Never a Bride Read online

  Connie was the crusader in the group, always watching out for all of them and anyone else who needed help. It was no wonder that she and Jonathan had fallen in love one summer. Everyone could see that Jonathan was like a ship lost at sea that had needed to find the right port to call home. Luckily after years apart Connie and Jonathan had found their way together.

  Last but not least, there was Tracy. Drama Queen Tracy, a woman in love with being in love which had resulted in a marriage that had turned out to be a mistake of major proportions. Tracy had looked for love in all the wrong places.

  And who are you, Emma? the little voice in her head prodded as Emma neared Maggie’s home.

  Emma wished she knew. Like Maggie she often found herself doling out advice to anxious brides and her friends. Like Connie she was there to try and fix any problems that came her way. And she hated to admit it, but like Tracy, she was in love with love. All those traits made her a fabulous wedding planner and friend.

  But still not right for Carlo? the little voice in her head challenged.

  She ignored the voice as she neared the Sinclair and Pierce mansions which were nestled side-by-side on Ocean Avenue and on the beachfront.

  Heart filled with joy that she’d soon be with her friends, she marched up the walk where mums in full bloom lined the path. The bright yellow and pink flowers complimented the joyful colors of the Sinclair’s Victorian “painted lady.”

  Visiting the Sinclair home had always made Emma happy, maybe because it had become her second home of sorts. During her college years she and her friends had spent a great deal of time there with Maggie and her live-in housekeeper, Mrs. Patrick, who was a surrogate grandmother to all of them.

  Emma was barely halfway up the walk when Maggie flung the door open wide. Her smile was as bright as the sun-filled day and her blue eyes gleamed with happiness. Connie stood beside Maggie, her smile just as radiant. A second later, Tracy’s head popped up behind her other two friends, but there was no real joy there. Tracy’s smile was forced and dark circles, like charcoal smudged across drawing paper, gave testament to sleepless nights.

  “Hurry up, slow poke. We’ve been waiting for you,” Maggie called out and urged her on with a sweep of her hand.

  Emma picked up her pace and had set no more than a foot beyond the threshold when she was enveloped by the warmth of her friends’ hugs, kisses, and laughter.

  She joined in, chuckling and returning the embraces as they tumbled together like playful puppies toward the kitchen at the back of the house. “Did you ladies start drinking early?” she teased when they broke apart and Mrs. Patrick came up to hug her and drop a kiss on her cheek. The older woman smelled of vanilla and maple which boded well for one of her fabulous waffle breakfasts. Emma’s mouth watered in anticipation.

  “No drinkie for me, just happy,” Connie singsonged and laid her hand over her belly.

  “Me, too,” Maggie said and at everyone’s questioning look, she waved her hands and clarified. “Not preggers, yet. Just really really happy.”

  Emma joined the other women in helping set the table for breakfast in a routine that was as in step as a well-choreographed ballet after so many years. Of course, Mrs. Patrick was the choreographer, directing them on anything else that was needed for all of them to sit for breakfast while Maggie continued with her story.

  “Not only do I have the most awesome new husband,” she had to pause here so the other women could sigh, “but business is good too. Sales at my family’s suburban stores are way up and the flagship store on Fifth Avenue is packed with families. The store restaurant doesn’t have any empty dining reservations until mid-January. It’s already paid off the costs of renovating and re-opening it,” Maggie gushed without barely taking a breath, excitement in every word.

  “That’s such wonderful news, Mags,” Connie said and hugged her friend.

  “That is great,” Emma and Tracy chimed in.

  A tearful Maggie added, “I couldn’t have done it without you ladies. You’ve been my bedrock through everything.”

  “We will always be here for you,” Connie said and embraced Maggie again, a tell-tale glint in Connie’s exotic green-gold eyes. Her hands were laden with the cutlery and napkins to help set the table.

  “For each other,” Emma stressed and twined her arm through Tracy’s. Tension radiated from Tracy’s body and it made Emma feel so bad for her dear friend. She glanced up at Tracy who whispered, “I’m okay.”

  Emma wouldn’t press, but clearly all was not right in Tracy’s world. It had been painfully obvious to all of them for the better part of a year that no matter how much she put a good face on it, Tracy’s marriage was on the rocks and nothing was making it better–not the marriage counseling or the romantic vacations and date nights. It was part of Emma’s worst fear—making what was supposed to be a lifetime commitment only to discover it was a colossal mistake. Just like what had happened with her parents.

  But the little voice in her head countered with thoughts of Carlo, gorgeous amazing Carlo, and how well they worked together and the many ways he made her feel special and loved. It made her wonder why she thought it was impossible to trust—herself most of all. But she did have good reasons, she reminded herself. There was just too much at stake.

  She tightened her hold on Tracy’s arm in a gesture meant to reassure before they broke apart to finishing prepping for breakfast. As they worked, they chatted about Connie and Jonathan’s surprise engagement just weeks earlier.

  “Did you really propose to him?” Tracy asked, still disbelieving and Emma could understand. Connie had always been the most traditional of them not to mention the most career driven. That she had been the one to do the asking was totally unexpected and thoroughly romantic.

  “I did propose to him and it was the hardest thing I ever did, besides quitting my job of course,” Connie said as she laid out the cutlery.

  Emma followed her around the table, placing a plate at each setting. “I never pictured you as the Sea Kiss township attorney, but then again, we’ve all been involved in a lot of the local projects, so it seems logical.” Logical being the thing that lasting relationships were built on, not grand gestures and romance, Emma kept to herself.

  Connie paused for a moment, considered the comment, and then nodded. “I never pictured it myself, but somehow it felt right. Especially with Jon so determined to move his corporate headquarters here to bring new blood into town. It’s not often you get to be a part of something bigger than life and I’m excited about that.”

  Tracy set a tray with assorted fruit juices in the center of the table and asked, “Do you think all the house renovations you guys are doing will be done in time?”

  With a shrug, Connie returned to her task and said, “I hope so. Jon’s hired most of the contractors in the area to work on the headquarters, my new office, and the house. The holidays will be nice for those people.”

  “Lots of work for lots of people. That’s a good thing for Sea Kiss and folks sure do appreciate it,” Mrs. Patrick said and laid a plate piled high with waffles on the table. Maggie followed and added a dish with a mound of crispy bacon and pork roll and another smaller tray with syrups and a bowl of fresh berries.

  “That’s what I hear all around town,” Emma said, hoping the locals would treat her friends kindly, but then again, the Pierce family was clam diggers also.

  “That’s the one thing that worries me. The locals and their talk,” Connie admitted as she sat at the table. Connie being an outsider – a Benny—although she’d been coming to Sea Kiss for nearly the last decade and had worked on many projects to help the town through tough times.

  “They don’t mean anything by it,” Mrs. Patrick said at the same time that Emma added with a shrug, “You get used to it.” Emma took a spot beside Connie and soon everyone was seated and helping themselves to the delicious meal Mrs. Patrick had prepared.

  “Did you?” Maggie questioned with a pointed arch of her brow in Emma’s dir
ection. That had Emma wondering if Maggie suspected that she and Carlo were still part of the gossip flitting around town.

  “It’s just talk and usually nothing major,” Emma replied, trying to avoid where their discussion might go. Every one of her friends was squarely in the Carlo camp and let her regularly know that it was time she do something about him.

  Maggie was about to follow-up with another question when Tracy said, “Well I have something major to tell you all. I’m divorcing Bill.”

  Momentary surprise created an almost deafening silence in the room, but then the silence was broken by a peppering of questions and comments.

  “When?” Connie said.

  “Are you sure?” Maggie added.

  “I’m so sorry, my girl,” Mrs. Patrick said and laid a reassuring hand over Tracy’s as it rested on the table.

  “We’re here for you,” Emma said, not totally surprised by the announcement.

  Tracy sucked in a deep breath before the words shot out of her like a volley of gun fire. “When? As soon as you can draw up the papers, Con. Sure, Mags? Never more sure. I’m sorry, too, Mrs. Patrick, but I made a big mistake and nothing I’ve done has helped change that.” With a pause to take another breath, she faced Emma and hugged her hard. “I know you’ll all be here for me. It’s what’s keeping me together.”

  Connie and Maggie came over to join the embrace and held Tracy as her body vibrated with pain and tears. “You’ll be okay, Trace. Everything will be okay,” Emma said as she rubbed her friend’s back and then glanced up at Connie and Maggie.

  Worry etched their faces, but also determination. Together they’d help Tracy through this and in time her wounds would heal.

  That’s what friends did for each other, she thought, and ignored the little voice in her head that said her friends would be there for her as well if she took a chance with Carlo. She worried nothing could ever make things right if she dared to give in to her Carlo obsession and things didn’t work out.

  Coward, the little voice in her head shouted, but Emma ignored it as she did so often when it came to Carlo. At least a coward got to live another day.

  Chapter 2

  Carlo woke to darkness in the early November morning. He closed his eyes again and let himself linger beneath the warmth of the bedcovers. It was a quiet morning, but in the distance he could make out the ding-ding-ding of the NJ Transit bells warning that a train was pulling into the station followed by the toot-toot of the train. Beneath those sounds was the low murmur of the nearby ocean and the sharp bursts of a sea breeze as it buffeted his house.

  He was almost always awake before the crack of dawn to take advantage of the peace and calm before the day got hectic. He would get in a quick workout before heading to his office to oversee what needed to be done that day for the events and catering orders his company had been entrusted to handle.

  His company, he thought with a smile. He pillowed his head on his hands, stared up at the ceiling, and allowed himself a moment to appreciate all that he’d accomplished in the nearly dozen years since he’d left the family bakery. From one food truck he’d gone to three during the busy summer months with the help of his two younger brothers. A win on one of the food channel challenge programs had brought in a needed infusion of cash from the prize while the publicity had skyrocketed sales. That increase in customers had allowed him to open a full-time catering business. Long hours and lots of hard work had taken him to where he was today with an operation that employed over a dozen people full time and twice as many part-timers when needed.

  Not bad, he thought as he slipped from the bed and stretched in the narrow space in his bedroom. The king-sized bed took up nearly the entire room, but he was a big man and couldn’t imagine sleeping in anything smaller. He ambled out through a small hall to the kitchen where he prepped an espresso maker for his morning coffee and grabbed the remote to turn on the television just several feet away in the living room. With the push of a few buttons he was watching the financial news to see what the markets were doing and how that might impact his business. Many years earlier a big downturn in the markets had caused many of his customers in the financial sector to tighten their belts, causing him to lose business.

  His mother would chide him for being a work-a-holic and starting his day that way. Carlo couldn’t deny it, but he was fine with that because it had put him at a place in his life where he could consider doing something different. Like maybe the event planning business Emma and he had discussed some time ago. And maybe even something more with Emma although things had gotten a little awkward with them ever since the kiss months earlier.

  He didn’t regret the kiss. In fact, the only thing he regretted was having had it take almost nine years since the day he’d first met her and realized that she was the woman who’d be perfect for him. And maybe now, after that kiss, it was time to prove it to her, he thought.

  Returning his full attention to the financial news, he was pleased with what he saw and lay down in the center of the narrow living room to do some quick pushups and crunches while the coffee brewed. The smell of it soon filled the small space and the sputter of the espresso pot warned him the coffee was ready. He headed back the few feet to the kitchen where he prepped his morning cup of café com leite for that much needed morning rush of caffeine and sugar.

  As he sipped his coffee, a news story came on about tiny houses yanking a chuckle from him. Between growing his business and buying a prime lot close to the beach in Sea Kiss, he’d only been able to afford the compact mobile home he’d plopped on the lot to live in until he could one day replace it with a larger house. One that he’d intended to fill with a wife and kids, only the one woman with whom he wanted to share that home was more distant than ever.

  For a moment he thought maybe he shouldn’t have kissed Emma at the wedding, but he just hadn’t been able to resist. He should have known better. He’d told himself that a thousand times since that night, but he hadn’t stopped hoping she’d come around. Maybe after Connie and Jonathan’s wedding and the holiday break that would follow, Emma would soften up a little and consider that maybe she was entitled to a little love in her life as well.

  As Squawkbox came on the air, it drew his attention back to the television and he listened for only a few more minutes since he had to get going for a quick jog and shower before heading to work. He chugged down the coffee, dressed in sweats, and raced out the door. Barely an hour later, he was on his way to the warehouse housing his catering business.

  He opened the front door and flipped on all the lights. Strolled through the reception area to the kitchens and work areas to make sure all was in order from the work the cleaning crew had done overnight to the walk-in freezers and fridges holding supplies. Then back to the stockrooms where they kept the china, cutlery, linens, tables, chairs, and decorations used for events. Finally, he sauntered toward the front of the building where he, his youngest brother Paolo, and their staff had their workspace.

  In his office he perused the large calendar on the wall which was marked up with their events and orders for the upcoming months and smiled. Life was good. The business was doing well and would be busy through the holiday season with a wedding and various holiday parties. There was a slight break in January, which was normal, and then back to work for a number of February weddings. Lots of people loved the idea of a wedding close to Valentine’s Day.

  Yes, life was definitely good, he thought again, but then the little voice in his said, Except for your non-existent love life.

  He drove that niggling idea away and went to work since he only had a couple of hours before an early morning meeting with none other than Emma, Connie, and Jonathan to go over their wedding plans. He had finished making notes for everything that needed to be done when Paolo strolled in for work, his face shadowed by a scruffy beard, hair bed-tousled, clothes rumpled as if he’d slept in them.

  “Late night?” Carlo asked and arched a brow, worried that his youngest brother didn’t see
m to be settling down. Unfortunately, life at the Shore could include a lot of partying.

  “Sim, but it’s not what you think, mano. Lily got sick and I spent most of the night at the vet’s.”

  Paolo loved the rescued pit bull that their avô, his mother’s father, had given him, worried that the youngest wild child needed to become less restless and that maybe the responsibility of owning a dog might help him become more settled.

  “I hope Lily will be okay,” Carlo said because he liked the scrappy little dog.

  Paolo tiredly dropped into a chair in front of Carlo’s desk and dragged his fingers through the dark strands of his wavy hair, smoothing it into place. “She will. Vet managed to get out the blockage without surgery, but it was scary for a moment. Makes me wonder how parents handle things that happen like that with their kids, sabe.”

  “Sim, eu sei. Mamãe and papai had their share of sleepless nights with all of us,” Carlo said with a shake of his head.

  Paolo chuckled. “They did. Good thing we’re all getting old and boring. Except Tomás, but at least he’s back in the States for a bit.”

  Carlo was glad for that because he worried when his bad ass Army Ranger brother Tomás was on a mission. More than once he’d wished that Tomás would also settle down and leave behind his dangerous life.

  “Let’s hope Tomás finds time to visit his family while he’s back,” Carlo said and then shifted the talk to work and what needed to be done while he was at his morning meeting. After a quick chat, Carlo was satisfied that Paolo and his staff were ready to handle the chores scheduled for that day and left to go meet Emma, Connie, and Jonathan at the Sinclair mansion.

  As he drove through town, he noticed that the Christmas decorations were starting to go up and some of the shops were already boasting holiday trimmings even though Thanksgiving was still a few weeks away. Sea Kiss was getting into the holiday season and he loved the change even if it was a little early. It always made him feel like he was home to see the Christmas spirit coming alive in the quaint Jersey Shore town. Funny considering how different Sea Kiss was from the urban Ironbound section of Newark where he’d grown up. Despite the differences, both places had that special something that made them unique, and Carlo was glad that he’d fled the nest and struck out on his own.