The Fairy Tale Bride(3)

Mary came down the corridor towards him and gave a little nod towards  Lisa. "Ah, good. You've met." She had that twinkle in her eye. It didn't  take Einstein to figure out where her brain was going.

Mary was the central hub right now of the Marietta gossip tree in the  hospital. If she didn't know it  –  it wasn't worth knowing. She glanced  at Adam, even though it was clear she was eavesdropping into Lisa's  conversation.

"I told Ryan's parents you would go over the procedure and get them to  sign the consent form. They seem relieved to know what's wrong with  him."

"Any idea how he ended up inhaling a dime?"

She grinned. "Oh, yeah. Ryan was balancing the coin on his nose and  trying to flip it in the air and catch it with his teeth. Looks like he  caught this one in more ways than one."

Adam shook his head. Mary was still listening intently to Lisa's  conversation. She sucked in a loud breath. "Nancylynn Pruitt's getting  married here?" Her voice rose and Lisa's head snapped round and she  waved her hand at her to try and silence her.

"Who is Nancylynn Pruitt? And why is it a big deal?"

He was still trying to get his head around how a place like Marietta  worked. Everyone seemed to know everything about everyone. Most people  in the town seemed connected in some way.                       
       
           



       

Mary gave him a playful slap on the arm. "Everyone knows Nancylynn. Don't you watch Sultry Suburbs? Nancy Parsons?"

Adam frowned for a second. Of course he'd heard of her. She was right up  there with Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox. "Nancy Parsons is from  Marietta?"

Lisa was continuing to talk. She was focused. She was professional. She  also seemed to be bending over backwards for an extremely difficult  customer. "Of course. If that's what they want. It's a little unusual,  but I think I can manage that. I have other customers to deal with, but  I'll do my best."

It started to annoy him. He didn't know Lisa at all. He'd only met her for the briefest of moments.

Mary could hardly contain her excitement as Lisa finished the call. "Is  Nancy Parsons getting married here, in Marietta?" She clapped her hands  together before she even had the answer.

"Shh … ," said Lisa and glanced around. "I'm not quite sure how public the  news is yet. All I know is the date  –  which is only a few weeks away  –   and the fact that Nancy has said she wants to use lots of the local  businesses."

Adam felt himself cringe and he took a step back. Publicity. In spades.  In the middle of Marietta. The last thing he wanted. Marietta was his  salvation. His sanctuary. He'd moved across states to get away from  publicity.

A celebrity wedding? Reporters and photographers would swarm around here for miles. It would be a nightmare.

Lisa, however, looked thrilled. "Isn't it great?" she said to Mary.  "They're coming to look at bridesmaid dresses tomorrow. Apparently the  whole wedding party will be here in the next few days.

"Who are the bridesmaids, and where will they be staying? Do you think  Nancy will introduce me to Jared, her groom? I've always wanted to meet a  movie star."

Adam was astonished. Mary was the most sensible woman he knew. But the  first whiff of a celebrity and she was twittering like a teenager.

"Do you think they'll use the Grand Hotel?" asked Lisa. "It's gorgeous  for a wedding. I would have thought Nancy would want to get married at  the Four Seasons. I'm surprised she wants to come back to Marietta,"  Lisa's smile stretched from ear to ear. "But the more I think about it,  the more excited I get. I think I'll go back to the shop and see if  there's anything else I can do before tomorrow."

Adam felt a little uneasy. This beautiful, peaceful town that he'd found  and made a home in, was about to be invaded by press and photographers.  There was only the remotest possibility that someone would make a  connection to who he was, but it still made him uncomfortable.

He'd moved to a whole different state to escape the ‘lotto winner'  label. It hadn't even been a huge amount of money. Enough to clear all  his medical school debts, allow him to buy his new house outright and  have some money in the bank. The ‘millionaire doctor' label wasn't  entirely accurate anymore. But the constant harassment from the media  had burned a permanent reminder in his brain.

The female attention  –  women with an interest purely in his bank balance   –  had been a whole new experience and one he didn't want to revisit.

Lisa and Mary were still twittering away, rejoicing at the amount of  people that would swarm into the town and the business it would bring to  Marietta.

"Mary?" he said sharply. "Let's get things organized for Ryan. The sooner we get him downstairs the better."

Mary's sentence was interrupted full flow and she blinked before  glancing towards Lisa and giving a little nod. "Of course, Dr. Brady."

He hadn't meant to sound quite so blunt. But it was too late now. Lisa  picked up her fairy tale books and gave him a careful look. "Nice to  meet you, Dr. Brady," she murmured before walking down the hall.

It was all he could not to follow every swing of her hips in those dark loose yoga pants.





Chapter Two





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Lisa was excited. She'd hardly slept all night.

Sage unlocked the front door of Copper Mountain Chocolates. "Lisa, what  on earth are you doing? You're standing out here with a hang-dog  expression on your face?" She glanced over her shoulder. "It's not even  9:00 am."

"Isn't it?" Lisa looked down at her watch, then smiled and took a deep  breath. She always loved walking in here and being hit with the smell of  fresh chocolate. There was a hint of ginger in the air.

She gave a little sigh and leaned on the glass counter. "I wish you were next to my salon and not the pizza place."                       
       
           



       

Sage smiled. "Brides don't want to put on weight before their weddings. You'd expect me to keep turning them away."

A noise at the door behind her signalled she wasn't the only person in  town desperate for a chocolate fix. But her eyes opened in surprise at  the sight of Adam Brady.

Sage nodded in greeting. "Well, if it isn't my two favorite chocoholics. Have you two met yet?"

Adam looked equally surprised to see Lisa. He gave his eyes a little  rub. Of course, he'd been on-call in the hospital all last night. He  must just have got off shift. "Yeah, we've met," he said carefully then  he glanced back at Sage. She, at least, got a smile. "And don't give all  my secrets away. A doctor who loves chocolate? You'll ruin my  reputation."

It seemed his grumpiness was isolated to her. Lisa turned her back on  him and paid attention to the glass counter filled with gorgeous  chocolates again. "Sage, that's what I came to tell you. I want some  chocolates for the shop today. We're having some special guests. Polly  Parker and Ruby Cole are coming to see if they can find bridesmaid  dresses this morning."

Sage wrinkled her nose. "I recognize those names. Who are they?"

"They're friends of Nancylynn Pruitt's. Do you know she's coming back to  get married here in a few weeks?" Lisa's eyes widened as she just  remembered something. "She wants to use local businesses. I'll tell her  to come in here. You could make her wedding favors."

Sage smiled widely and looked thoughtful. "Do you think she would want something like that?"

"Why not, doesn't everyone love your chocolates?"

Sage shrugged modestly. "I hope so. I could make her individual  chocolates covered in foil to match her bridesmaid dresses. Does she  have a theme for her wedding? I could make her molds  –  you know, cowboy  hats, intertwined hearts, or just a great big Hollywood sign."

She picked up a handful of leaflets and handed them over to Lisa. "Can  you leave them in the shop so she can see them? If she's interested she  can come and chat with me."

Lisa grinned. "Once she's tasted the chocolates I'll have in store for  her today I bet she's over in a shot." She almost pressed her nose  against the glass. She didn't care it was only nine am. She'd been awake  since five. It was never too early for chocolate.

Sage pulled out a basket and lined it with some tissue paper. "Do you just want a variety?"

Lisa nodded and started pointing through the glass. "Some of the orange  ginger truffles  –  you know they're my favorites. And the chocolate mint  melts." She moved further along the counter as Sage picked up her tongs  and started putting chocolates in the basket. "Some heart-shaped  raspberry creams, the fig and pistachio chocolates and the spicy mango  too. Oh, and some coconut truffles."