Blueprint for a Wedding by Melissa McClone

Author:Melissa McClone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Gabe was late. He’d rather not have shown up at all, but he wasn’t going to miss his niece’s first birthday party.

He parked his truck in Kate’s driveway.

At least he had Annelise’s present ready, and it was perfect. His fifth dollhouse for his fifth niece. He’d stayed up all night putting the final touches on it. Not that he could have slept anyway. Images of Faith’s long hair, thoughtful gaze and generous smile appeared in his mind each time he closed his eyes. Memories of that hot, amazing kiss had kept him awake two nights straight.

Lust? Guilt? More likely a bad case of stupidity.

Gabe turned off the ignition.

He’d spent almost half his life working toward a dream, but if he kept messing up around Faith, he would lose the Larabee house again and only have himself to blame.

Frank whined.

Gabe glared at the dog sitting on the passenger seat. “Don’t you start on me, too.”

He’d been fielding calls from his sisters all weekend. They wanted to know all about Faith Starr, but it was more than curiosity about a famous actress when the questions turned personal. Did he like her? Did she like him? He didn’t know what to say to them. Hell, he didn’t know what to say to himself.

Gabe set his jaw. Enough about her. He slid from the truck, unloaded the dollhouse and carried it into the house. Today was for Annelise.

He returned to the truck to get Frank. As they made their way to the backyard gate, the scent of marinated chicken grilling filled the air. Gabe’s stomach growled.

As he opened the gate, Frank nudged between his leg and the fencepost. Suddenly high-pitched squeals and screams drowned out the Wiggles song playing on the boom. Cecilia’s daughters—Savannah, Madeline, Anna and Danielle—raced up and flung themselves at Gabe and Frank, showering man and dog with indiscriminate sticky-fingered hugs and wet kisses.

Their unconditional greeting warmed Gabe’s heart. He glanced over the tops of their heads and searched for his sisters. Pink and purple balloons were tied everywhere. Lawn chairs had been placed on the grass. A buffet table sat on the covered patio.

On the far side of the yard, he found them. Rather, some of them. His mother, Theresa, Bernie and Lucy stood in a semicircle in front of the picnic table. None of them had noticed his arrival. Good. He wanted to avoid an interrogation at all costs. No doubt his mother would be worse than his sisters since she hadn’t called him all weekend.

Kate strolled over to hand him a bottle of root beer still wet from the cooler. “Hey, bro. Did you finish the dollhouse?”

At least she wasn’t asking him what time he’d left Faith’s on Friday night; Bernie had. He smiled. “It’s in the living room with the other presents.”

“I can’t wait to see it.” Kate smiled back. “Annelise is going to love it.”

He unscrewed the bottle cap and took a swig. “Where is she?”

She motioned to the picnic table. “Over there.”

Annelise wouldn’t let just anyone hold her—so far only Kate and Gabe’s dad had been honored with that privilege.

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