No matter how wonderful the relationship, disappointment is inevitable. Perfection will never be attained, so set reasonable expectations and be prepared to work through problems.
—Excerpt from Finding Mr. Right-for-You by Dr. Kate
A distant clattering woke Kate. She stirred, stretching her limbs before opening her eyes. The room was dark, and she tried to get her bearings as the events of the day before emerged, rising like a tsunami out of a still sea.
She’d married Lucas.
She was on her honeymoon.
Kate closed her eyes, wishing for the oblivion of slumber again. Maybe she could fall back asleep. For a year.
Another noise, a quiet clinking, disrupted her efforts. Apparently Lucas woke before the break of dawn. She rolled over and tugged the duvet over her head, but moments later the rich aroma of brewing coffee beckoned her. She pushed the cover down and sat up against the heap of pillows, untangling her legs from the sheets.
“Sorry,” Lucas whispered from the wet bar. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”
Kate rubbed her eyes. Her lids felt heavy and swollen. “You’re forgiven. Especially if you made enough for me.” She needed it right now just to keep her eyes open.
He turned on a light over the bar. “How do you take yours?”
“Cream and sugar.” What she’d really like was some good espresso, but the coffee should be decent in a fancy hotel like this. “Do you always rise so early?”
She heard the splash of coffee into the cup. “Yep.”
Great. She hoped he didn’t expect her to talk in the morning.
Before she could make her legs work, he brought her a mug. “Thanks.”
He’d apparently already showered and dressed. His wet hair hung in strings beside his face. The five o’clock shadow was back.
She took a sip. It was good for regular coffee. Strong enough to wake her at least. For the rest, they had cappuccino and lattes at the restaurant. She’d made certain of that before she’d made the reservation.
As she sipped the brew, her mind kicked into gear. She thought about the wedding and Lucas’s family. She thought about the media and the articles coming out in today’s papers. What would they say?
Then she thought about Bryan. Was he planning to marry this other woman? Why hadn’t she asked who it was? Maybe he’d realize he made a mistake and break up with the mystery woman. Why hadn’t Kate told him this marriage with Lucas was temporary? Maybe she and Bryan could still be together someday.
“What’s on the agenda today?” Lucas’s voice startled her.
She sipped her coffee. “What makes you think there’s an agenda?”
He gave her that lazy half-smile. “Because you’re Kate Lawrence.” The smile faltered. “Well. Guess you’re not anymore.”
She was supposed to be Kate Montgomery. She remembered the way she used to jot her name with her boyfriends’ last names when she was a teenager. She’d say the name out loud, testing it on her tongue. She hadn’t even thought of her married name with Lucas until Pastor McFadden pronounced them man and wife. Kate Wright. It sounded strange.
Lucas studied her from across the room, and she remembered he’d asked a question. The itinerary. She had it memorized. “We were supposed to go to the beach today, surfside. Bryan wanted to—” Why was she rambling about Bryan? “Anyway, it would give us time to make plans, if you’re up for it.” He didn’t seem like a beach person, but she could be wrong.
He shrugged. “Sure. I’ll need to swing by my house and pick up my things first.”
He’d need to know what she had planned in order to pack accordingly. She rattled off the agenda, noting the whaling museum, the day trip to Martha’s Vineyard, and the other points of interest she’d planned to take Bryan to.
The more things she listed, the higher Lucas’s brows went.
“What?” Kate asked.
“There any room for spontaneity on that list?”
“Spontan—what in the world for?”
His crooked smile was slow. “Tell you what. I’ll do everything on your agenda if you’ll allow one day of spontaneity.”
Kate frowned. What was the point? She’d included everything a person could want from one week on Nantucket. She studied Lucas skeptically. “What would we do?”
His head cocked. “Planning kind of ruins the point.”
She sighed. She supposed it was his vacation too. “Oh, all right. One day.” Her hollow stomach let out a growl. “I’m starving.” She hadn’t taken more than two bites at the reception.
“Room service?”
She was ready to sit down to a big, hot breakfast. “I was thinking the restaurant.”
He leaned against the back of the sofa, hands in his shorts pockets. “Won’t that seem odd?”
Odd? Oh. Newlyweds would still be in bed at this hour. For several more hours, at least. She felt her cheeks grow warm. “Maybe you’re right. Will you order something while I grab a shower?”
He gave a mock bow. “Your wish is my command.”
Kate refrained from rolling her eyes.
While Kate showered, Lucas called room service and placed their order, then puttered around the room awhile, procrastinating.
He couldn’t put it off any longer. The last thing he wanted was for his parents to read about the wedding in the paper before he told them. As it was, it wasn’t going to be much fun.
He picked up the phone and dialed his mom’s cell. “Hi, honey,” his mom greeted him. “Hang on a second. I need to plug in the phone.”
A moment later she returned. “Ah, there we go. My battery was about to go, and I didn’t want to lose you. Everything okay there?”
“Everything’s fine. I just called with some news.” He gulped, ambled across the room, and leaned on the armoire. “It might be a little, uh, surprising. Are you sitting down?” It didn’t matter if she was. When she heard the news, all the miles between them wouldn’t seem like enough.
“I’m in the car, Lucas. What’s wrong?”
“Well, you won’t believe it, but I—” Just say it. “I got married last night.”
The silence betrayed her shock. Three seconds dragged by. He heard the clock on the wall ticking them off. Then . . .
“Mar-ried!” His dad said something in the background before his mom spoke again. “Who in the world to? I didn’t even know you were dating.”
Neither had he. “Well. We kind of kept it under wraps. Low-key.” Nonexistent key. I have to tell her; there’s no way to soften the blow. “It’s Kate, Mom. Kate Lawrence.”
It sounded like his mom sucked the air from the hotel room through the phone line. But he didn’t have to wait long for her to recover. “Kate Lawrence. Kate Lawrence?” She jabbed each syllable at him. “Lucas, how could you?”
“I know. I know, Mom. I knew you’d be upset. That’s why I didn’t tell you until now.”
“You mean until it was too late to do anything about it!”
“There’s nothing you could’ve done about it anyway. I’m a grown man, and I make my own decisions. Especially about whom I marry.”
“You didn’t even invite us to the wedding.” She sucked in another breath. “The wedding! She was supposed to have some big production with the media!” His dad mumbled in the background again. “For heaven’s sakes, how did it look that we weren’t there? The whole country is going to know we missed our son’s wedding!”
“It was actually a small, intimate affair, Mom, and I’m sure—”
“This is awful!”
“I know you’re shocked, and I don’t expect you to be happy about Kate. But I want you to remember one thing.” He waited until she stopped huffing. Then waited two beats beyond that. He needed her to hear what he said, take it to heart.
“I love her, Mom. Regardless of the past—which, incidentally, she’s not responsible for—Kate makes me happy.”
He could almost hear his mom’s frustration, her emotions torn between her unresolved anger and her son’s happiness.
The shower in the bathroom kicked off. He wanted to be off the phone before Kate returned.
“Were Brody and Jamie there, at least?” His mom’s words sounded as though they’d been squeezed from a lemon.
“They were there. My identity was kept a secret from the media, you know. Nobody knew it was me until last night.”
“Well, you could have told us.”
His dad’s words were muffled. “Let it go, Susan. What’s done is done.”
Sage advice, but easier said than done, and probably not welcome coming from the man she blamed.
Kate left the foggy bathroom, feeling somewhat refreshed, though still sleepy. She should have asked Lucas to order a latte. She walked into the room, where the breakfast food was set out on the coffee table. Lucas sat in the armchair, waiting to dig into his home fries, over-easy eggs, toast, and stack of crispy bacon. In front of Kate’s seat was a plate of fresh melon, granola, and yogurt. Her stomach protested.
She put her dirty clothes in a plastic laundry bag, settled on the couch, and stabbed a berry with her fork, sliding it into her mouth.
“What’s wrong?” Lucas loaded his fork with potatoes and took a bite of bacon.
“Nothing.” The berries were good. Sweet and juicy. Healthy.
“I didn’t know what you liked.”
Of course he didn’t. It wasn’t like they’d dated. He didn’t even know how she took her coffee or that she liked to sleep in. “This is fine. It’s good.” She took a bite of granola to prove it. It was homemade, crunchy and sweet. Just not what she’d been in the mood for.
“Here.” Lucas scraped an egg and half his potatoes and bacon onto the plate his toast had been on.
Her mouth watered. “I’m fine, Lucas.”
He slid the fruit to the side and pushed the plate in front of her. “Eat up.”
They ate quietly, and by the time Kate set her fork down, she’d made up for the meal she’d skipped the day before.
“I went out and got the paper while you were getting ready.”
“Which one?”
“The Mirror and the New York Times.” He produced sections of the papers from the coffee table’s shelf.
Her insides were an ocean buoy in the wake of a speedboat. “Did you read them? What did they say?”
Oh, please, God.
She grabbed the Times first. There they were, her and Lucas, on the cover of the “Style” section. A photo of them dancing. They were looking into each other’s eyes, and the photographer had captured Lucas’s smile.
“See for yourself,” he said.
Her eyes flitted to the article. Its heading read “Dr. Kate Marries Mr. Wright.” She smiled. “Clever.”
“Thought you’d like that,” Lucas said.
She read aloud. “‘Syndicated columnist Kate Lawrence, known to audiences as Dr. Kate, married Nantucket native Lucas Wright in a ceremony last evening on Jetties Beach in Nantucket. The wedding was scheduled to coincide with the release of Dr. Kate’s book Finding Mr. Right-for-You.
“‘The identity of the groom was kept secret until the ceremony—part of the publicity campaign surrounding the book’s release.
“‘Lawrence said she met her Mr. Wright when she rented the space above his furniture shop in Nantucket Town. “He renovated my apartment and my office. Then I guess he renovated my heart.”’”
Kate glanced at Lucas, her face warming.
His lip quirked. “I had no idea,” he said.
“Dream on.” Kate went back to the article.
“‘Lucas Wright is a furniture maker, known locally by wealthy vacationers who summer on the island. When asked about their future plans, Lawrence said, “We plan to stay in Nantucket, of course. It’s our home.”
“‘Finding Mr. Right-for-You is Dr. Kate’s first book. She will appear on the Dr. Phil show later this summer, and she plans to continue her column while she works on her second book.’”
Kate put the paper down. “It’s all good,” she said in wonder. We did it. They’d pulled it off—at least, if the Times was any indication. “What does the Mirror say?” She picked up the next section. The photograph was a close-up of them in the carriage, waving good-bye, the tulle of her veil blowing to the side. It had much of the same information as the Times, though presented with a more local approach.
When she was finished, she picked up the Times again, noticing the way the paper trembled in her fingers. “Rosewood will be thrilled. I can’t believe how relieved I am.” Relieved wasn’t the word. If she’d gone through with the wedding only to be found out, it would’ve done more damage than being jilted.
“Did we cover all our bases?” she asked. “We have to be sure those who know aren’t going to say anything.”
“I told Mr. Lavitz when he fitted me for the tux about the need for discretion. He’s an old friend—I know he won’t say anything. And you know Nancy will keep quiet. They’re town officers. They know how to be discreet.”
“Pam and Chloe and Anna won’t say anything. My dad’s a given. Who else knows?”
“Bryan’s family,” he said.
It was the biggest risk of a leak. Had Bryan told them? Kate chewed on her lip. What if one of them read an article and told a friend or two the wedding was a farce? What if they contacted the media?
“Maybe you should call him and make sure.” Lucas leaned forward, planting his elbows on his knees, bracing his coffee cup between his palms.
Kate had been thinking it herself, but dreading it all at the same time. It hurt to think about Bryan. She’d been up half the night thinking about him, about how he was supposed to be in bed beside her. This was supposed to be the beginning of our life together.
Suck it up, Kate, and move on. You’ve done it before, and you can do it again. She’d made a lot of sacrifices along the way, and she wasn’t giving up now.
“You’re right.” Her watch said it was just after eight. Late enough to call. What, am I worried about waking the man? She should have called him in the middle of the night. He’d kept her awake, after all. It would’ve served him right.
“Why don’t I go home and get my things while you make the call?” Kate nodded, wondering what to say to Bryan. “What about your parents? You need to call them before they see the papers.”
Lucas folded the paper and stood. “Already did, while you were in the shower.”
“What did they say?”
Lucas shrugged. “They were shocked, naturally. I told them we’d kept it low-key because of the media.”
“Weren’t they angry they weren’t here for the wedding?”
“Disappointed. They were glad Brody and Jamie were there.”
Kate tucked her damp hair behind her ears. “Oh, good. Well, I guess we’ll have to make it up to them when they return.”
Lucas left, and Kate retrieved her cell phone. She dialed Bryan’s number, her heart drumming a syncopated beat.
The phone rang twice before a woman answered. “Hello?”
Kate’s words clogged her throat. She was there? In his apartment? In the apartment that was supposed to be theirs?
“Hello?” the woman repeated.
Kate took the phone from her ear and started to hang up.
But she had to talk to Bryan, had to make sure he’d spoken with his family. She put the phone back to her ear and heard shuffling sounds, then Bryan’s voice.
“Hello?” His voice was morning scratched.
Kate clamped her teeth together. Were they in bed together? What had happened to their agreement to save themselves for marriage? Apparently it had only been Kate’s conviction.
“Kate?”
“Yes, it’s Kate. I can’t believe she’s there with you. For heaven’s sake, Bryan, we were supposed to get married yesterday.”
She heard a rustling noise—sheets? “Excuse me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you just spend the night with your new husband?”
His comment made her skin tingle, made the flesh under her arms go hot. “After you deserted me on our wedding day!”
“What do you even know about him, Kate?”
“What do you care?” She stood and paced the length of the room. What was she doing? She had to settle down. It would accomplish nothing to have Bryan angry at her. “I didn’t call to argue. I called to make sure you’d talked to your family. Did you make them understand how important it is that they keep their mouths shut?” She could’ve worded it more nicely, but he wasn’t exactly on her favorite-people list right now.
“I talked to them. I told you I would.” His voice was tight.
What did he have to be angry about when he had another woman there in bed with him? While she’d been crying over him in their honeymoon bed, he’d been—She closed her eyes and shook her head to dislodge the image. She couldn’t bear the thought of it right now.
“My career is riding on this, you know,” she said. “Do they understand the magnitude of—”
“Yes, yes, they understand. Do you think I want to be in the spotlight as the jerk who jilted Dr. Kate at the altar?”
“Well said.”
The silence was deafening. She should hold her tongue; she really should. She was a counselor, for crying out loud. Where was her control?
“I’ll let you go.” Perhaps he’d get the double meaning. “I just wanted to be sure things were taken care of.”
She hung up before she said something she’d regret later. When she set the phone on the coffee table, she realized her hand was shaking.
Bryan was in bed with her. Kate’s Mr. Right in bed with someone else on what was supposed to have been their wedding night. Could life be more unfair? Where did I go wrong, Jesus? I planned so carefully and for what? Now my future hinges on my ex-fiance’s family.
At least he’d made them understand the importance of keeping quiet. That was the main thing. And the articles were positive. Look on the bright side. I’m going to live through this and come out stronger. The year with Lucas would pass quickly, and then she could get on with her life and career.
She realized she hadn’t told Bryan the marriage was temporary, but given the situation, she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. Let him think she would be bound to Lucas for the rest of her life. Maybe it would make him squirm just a little.