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“It’s okay, I totally understand,” Paisley quickly tells her, giving a small laugh. “Especially since my big day turns out to not be my big day after all.”
“Right. But you will have that day, one day, honey. But with the right man.” She steels her nerves, losing her soft smile. “Now it’s my turn to talk, Bronson. Like I said, this is all my fault.” Tess flips her red hair over her shoulder. “I got it in my head that these two were meant for one another.”
Mrs. Bachman holds Bronson’s arm. She looks at all of us with an air of authority. “You know she’s a matchmaker.”
“I heard something about that the night I came to your house to go over my last mission.” God, that seems like a lifetime ago. “Ten out of ten happy couples. One hundred percent success rate,” I quote. “Impressive.”
Mrs. Bachman shakes her head. “No, it’s all my fault. I’m the only one to blame. Really.”
“How, Mom?” Paisley asks. “How is this anyone’s fault? We just fell for each other.”
“I went to Tess in the first place,” her mom says, following a dramatic exhale. “And I asked for her help.”
“Please. Tell us more.” Bronson looks as if he’s having indigestion.
Mrs. Bachman shoots him a look. “She matched Dante and Adrianna, if you’d care to remember.”
His face softens then, thinking of their close friends who became aunt and uncle to their children.
She moves her stare from him to Paisley. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I shouldn’t have intervened.” Then she looks at me, then back at Paise. “I mean…well. Maybe I should have, look at how it’s all turning out. Right, Bronson? Aren’t these two just so handsome together?—”
Bronson’s patience wears thin. “Please. Finish the story.”
“Yeah, get to the good part,” Tess says, smiling with her eyes sparkling. “About me.”
“Anyway.” Mrs. Bachman twists her ring nervously. “It was totally selfish. I didn’t want Paisley leaving us. And I got the feeling she didn’t want to leave us either. So, I talked to Tess to see if there was a possible match in the family. Just in case.”
“You went behind my back.” Bronson sighs. “We were going to join two strong families. That was the plan. We agreed.”
“Mom, you didn’t.” Paisley buries her head in her hands. “What about Dad’s plans? Trying to solidify our standing in Italy. All the negotiations. Why did you make him go through all that if you had other ideas?”
“Yeah. I know.” A flush of shame covers her mom’s face. “But there’s more. I knew Katie didn’t want to travel?—”
Now, Paisley’s hand goes to her forehead. “Mom. Are you for real? You orchestrated this whole thing! You pushed this trip on me so hard. You said I’d regret it forever if I didn’t get a little travel time to myself.”
Mrs. Bachman looks at her daughter, pleading with her eyes and voice for Paisley to understand where she’s coming from. “I know, Katie. And I’m so sorry. But Tess was so sure, she said it was a perfect bet, that she’d put all her Birkin bags on the deal closing, and you know she’s an excellent matchmaker?—”
“Ten for ten,” I helpfully remind everyone.
Mrs. Bachman’s hand pops up in the air, grateful for the backup. “Exactly!”
Tess, feeling the most confident and least guilty of all of us, offers a bright smile. “I was sure about this one. Got that feeling I always get, but this time I was in overdrive. Probably because I’ve known Kate Paisley since birth. It was easy to find her match when Paige asked, and once I did, I couldn’t ignore it.”
“And the trip?” Paisley asks.
Mrs. Bachman interrupts. “I just wanted to give you two time to get to know one another. Just in case.”
Bronson says, “And what about the Russo family? Their expectations. The hours of communication we had with them. The whole wedding! Why not just tell me you wanted to go this way, Paige?” His gaze turns on his daughter. “Or you, Katie. You could have said something before now.”
His wife shakes her head. “I didn’t want to go against your wishes. And I didn’t want Paisley to feel like she had to make the choice for me. I wanted her to have a second option. One that kept her closer to home. One that keeps her a Beauty. Then choose for herself. But honey, if your plan was best, if it was meant to be, she’d go to Italy and she’d know. You always said you only wanted her to agree to the proposal if it was right for her. Her decision.”
“You always said you wanted it to be my decision, Dad,” Paisley adds softly.
“And we just wanted to help,” Tess says. “We know our Paisley extremely well. She’s a Bachman.”
“And a homebody,” Mrs. Bachman adds, reminding us all. “I tried but I couldn’t picture her so far away from the family.”
“I never would have intervened if I wasn’t sure.” Tess looks from Paisley to me, her eyes bright with hope. “Was I right?”
