A Camden Family Wedding

“I’m talking about everything,” he answered. “Clothes, yes, but the whole deal. Everything you do, too.”

Oh, wonderful. And then she could be up against all of Camden Superstores....

“We want to offer packages that range from inexpensive to very elaborate,” he continued. “From soup to nuts, including venues we can either contract with or that we might buy outright for rehearsal dinners and receptions. We’ll provide decorations, tables, chairs, plates and silverware, linens—whatever’s necessary. We can offer catering through our food departments. Cakes through our bakeries. Liquor through our liquor department. Flowers through our in-store florists—”

“Everything,” Vonni summed up.

“And because you’re known to be the best at what you do, we’d like to hire you to spearhead the whole thing.”

That had not been what she’d thought he was going to say, and Vonni wasn’t sure she’d understood correctly.

“First you want me—through Burke’s Weddings—to do your grandmother’s wedding in two weeks—”

“Right.”

“And then you want me to spearhead the formation of wedding-planning departments in Camden Superstores to put you in direct competition with us?”

He shook his head. “Well, yes, there would be competition, but Camdens wouldn’t be competing against you. I’m asking you to leave Burke’s Weddings to come on board with Camden Superstores. You’d be the division director, responsible for completely designing and developing wedding departments with us that would be uniquely you.”

“I’d come to work for Camden Superstores?”

“Yes. With the kind of contract we give our highest executives, including one of the best golden-parachute clauses around.”

Vonni went from worry to disbelief in a nanosecond.

“You want me to quit Burke’s Weddings—where I’ve been promised a full partnership—to become an employee of Camdens?”

Apparently her tone had alerted him to how unlikely she was to consider that.

“You wouldn’t just be an employee. What we’re talking about is making your name a signature brand. And you’ll be in an executive position,” he repeated. Then more somberly he said, “I know there might be some bad blood here.”

The unsavory dealings between the Hunters and the Camdens went all the way back to 1953. Vonni hadn’t been sure coming here today whether or not this generation of Camdens would know what she knew. Apparently Dane Camden did.

“But try to keep in mind that it wasn’t a Camden who did the dirty deed—” he said.

“It was the Camdens who benefited from it.”

“So did—”

“Yes, I know,” Vonni cut him off.

“I’m just pointing out that we didn’t have a hand in what went on,” he insisted. “So couldn’t you put aside what happened all those years ago? Especially since what I’m offering you is an opportunity for something much bigger and better than a potential partnership at Burke’s Weddings. What I’m offering is a bird in the hand....”

As if her partnership wasn’t.

Now he was making her a little mad, and the involuntary cock of her head must have alerted him to that fact.

“We want the best here,” he said before she had a chance to comment. “And when it comes to wedding planners, you’re it. We’ve all seen your work in weddings we’ve gone to. We know your reputation. And we know that you are Burke’s Weddings. But it’s Burke’s Weddings getting the real credit.”

“And with you it would be Camdens getting the credit.”

He shook his head. “No. With us, you’ll be the draw. People will have to come to Camdens to get a Vonni Hunter wedding. From high-end to lower-end—even couples who couldn’t otherwise afford a Vonni Hunter wedding will be able to get more conservative packages designed by Vonni Hunter, with Vonni Hunter’s eye, with Vonni Hunter’s taste, with Vonni Hunter’s expertise. Brides who can afford you will get more personal attention—and with us that could be not only Denver brides, but celebrities and European royalty that we’ll send you off to do first-class. What we want is to bring you into the spotlight, give you credit. And all the perks that go with it.”

Okay, so it was flattering. And an intriguing idea. Enough to rid her of that small wave of anger.

“So you’re going to put all the world at my feet as a wedding planner if only I can pull off a wedding in two weeks for your grandmother?” Vonni asked.

“The job offer is on the table no matter what. And we’re figuring that if anyone can pull off a wedding in two weeks, it’ll be you and me working together. I told you, around here I’m the guy who gets things done, and from what I understand, when it comes to weddings, you do, too.”

Reminding herself that planning a Camden wedding would look very, very good for her, Vonni said, “Doing any kind of wedding for any number of people in two weeks is a push. But since I already have long-standing relationships with everyone it will take to accomplish it, it can probably be done. But as for the other—”

It was terrifying to think of what could become of her existing job if Camden Superstores did what he was proposing. But it was also completely unnerving to think about turning her back on Chrystal and Burke’s Weddings to sign on with the Camdens and then ending up with nothing the way her grandfather had....

“Don’t say anything about the business stuff for now,” Dane Camden advised, interrupting her spinning thoughts. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk about it. You can grill me, and negotiate, and tell me everything about it that might worry you, and shape it into exactly the kind of deal you’d feel most comfortable with. And if you need to yell at me or slap me around to feel better about what happened with your uncle and your grandfather and the way things turned out on that front, you can do that, too.”

Oh, but when the man grinned it made her knees weak....

“You’re not afraid that slapping you around might be pretty tempting?” she asked impudently.

“Just say the word. I’ll get the gloves and you can beat the hell out of me.”

She couldn’t not smile at him. Although she made sure it was reserved. There was just something about him, and she could see how he got away with being the player he was.

“But you’ll do GiGi’s wedding with me one way or another?” he asked.

“That I’ll do,” she conceded.

“Then why don’t you come up with a get-started list and we’ll—” he shrugged one of those broad shoulders “—get started.”

“I have two weddings on Saturday and this week is my race to the finish line for them both, so I’ll have to do much of this after-hours—like this meeting.”

“I’m open to evenings if you are.”

“And the weekend—after the weddings on Saturday, and Sunday...” she said as if challenging him to back out.

“I’ll be available whenever you can fit me in.”

“Okay, then. I’m already swamped tonight working on place cards for five hundred but hopefully sometime tomorrow or tomorrow night I’ll come up with the list and a schedule that we will have to stick to. Maybe we can meet again on Wednesday night?”

“I’ll clear all decks.”

“Then I guess we’ll do a wedding. In two weeks.”

The grin again. “I guess we will,” he confirmed.

Vonni took her business card from her binder, along with her standard contract for him to look over, and the printout of what her services entailed.

Then, with nothing more to discuss at that moment, she stood to go.

“I’ll show you back to the elevator,” Dane offered, and she again had to give him points for courtesy.

While they were retracing their steps through the outer office, he said, “And when you’re not thinking about my grandmother’s wedding, think about your name on signs in every Camden Superstore—”

He raised an arm and swept his big hand across an imaginary banner. “Weddings by Vonni Hunter,” he said as if reading what the signs would say.

But Vonni had had an entirely different sign in mind for years now. Stylishly painted in script letters on the shop’s front window, Burke’s Weddings would be replaced with Burke and Hunter Weddings.

She didn’t say anything, but he must have sensed her lack of enthusiasm for his offer because as the elevator doors opened and Vonni stepped inside and turned to face him, he said, “Just think about it. And let me know when and where Wednesday.”

“I will,” she answered, pushing the button for the lobby.

Then as the doors began to close, he cocked his head to one side and said, “Wow. Yeah. Beautiful eyes...”

Which was strange because that was exactly what she’d been thinking the minute she’d turned and looked straight at him—how terrific looking he was and what beautiful blue eyes he had....

But then the doors closed completely and the elevator began its descent.

She was thinking about Dane Camden on the entire ride down, though.

And how she could definitely see his appeal.

Even if she had no intention whatsoever of tapping into it.

Chapter Two

“How can you be so hard to get hold of when you’re taking care of a sick friend in Northbridge where there’s next to nothing to do?” Dane had finally connected with his grandmother after four calls to her cell phone the next morning.

“Oh, Dane, I’m sorry. We needed to take Agnes to physical therapy so that’s where I was, and I forgot to bring the cell phone with me when we left,” Georgianna Camden explained. “Is anything wrong?”

“No, everything’s fine. But if you’re gonna make me put on a pinafore and do your wedding like a girl, then you have to at least be available, Geege,” he chastised, using his particular pet name for her.

“You’re wearing a pinafore? That I’d like to see,” she said with unabashed glee.

“I figure that’s next since you’ve given me a job one of the girls would be better at. You know I’m not ever going to have a wedding of my own, so it isn’t as if I’ve paid a lot of attention to what goes on at them. And now you want me to plan one? Come on, me?”

“Jonah and I are doing just fine, thanks for asking,” GiGi said, ignoring his complaint.

Jonah Morrison was GiGi’s fiancé, a man she’d known since they’d both grown up in the small Montana town of Northbridge.

“And how’s Agnes?” Dane asked, knowing he was being cautioned not to venture too far from the manners his grandmother had taught him.

“She’s doing well. Her knee replacement was a success and she’s even getting out of the wheelchair to use the walker a little.”

“Tell her hello for me and that she’d better be ready to get out on the dance floor for your first anniversary.”

GiGi laughed and relayed both messages to her friend.

“Agnes says she’ll be ready,” GiGi repeated, though he’d already heard the seventy-nine-year-old herself in the background.

“I guess if I’m going to have a first anniversary, that must mean I’m getting the wedding when I want it?” GiGi asked.

“I met with Vonni Hunter last night and she says it won’t be easy, but yes, she’ll do it. I still don’t understand why you want me to organize it,” he persisted. “I don’t know anything about weddings. I don’t even pay attention when I go to them, I just look for the bar.”

“And whatever single women you can pick up,” his grandmother muttered.

He laughed. “That’s what single guys do at weddings.”

“Sorry, but I elected you to be my proxy,” GiGi said remorselessly. “Just let the wedding planner guide you.”

The prospect of being guided by the delicious Vonni Hunter did make the situation more palatable. But he wasn’t going to admit that to his grandmother.

“Planning my wedding,” GiGi went on, “will teach you what goes into the process and give you some background for setting up the stores’ wedding departments.”

“Developing the wedding departments is business. That I can do. And I’m fine taking my turn at making amends for old H.J.’s wranglings.” H.J. was H. J. Camden, Dane’s great-grandfather and the founding father of the Camden empire. “But all the frilly details for one specific wedding—”

“When have you ever known me to be frilly, Dane?”

The thought made Dane smile despite the fact that he was in protest mode. His grandmother was a tough cookie and she was right—there was nothing frilly about her.

Still, he liked giving her a hard time. “This stuff is frilly all on its own. Better suited to the girls than to me.”

But his grandmother was adamant. “It’s you I’ve asked,” she said with finality. She obviously had no doubt that he’d do it—how could he deny any request from the woman who had taken him and the rest of his siblings and cousins in to raise when they were orphaned by a plane crash that had killed their parents?

“Okay, but if you end up with cigars as wedding favors, it’s your own fault.”

“There will not be cigars as wedding favors. There will be little bags of candied almonds—five in each bundle for good luck.”

“See? That’s not something I know about—”

“Which is why we have a wedding planner. Now tell me about Vonni Hunter,” GiGi commanded.

“Jade-green eyes.” Dane said the first thing that popped into his head.

“Jade-green eyes...” GiGi repeated. “They must be pretty....”

“Remarkable,” he confirmed matter-of-factly. “She also has long blond hair, flawless skin, the kind of perfect nose that women usually pay for, though I think she was born with hers, lush lips that catch your eye and a petite, trim little body with just the right amount of curves to complete the package.”

“So you hardly noticed what she looks like?” his grandmother goaded.

Oh, he’d noticed all right....

The woman was a knockout, and even though he didn’t usually go for blondes, she’d hit all the right notes for him. So much so that the image of her had lingered in his mind since she’d left his office last night, even when he was thinking about other things. Even when he’d closed his eyes to go to sleep—there she’d still been in living color, making it tough for him to drop off.

But it didn’t mean anything.

“I’m describing her to you strictly to let you know that if I can get her on board, she’s beautiful and we won’t have any problem at all putting not only her name but also her picture on all the promotional material,” he informed his grandmother. “The way she looks will be a good marketing tool to go along with her track record as a wedding planner. So she’d be the perfect person to head our wedding department even if we weren’t trying to compensate her—as the last remaining Hunter—for H.J. buying stolen goods and helping to give her grandfather the shaft.”

H.J. had long been suspected of using any means necessary to get what he wanted. The recent discovery of his journals had confirmed for the family what they’d hoped wasn’t true—that H.J. had been unscrupulous in his business dealings.

It was something the current Camdens were intent on making amends for. But in order not to incur a multitude of frivolous lawsuits, they were trying to atone for the misdeeds quietly, on the sly, without drawing too much attention or bringing the worst of H.J.’s behavior into the limelight.

“I see,” Dane’s grandmother said facetiously. “Memorizing every little detail about the way Vonni Hunter looks was purely business related.”

Nothing got by GiGi. Her tone let him know she was fully aware that he was attracted to the wedding planner.

But that still didn’t mean he was admitting anything. “Yep,” he said, not letting her get a rise out of him. “I’m just looking ahead to marketing and advertising.”

“Sure you are.”

It was true, though. Regardless of how struck by Vonni Hunter he might have been, for Dane, women were just for fun. And he didn’t play and work on the same field.

Plus there was the unsavory connection between the Hunters and Camdens in the past—he would never get mixed up with someone who could have any kind of ax to grind.

So there were two reasons he wouldn’t let anything happen with her.

“I’m just telling you, Geege, that if matchmaking is what you have up your sleeve with this, don’t run the risk of me screwing up your wedding for it. The past few of these assignments may have gotten some of us coupled up, but it isn’t going to happen to me.”

And Dane didn’t have so much as a shadow of a doubt about that.

Yes, his younger brother Lang and cousins Jani and Cade had met their mates on these restitution projects atoning for H.J.’s sins, but Dane was going to break the pattern.

And for a third and very good reason over and above the fact that he didn’t mix business with pleasure and that there was history with the Hunters.

He wasn’t ever getting married or having kids.

As one of the three eldest Camden grandchildren, he felt as if he’d already been domesticated to death. He’d been answerable to GiGi, to his great-grandfather and to Margaret and Louie, the household staff who had been involved in raising them all. He’d done plenty of adapting and compromising. He’d helped care for and look after and teach so many younger siblings and cousins that he felt as if he’d already been a parent.

And now he just wanted the blissful quiet and sanctuary of living alone in his own house.

He wanted not to keep anyone’s schedule but his own.

He wanted company when he wanted it and not when he didn’t.

He wanted the perfect freedom of a single man who was not a parent.

So no matter how green Vonni Hunter’s eyes were, it wasn’t possible for her to get to him any more than she already had.

“I do not have matchmaking up my sleeve,” GiGi objected. “I need my wedding planned. I decided it was you who should handle making things up to Vonni Hunter, and the wedding departments were just my suggestion.”

“Uh-huh...” Dane muttered at her feigned innocence.

Because he knew his grandmother. He knew that she wanted all of her grandchildren to get married and have great-grandchildren for her. And he also knew that while his cousin Jani might be newly married, pregnant and on a lighter work schedule, either of his sisters could have also been given all three of these projects without any problem. And certainly, they both would have been better suited to planning GiGi’s wedding than he was.

“I’m not getting married, Geege. And no woman on the face of this earth is going to change that. Not you, not Vonni Hunter or anyone else.”

“That’s fine,” GiGi claimed loftily. “You’ll just be Poor-Old-Uncle-Dane-Who-Doesn’t-Have-Anyone.”

Dane laughed. “How about if I’m just Fun-Uncle-Dane-Who-Doesn’t-Have-Anybody-Tying-Him-Down?”

“Finding a woman you love and having a family lifts you up, Dane. It raises you to a higher level and makes you a more well-rounded person. It’s what we’re put here to do.”

“And your opinion wouldn’t be at all colored by your own romance, would it? Plus, I’ve found a woman to love—more than one—you and Jani and Lindie and Livi—”

“Me and your sisters and cousin don’t count.”

“And I have plenty of family to lift me up and raise me to a higher level and make me about as well-rounded as I’ll ever be.”

“Kids you have with a wife—that’s the family that elevates you and makes you complete,” his grandmother persisted.

“I’m complete just the way I am. And happily single. Forever!”

GiGi’s sigh on the other end of the line was pronounced, but Dane decided it was time to end this back-and-forth and return to the work he had to do. So he said, “I’m supposed to meet with Vonni Hunter tomorrow night to get started. So keep your cell phone with you—you never know when I’ll have to call or text or send you pictures for approval. And we don’t have any time to spare.”

“I feel the same way about you,” she muttered.

“You love and adore me no matter what I do with my life?”

“Yes,” she confirmed begrudgingly. “I just don’t want you to be a lonely old man.”

“Couldn’t happen in this family,” he said, before saying goodbye and finally getting off the phone.

He was resigned to accomplishing all his grandmother had asked of him—short of getting personally involved with Vonni Hunter, which was not going to happen.

“Sorry, GiGi,” he muttered as he set his cell phone on his desk. “The best I can do on the personal side is enjoy the view.”

Of the lovely Vonni Hunter.

Who could not change his mind about marriage and family any more than any other woman could.

* * *

Vonni was standing outside the Cherry Cricket at eight o’clock Wednesday night when she spotted Dane rush out of the Camden Building a block down.

Neither of their schedules had allowed for an earlier meeting, and since the rough-and-tumble bar and grill was between their offices on Second Street, Dane had suggested he buy her a burger as they began the process of planning his grandmother’s wedding.

Vonni had hesitated. She’d found it unnervingly difficult not to think about this guy since she’d met him, and because of that she knew it was better to keep this strictly business. A burger at the Cricket hardly qualified as being wined and dined, but there would be dining and she didn’t want anything about her contact with him to seem date-like.

But he was very persuasive.

Plus, she knew she wouldn’t have the chance to eat before they got together and didn’t want her stomach rumbling through a business meeting.

So there she was, watching the intensely attractive Dane Camden coming toward her.

He was tieless, the collar button of his white shirt was unfastened and his suit coat was slung over one shoulder. He very much looked as if he was done with business for the day and ready to relax. Like on a burger date.

Luckily Vonni was still wearing what she’d put on this morning for work—a white cowl-necked blouse under a teal green jacket and pencil skirt with the toes of her four-inch heels pinching to remind her she was still working even if he wasn’t.

“I didn’t keep you waiting, did I?” he asked as he approached, flashing a smile that was enough to make her forget about her aching feet.

“I was a few minutes early.” Which she always tried to be when it came to business. And that was all this was, she reminded herself when he held the door for her, told the bouncer sitting on a stool in the alcove that they were two for dinner then ushered her with a hand not quite touching her back to the table when the bouncer passed them off to the hostess.

All very date-like.

He requested a table outside where it was quieter and the hostess took them beyond the noise of the bar to a café table in the patio section that ran alongside the building.

Then the hostess traded places with a waitress who asked if they would like something to drink.

Before answering, Dane said to Vonni, “I’m having an end-of-the-day beer. How about you—beer, wine, something harder...?”

Vonni shook her head and spoke to the waitress. “I’ll have a lemonade.”

Dane ordered his beer and the waitress pointed out the menus that were stashed in the handles of a caddie that held ketchup, mustard, hot sauce and liquor ads.

“I’m starving,” he said, grabbing the menus and handing one to Vonni. “Let’s decide what we’re eating so we can order when she comes back and then we can just talk.”

About his grandmother’s wedding, Vonni said to herself to neutralize the effect of his very casual attitude. And his appeal. And the feeling that this was a date.

But it wasn’t! she reminded herself yet again.

Vonni focused on the menu, and by the time the waitress returned with their drinks, Dane ordered for them both, not forgetting a single detail of how Vonni wanted her burger or what she wanted on the side, proving just how attentive he’d been even as he focused on deciding his own meal.

Attentiveness that would have gained him points if this had been a date.

“Okay,” he said when the waitress had left. He reached around to the breast pocket of the suit coat he’d draped across the back of his seat and withdrew some folded papers. “Here’s the contract—signed, sealed and now delivered.”