Page 2 of A Cornish Wedding Retreat
Emily launched into a long, rambling story involving the obnoxious five-year-old twin boys belonging to the bride’s sister, a foot race through the kitchen and a search for buried treasure in the precious wedding cake. It was pointless to ask why no one had stopped them because the damage was done now.
‘You need to go and help hand around the canapés,’ Maggie said with unnatural calm as she glanced at her watch. ‘We’ve got an hour before the cake has to be in position, although we could stretch it a little if we have to.’
Emily’s lip trembled meaning she was on the verge of bursting into tears. To say her older sister used her soft, fragileappearance for her own benefit was an understatement. Men routinely fell at her feet professing undying love, but Emily had found her Prince Charming in the form of her fiancé, Jonathan. Maggie only hoped he wouldn’t tire of Emily’s unpredictable behaviour. A few times recently she’d heard him snap at her sister about something she’d said or done, and only yesterday she’d caught Jonathan staring hard at Emily when he thought he wasn’t being watched.
Giving her credit where it was due Emily’s cookingwasout-of-this-world even if her business sense could fit on the head of a pin. The mantle of responsible, reliable half of the company had naturally landed on Maggie. Right now she could do with a shoulder to cry on herself and she briefly allowed herself to recall Chad Robertson’s excellent broad shoulders, the ones framed by his exquisite designer suit.
‘But . . .’
‘Go and do what you do best, feed people and be nice to them. Let me worry about this.’ Maggie cut off Emily’s protests and shooed her sister out of the kitchen. She forced herself to ignore the pitying looks being thrown her way by the rest of the catering staff. Taking a couple of slow, deep breaths she tried to settle her churning stomach. Maggie walked over to the sink and washed her hands before putting on an apron to cover up her dark green taffeta dress.
Then she cleared her head and started to think.
Chapter Two
Chad waited a few minutes but Maggie with the captivating smile, tempting curves and sparkling blue eyes didn’t return. Just his luck. If she didn’t come back soon he’d be stuck making polite conversation with the other down-on-their-luck souls on the Reject Table. His colleagues and friends in Nashville would laugh themselves silly. The idea that anyone would seat Chad Robertson anywhere but at one of the best tables would amuse them no end. He hadn’t been the top prize in the recent Music City Bachelor Auction for nothing, raising $50,000 for the local children’s hospital thanks to a bidding war between two of the city’s top hostesses.
Top of his agenda was to find out more about the fascinating Maggie. She was the first woman in a long time to stir him from the lethargy he’d sunk into recently — one which made no sense for a red-blooded thirty-year-old man with the world at his feet. He couldn’t precisely pinpoint what the attraction was either. The English woman was almost tall enough to look him in the eye but seemed uncomfortable with the fact. Maggie’s outdated dress, natural brown hair ruthlessly pinned up in a bun and minimal make-up made her far from the petite, glossy, well-turned out women he usually dated.
Yeah, but what about her clear skin, sparkling eyes and kissable mouth? And the hint of vanilla and spice you sniffed when you got close?Telling himself her delicious scent came from cake baking wasn’t doing the trick. He needed to track her down again and soon.
Chad glanced around the expansive entrance hall dominated by a stunning Victorian chandelier and noticed the classic moulded ceiling and the genuine oil paintings dotted around the walls. He hadn’t had the chance to check out the rest of the place yet but the small, country-house hotel was furnished withenough antiques to make his father extremely envious. Although Chad had been to London several times he’d never made it down to Cornwall before. He liked what he’d seen so far and planned to look around some before heading back to Nashville next week.
He made his way into the bar where everyone was congregating for the pre-dinner appetisers while they waited for the bride and groom to finish with the photographer. Apart from his aunt and uncle, Chad only vaguely knew a couple of his English cousins but talking to new people didn’t bother him. Most people enjoyed talking about themselves, plus he had the advantage of being a foreigner so would shamelessly turn on his Southern charm.
Chad decided to start with the young, dark-haired waitress carrying around trays of drinks. He gave her the full force of his smile, instantly making her stop by him. Chad selected a glass of white wine, quite certain it would be lukewarm but not willing to risk the red while wearing a pristine white shirt and new grey linen suit. ‘So, sweetheart, is the food going to be any good?’
‘Absolutely,’ she beamed, ‘Emily and Maggie are great.’
‘Really?’ Chad encouraged, and she happily chattered away, going into lengthy details about the two sisters and their new catering company. Maggie was clearly the brains of the business and her sister the creative cook. But wedding cakes were apparently Maggie’s real love and the waitress claimed she was the best thing going. Chad smiled to himself. He’d thought she was pretty damn good too although he had to concede cake and icing weren’t at the forefront of his mind when he made that summing up. ‘I’d better not keep you away from your work any longer.’ He apologised with a smile and the girl nodded and hurried off.
Across the room Maggie’s sister was passing around trays of food so Chad inched his way through the crowd until she was within arm’s reach. Emily’s thin shoulders were rigid withtension and her bubbly smile didn’t reach her soft blue eyes. Chad tried to imagine what sort of disaster could befall a wedding cake and failed.Time to work his magic again.
‘What are those good-looking nibbles, honey?’ He laid the Southern drawl on as thick as molasses in winter. Chad pointed at the curious things she was trying to foist on people and received an engaging smile in return.
‘They’re Scotch eggs. Would you care to try one?’
‘Sure. Why not.’Uh. Maybe because you can see a hard-boiled egg is involved and you hate them worse than okra?
‘We wrap herbed sausage meat around the cooked egg before covering it in breading and then deep fry it. They’re very traditional.’ Emily explained and Chad forced his smile to remain intact as he selected one from the tray and took a large bite.
It took every ounce of good manners Chad possessed not to spit it right back out. The thing was cold making it even more revolting than he’d expected. ‘Interesting,’ he managed to say and caught the hint of a genuine smile lurking around Emily’s mouth. Now he could see the resemblance to her sister.
‘Peter loves them but they’re not my favourites either if that’s any consolation.’ Her dry summing up allowed him to agree.
The sound of a loud gong being rung several times stopped their conversation and Chad listened to the announcement of the bride and groom’s arrival. In a few minutes he’d have to find his table with no hope of a reprieve.
‘Excuse me. I must go and make sure dinner is ready to serve,’ Emily explained.
‘Of course.’ He couldn’t logically keep her there much longer. ‘Oh, by the way, did you solve the cake problem?’
She paled under her freckles. ‘Maggie promised me everything will be fine. She’s never let me down and I’m sure she won’t today.’
A lump tightened Chad’s throat and he tried to convince himself it was undigested cold sausage rather than unwelcome emotions. He was pretty sure his brother wouldn’t make the same observation about him. Being ten years apart they’d never been close as boys, and as adults the combination of geography, lifestyle differences and a lack of effort meant they rarely met these days. When they did see each other there was none of the companionship he’d spotted between the two sisters.
‘She strikes me as the kind of girl who’d stick to her word.’
Emily gave him a curious look, blatantly sizing him up. ‘Really? Considering you only met her an hour ago I can’t imagine how you could possibly know that.’
