The Sleeping Beauty Proposal by Sarah Strohmeyer

Author:Sarah Strohmeyer [Strohmeyer, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary
ISBN: 9780525950189
Google: irXShVbb-1sC
Goodreads: 287576
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2007-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

The good news is that Reverend Whitmore is discreet enough not to mention me kissing a man who is not my fiancé. The bad news is that when I turn to look back at the window and our table, I find that Nick is still there, though all his attention is focused on Cecily.

Oh, well. C’est la vie!

I have no right to be jealous. After all, it wasn’t a real date we were on.We were just pretending, that line about him being a patient man probably nothing more than his usual flirtation modus operandi.

Besides, even if Nick is developing feelings for me—and I’m not claiming he is—it would be a stupid move, strategically, for him to blow off Cecily now. He wants the house and what better way to get it than through seduction.

Which is excellent motivation for me to take action, too, by driving over to my parents’ right now before I chicken out. Granted, it won’t be easy sitting them down and asking them for—gulp—three hundred thousand dollars. A handout this huge completely grates against my nature as an independent woman. I’ve always prided myself on being able to get by on my own without Mommy and Daddy there to catch me when I fall.

Then again, it is three hundred thousand dollars we’re talking about, a windfall that could tilt the scales in favor of my future happiness. In which case, my independence can sit down and shut up for a Saturday afternoon.

Mom is in the kitchen repotting a plant in the sink when I come in, soaked and determined.

“What a rainy-day surprise!” she exclaims, rinsing off her hands. “I’m so glad you stopped by, Genie. I drew up a rough invitation list.Take a look.”

There are far more people here than we planned. “I thought we were keeping it to under a hundred guests.”

“I tried and just can’t. Once you invite the relatives from my side and the relatives from your father’s side, we’re already up to seventy. And that’s not including Hugh’s people. Do you have that list yet?”

“Not yet,” I say, flipping through the names.Why is Mom inviting my former high school principal?

"Well, you’ll have to get that to me soon. Also, Hugh’s parents. Honestly, I can’t believe we’ve gotten this far into the wedding planning and we haven’t even contacted them. It’s incredibly rude. It’s practically scandalous.”

This I’ve got covered, thanks to Patty. From my purse, I pull out an address for Susanna and Trevor Spencer c/o Giorgio Hermani, Paloma, Italia. Never mind that Giorgio Hermani is Patty’s uncle George, who, being a former con artist and internationally acclaimed circus star, has agreed to answer all correspondence sent to him as though he really were an uptight British couple.

“No phone?” Mom says.

“Guess they’re really roughing it.” I point to Patty’s name on the invitation list. “Why is she crossed out?”

“Oh, dear.You don’t really want to invite that woman, do you? She’s so loud.”

“I have to. She’s my only bridesmaid.”

“No!” Mom grips the kitchen counter as if she’s suffering a mild myocardial infarction.

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