“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Nick muttered and jammed his hands into his pockets.
“Will you relax?” Taylor snapped. “You look like you’re headed to the gas chamber instead of a premarital counseling session.”
“Same difference.” Nick shook his head, and his dark hair glistened in the fluorescent light. “I can’t believe I agreed to this.”
“You already said that.” Taylor took a deep breath and tried to slow her rapidly beating heart. Did he think this was easy on her? She’d known Pastor Schmidt since she was a child. And ever since her grandparents had surprised her by registering her and Nick for these classes, Taylor had been worried sick that the minister would see right through their sham engagement.
The door to the church office burst open. Taylor’s and Nick’s heads turned as one. A skinny blond woman with puffy bangs pulled a young man with glasses and a bad case of acne into the waiting room.
“C’mon, Tom.” High and shrill, the young woman’s voice grated on Taylor’s already tightly strung nerves. “We’re late.”
“Mandy.” Tom jerked his hand from hers. “Quit pullin’ on me.”
The irritation in his voice came through loud and clear. The blonde stopped suddenly and turned, her eyes wide with disbelief. Her lower lip, the pink lipstick half-chewed off, trembled.
“Oh, baby.” The boy stepped toward her, his voice gentle and filled with concern. “Don’t cry.”
She sniffed loudly, and he hurriedly pulled a rumpled tissue from his pants pocket.
Taylor and Nick exchanged amused glances.
But Mandy wasn’t through. Big tears welled in her blue eyes, and her bottom lip protruded further.
Taylor hid a smile. If she wasn’t mistaken, Mandy had crying on demand down to an art form. She braced herself for a sob fest.
The door to Pastor Schmidt’s office opened, effectively staving off the impending flood. Taylor offered up a prayer of thanks, and she and Nick rose to their feet as the minister entered the doorway.
“Welcome.” The gray-haired minister smiled and stepped aside, motioning the four of them into his office. “We’re a small group this evening, so we should all get to know each other really well.”
Nick groaned under his breath. Taylor jabbed him in the ribs.
She ignored Nick’s pained gasp and moved forward to greet the pastor. It was only with the help of God and Pastor Schmidt that she’d been able to survive the death of her father. Every time she’d thought she couldn’t go on, he’d been there with words from the scripture to remind her that she wasn’t alone.
“Pastor.” Her smile was filled with genuine warmth. “I don’t believe you’ve met Nick.”
“Only over the phone,” the minister said with a smile.
She introduced the two, and they shook hands.
“I’ve known Taylor since she was a little girl.” Taylor squirmed under the approval in the pastor’s eyes and wondered if he would smile with the same degree of fondness if he knew that her engagement was all a lie.
She squared her shoulders. She had a good reason for agreeing to this arrangement and she doubted that given the whole story even the good pastor could find fault with her motives. Plus, if she played this right, he’d never know.
As if he could sense her unease, Nick’s arm slid up to rest briefly around her shoulders, and he offered her that heart-stopping grin she found increasingly hard to resist.
Taylor’s tension melted away under the heat of his gaze and when his hand moved down to take hers she didn’t resist.
They followed Tom and Mandy into the study with the minister bringing up the rear.
Once they were all inside, Pastor Schmidt shut the door and gestured toward a semicircle of chairs.
Nick waited for her to take her seat before sitting down next to her.
“Okay.” The minister rubbed his hands together and paced the room. “Let’s get started.”
Taylor listened in horror as he described the agenda for the next six Together Forever premarital sessions. This was going to be harder than she thought. The minister seemed to be into everyone sharing their thoughts and feelings. She’d hoped for more of a lecture format.
“Nick, why don’t you start by telling us what first attracted you to Taylor?” Pastor Schmidt leaned back in his chair, an expectant look on his face.
Nick paused, and his gaze shifted to study Taylor for a moment. She held her breath and smiled encouragingly.
“It was her spirit.” Nick’s gaze didn’t waver. “She’s one determined woman. I admire that.”
Heat rose up her neck and into her cheeks. Though she and Nick had gone out many times during the past few weeks, their conversations had remained light and superficial.
“Taylor?” The pastor raised a brow.
What had first attracted her to Nick? She remembered how he’d looked when she first saw him. Like a GQ model in a hand-tailored suit.
“He was so handsome.” The truth popped out before she could stop it.
Mandy laughed, a childish giggle of a laugh.
Taylor cheeks grew hotter.
“Okay.” The minister’s lips twitched, and he shifted his gaze. “Mandy?”
“What first attracted me to Nick?” Mandy giggled again. “Or to Tom?”
Nick’s cough sounded more like a chuckle, and Taylor bit her lip to keep from laughing.
Pastor Schmidt didn’t answer. He shot the young woman the same penetrating gaze he’d used when someone had gotten out of line in confirmation class.
Mandy straightened in her chair and cleared her throat. “What attracted me first to my Tommy boy?”
Nick rolled his eyes, and Taylor shifted her gaze to the ceiling and bit her lip again to keep from laughing out loud.
Once she started, the young woman wouldn’t shut up. By the time Mandy finished her lengthy discourse on all of Tom’s wonderful attributes, a hint of exasperation stole across Pastor Schmidt’s normally jovial expression.
Thankfully, Mandy had taken so long that Tom had plenty of time to contemplate his answer, and he took only seconds to murmur something about Mandy’s generous, fun-loving personality.
Mandy’s face filled with pleasure, and Taylor found her irritation lessening.
“We’ve got a good group here,” Pastor Schmidt said. “I think we’re going to work well together.”
Taylor smiled and nodded as if she understood, even though she didn’t. Other than motormouth Mandy, the rest of them had barely said five words. How could he possibly know if they’d work well together or not? Still, if the minister wanted to be an optimist, who was she to be a naysayer?
Like a coach trying to rev up his players before a big game, the minister launched into a sermon on Christian love and commitment. Taylor leaned back in her chair and relaxed. This was more like what she’d expected. He’d talk and they’d listen.
“At the end of each session, you’ll be given a homework assignment.”
Taylor straightened in her chair and shot Nick an incredulous look. “Homework?” she mouthed.
Nick shrugged.
“I want you to discuss what each partner expects from the other in a marriage.”
“You mean like who should mow the yard? That kind of thing?” Mandy’s brows furrowed.
“We could make a list,” Tom added enthusiastically.
“No. I’m not talking about the day-to-day concerns, although those are important.” The minister smiled. “I’m talking in terms of what role Christ and His church will play in your married life.”
Mandy opened her mouth, but the minister waved her silent. “I’m not going to say any more. I want to leave it as open-ended as possible.”
“Pastor.” Mandy raised her hand like a child in school. “I have a question, but it’s not about our homework.”
“Yes, Mandy?”
“Why did you ask me what I liked about Tom?” Clearly puzzled, Mandy’s thin features creased into a frown. “You asked all of us and then we didn’t talk about it anymore.”
That’s because you talked about it enough for all of us, Taylor wanted to say. But a small part of her understood where Mandy was coming from. Taylor, too, had wondered what the minister had intended with that exercise.
“We were going to talk about it more when we meet in two weeks, but since you brought it up…” Pastor Schmidt paused. “Next time I’ll ask you what made you first think you might be in love with your fiancé. The session after that there will be another relationship topic. Hopefully, by the end the reason for all the questions will be clear. I’d say more but I don’t want to give the purpose away.”
Forestalling any further discussion, the minister ushered them out of his office. “Don’t forget the homework. Mandy, what do you expect from Tom? Taylor, what do you expect from Nick? And, vice versa.”
Taylor cast a sideways glance at Nick. What did she expect from him? Five thousand dollars a week and an uneventful engagement was all she asked. Hardly the stuff dreams are made of, but then she hadn’t dreamed much in the last year.
Once her father’s debts were paid off, her life would be her own again, and then maybe, one day, she could attend these classes again. This time with a man who loved her.
“Nick.” Instead of immediately sliding into the convertible, Taylor paused at the open door. “Thanks again for coming tonight.” Her lips quirked. “I know that when we discussed the terms of our engagement, premarital counseling wasn’t mentioned.”
“Neither was the company picnic,” Nick said with an easy smile.
“Do you have time to stop for coffee?” For some reason, Taylor wasn’t ready for the evening to end. “We could get our homework out of the way.”
Nick paused as if seriously considering her invitation before he shook his head. “I can’t. I have some proposals that I need to review before tomorrow. I’ll be up half the night as it is.”
“We’d better get going then.” Taylor shoved aside her disappointment and reminded herself spending unnecessary time having coffee wasn’t part of their business arrangement, either.
A loud curse echoed across the parking lot.
Taylor frowned and glanced over the concrete expanse.
Nick shifted his gaze to the only other car in the deserted lot. The vehicle was small and shaped like a tennis shoe with an oxidized yellow exterior highlighted by blotchy patches of rust.
“Isn’t that Tom and Mandy?”
“Looks like they need some help.” Despite his words about the work waiting at home, Nick didn’t hesitate. He headed across the pavement with long purposeful strides, and Taylor had to run to keep up with him.
“Is the Gremlin dead?” Mandy’s worried voice wafted on the breeze.
“It’s not dead.” Tom’s muffled voice sounded from under the hood. “But the battery sure is.”
“Can I help?” Nick stopped next to Tom. His gaze shifted to the grease-covered motor, and his head joined Tom’s under the hood.
Taylor stood on her tiptoes and peered over Nick’s shoulder. She glanced at his intense expression. Did Nick know anything about engines?
“It’s the battery.” In the waning light, Tom looked young and defeated. His glasses had slipped down his nose, and he pushed them back with a grease-covered finger. “Couldn’t have come at a worse time.”
“Do you have any cables? We could try to jump it.”
Tom shook his head.
“There’s an auto parts store a couple of blocks from here. You can pick up a battery there.” Nick glanced at his watch. “They should still be open. I can give you a lift.”
Tom shifted uncomfortably. “Fact is I don’t have the money for a new one right now. But if you could maybe give us a ride?”
Taylor’s heart went out to the boy. She wished she could offer him the money, but the twenty dollars she had on her had to last until her next fiancée payment.
“Don’t worry about it.” Nick clapped a hand on the young man’s back. “I have some extra cash I can lend you. You can pay me later.”
Pride warred with relief on Tom’s face. Finally he nodded. “Thanks. I can pay you on the fifteenth, if that’s okay?”
“That’d be fine,” Nick said, and Taylor knew he didn’t care if the young man paid him back or not.
Taylor shifted her gaze to the Jag. “Why don’t Mandy and I just wait here? It’s a little tight in that back seat.”
“Is that your car?” Tom followed Taylor’s gaze and gave a low whistle. “What is it?”
“Jaguar,” Nick said. “An XK8.”
Taylor and Mandy followed the guys over to the shiny silver-blue sports car.
“Twelve cylinders?” Tom ran his hands appreciatively over the sleek surface.
“V-eight,” Nick said. “Thirty-two valves.”
“Wow.” Tom’s eyes widened. “I bet it’s fast.”
“Zero to sixty in less than seven seconds.”
“Unbelievable.”
Taylor looked at Mandy, and they both smiled. Cars and sports seemed to be the universal language of men.
“Are you sure you don’t want to ride with us?” Nick cast Taylor a questioning gaze.
“We’ll be fine.” She smiled reassuringly. “It’s a beautiful night and this is a safe neighborhood. After all—” she gestured toward the church and the adjoining parsonage “—God is right next door.”
Nick brushed a quick kiss across her lips and opened the car door. “Let’s go.”
He didn’t have to ask twice. Tom couldn’t get in the car fast enough. “I wish the guys at work could see me now.”
The young man laced his fingers together behind his head and stretched back against the ivory-colored leather. “Man, is this livin’ or what?”
Mandy giggled. Taylor smiled.
The engine roared to life and in a matter of seconds the car left the parking lot and sped off down the street.
Mandy waved until they were out of sight, then dug into her oversize purse and pulled out a tattered pack of chewing gum. “Want some?”
Taylor shook her head. “No, thanks.”
“Let me know if you change your mind.” Mandy shoved three pieces into her mouth and dropped the pack into her bag. “Want to go sit in the car?”
Taylor shrugged. “Okay.”
Compared to the Jag, the Gremlin looked like a poor relative that was on its last leg. The passenger door stuck, and Mandy had to open it from the inside. She cleared some food wrappers from the seat and tossed them into the back of the car. “We drove through and got take-out on the way here.”
Taylor smiled and brushed a French fry to the floor before she sat down. “So when are you and Tom getting married?”
“October thirty-first.”
Taylor turned in her seat, not sure she’d heard the girl correctly. “Halloween?”
“It’s my birthday,” Mandy said promptly.
Taylor paused. She’d sworn that she’d asked Mandy when she was getting married.
“You’re getting married on your birthday?” Taylor spoke slowly and distinctly. “And your birthday’s on Halloween?”
“That’s right.” A dreamy expression crossed Mandy’s face. “I told Tom if we got married on my birthday, then he could be my present.”
Taylor smiled weakly, unsure how to respond.
“Pastor Schmidt isn’t too keen on it,” Mandy continued. “And he nixed my idea of having the reception be a masquerade party.”
“Did he?” Taylor tried to keep her expression blank.
“When are you and Nick doing the deed?”
Taylor’s eyes widened. She cleared her throat. “Pardon me?”
“Doing the deed.” Mandy repeated. “You know, getting married?”
Taylor wondered what the young woman would say if she answered honestly and said never. “Sometime this fall, I think.”
“You think?” Mandy frowned. “Don’t you know?”
“We’ll be firming up the date shortly,” Taylor said smoothly. “Now tell me all about this Halloween wedding of yours. It sounds like fun.”
“Tom was sure impressed by the car.” Taylor cast Nick a sideways glance.
“I know.” Nick shook his head. “It’s amazing how some guys are so into that stuff.”
“What are you saying, some guys?” Taylor said with a smile. “I heard that thirty-two valve, zero-to-sixty stuff coming out of your mouth.”
The corners of Nick’s lips twitched. “I can talk the talk as well as anyone. But as far as spending seventy-five thousand for a sports car, that’s not me.”
“Why did you buy it then?”
“My father bought it.” Nick’s eyes darkened. “Shortly before he died.”
He never talked about his father. Every time she’d tried to bring him up, Nick changed the subject. Even though it really wasn’t any of her business, she was still curious. His father sounded like a fascinating man.
“Tom told me he and Mandy are getting married on Halloween,” Nick said, changing the subject once again. “Said we’re invited to the wedding.”
Did you tell him we wouldn’t be together by then? Taylor wanted to ask. Instead she forced a smile.
“Did he tell you that Mandy wanted to wear black and have her attendants attired in orange taffeta?”
Nick roared with laughter. “No way.”
“It’s true. But Pastor Schmidt nixed that idea,” Taylor said, borrowing Mandy’s word. “Now she’s wearing white, and the groomsmen will wear black.”
“She wanted a black wedding dress?” Nick shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe she’d even consider it.”
“Think who we’re talking about here,” Taylor said dryly. “Besides, it might have looked elegant.”
“Would you ever wear black?”
The offhand question took her by surprise, even though it shouldn’t have. After all, he didn’t know her, didn’t know what her plans for the future were, what type of wedding she wanted. Would they ever see each other after this summer? Would they be friends? Would he come to her wedding? Would she attend his?
“Maybe.” Her heart twisted but her lips quirked up in a grin. “Who knows what the future holds? I certainly don’t.”
By the time Nick dropped Taylor off and got to his house it was after ten.
He quickly changed clothes and pulled out his laptop. Normally he’d be so lost in his work that the hours would go by and he’d scarcely notice. But tonight he couldn’t seem to concentrate.
He’d never really thought much about his father’s spending habits before. Seventy-five thousand dollars wasn’t a large amount of cash, by any means, but the year his father was sick had been a critical time in terms of Lanagan Associates. The company had been in the middle of an expensive conversion project, and money had been tight.
Odd, he’d never considered his father might have had a role in the company’s financial troubles.
He shoved the unsettling thought aside and returned his attention to the computer screen. If he didn’t keep his mind focused on work, Lanagan Associates would be struggling again, and this time he’d have no one to blame but himself.