Read Mr Destiny Online

Authors: Candy Halliday

Tags: #Contemporary, #Romance

Mr Destiny (6 page)

BOOK: Mr Destiny
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K
ate stood at the front window of the posh bridal shop on Grand Street, just around the corner from the gallery on Broadway.
She was waiting for Alex and Eve to meet her there.

She was also irritated with herself for allowing Alex to bully Eve into coming. It was true. Eve
had
been making considerable progress over the last two weeks.

She and Alex had even coerced Eve into having dinner with them in a public restaurant two Friday nights in a row. And what
a big surprise. They hadn't bumped into the snake and his new fiancée once.

Eve had even made a joke about how silly she'd been herself—another huge step in the right direction.

Still, Kate couldn't help but worry that finding herself surrounded by a shop filled with wedding dresses might cause Eve
to suffer a setback. Eve's I-want-to-be-there-for-you declaration only made her feel worse. Her goal had always been to help
Eve get back on her feet. The last thing she wanted was Eve trying to prove her loyalty and ending up in a tailspin again.

At least Thursday afternoons were routinely slow for all of the shop owners in SoHo, Kate reminded herself. Which was why
she had chosen four o'clock for Alex and Eve to meet her at the bridal shop. Not that Alex hadn't protested. Alex couldn't
believe she'd turned down Grace's offer to bring back some noteworthy designer creation directly from Paris.

Alex could complain all she wanted, but Kate's immunity to
designeritis
as Alex called it, wasn't apt to change. Nor was her not-a-bit-pretentious personality apt to change, which was something
Harold (also a big fan of designer everything) was going to have to accept after they were married.

Besides, selecting her wedding attire was her choice to make, and Kate had her own agenda.

The bridal shop's owner, Diane, was an attractive brunette in her fifties who had always been faithful about sending customers
around the corner to the gallery to browse. Kate appreciated those referrals. She intended to return that favor by giving
Diane her own patronage.

She glanced around the shop again, pleased to see that this Thursday afternoon wasn't any different from most Thursday afternoons.
Other than Diane, she and a sales-clerk were the only people in the shop.

Good.

She had Eve's crowd phobia under control.

Now, if she could usher Eve past the rows of wedding dresses fast enough…

Kate stepped closer to the window.

A taxi had pulled up and stopped in front of the shop.

She waved supportively when Eve left the taxi first. But she didn't miss the fact that Alex had to practically push Eve through
the door.

“Are you sure you want to do this, Eve?” Kate asked, ignoring the don't-sympathize-with-her look coming from watchdog Alex.

Maybe Alex's no-nonsense approach
had
been responsible for forcing Eve back into a normal routine over the last two weeks. But Alex had the tendency to push too
far, too fast. Besides, a
little
sympathy every now and then never hurt anybody.

Eve nodded, and Kate said, “This won't take long, sweetie.” She didn't care whether Alex liked her protective attitude or
not.

Only Alex was too busy looking around the shop with her nose in the air to notice. “I still can't believe you prefer buying
off the rack to having Grace bring you a designer dress from Paris.”

“That's exactly what Harold said,” Kate told Alex, knowing suggesting Alex had anything at all in common with Harold would
annoy her to the core.

Alex's beady-eyed frown proved her right.

“And,” Kate added, “I'll tell you exactly what I told Harold. Off the rack will suit me just fine.”

“ ‘Off the rack will suit me just fine,’ “ Alex mimicked.

Kate ignored her and turned back to Eve, who, unfortunately, was looking shakier by the minute.

“I'm really glad you're here, Eve. I didn't want to make my final choice without including my two best friends.” She gave
Eve a quick hug. “But Gram and I did narrow my choices down to three bridal suits before she left for Paris. This won't take
long. I promise.”

Eve smiled. Weakly, Kate noticed.

But Alex frowned.

“Bridal
suits
? Excuse me? You've been talking about the type of wedding dress you wanted from the moment Eve and I met you. A bridal suit
is
not
the vivid description I remember listening to over and over and over again through four years of college.”

Kate put her hands on her hips. “Well, excuse me for obviously boring you with that description over and over and over again.”
She stared Alex down. “You're right. I never imagined wearing a suit to my wedding. But a suit is more practical than a wedding
dress for a short ceremony in a judge's chamber.”

Alex rolled her eyes. “A short ceremony in a judge's chamber isn't the vivid description I remember of the wedding you wanted,
either.”

“Only because I had no idea I'd be marrying an attorney whose mentor since his father died just happens to be a judge.”

“And who probably really wants a short ceremony in his mentor's chamber because he's afraid his bride's quirky parents will
show up stark naked from their latest new adventure, the happy camper nudist colony.”


Not
funny,” Kate said. “My parents were invited to the wedding, and you know it. You also know they politely declined, rather
than have
me
stressed out over their long-standing feud with Grace. They'll be holding their own ceremony in my honor on my wedding day,
thank you very much.”

“Right. I forgot,” Alex said. “The naked zenfest. Maybe I should go to that one.”

“Maybe you should,” Kate said. “Since you're still boycotting the ceremony I'm having here.”

“I'm boycotting the
groom,
“ Alex corrected. “Not the ceremony.”

“Girls. Please,” Eve finally said. “All of this arguing is making me queasy.”

Kate glanced in Eve's direction.

The poor dear was starting to look a tad green.

She sent Alex a see-what-you've-done-now look.

Kate took Eve by the arm, led her past the rows of wedding dresses that were also possibly making her queasy, and directed
her to the back section of the shop. When they reached the area with the customary viewing platform, a huge three-sided mirror,
and several complimentary chairs, Eve didn't protest when Kate gently pushed her down to sit on one of the chair's lush cushions.

“No more arguing, Eve, I promise,” Kate said, before Alex caught up with them. “I've already taken the suits to the dressing
room. This will be quick and easy.”

“Wait,” Alex called out.

She hurried toward them, a vision from heaven on the hanger in her hand and poor Diane hurrying right along behind her.

“If you aren't going to wear a wedding dress, at least try this one on for us,” Alex said. “I swear, this dress is so close
to what I remember you describing, you could have designed the thing yourself.”

Diane sent Alex a murderous glare, then forced Alex's hand upward to keep the hem of the dress from touching the carpet. But
when she looked back at Kate, Diane smiled, and said, “This is a Vera Wang creation, Kate. It's a perfect choice for any bride.
Off the rack
or not.”

Dammit, Alex,
Kate thought.
Do you always have to put your foot in your mouth?

She sent Alex a stern look.

Alex mouthed “be-otch” behind Diane's back.

Eve, on the other hand, was genuinely smiling for the first time since she'd walked into the shop.

“It really is a beautiful dress, Kate,” Eve said. “Please? At least try it on for us.”

Diane wrestled the hanger away from Alex, then held the dress out for Kate's inspection. Heart-shaped bodice completely covered
in sequins. Tiny strings of pearls for the t-straps. A tight-fitting waist, giving way to a clinging satin straight skirt.
A front cutaway extending from the hem to slightly above the knee.

Diane turned the dress around, and Kate's breath caught in her throat. The all-pearl straps crisscrossed above the sexy plunging
v-shape back, just like she'd always wanted.

Alex hadn't been kidding.

She really could have designed the dress herself.

Kate started to reach for the hanger, but stopped herself. “No. I shouldn't. Harold and I have already agreed a bridal suit
would be more practical than a wedding dress.”

“Then let Harold wear the bridal suit of his choice,” Alex snipped.

Kate hesitated. “I guess it wouldn't hurt to try it on.” But she looked directly at Alex when she added, “Just as long as
you realize you are
not
going to talk me out of my decision to wear a suit.”

Alex shrugged. “You're the bride. Brides should wear whatever they want. Maybe you should remind
Harold
of that fact.”

“I'll put the dress in the dressing room for you with the other things you've picked out, Kate,” Diane said politely. “If
you need any help…”

“That's what
we're
here for,” Alex broke in.

Diane sent Alex another frosty look, then disappeared with the dress.

“Do you always have to be so confrontational?” Kate scolded.

Alex waited until Diane came out of the dressing room and headed back to the front of the store before she said, “Me? Bitchzilla
was the one being confrontational. Didn't you see the way she snatched that dress out of my hand?”

Kate rolled her eyes.

Arguing with Alex was as effective as tunneling through a mountain of granite with a freaking mascara wand.

However.

All was forgotten when Kate stepped out of the dressing room and up onto the platform a few minutes later. Both of her best
friends rushed to her side. All three of them just stood there, looking at Kate's reflection in the three-sided mirror.

This would be the one
, Kate thought.
If I were wearing a dress at my wedding, this dress would be the one.

“Wow, Kate,” Alex said. “You look absolutely…”

“Beautiful,” a voice said before Alex could finish.

Startled, Kate whirled around.

She would have fallen backward off the platform, had Alex not reached out and grabbed her arm to steady her.

Oh. My. God.

This couldn't be happening.

She was staring straight at the last person Kate ever expected to see again—much less find standing in the middle of a bridal
shop.

The surprised look on Kate's face was nothing compared to the shock Tony felt when he made his way to the back of the bridal
shop and found her standing on that platform. The sight of her in a wedding dress straight out of some fairy tale completely
overwhelmed him. For one brief moment, Tony wished Nonna's prediction had been more than just a cruel joke.

As for the speech he'd been rehearsing since he'd received the panicked phone call from his father that morning, those words
escaped Tony faster than a crook with a head start in a high-speed car chase.

All he could do was stand there and stare.

He didn't snap out of his trance until Kate pushed her friend Alex aside and picked up the folds of her dress.

“Wait,” Tony called out, as she hurried from the platform. “Please. I need to talk to you for a minute.”

“Go away,” she yelled back over her shoulder. “We have nothing to talk about.” She disappeared through an archway and out
of sight.

Alex grinned when Tony walked in her direction. “Kate won't be hard to find,” she said, motioning toward the archway. “Don't
worry, it's safe. She's the only one in the dressing room.”

“Thanks,” Tony said.

Alex put her hands on the woman's shoulders standing next to her, then started pushing the petite redhead toward the front
of the store. The redhead kept looking back over her shoulder at him. Tony heard her say “Jack Scalia but ten times better.”

Her comment made no sense at all to him.

But it made Alex throw her head back and laugh.

Dammit!

This was not working out the way he'd planned.

He hadn't planned to interrupt Kate. Or to ruin some special moment she was having with her friends, which is pretty much
what he suspected he had done. What he'd planned to do, when he finally tracked her down at the bridal shop, was simply to
take a second of her time, ask for her help, and hopefully walk away with her agreeing to a quick trip to Queens on Friday
night.

But his potential accomplice had fled the scene.

And he had the entrance to the women's dressing room secured as if he were on some high-profile stakeout.

To hell with that.

Tony took a deep breath and stepped through the entrance to no-man's-land. A quick look up and down the narrow space told
him where he'd find her.

“Kate,” he said, rapping lightly on the only closed door in the dressing room. “I apologize for disturbing you here. But I
need your help. Please. Would you just hear me out for a second?”

She didn't answer.

Nor did she open the dressing room door.

Tony stood there for a few more embarrassing moments before he said, “Look. I don't blame you if you already think I'm certifiable.
I won't even blame you if you decide not to help me. But I do have a problem. And believe it or not, you really are the only
person who can help me.”

BOOK: Mr Destiny
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ads

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