His Band Of Gold

Curious, Will removed one of the albums. Opening the cover, he saw it was more a scrapbook than a photo album. It contained everything from actual wedding pictures to newspaper and magazine clippings about various weddings.

As Will flipped through the pages, he recognized the extent of her clientele. But something else happened, too. A soothing warmth filled him. Kelsey had surprised him yet again. Realist or not, someone who put this much time and effort into preserving the memory of each wedding she coordinated had to be sentimental.

Each two-page spread contained photographs of the bride and groom and the reception and keepsakes from the wedding such as a ribbon or ceremony program. Everything was neatly matted on coordinating paper and she’d written captions under each item.

He continued paging through the book. Each wedding was different. From movie stars to political figures, Kelsey had managed to pull off spectacular and unique weddings for each of them. Some were enormous affairs with media coverage and security, but others appeared to be more intimate gatherings. That made him happy since that’s what his family was hoping for.

After he reached the end and put the album back in the ottoman, a satisfied smile formed on his lips. Taking Kelsey home was the right move. Someone so warm and fuzzy was what they all needed—correction, what his mother needed. And Faith, too.

Opening the next scrapbook, he expected to see more wedding memorabilia. He didn’t. Will turned one page, then another, and another. This book didn’t celebrate her clients’ marriages, but their divorces.

Will frowned. He couldn’t believe what he was reading. Page upon page of clippings. Ugly accusations, tearful confessions, angry photographs. Her clientele was the kind to get as much press coverage with their divorces as with their weddings. In the upper corner of each page Kelsey had noted the years, sometimes only days, the marriage lasted. Will tried to reconcile the first book with the second. He couldn’t.

The first book showed how much she loved her job and the photographs and clippings reaffirmed her talent for designing weddings, but the second scrapbook was the exact opposite. He didn’t get it. Something didn’t add up. He placed the book in the ottoman and closed the lid.

Kelsey entered the room with one suitcase in her hand, another rolling behind her, and a bag on her shoulder. “I’m ready now.”

Will hesitated. Should he mention the scrapbooks? He was supposed to bring her home with him, but was it in his family’s best interest to put her in charge of Faith’s wedding? Now he wondered, after what he’d just seen. The divorce album rubbed him the wrong way, made him wonder if Kelsey had a hidden agenda or something. He felt as if he’d opened the cupboard of a health fanatic only to find a stash of junk food.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

A perfect segue, but something held him back. Was he reading too much into this? Maybe the divorce album was some kind of joke. Maybe he was too embarrassed to admit he’d peeked at her scrapbooks. Maybe he was looking for any excuse not to take her home with him and spend the next two weeks by her side.

“No.” His goal had been to get Kelsey to coordinate the wedding. It’s what his mother wanted. It’s what Faith had asked him to do. No sense changing course now despite his own reservations. Will rose from the couch. “Let’s go. Our plane is waiting for us.”

Talk about a bumpy flight. Another wave of turbulence shook the Learjet. Kelsey checked her seat belt for the zillionth time. Habit, she realized. Turbulence, she could handle. But Will Addison?

No matter which way she turned, she could see him, smell him, sense him. Talk about feeling claustrophobic. If only she had a parachute…

Kelsey didn’t understand what was going on. Okay, that wasn’t the entire truth. But the truth bothered her, made her feel lower than low. Not even worthy of being on the bottom of the food chain. Will might be Faith’s brother; he might even be married. But Kelsey was attracted to him, attracted to his looks and his smile and his easygoing manner.

And she hated herself for the way she felt.

She sunk into the luxurious leather seat and leaned her head back. Married might as well mean leprosy because in her book Will was untouchable, off limits, you name it. She would not be a catalyst to the breakup of a marriage. Kelsey would sooner gouge out her eyes than get involved with a married man. Which meant she had to ignore her attraction for Will Addison, had to ignore he was even a man.

She knew exactly what infidelity could do to a marriage, to a family. Her father had been the first to stray, but her mother had followed in his footsteps until all hell had broken loose. The accusations, the fighting, the tears. She and her brother, Cade, had been the ones to lose, the ones turned into pawns in a vicious winner-take-all custody battle.

Will shifted in his seat and stretched his long legs out in front of him. His calf brushed hers and a burst of heat emanated from the point of contact.

Ignore it, she ordered herself. Something told her she would be having to ignore many things over the next two weeks.

“So how did you become a wedding consultant?” he asked.

Thank goodness. A safe topic. Business related even. Kelsey counted her lucky stars. “My parents divorced when I was nine. When it came time for them to marry others, they both asked for my brother’s and my input. I think it was their way of trying to make things easier on us. My brother couldn’t have cared less, but I got into it. Each time they remarried—”

“Each time?”

“My father’s been married eight times, my mother six, though she’s currently engaged to number seven,” Kelsey admitted. It wasn’t a big secret to anyone who knew anything about the Armstrongs. Many followed the happenings of America’s second most famous family. “Needless to say, I had lots of practice planning weddings.”

“How did you pick Beverly Hills to open your business?”

“When I was thirteen, my mother married a producer, who moved us from Chicago to Beverly Hills and introduced me to the entertainment industry. He’s husband number three and five.”

Will’s eyes widened. “She married him twice?”

Kelsey nodded. “And divorced him twice, too.”

Will frowned. “Your family sounds a lot different than mine.”

“I know. Your parents have been together forever. Starr was very proud about that.”

Will smiled. “Divorce is a four-letter word in our house. No Addison has ever been divorced.”

“None of them?”

“No grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins or siblings.”

“That’s…unbelievable.”

“But true.” Pride rang out in his voice, and Kelsey felt a stab of envy. “We’ve all been fortunate to find the right person.”

“Not Faith.”

“She hasn’t married yet.”

“You don’t have to remind me.” Kelsey stared at him. “So, do Addisons stay in miserable marriages to avoid divorce?”

“We don’t have miserable marriages.”

And there was a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow. “Seems to me most marriages end up that way eventually, unless you are lucky.”

He raised a brow. “This from a wedding consultant?”

She nodded. “That’s why I take my job so seriously. Every bride deserves to feel like a princess and every groom a prince. The least I can do is give a couple a day to remember, a day to hold close to their hearts after things sour.”

“Is that why you keep a scrapbook of your clients’ divorces? Not one showing the successful marriages, the pictures of babies and children that come from the ones that work?”

A mixture of embarrassment and anger washed over her, yet she contained her temper. Like it or not, Will was a client. And as she’d learned from her parents, blowing up over something that couldn’t be changed never solved anything. She shrugged, but the last thing she felt was indifference. No one had ever seen her scrapbooks. Until that moment she’d forgotten she’d put them in the ottoman instead of their usual hiding place. “Not many of the marriages I coordinate last.”

“No doubt because of your Wedding Consultant to the Stars moniker.” Sarcasm laced his voice. “You haven’t seen what real marriages are all about, how good, how strong they can be.”

“Is that how you feel about your marriage?”

“Yes.”

She’d seen too many failed marriages to believe the Addisons had the market cornered on happy ones. “You think you found your soul mate?”

“I have no doubt.”

Kelsey heard the conviction in his voice. Such a romantic. She couldn’t ignore her curiosity about his wife, the woman who’d captured Will Addison’s heart. “How did you know she was the ‘one’?”

He got a faraway look in his eyes. “It happened the day I met her.”

Love at first sight? Talk about a fairy tale. This she had to hear. “How did you meet?”

Will glanced out the window to the red-streaked sky. The sun was setting slowly. “It was Sadie Hawkin’s day. I was in sixth grade. All the boys tied their names on their belt loops and the girls got to chase us. If a girl managed to get your name, you were hers for the day.”

He and his wife had been childhood sweethearts and still together after all this time. Kelsey found that hard to believe in this day and age. “Sounds…fun.”

“For the girls maybe,” he admitted. “Sara, my wife, was new to the school. I’d never really paid much attention to her before because she was so shy and quiet…” His voice trailed off.

“Go on.”

He hesitated. “Sometime during the chase, one of the girls pushed her. Sara fell. Her knee was bloody and she was crying. I went over to help her up.”

“Don’t tell me she grabbed your name tag?”

He nodded.

“And that’s how you knew?”

He moistened his lips. “Sara was holding on to my name and she smiled, a wide grin with a mouthful of braces, and I knew.”

“Knew what?”

“That one day I would marry her.” He glanced away. “And I did. Two days after I graduated from college. That was ten years ago.”

“You were young.”

“I wish I’d married her sooner.”

“That’s sweet.” Saccharine sweet, Kelsey thought. How could he feel that way after ten years? Longer if one counted how long they’d been together. Maybe he’d gotten lucky, like his parents and grandparents.

His eyes glimmered. Tears? Kelsey found that almost as hard to believe as being married forever. Maybe he wore contacts and had a piece of grit in one of his eyes. That would explain it.

“I’m looking forward to meeting her,” Kelsey said to break the silence.

“You can’t meet her.” The green of Will’s eyes darkened and his lips tightened. “Sara…is dead. She was killed in a car crash eight years ago.”

Chapter Three

The air whooshed from Kelsey’s lungs. Talk about open-foot-insert-mouth. She struggled for a breath and the right—appropriate—words to say. Even though she was able to handle even the most awkward situations, this one left her speechless. Not wanting the uncomfortable silence to stretch any further, she settled for the most obvious yet overused sentiment. “I’m so sorry, Will.”

“Thanks.”

No pain in his voice; no anguish on his face, but that didn’t make her feel any better. Okay, his wife had died eight years ago not eight days, but Kelsey still felt about a quarter of an inch tall. It was obvious from everything he’d said about love and marriage that his heart still belonged to one woman and one woman only—his late wife, Sara. “I hope I didn’t—”

“You didn’t.”

“I thought since you wore a wedding band…”

“It’s okay, Kelsey. Really.”

She nodded, wanting to believe him and not wanting to say another word. Her brother would have a good laugh. Cade always called her Ms. Manners and teased her about writing an etiquette book when she tired of designing weddings. So much for handling any situation with aplomb and ease.

The muted whine of the plane’s engine filled the cabin, kept the silence from becoming unbearable. Kelsey straightened in her seat and dug the toes of her black boots into the carpet. It couldn’t be too much longer until they arrived at the airport. Yet each passing minute felt like an hour. She’d never heard Starr or Faith mention Will being a widower. They’d never even mentioned he’d been married. Questions about him filled Kelsey’s mind. She wanted to know the answers, but she didn’t dare ask.

Will looked to be in his early thirties. If Sara was his soul mate and one true love, did that mean he planned to spend the rest of his days alone? Kelsey wasn’t sure whether his answer would make him the world’s biggest romantic or the biggest fool. Surely he must have loved Sara—still loved her—if her memory was enough for him. Kelsey found it hard to believe anyone could love another that much.

Will cleared his throat. “Once we arrive, we’ll head to the Lake Inn. You’ll have the use of one of our suites.”

“Thank you.” The edges of Kelsey’s mouth turned up slightly. “You were confident I’d come if you saved a room.”

“Let’s say I was hopeful,” he admitted. “Tonight you can unpack and get settled in. We’ll have breakfast at my parents’ house and start work tomorrow.”

She hesitated. This required the right amount of tact. “I appreciate your offer to help, but I’m sure it would be a huge inconvenience to both you and Starr Properties to spend the next two weeks working with me.”

He chuckled. “I appreciate your concern, but Starr Properties has been doing quite well these past few months without me working eighty hours a week. My staff knows how to find me if they need anything. And you know Faith. She’d kill me if I didn’t keep her informed about everything you were doing. Trust me, it will be easier if I’m completely involved.”

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