The Best Man's Plan

“Are you sure you’re up to making a trip like that?” Grace couldn’t help asking.

His reply was tinged with exasperation. “Give me a break. A minor burn is hardly going to keep me bedridden. Despite your concerns—and Donovan’s and Jason’s—I’m perfectly capable of doing my job.”

She knew that, of course. Even if he did tend to downplay his injuries, and to deny the discomfort he must still be feeling, there was no reason Bryan couldn’t handle a routine business trip. And his being gone for a few days would give her a chance to get her feelings about him under control. She had trouble thinking clearly when he was too close.

“Take care of yourself,” she said simply.

“You, too. And Grace…”

“Yes?”

“Promise me you won’t try to ditch the security detail while I’m gone.”

She groaned. “You’re going to have me watched the whole time you’re out of town?”

“Watched over,” he corrected her. “It will be public knowledge that I’ll be in Seattle for the next couple of days. I’m not leaving you completely unprotected while I’m gone.”

“I’ll be perfectly safe. I’ve been watching out for myself for years.”

“Yes, but that was before I came along to complicate your life,” he reminded her. His cheerful tone didn’t hide the fact that he had no intention of allowing her to change his mind.

“You got that right,” she muttered.

“I’ll miss you, Grace.”

She frowned at the telephone, not sure if he was still teasing. He’d sounded serious that time. But he was a very talented actor, she reminded herself. “Well…um…have a good trip.”

He sighed heavily, the humor back now. “I suppose it was too much to hope that you’d miss me, too. But that’s okay. I’m not one to give up easily once I set my mind to something.”

Now he was making her nervous. “Goodbye, Bryan.”

“Bye, darling.”

She hung up before he could add whatever blarney he came up with next. And, damn it, she was going to miss him.

“I hope Bryan gets here in time for the party.” Evelyn Pennington looked out her living-room window for the seventh or eighth time in the past hour.

“He said he would do his best,” Grace reminded her from a doily-decorated wing chair across the room. She glanced at her watch. “He still has nearly an hour to get here before we need to leave, and I gave him directions to the club if he misses us here.”

“I’m sure he’s trying his best.” Patting her spray-stiffened silvery hair, Evelyn stepped away from the window. “Are you sure I can’t get you anything, honey? Don’t you want a soft drink before you change for the party?”

Grace shook her head. “There will be plenty to eat and drink once we get there.”

A mixture of voices preceded three people into the room. Chloe, Donovan, and Hank Pennington had been out in the backyard to examine Hank’s prized new bass boat, which Grace had already seen and dutifully admired.

“Bryan hasn’t called?” Donovan asked Grace.

“No. I guess he’s running a little late.”

“I hope he hasn’t been detained by a business problem,” Chloe fretted.

The seemingly casual remark fell rather heavily into the room. Grace imagined the others were remembering the same thing she was. The last time Bryan had been detained on a business trip, he’d asked Donovan to give Chloe a lift to his vacation resort. Before Bryan had been able to join them there, Chloe and Donovan had been kidnapped.

Realizing what unpleasant memories she had unintentionally invoked, Chloe spoke again quickly. “I’d better go change for the party.”

Grace stood. “Yeah, me, too.”

Leaving Justin and Bob to close the shop, they had left early that afternoon, bringing their party clothes with them. Donovan’s things had been stashed in Chloe’s old room; Chloe and Grace would dress in Grace’s former bedroom.