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“Mama, it’s basically a job. The papers can say what they want, people can speculate, but I know I don’t belong with him, and I won’t squeeze into a dress that doesn’t fit.”
Her mother didn’t say anything for a moment, and Mary Paige wasn’t sure whether she believed her or not. But really, it didn’t matter. Mary Paige loved her mother, but she’d never quite agreed with the way Freda treated men—keeping her distance, dating, but never making a commitment. So Mary Paige doubted her mother gave the best relationship advice.
“So, how’s my brother?”
Freda took the bait and launched into a tirade about the local school system cutting the special education budget so severely, she was afraid Caleb would have to share a teaching aide with another student. While her mother berated the superintendent, the school board, and the entire parish, Mary Paige grabbed the dress shewouldhave to squeeze into from the closet.
She was a round peg and Brennan was a square hole. She knew that and knew better than to borrow trouble in an Armani suit. But that didn’t mean she had to stand on the sidewalk and watch the parade.
The next several weeks were an opportunity to experience things she’d never have the chance to experience again—galas, benefits, charity work—all while being on the arm of New Orleans’s most eligible bachelor. Was there anything wrong with getting the teeniest bit of pleasure from wearing fancy dresses and sipping champagne?
As long as she didn’t let her head fly into the clouds and stay there.
But first she had to squeeze into her remade prom dress. She only hoped Mama Cascio had been able to let it out enough and cover up the ruffles ripped from the hem with the beaded trim Mary Paige had scored at Hobby Lobby. Last thing she wanted was to have to wear those damn Spanx.
Maybe she should have put the check in the bank and bought herself something nice to wear to these shindigs. She was certain no other woman would be wearing her old prom dress.
But as ridiculous as it seemed, Mary Paige didn’t know how to handle two million dollars when it was her own money. It was too daunting, too intimidating. So, until she could wrap her mind around what that money would do to her life and how she should manage it, the check would stay where it was.
“Mama, maybe that charter-school idea has merit.” For a few years Freda had been researching the process for running a school that would address Caleb’s particular needs as well as assisting some of the other local families with the needs of their kids. She hadn’t gotten as far as she’d like, in part because of the funding costs. “Let’s talk more later. Right now I’m late for a gala.”
“A gala?”
“Yeah.” Mary Paige yanked her sweater over her head, then wiggled out of her pants. “I’m going to an adult prom in the dress I wore for high-school prom.”
“Maybe you should have cashed that check.”
“And miss wearing the dress you made from that bargain satin you found in a flea market? It still fits and it’s still pretty.”
“Dear God, you are my daughter.”
* * *
THEGLITTERINGTREESsprawled throughout City Park like magical creatures from a storybook, leading the way to an adventure filled with beautiful fairies, handsome princes, and no doubt, smoked salmon.
Mary Paige had no clue why people liked smoked salmon. It was virtually raw fish, and she’d cleaned enough perch to lose any taste for raw fish.
But it didn’t matter because she was lost. She’d driven all over City Park and still couldn’t find the right parking lot. The Pavilion of the Two Sisters should be easy to find, but for some reason she’d ended up in the parking lot of Storyland, which was filled with whirling rides, a restored antique carousel, and loads of laughing families wandering around under the thousands of glittering light strands—all part of Celebration in the Oaks. Maybe the reception hall was beyond the gated park. She could take the path through the trees and perhaps they would lead to exactly where she needed to go.
She climbed out and tugged the satin dress into place, happy she hadn’t had to wear the Spanx after all. She sucked in her stomach and made sure the beaded trim around the top of the dress covered her boobs. The sapphire fabric fit her like a second skin, cinching in her waist and dropping to the tops of her one pair of designer shoes. The sheath was classic and needed no other adornment save the iridescent beads and high slit up the leg. It wasn’t haute couture, but it did look good on her.
She grabbed her clutch, locked the car, and started up the path toward…well, she didn’t know.
“Mary Paige?”
Brennan’s voice came from behind her. She turned to find him sitting in a no-doubt absurdly expensive car in the parking lot. The lights were on, and the car idled.
“Oh, hello, Brennan.”
“I drove past and saw you climb out. What are you doing here? You know we’re at the Pavilion?”
He looked startlingly handsome. Not so much like a lion. More like a storybook prince ready to rescue her from perishing in the woods…or, in this case, the lit-up oaks. “I know, but my direction doohickey on the phone kept taking me here, so I thought it was up ahead.”
He shifted the car into gear and roared into a parking spot, putting up the top of the car and climbing out. A beep later and he strode toward her, looking elegant and sexy in a classic black tuxedo.
She didn’t want it to, but her heart skipped a beat.
He stopped to take in the view. Not the park. Buther.And she swore hot flames licked up her body as his gaze lazily perused her. “Stunning.”
