Marry Me at Christmas (Fool's Gold) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Shelby and Madeline were close, Shelby and Destiny were sisters-in-law. Destiny had married Shelby’s brother—former Olympic skier Kipling Gilmore—the previous summer. No one had known they were even seeing each other until the surprise wedding. Talk about keeping a secret.
    Something Madeline was finally experiencing herself, she thought happily. Not that working for Jonny Blaze was as exciting as an illicit romance, but still. She knew that she was going to have to tell Isabel—what with her having to be gone from the shop from time to time. But that was for later. Right now she was keeping the information to herself. Mostly because she and Jonny hadn’t discussed if it was public or not. Until she confirmed that he was okay with her mentioning it to her business partner, she wasn’t saying a word.
    The door opened and Patience, Taryn and Consuelo walked in. Or rather Taryn and Consuelo walked. Patience waddled, with her second child due the first week of January. The three women headed to their table.
    Madeline loved her lunches out with her friends. The number and faces were always changing, but they had friendship in common. Today’s group was eclectic, as always. Patience owned Brew-haha, the local coffee shop in town, Phoebe was a recent transplant from LA who was now a rancher’s wife, Taryn ran a PR firm and Consuelo was an instructor at the bodyguard school.
    Isabel looked at Taryn and shook her head. “I see you’re back to your skinny self. Didn’t you just have a baby last Tuesday?”
    “I had Bryce in July,” the violet-eyed brunette said with a grimace. “And I’ve been sweating in the gym every day for the past four months. I’ve had to lift weights. It’s awful. So you don’t get to be mad at me. I’ve earned my way back into my clothes.”
    Isabel stuck out her tongue and the rest of the women laughed.
    “It feels good to be back to where I was,” Taryn said.
    Destiny rested her hand on her growing belly. “I look forward to it.”
    “Sing it, sister,” Patience said.
    Madeline was sure most women would agree with them, but she had to admit to a little disappointment. It seemed to her that having a baby should be transformative. That you shouldn’t just slip back into your old life. Although she doubted carrying around an extra five or ten pounds was the right way to mark the occasion. She just knew that if she was lucky enough to fall in love and get married and have kids, she wanted the experience to change her.
    Jo came by and took their orders. Conversation flowed easily. Phoebe mentioned hearing from Maya and Del, who were in China. That was followed by everyone admitting they had no idea how the Chinese celebrated the holidays, or if they did at all.
    As people talked, Madeline became aware of Isabel fidgeting in her seat. She leaned close to her business partner.
    “I know I keep asking this, but are you okay?”
    Isabel surprised her by hugging her. “You’re a good person, you know that, right?”
    Madeline studied her. “Are you crying?”
    “What Destiny has is contagious.” Isabel cleared her throat, then sighed. “I have an announcement.”
    The table quieted. Isabel looked at them all. “I’m pregnant.”
    Consuelo frowned. “Did you hit your head? Do you have a concussion? We all know you’re pregnant. If you hadn’t told me, I’d still know. Ford tells me every single day. If I didn’t like you so much, I would kill him because he’s annoying.”
    A statement that from anyone else might be cause for alarm, but was exactly how Consuelo thought and talked.
    Isabel seemed to brace herself. “I didn’t hit my head. It’s just... I had my ultrasound and...” She held up her hand. “I’m fine. I’m doing well. Too well. Because... I’m having triplets.”
    There was a moment of silence followed by loud cheers and calls of congratulations.
    Madeline took in the news. She knew Isabel’s husband, Ford, had triplet sisters, so it wasn’t a complete