Blissed (Misfit Brides #1) Read Online Free PDF

at the boutique. Dad had been on hand during busy times when Mom needed him. He was fabulous at convincing brides they looked beautiful in their gowns, and he’d supported whatever Mom needed supporting in her various Knot Fest and Bridal Retailers Association commitments. But mostly, he’d taken care of Natalie and Lindsey while Mom kept the boutique running.
    Natalie pushed aside the keyboard and rested her forehead on the pressed-wood desk. She’d grown up watching her mother work at her grandmother’s classy antique walnut desk in this room, but the flood had taken it too.
    In some ways, it was nice, how much the flood had taken. How much had changed. When Natalie left her hometown after Knot Fest for whatever the future held for her and Noah, it wouldn’t be the same town she grew up in.
    Maybe she would miss it less.
    Or maybe all her happy memories would be swallowed by the last six months. If today were any indication, the next two months would only be harder.
    Knot Fest crunch time.
    She also had to find the time to make Gabby’s wedding dress and somehow keep Bliss Bridal in the black.
    Discover the key to invisibility so she wouldn’t have any more run-ins with CJ Blue. 
    Even if by some miracle CJ resisted the QG’s mind control and left town, Nat would still have the memories of today’s mortification. That was enough to last another five years.
    The worst part was, until she’d known who he was—when she’d thought she was talking to one of the normal wedding guests—she’d thought he was a semi-decent guy.
    Not only was she a fool, she was a fool who kept repeating her own mistakes.
    “Are you a princess?”
    The little voice out on the shop floor startled her. The shop girls and the bride-to-be giggled and oohed and aahed over Natalie’s little minion. He was back from his playday with Grandpa, and he was working his magic. She straightened and pulled the keyboard back to its place. Her dad poked his head into the office.
    In his prime, Arthur Castellano had been just shy of six feet tall, with thick, jet-black hair and a hooked nose. He’d lost a couple of inches in height as he’d aged, and his thinning hair was closer to salt than pepper these days. Since Mom died, there was a light missing in his eyes. “That’s my princess, always working too hard,” he said.
    Natalie tried to smile, but she’d used up her faking-it quota already today.
    “Someday I’m going to marry a girl as pretty as you,” Noah said, still out on the floor, “and then”—Natalie didn’t have to see him to know he’d be leaning forward, holding his arms out while his dark hair fell in his eyes—“I’m going to kiss her.”
    He was the perfection in Natalie’s life. The absolute perfection.
    Over another chorus of squeals and aww s, Dad chuckled. “Gonna have to give that kid a commission.”
    Natalie’s heart hiccupped. He’d said the same thing about her at that age, and look how she turned out. “Darn child labor laws,” she said. “You two have a nice afternoon?”
    “We went to that indoor fun center over in Willow Glen.”
    “Bet Noah loved that. Did Lindsey go?” Lindsey, her older sister, lived and worked in the trendy little city half an hour away. Close enough to visit, far enough to not violate the Queen General’s No Divorce Attorneys Allowed edict.
    Both the Castellano girls loved following the conventions of their hometown.
    Dad’s lips slanted down before he shook his head. “She’s working.”
    No big surprise there.
    Dad jerked a thumb out toward Noah’s voice. “Tell you what, that little guy takes after his grandpa. Should’ve seen him in the batting cages.”
    “He hit a ball?”
    “Nah, not just yet. But he’s got a good swing in him.” He bent to sit in the corner chair and let out an old man grunt. “Looks like business is good today.”
    Natalie hid a wince. “Mm-hmm.” She fiddled with the mouse, debating the wisdom of showing him the payroll. He hadn’t