Stand-In Groom Read Online Free PDF Page B

concern than romantic interest.
    Yes, that was part of it. Part of what bothered her. The age difference. George Laurence had to be older than Anne herself, while Courtney wasn’t quite twenty. What was he thinking, marrying a girl half his age?
    “I’m so sorry,” Courtney said after taking a swig of the water. “Must be allergies or something.” She looked at George before taking a deep breath and continuing. “Anyway, what I was saying is that my fiancé, well, I don’t even know how to say this without sounding, like, stuck up, but he has, y’know, a lot of money.”
    Anne couldn’t look at him. Why was he leaving this all up to Courtney? Why couldn’t he come out and say it himself?
    “He told me I could have anything I wanted, no matter what the cost.” Courtney’s eyes took on a dreamy quality. “Miss Anne, do you think it would be wrong of me to get married in a pink dress? I saw a picture in one of the magazines—I should have brought it with me—some actress or singer who just got married wore a green dress because green is, like, her favorite color. My favorite color is pink, and I’ve always dreamed of getting married in a pink dress like the one Princess Aurora wore at the end of
Sleeping Beauty
, y’know?”
    Pink? Anne still tried to fathom the idea of a budgetless wedding. “I’m positive we can find the perfect dress for you.” She turned to George, sitting so erect his back hardly touched the sofa cushion, hands clasped in his lap. “I realize you’ve told Courtney she can have whatever she wants no matter the cost, but can you give me a ballpark figure so I can start working up a plan of action?”
    “I’ve—it’s just as she said: whatever she wants, no matter the cost.”
    Really? Anne bit the inside of her cheek to keep her grin intact. Going to play that way, huh? Well, his “no matter the cost” would be put to the test as soon as she could sit down at the computer and start working up a plan based on everything Courtney said she wanted. No calling in favors from childhood friends on this wedding. If he really meant what he said, all of her vendors—
all
of them—would be rewarded for every discount, freebie, or no-charge delivery they’d ever given her. And for the first time, she might actually get her full fee, on time.
    She picked up her planner. “Let’s talk dates.”
    “Third Saturday in October,” Courtney said. “That’s the date we’ve chosen. Oh, but we want to have an engagement party the Friday after the Fourth of July.”
    Five weeks for the engagement party and four and a half months for the wedding. If she truly had unlimited financial resources, no problem. Anne had planned to take the weekend after the Fourth off, but for a commission this size…
    “Let’s see. That would be Friday, July seventh….” She marked the date in July, then flipped to October. Nothing else on her calendar for that week. “Both dates look good.” She closed the planner. “Now here’s what we do next: I’ll work up a proposal, complete with a budget, based on what you’ve told me, as well as a contract. If I can get an e-mail address, I can send both to you for review before our next meeting. Can you come in at three o’clock Thursday?”
    George pulled out a touch-screen PDA and tapped away at the surface with a stylus. “Thursday afternoon looks clear.” He clipped the thing onto his belt and reached into his shirt pocket, withdrawing a business card.
    Anne took the card, hoping to get some idea of who this guy was. Against a plain white background, all she saw was G EORGE F. L AURENCE in the middle with his mobile number—a New York area code—at the bottom left and an e-mail address at his own dot-com on the right. Aha. If he had his own Web site, she could look it up and find out more about him.
    Standing, she gave each of them one of her cards. “If you think of anything else you’d like me to figure into the plan, please call.”
    Courtney came