Free The Wedding Must Go On by Robyn Grady Page B

like to.’ Irrespective of the disappointing way the night had ended—how much Roxy obviously still didn’t trust him—simple truth was he’d like to a lot.
    ‘Ohmigod.’
Ivy sank into the chair beside him. ‘It’s serious.’
    ‘Don’t go choosing bridesmaid’s shoes just yet. I would never let it get that far.’
And neither would Roxy
.
    Before tossing him out, she’d made herself clear. Roxy was attracted to him physically, intellectually, but she didn’t want to rub shoulders with his demons. Perhaps she thought he used his family history as an excuse, a trick so she wouldn’t expect him to call—at least not regularly.
    He hadn’t stopped thinking about her since and, for the first time in years, he was questioning his beliefs. Still, curse or not, he did
not
want to get hitched. But he
did
want to spend time with the woman who his mind respected and his body craved—more every minute.
    ‘So, will the family meet this mystery girl at the anniversary dinner?’ Ivy asked. ‘I mean before you whisk her off somewhere quiet and romantic, away from your terribly supportive dreary family?’
    Shoving the reports aside, he moved to a glass slider’s view of Sydney’s cityscape and Harbour Bridge. ‘She’s not going to that party.’
    Even if he did decide to brave the endless questions from family members—their over-the-top encouragement—and ask her, Roxy wouldn’t accept.
    Ivy sniffed. ‘Anyone might think you’re ashamed of us.’
    ‘You know that’s not true. It’ll be the same old crowd going over the same old stories. The food will be more extravagant, the fireworks brighter and higher, but the couple of the moment will still be trying to set me up with some woman or other. Drives me
nuts
.’
    They’d grown up poor but five years ago a distant relative had left his mother a stack of money, so the anniversary parties were the same—only
bigger
.
    Ivy grinned as she had when they were kids and she beat him at checkers. ‘They won’t try to set you up if you bring someone of your own along. I for one am dying to meet her. What does she do for a living? Blonde or brunette? Is she wildly in love with you already or playing it cool?’
    ‘Depends which day it is.’ When Ivy’s ears seemed to prick, Nate waved his hands.
Scrap that
. But he did have something he wanted to share or, rather, ask. A question that had eaten at him since leaving Roxy’s place so abruptly Friday night.
    ‘Ivy, what do you know about the Sparks family curse?’
    ‘Don’t call it that. It’s a—’
    ‘Blessing. Right. What do you know?’
    ‘It stems from an epitaph Great-grandfather Sparks found on an ancestor’s gravestone back in England. Read something like …
“I live only for your heart and wither without your love.”
The wife was buried one day, her husband a month later. More ancestral research led our great-grandfather to the conclusion that we have a history offalling in love quickly and staying that way.’ Her sigh eased into a soft faraway smile. ‘I get such a buzz from telling the kids how Nan and Grandad fell in love at first sight just like a prince and princess from a fairy tale.’
    ‘Our grandparents too,’ he said, crossing back from the view.
    ‘Don’t you melt whenever you see those two walking hand in hand? I hope Cameron and I are still cuddling when we’re eighty-five.’
    Nate didn’t doubt Ivy and her husband would be. Those two adored each other, and their two children. Another happy family Sparks success story. But that wasn’t what he wanted to know.
    ‘So, is there anything in it? Is the curse real or not?’
    She blinked and then her eyes widened to saucers. ‘You
are
serious about this girl, aren’t you? You’re afraid you’ll beg for her hand, the curse, as you call it, will be awakened and all the effort you’ve put into this business hope will come to nothing because you’d have found something that matters more than money.’
    He held onto his groan