Free Orange Blossom Brides by Tara Randel

where? Aren’t you supposed to be resting?”
    “Mud wrap. It’s good for the spirit and the body. And my arm, of course.”
    “Mom, what’s really going on?”
    She talked to dead air. Dropping her shoulders, Lilli looked up at the ceiling and took cleansing breaths.
    “Celeste?” Jewel asked, plopping down into a vacant chair beside her.
    “How could you tell?”
    “Your face is red.”
    “This is crazy.” She flipped her cell phone closed. “If she needed time away, why didn’t she just say so? I would have understood. But to make it sound like an emergency and leave me with all this responsibility? As usual, she just assumed I would help her. And I fell for it. What does that say about me?”
    “That you’re gullible when it comes to your mom?”
    An understatement if there ever was one.
    “And from what I heard from your end of the conversation, she still wants you to convince Max to be a groom.”
    “Yes.” Lilli rubbed her eyes.
    “After this afternoon? Good luck with that.”
    “You do realize how complicated this is, right?”
    Jewel shot her a sympathetic shrug.
    “Some help you are.”
    * * ** * *
    A T SEVEN O ’ CLOCK Lilli turned in her project, much to her boss’s relief. Jim stayed at the office so she wouldn’t be alone, although he usually worked late anyway. He depended on her way too much, not only for her ability to make account holders happy with her ideas, but because of her organizational skills, as well. Yeah, because she nearly ran the place. That’s why getting this promotion had to happen.
    She always finished her projects on time. At least, she had until tonight, when visions of lace, tulle, seed pearls and white, white, white had invaded her mind. Throw in a tall, dark and scruffy security consultant and she’d had enough for one day.
    The fluorescent light hummed over her as she straightened up her desk for the night. She stared at the accordion file from Mrs. Rumpold. She’d asked Jewel to leave it on her desk until tomorrow so Lilli could look through it first. Almost reluctantly, she reached for it and then hesitated. If she started looking at the material her mother had collected, she would be totally committed to the event, though realistically she knew there was already no going back.
    Wouldn’t it be nice if her mother showed up tomorrow, good as new and ready to take the job back? She suspected there was more to her mother’s story than Celeste was letting on. But Lilli couldn’t force her to reveal whatever she was hiding. Why couldn’t her family be normal? Just when she’d finally managed to move beyond her mother’s drama, she got sucked back in again. When would she have her own life?
    Her mother had only been gone a few days, and already Lilli been had thrust into working on a historical society function, reluctantly dredging up the past and reconnecting with a man who definitely caught her attention. What next?
    Lilli refocused on the file filled with every bride’s hopes and dreams. She didn’t want to decorate for a wedding with all the glamour and bells and whistles that went with the event. A designer gown and lavish reception? Not for her. She’d almost had it once. She didn’t need it now.
    “Great job,” Jim told her as he locked up his office. “I only glanced over the proposal, but it looks solid. Natural Puppy should like it.”
    “Thanks. I know I’m usually finished by five, but since I came in late this morning, it couldn’t be avoided—”
    “It was due Thursday. Today’s Thursday. We’re good.”
    “Today’s been rather...eventful.”
    Jim narrowed his eyes. “This thing your mother roped you into isn’t going to infringe on any more of my time, is it?”
    Just the thing Lilli had been worried about, her mother’s request causing problems with her actual job. “Don’t worry about me taking too much time to work on the benefit. Everything’s in order.” I hope.
    “Not a problem as long as you get your work done