Free His Most Suitable Bride by Renee Ryan Page A

marriage.
    And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. The Bible verse was practically a family motto.
    Realizing she’d been silent too long, Callie drew in a steadying breath.“I’m glad there are no hard feelings between you and Molly.”
    “You are different tonight, Miss Mitchell. More...” His words trailed off.
    When several seconds passed and he didn’t continue, she lifted a brow. “More?” she prompted.
    “Charming,” he said with a smile. “Engaging. Quite wonderful, really. Until tonight, I hadn’t realized how...” His gaze fell over her face. “What I mean is, you are a very beautiful woman.”
    A rather inconvenient surge of pleasure surfaced at the unexpected compliment. Callie had forgotten how lovely it felt to be called beautiful.
    She shifted uneasily in her chair.
    “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
    “You didn’t,” she assured him. “It’s just—” she lifted her chin “—I’m not used to compliments.”
    “Then I shall make it my mission to pay you several more throughout the night.”
    “Please,” she whispered, absently shoving at her hair, shifting in her seat again. “You really don’t have to do that.”
    “I have made you uncomfortable again.” He focused on his plate a moment, then turned back to her. “Did you notice how the rain earlier this evening brought a surprising chill to the night air?”
    What a kind, sweet man, changing the subject to the universally innocuous topic of the weather.
    For the rest of the meal, they spoke of nothing more substantial. Callie found Marshall Ferguson witty, amiable and handsome. She quite enjoyed his company. And decided to be glad for her position at the table.
    As the servers began clearing away empty dishes and plates, one of the Ferguson sisters, in an overly loud voice, asked Reese if he’d heard from Fanny since she’d left town.
    A full five seconds of silence met the question, whereby the girl’s father cleared his throat.
    “No, I haven’t,” Reese said without inflection. “Nor would I expect to hear from her since we are no longer engaged.”
    Though he didn’t appear especially agitated, his icy tone said the conversation was over.
    The girl missed the obvious cue. “Oh, but surely, after what you meant to one another you would wish to know how she’s faring in Chicago?”
    “She is faring very well” came a deep, masculine reply.
    All heads turned toward Jonathon Hawkins and an expectant hush filled the air.
    “You know Fanny?” the Ferguson sisters asked in unison.
    He gave a brief nod. “Miss Mitchell is an invaluable member of my Chicago hotel operation, our operation,” he amended with a nod in deference toward Mrs. Singletary. “With her attention to detail, she’s all but running the place on her own.”
    “Isn’t that lovely.” Mrs. Singletary set her napkin on the table and stood. “Let us adjourn to the parlor for coffee and dessert.”
    And that, the widow’s turned back communicated to the room, was the end of that.
    The rest of the evening went by pleasantly for Callie. Until Jonathon Hawkins approached her.
    “Miss Mitchell, it’s a pleasure seeing you again.”
    Everything around her went still. Though she’d once worked at this man’s hotel, she’d hardly interacted with him. Once, maybe twice, and only in passing, yet he acted as though they were old friends.
    “Thank you, Mr. Hawkins.” She gave him a brief nod and a forced smile. “It’s nice to see you again, too.”
    “From what I understand,” he continued, his gray eyes smiling, “your absence has left a considerable hole in the Hotel Dupree’s kitchen operations.”
    Emotion threatened to overtake her. Now that she had his attention, there were many things Callie wanted to say to this man. A discussion of her former position in his hotel was not one of them.
    “I’m sure you’ll find a suitable replacement soon.”
    “Let us hope you are right.” He