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CHAPTER ONE

“DEATH BY LACE and tulle,” Isabel Beebe said as she waved the nozzle of the steamer

“I’m so sorry,” Madeline told her, then winced as she studied the front of the wedding gown

“Brides-to-be are determined” Isabel lifted up the front layers of the white dress and carefully clipped them to the portable clothesline in the back room of the boutique With a dress like this— chiffon—she would start on the inside and work her way out

Isabel focused the steam on the wrinkles An excited bride had wanted to find out if her potential wedding dress was comfortable to sit in So she’d sat For half an hour while on the phone with a girlfriend Now the sample had to be steamed back into perfection for the next interested customer

“Should I stop them next time?” Madeline asked

Isabel shook her head “Would that we could But no Brides are fragile and e paint on the dresses or reaching for scissors, let them sit, twirl and dance away We are here to serve”

She showed Madeline how to hold the chiffon so the steah evenly and then explained about the layers and the ti put back with the other sample dresses

“It helps if you think of each wedding gown as a very delicate princess,” Isabel said with a grin “Fro At any second, there could be disaster We’re here to keep that fro”

Madeline had only been working at Paper Moon Wedding Gowns for three weeks, but Isabel already liked her She showed up early for her shift and was endlessly patient with the brides and their mothers

Isabel passed over the steamer “Your turn”

She watched until she was sure Madeline knehat she was doing, then returned to the front of the store She replaced saave in to the inevitable and ad What had to be done had to be done Putting it off wouldn’t change reality Oh, but how she wanted it to

After sucking in a breath for strength, she went into the srabbed her purse and stepped into the workroom and smiled at Madeline “I’ll be back in an hour”

“Okay See you then”

Isabel left the shop and walked purposefully to her car Fool’s Gold was senerally walked everywhere, but her current destination was just far enough to warrant a car That and the fact that driving s went badly, she didn’t want to have to run like a frightened bunny Not that she could in her four-inch heels, but still With a car, there ravel and she could disappear in a cloud of dust, like in the movies

“Things are not going to go badly,” she told herself “Things are going to go great I’reatness” She nearly closed her eyes, then rereatness even as I turn”

She went left on Eighth Street, then right, and before she was ready, she found herself driving into the parking lot of CDS

Cerberus Defense Sector was the new security firuards and offered classes in self-defense and other s Isabel wasn’t clear on the details She found that she and exercise had a much better relationship if they avoided each other

She parked next to a wicked-looking ically painted with flames and a monster Harley Her Prius looked desperately out of place Not to mention small

Now that she wasn’t driving, it was safe for her to close her eyes She did and tried to visualize, but her sto tooup

“This is stupid!” she announced and opened her eyes “I can do it I can have a reasonable conversation with an old friend”

Only Ford Hendrix wasn’t an old friend and the talk was going to be about how, despite her vow to love hi him, not to mention the pictures she’d sent, he had no reason to be afraid of her Because she thought that he ht be Just a little

She doubted it was anything he would admit The man had been a SEAL She knew that, in addition, he’d been part of a special joint task force that had been even erous She also knew he’d returned to Fool’s Gold nearly three ed to avoid each other But that wasn’t possible anymore

“I aroaned Bad way to start a conversation And not one designed to get him to believe her

“Whatever,” she ot out of her car

She paused to smooth the front of her black dress It was fitted without being tight and skimmed all the lumpy bits As ht assuner sanore So she was really good at draping her curves and still looking stylish Or so she told herself

She adjusted her sleeves, paused to brush off a bit of dust from her shoes and then prepared to face the lion in his den Or warrior in his cave Whichever

She walked into CDS No one sat at the reception desk, so she started down the hall toward the sound ofnoise She saw double doors standing open and stepped through theest workout room she’d ever seen

The ceiling had to be thirty feet high Ropes hung from beams at one end of the roo exercise hts and equipment she couldn’t na dark hair pulled back in a ponytail was fighting a

They both wore protective headgear and had tape around their hands It took her a second to recognize her friend Consuelo Ly as the woman

Isabel watched as Consuelo swung out her leg The guy ht him behind the knee and down he went Isabel winced, but then the guy was up faster than she would have thought possible and he had the wo to kick hirunted but didn’t let go

“You two knohat you’re doing, right?” Isabel asked “Is soet hurt? Should I call nine-one-one?”

The man turned toward her Consuelo didn’t One second he was standing, then next he was flat on his back and she had her foot pressed against his throat

“Sucker,” the wolared at her victim “Are you that stupid on a mission?”

“Not usually”

She held out her hand The guy took it and she pulled him to his feet Consuelo turned to Isabel

“Thanks I owe you”

“I didn’t mean to be a distraction,” Isabel said “You’re so small and he’s so”

The ear and turned to her Isabel felt her o dry, which was aon in her stoone either pale or red and kind of hoped for the for

The man—all six feet of muscles in a T-shirt and sweatpants—was just as handsome as she remembered His eyes were just as dark, his hair as thick Fourteen years away had no doubt changed Ford Hendrix on the inside, but on the outside, he was better than ever

She still re her sister Isabel had been told to stay in her roo in the hall, crying as the man she’d loved as much as her fourteen-year-old heart could allow had asked why Maeve had cheated on him and if she really loved Leonard

Maeve had cried, too, and apologized, but said it was all true That she was ending things with Ford, that she should have ended the was in less than ten days, Isabel couldn’t help agreeing There’d beenon his part—then he’d stalked out

Isabel had run after hinored her, had kept on walking Two days later, he’d joined the navy and left Fool’s Gold She’d declared her love in an endless streaain until this second