Brides and Grooms Box Set: Marriage Wanted\Bride Wanted\Groom Wanted (26 page)

“Good afternoon.” Alek spoke to her brother first, then returned his attention to her. “Julia.”

“Alek,” she said briskly, surprised by how defensive she sounded.

He didn’t seem perturbed by her lack of welcome. Last night she’d agreed to become his wife, accepting the stipulations he’d set. She’d been overwrought with anxiety, frightened and lost. Yet no matter how hard she argued with herself, Julia wouldn’t change her mind…unless Alek wanted out. She was a woman of honor, a woman of her word. She knew he was the same way.

“I was just clearing the wedding arrangements with Julia,” Jerry explained.

Alek’s eyes refused to leave her. She felt her face heat and wished with everything in her that she
could
escape.

“I’d like some time alone with my fiancée,” Alek said.

Julia sent Jerry a pleading glance, not wanting him to leave her. Jerry ignored the unspoken request, mumbled something under his breath and walked out of the room.

“You want to talk?” she asked abruptly. She rubbed her palms and walked away from him. Her shoulders felt stiff and her legs heavy.

“You’re nervous.”

Nervous. Terrified. Afraid. None of those words adequately described what Julia was experiencing. The situation had an eerie, unreal quality that she couldn’t shake. Only a few years earlier she’d looked forward to being a happy bride. She’d dreamed of the day Roger
would slip a wedding band on her finger and gaze down at her with love.

She felt a flash of unexpected pain, then forced herself to shake the image from her head.

“All brides are nervous,” she said quietly in response to his question.

“How is your grandmother?”

“I’ll be seeing her this afternoon.… Better, I believe.” According to the nurse Julia had spoken with that morning, Ruth had slept restfully through the night. But that had been
after
Jerry had spoken to her and said Julia would be marrying Aleksandr Berinski. Her grandmother had only met Alek once, and that had been recently. He’d obviously made quite an impression, because his name had cropped up with alarming frequency ever since.

“Do you wish to cancel the wedding?” Alek probed.

Here was her chance, handed to her on the proverbial silver platter. All she needed to do was tell him that she hadn’t been herself, that she hadn’t been fully aware of what she was doing. She opened her mouth to explain it all away and found she couldn’t. The words refused to come. While she was fumbling for a reply, he stepped behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders. He leaned forward, gently kissing the side of her neck.

Julia froze. It was the first time a man had touched her since Roger. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. Alek didn’t seem to notice. Sliding his arms around her, he brought her against him. His breath stirred shivers along her spine and a curious warmth crept into her blood.

Alek turned her around to face him. She wasn’t given
the opportunity to object as he pressed his mouth to hers. His lips moved slowly over hers. She wedged her hands between them, braced her palms against his hard chest and pushed herself free. Her lungs felt as though they were about to burst, and she drew in a deep breath.

Alek didn’t seem offended or surprised by her actions. His eyes danced with mischief as they sought hers. Julia raised the back of her hand to her mouth and held it there. She burned with anger. He’d done this intentionally so she’d know he expected to touch her and kiss her often after the ceremony. She was to be his wife in every sense of the word and he wouldn’t tolerate a loveless, sexless marriage. He wanted her and he was making sure she knew it.

What was she going to do?

* * *

Julia stood outside the bridal shop with all the thrill and anticipation of a long-overdue visit to the dentist.

She opened the door and walked inside, grateful the saleswoman wasn’t busy.

“Hello.”

“Hello,” Julia said stiffly, fanning out the billowing chiffon skirt of a pale yellow bridesmaid’s dress that hung from a rack.

“May I help you?” came the friendly voice.

Julia revealed her lack of enthusiasm with a noncommittal shrug. “I need a wedding dress for this Friday afternoon.”

The shopkeeper was petite, hardly more than five feet tall with soft brown hair. The woman was a dreamer; Julia could see it in her eyes. She, too, had once worn that same look of innocence.…

“The wedding is
this
Friday?”

“I know that doesn’t give me much time,” Julia said, feeling foolish. “It’s one of those spur-of-the-moment things.”

“Don’t worry,” the saleswoman assured her, hurrying toward a long rack of plastic-covered wedding dresses. “Spur-of-the-moment weddings are often the most romantic.”

Julia had nothing to add. She could tell that this woman was more than a dreamer; she was also hopelessly sentimental. She had her head in the clouds when it came to love, and no doubt her attitude had been influenced by her job. She dealt with women who were deeply in love, women for whom the entire world was there for the taking.

Three years earlier, Julia had been one of them. Young, enthusiastic and so much in love she didn’t recognize what should’ve been obvious.

“I’d like a very plain dress,” she said forcefully, breaking off her thoughts.

“Plain,” the woman repeated slowly.

“The plainer the better,” Julia reiterated, strolling about the store.

“I’m afraid I have a limited selection of plain dresses.”

That was what Julia feared. “Something simple, then.”

“Simple and elegant?” she asked, grinning approvingly. “Would you like to look through this rack? Choose the designs that appeal to you, I’ll get them in your size, and then you can try them on.”

As far as Julia was concerned, this business with the
wedding dress was a waste of time. She wanted it to be over and done with so she could head for the hospital and visit Ruth.

The saleswoman led her to the appropriate display of gowns. Julia shuffled through them quickly, making two selections. Neither dress really appealed to her.

“I’ll try on these two,” Julia said.

The woman made no comment as she went into the back room and returned a few minutes later with the two dresses in the correct size. She took them into the dressing room and placed them on the hook.

Julia obediently followed her inside. She undressed and slipped into the first dress. It was just as the saleswoman had promised. Simple and elegant. A straight skirt made of silk, a beaded yoke and cuffs. It looked fine, Julia supposed.

“No,” the shop-owner said with certainty. “This one doesn’t suit you.”

“It looks…”

“No,” the woman repeated. “Don’t even bother to try on the next dress. It wouldn’t suit you, either.”

“Please, I don’t have a lot of time.”

“The dress is one of the most important aspects of your wedding. Every bride deserves to feel beautiful on her special day.”

Julia didn’t know why she felt like crying, but she did. Buckets of tears welled up inside her. She was grateful the woman didn’t seem to notice. Brides deserved a whole lot more than feeling beautiful; they deserved to marry a man they loved. A man who loved them, too.

“Wait here,” she instructed. She left the changing area and came back a moment later carrying a lovely
ornate dress. The silk gown with pearls and sequins was anything but simple. Rarely had Julia seen a dress as intricate as this.

“Try it on,” she said when Julia hesitated.

“I…I don’t think I should.”

“Nonsense. This dress was designed for someone with your body type. It’s perfect. It arrived this afternoon, almost as though I’d sent away for it with you in mind.”

“I don’t know,” Julia murmured. The woman held up the gown for her inspection. It was lovely, ten times more elaborate than the one she’d tried on earlier. Ten times more beautiful, too. It was the kind of dress a woman in love would choose, knowing her groom would treasure its beauty. Would treasure
her
beauty. A groom who’d cherish her devotion all his life. It was the style of dress she would’ve worn for Roger before she learned of his betrayal. Before she’d learned what a fool she’d been.

She wanted to argue, but one look convinced her that the woman would hear none of it. Not exactly sure why she’d allowed this stranger to dictate her actions, Julia put on the dress. The silk and taffeta rustled as it slid effortlessly over her hips. She kept her eyes lowered as she turned around and the shopkeeper fastened the small pearl closures down her back.

Julia felt strangely reluctant to look into a mirror, almost fearing her own reflection. When she did raise her eyes to the glass, she was startled at the beautiful young woman who gazed back at her. It took her a wild second to realize it was herself.

Gone were the lines that told of the bitterness and disappointment she’d carried with her since her father’s
death. The cool, disinterested look in her eyes had warmed. The calculating side of her personality faded, replaced by the woman she’d been before she’d fallen in love with Roger Stanhope. Open, trusting, naive—too young for her years.

Unable to look at herself any longer, Julia dragged her eyes away from the graceful reflection of the woman she’d once been. The woman Roger’s deception had destroyed.

“It’s perfect,” the saleswoman was saying with a sigh of appreciation. “Just perfect. It’s as if the dress was meant for you.”

Julia opened her mouth to contradict the woman, but before she could voice her objection she looked at the mirror one last time. A few days earlier she’d caught a stormy glimpse of herself reflected in her office window. She’d disliked what she’d seen, the woman she’d become, cold, uncaring and driven.

She’d quickly abandoned her self-analysis and had concentrated on what was happening with Alek and Jerry at the Immigration office instead. The events of that afternoon had resulted in this farce of a wedding.

Alek had been adamant that there be no divorce. Julia had agreed to those terms, but not in the spirit he’d intended. If it weren’t for these particular circumstances, Julia doubted she would ever have married. This would be her only wedding, her one chance to wear such a beautiful gown.

“I’ll take it,” she said, calling herself a fool even as she spoke.

“Somehow I knew you would.” The saleswoman grinned broadly.

It took an additional twenty minutes, while the dress was wrapped up and the bill paid, before Julia was able to leave the shop. Nervously she glanced at her watch as she headed toward her parked car. She was already late and knew Ruth would be worried.

As often as she’d visited hospitals, Julia could never accustom herself to the antiseptic smell. She rushed down the polished hallway to the wing that housed her grandmother. She hated the thought of Ruth being here, away from her comfortable home and the pictures she loved and kept close to her side.

Ruth had tried repeatedly to prepare Julia for her death, but Julia refused to listen, refused to accept life without her adored grandmother.

Checking in at the nurses’ station, Julia was left to wait until Velma Williams, the head nurse, returned. A striking arrangement of red, blue, yellow and white flowers overfilled an inverted straw hat on a corner of the long counter. Julia admired it as she stood there. A few minutes later, Velma was back and Julia was ushered to Ruth’s side.

“Good afternoon,” Julia whispered. She couldn’t tell if Ruth was sleeping or simply resting her eyes. Her grandmother seemed to be doing more of both lately. There were various tubes and pieces of equipment attached to Ruth’s body, monitoring her heart and administering drugs intravenously. Julia looked down on this woman she loved so much and had to force back her growing sense of alarm. It seemed to ring in her ears, announcing that the time was fast approaching when Ruth would no longer be with her.

The older woman’s eyes gradually drifted open.
“Julia, my dear, I’m so glad you’re here. Come, sit with me.”

Julia pulled up a chair and sat next to the high hospital bed. “How are you feeling?”

Ruth gestured weakly with her hand. “That’s not important now. Tell me about you and Alek. How I’ve prayed for this day. How I’ve hoped you’d learn to love again.”

“The wedding’s on Friday afternoon.” Julia half suspected her grandmother would find the timing suspicious, but instead Ruth smiled tenderly and a faraway look came into her tired eyes.

“Friday… It’s a good thing you won’t have a long engagement, because I doubt I’ll last more than a week or two.”

“Grandma, please don’t say that. You’re going to be around for years and years.”

The weary smile didn’t waver. “I won’t see my great-grandchildren.”

Julia wanted to argue with her, but she couldn’t; there’d never be children for her and Alek because there would never be a real marriage. She suffered a slight twinge of guilt but pushed it aside as a luxury she couldn’t afford.

“I’m sorry I’m late but I was trying on wedding dresses,” Julia explained, injecting some enthusiasm into her voice. She was mildly surprised at how little effort it required to sound excited about the dress she’d bought at the bridal shop. She described it in detail and was pleased at the way her grandmother’s eyes brightened.

“You and Alek will come see me after the ceremony, won’t you?”

“Of course,” Julia promised.

Ruth motioned toward the nurses’ station. “He sent me flowers. He’s a very thoughtful boy. Velma carried in the bouquet for me to see. Did you notice them?” “
Who
sent you flowers?”

“Your Alek. An enchanting arrangement, and such a sweet thing to do. I like him, Julia. You’ve chosen well, my dear.”

Julia was uncomfortable talking about Alek. He’d been foremost in her thoughts all day and she wanted to escape him, escape the memory of his gentle kiss.

“Tell me about your romance. You’ve been so close-mouthed about it all…yet I knew.” Ruth’s eyes closed slowly and she sighed. With what seemed to be a good deal of effort she opened her eyes again. “He’s a special man, that one. Just hearing about you two gladdens my heart.”

“Ah…” Julia hesitated, not sure what to say. “It all happened rather quickly…almost overnight.”