it was becoming increasingly hard to remember that her upcoming nuptials weren’t the real thing in every way.

  Which made her wish that her brother could be here. Not that Ben would be marrying her if Johnny was still alive. Ellie would have done anything for Johnny to be alive today but there was no changing reality. Still…She missed him deeply.

  She needed to remember not to get too caught up in the whirlwind of today’s events. She needed to keep her feet on the ground, and her expectations realistic.