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Chapter One

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Lisa Renee pushed the last dress into place Her rails were definitely cra spree in Great Falls last week The stockroo at the sea well It was strange, Marietta seemed to attract brides

She gave a little s in the air around here and, as far as she was concerned, the more the merrier This last year had seen her newly opened store flourish

The row of glittering sequined dresses sparkled in the sun streah the storeSatin, lace, tulle, duchesse silk – she had it all, along with bridesmaid dresses in every style and color of the rainbow

She was renowned in town for her style and good customer service She’d never recommend a style to a potential bride that didn’t flatter and suit her Even if they had their heart set on so about her bridal store As soon as any woman walked in here she became Lisa’s project All she wanted was to help fulfil their dreams

As she turned around, a ripple of pink froh The night Or was it really orange? It all depended on the light Truth was, there wasn’t a single skin tone it actually suited and the style? She didn’t knohat she’d been thinking Then again, that had been the day she’d just heard her sister had married her runaway ex-fiancé –soa mini meltdown Sometime soon she’d have to surreptitiously dispose of those dresses and deny they’d ever existed

The shrill of the phone interrupted her thoughts “Married in Marietta, can I help you?”

“Hi there, this is the PA for Nancy Parsons, I’d like to book some time in your salon”

The caller had a strange twang to their voice and Lisa couldn’t quite place the accent “Who?” It probably wasn’t the greatest reply, but she’d been stung by sothat she liked to establish who she was talking to

The caller didn’t hide their annoyance “Nancy Parsons? The Hollywood superstar? Youto Jared Lovell in a feeeks?”

It took a few seconds for recognition to seep in “Oh, Nancylynn Pruitt Yes, I know her What can I do for you?” It was automatic Lisa Renee couldn’t think of Nancylynn as a Hollywood superstar – and she wasn’t quite sure it was an appropriate description Nancy had been a few years younger than her at Marietta high school and used to live on one of the local ranches Her parents noned the ranch thanks to Nancylynn To be fair to Nancylynn, she probably was the ot her break as an actress as a good-girl high schooler in a teen draone onto a primetime drama called Sultry Suburbs where she’d met her husband-to-be, Jared Lovell The son of Hollywood royalty, his father was a superstar Nancy probably thought she’d hit the big time – but Lisa wasn’t so sure that Jared ‘Love ’eain’ Lovell was really a husband to dream about

So like this in Marietta would bring big business for the town And as she to judge a potential bridegroom? She hadn’t exactly picked well herself At least Nancylynn’s husband-to-be hadn’t run off with someone else – not yet anyway

She took a deep breath “No proble?”

“June 20th Jared and Nancy will bethe official announcement tomorrow”

“June 20th?” Lisa couldn’t hide her surprise “That’s just over three weeks away” She glanced around her shop She stocked gorgeous and exclusive designs – but surely a ‘Hollywood superstar’ would have adresses?

She licked her dry lips “Is Nancylynn looking for a wedding gown?”

The PA let out a peal of laughter “What? Oh no She’s got that all arranged Her wedding dress is being made exclusively It’s brides paper “We need your shop for the final wedding dress fittings That won’t be a problem, will it?”

Part of her was relieved Part of her fleetingly annoyed by the laughter and instant dismissal But she didn’t care Bridesmaid dresses she could do She had them in abundance

A quick thought flashed through her mind “Any particular issues I should know about the brides purely professionally

“What do you mean?” snapped the PA, autohts started to go off in her brain This wedding could easily turn into a PR nightmare

Even though she couldn’t be seen, Lisa kept her professional face in place “I just wondered why they haven’t found anything suitable yet? I want toperfect for them I’m afraid I don’t know any of the details of Nancylynn’s wedding Can you tell me who the bridesmaids are? I want to make sure I have appropriate sizes and colors that will suit them”

She could hear the PA sucking in a breath of frustration She was obviously used to snapping her fingers and everyone falling into line Lisa gave a little smile Good luck in Marietta “It’s Nancy She doesn’t like to be known by her former name The bridesmaids are Polly Parker and Ruby Cole

”

“Oh, I see,” said Lisa politely Great Two notorious bitchy actresses Both blonde, both with big boobs, ould probably look better wearing red swimsuits than bridesmaid dresses She made a few scribbles on her notebook They probably lied about their dress sizes too; she’d need to cut the labels from all her dresses

“Eh…they haven’t exactly been able to agree on the style or color of bridesh at the end of the phone “We’ve had seventeen appointments so far”

Lisa got the unspoken e Married in Marietta was last chance saloon She didn’t knohether to be hted “I’ll do my absolute best to try and keep both Polly and Ruby happy”

There was a sigh of relief “Thank you Nancy needs things to be settled We’re trying to do so much in a short space of tireat”

Lisa scribbled so?”

“Tomorrow Can you see them then?”

Lisa blinked Tos around “No problem Tell them I’ll see them at 10:00 am”

She glanced at her watch and grabbed her coat, bag and change of clothes She was al shift at the hospital She pulled the shutter down in thealong the street

The one thing Lisa Renee hated above all else was lateness

Ada the darkened corridors and he steered off towards the nearest phone “Adam Brady”

“Hi Ada I hate to tell you this but–”

“Don’t,” cut in Ada too and want h It was his second call like this in the last hour

Dan gave a grateful moan “Thanks, Adam I owe you” The phone clicked quickly

“You sure do” Adah

The nurse at the station looked up and smiled “Another one? We’ve had three nurses phone in with the bug for night shift tonight”

He nodded “It’s going to be a long night Looks like I’ical and peds”

She groaned for him “Oh well At least you’ve finished here I’ll let you know if there are any problems Thanks, Adam”

He nodded and walked along the corridor, heading for the stairs He actually quite likedat all It was one of the reasons he’d co in the city was different You were confined to one specialty with everyone on a high-powered career path But Ada a bit of everything, and that’s where it got complicated