Free The Substitute Bride (The Great Wedding Giveaway Series Book 7) by Kathleen O`Brien Page B

years’ wages.”
    Ibby smiled again.  “Then you aren’t going to sell this place at all,” he observed flatly.  “Nobody’s going to cough up that much money.”
    That’s what Styles had said, too—and he’d been selling property long enough that he probably knew his business. 
    “We’ll see,” Drake said, shrugging.  “I just wanted you to know.”
    Ibby nodded slowly.  “Might not be necessary, anyhow.  Robin’s been talking about maybe picking up and moving after the wedding.  I couldn’t tell if she was serious, but...”
    “Moving where?”
    “She didn’t say.  She was just saying what if we could save a bundle on the wedding somehow, wouldn’t that give us a nice nest egg if we wanted to make a move.”  He chuckled softly.  “But I’ve heard her wedding talk.  I’ve seen the price tag on that gown.  If she plans to save a single red cent on this thing, I don’t see how.”
    Drake knew how she planned to do it.  But he’d let buzzards pluck his insides out before he told Ibby.  He took one last swig of his coffee, then dumped the last inch on the ground. 
    “Women,” he said with an easy smile.  “Well, I guess we’d better get going, if we really have to finish this patch tonight.”
    He stood, but then turned, surprised to see that Ibby remained seated, his elbows on his knees, his mug cradled in his palms. 
    “What?” Drake knew the reluctance to move meant something.  Something Ibby wanted to say?
    For a long minute, Ibby frowned down at his coffee.  Drake didn’t like the tension in the other man’s shoulders.  What was wrong?  Had something gone awry with Robin?  Not inconceivable.  She was feisty, peppery and determined to have her way.
    Ibby was an impressive man, muscular and tall and, as far as Drake could see, fairly good-looking, too.  But gentle as a kitten.  And it turned out he’d been in love with Robin for years.  He hadn’t had the nerve to act on it until she’d made the first move.
    “I have to ask you something, boss.”  Ibby turned his earnest face toward the moonlight, so that he could look straight into Drake’s eyes.  “It’s okay with you, isn’t it?  Me and Robin, I mean.  I wouldn’t have said a word to her, not ever, not if you were still interested.”
    Drake shook his head, relieved.  “It’s more than okay.  It’s great.  Robin and I were never serious, you know that.  We dated for what...a couple of months?  It was no big deal.”  He smiled.  “Now the way you feel about her... that is a big deal.”
    Ibby lifted his shoulders sheepishly, the worried grooves in his forehead smoothing out as he grinned.  “Yeah.  I’m pretty gone over that gal.  I still pinch myself sometimes, afraid it’s all a dream.  She’s so—and I’m so—” 
    Finally, Ibby stood, laughing at his own inarticulate stumbling.  “Hell, I don’t know.  It’s like... like a stick of dynamite falling in love with a log.”
    Which suddenly, ominously sounded to Drake like a great recipe for a bonfire—but not so healthy for a love affair. 
    Even so...he couldn’t do anything about it, not now.  Ibby’s heart was already signed, sealed and delivered.  Robin might hurt him if they married, but she’d destroy him if she didn’t. 
    Either way, Ibby got burned.
    Drake might as well just stand by with a bucket of water and hope for the best.
    ––––––––
    “Y ou should go to bed, Marly.”  Her mother’s quiet voice seemed to come out of nowhere.  “It’s late.”
    Marly lifted her head, blinking.  Why was her mother here?  And...where was here ? 
    As her sleepy fog cleared, she recognized the neat white appliances and clean blue-striped wallpaper of her mother’s kitchen.  Yes, of course.  She was in Marietta.  She was home.
    She looked down at the table, where her head had been resting.  She’d cluttered the table thoroughly, creating the only messy spot in her mother’s immaculate