Free The Bachelor’s Christmas Bride by Victoria Pade

were fashioned in styles to make the women who would wear them feel comfortable and to best accentuate their own personal body sizes and shapes. But all were made of red organza and dropped to just below knee-length.
    Shannon’s dress was a formfitting halter with a deceptively high collar that wrapped her neck but completely exposed her back. For the ceremony she wore a matching shrug that made the ensemble seem more conservative. But for the reception she had the option of removing the short jacket and exposing a dress that looked classic from the front and sexy from behind.
    The wedding ceremony itself was traditional and touching, especially when Chase and Hadley had their turn at saying a few words about what they meant to the other and how happy they were to have come full circle from their childhood acquaintance to find each other now.And when their vows had been exchanged and they were pronounced man and wife, the church bells were rung.
    Then the reception was held in the showroom portion of Mackey and McKendrick Furniture Designs. The furniture showcases had been emptied for the occasion, allowing room for the buffet table, the eight-man band, a dance floor and dozens of red-and-white-linen covered dining tables and chairs along the perimeter.
    In the center of each dining table was a pyramid of small, festively wrapped boxes that each held a piece of Belgian chocolate in the shape of a wedding cake as special treats for all the guests.
    Shannon had volunteered to care for her nephew during the reception and to babysit overnight, as well, when Chase and Hadley would take their one-night honeymoon in a countryside cabin far on the outskirts of Northbridge. Also, since she hadn’t thought there would be much mingling to do, she’d offered to watch Logan and Meg’s three-year-old daughter, Tia, in thanks for their hospitality. When Tia had learned that Shannon was spending the night with Cody, Tia hadn’t wanted to be left out, so as a result, the three-year-old was sleeping over at Chase and Hadley’s loft tonight, too.
    All of which Shannon had felt just fine about. But what she hadn’t considered was that although she was a virtual stranger to Northbridge, her grandmother had lived all of her adult life there, and that everyone who had known Carol Duffy might choose the wedding as an opportunity to say hello, to give their condolences to Shannon, to talk a little about her grandmother. So Shannon found herself juggling a fifteen-month-old who had only recently discovered his own mobility and wanted to exercise it rather than be contained and a precociousthree-year-old, while doing far more socializing than she’d bargained for.
    Had Dag not taken it upon himself to stay by her side the entire time, it might have been far worse. But as it was, not only had he apparently assigned himself to be her groomsman when it came to walking her down the aisle, but he stayed with her and the kids for the reception, as well. Which also helped tremendously when other guests approached her about her grandmother because Dag knew them all, introduced them and filled any gaps.
    â€œI am sooo going to owe you,” Shannon told him after he’d provided that service for about the dozenth time.
    â€œYeah, you are,” he agreed before he said, “For what?”
    â€œI thought I’d be sitting alone in a corner so I might as well take Cody and Tia just for company. But tonight hasn’t been anything like that. I don’t think I could have done it without you.”
    And to prove her point, Cody chose that moment to climb from Shannon’s lap onto the table and very nearly knock over a full glass of water. But Dag caught the glass just in time. “ I thought I might get at least one dance with you,” Dag countered. “But it doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen, so I was thinking that now that the cake is cut, maybe we ought to snag a few pieces, take these