Finally a Bride. Renee Ryan

advice, Molly realized, a simple yet profound formula she needed to apply to her own life, especially now that it seemed her path would cross Garrett’s on a regular, nay daily, basis.

      Step one. Start with prayer.

      That’s exactly what she planned to do.

      * * *

      After carefully, firmly, resolutely shutting his office door in Molly’s face, Garrett had only one desire. Forget he ever touched her.

      Battling unwanted emotion, he sank in the chair behind his desk and shut his eyes against the memory of Molly in his arms. The images came anyway. Both times she’d lost her balance, he’d instinctively reached for her, steadied her. The move had been as natural as taking his next breath. And for those brief moments, they’d been closer than they’d been in years, mere inches apart.

      A mistake.

      Memories long forgotten reared up, twining through the present, calling to mind all they’d once shared. Even now, the lingering scent of jasmine and sandalwood teased his senses, making him yearn to sweep Molly back into his arms, to start anew, to—

      He cleared his throat.

      Work. Garrett needed to concentrate on work, and not on Miss Molly Taylor Scott and what could never be again.

      Rolling his shoulders, he repositioned the Phipps contract in front of him and picked up where he’d left off, halfway down the third page. Unfortunately, focus eluded him. And this time, it wasn’t only Molly that plagued his thoughts. Garrett couldn’t ignore the anxiety he’d caught on his sister’s face.

      Fanny was not a woman prone to worry. She was a happy sort, always quick to smile, quick to laugh, ready to organize the next party. Something had clearly upset her. Garrett had to trust she would share whatever was bothering her with Molly. And that Molly would come to him if anything was truly wrong.

      Nothing’s wrong.

      Fanny was a grown woman of twenty-two, her future all but set. In six weeks’ time she would pledge her life to a good, decent man who cherished her beyond reason. Reese was everything Garrett could wish for his sister.

      Nothing’s wrong, he told himself again and put Fanny out of his mind. Along with her beautiful, confounding friend. And all the other distractions battling for his attention.

      He studied the words on the page, one sentence at a time, went on to the next and then the next. He pulled his focus in tight, filtered out everything around him. Garrett liked working alone, liked having only himself to count on—and to blame. Best that way. Less messy. Less complicated.

      Focus, he ordered his wandering mind.

      And he did just that, absorbing the legal language on the page as if it were as fundamental as air. It was exacting, meticulous work, and he let it consume him. This was why he’d come back to Denver—to work for this firm, overseeing business contracts, drawing up others.

      Or so he told himself.

      But that wasn’t completely true. He’d turned down a better position in St. Louis, one more suited to his skills, so he could be near family. He’d missed them. He’d missed...

      No one else. Just his family.

      Focus.

      Once he was satisfied all was in order, he gathered the pages, stuffed the entire document inside a leather satchel and set it aside for his meeting tomorrow with Phineas Phipps.

      He stood and rounded his desk, set on addressing the next pressing issue on his agenda—Mrs. Singletary and her unprecedented request.

      Before he made it across the room, two hard raps came at the door, no more, no less. Reese’s signature knock.

      “Excellent timing.” Garrett opened the door with a swift pull. “I was on my way to your office to discuss Mrs. Singletary’s business proposition.”

      For a long moment the other man said nothing. He didn’t move, didn’t blink. The unnatural stillness in his stance was completely out of character, as was the cold silence.

      Was he disturbed over Mrs. Singletary’s proposal? If he was, it would be out of character. Reese never begrudged another attorney’s chance to further his career. What’s good for one of us in this firm, he said often, is good for all of us. That philosophy was one of the reasons Garrett had joined the firm six months ago.

      No, Reese shouldn’t have a problem with Garrett assisting the widow in the expansion of her business holdings. Something else had to be wrong. “Reese—”

      “Come with me.”

      Garrett nodded, even as his boss turned and headed down the hallway in swift, ground-eating strides.

      Once they entered his office, Reese glanced over his shoulders. “Shut the door behind you.”

      Garrett did as requested.

      In silence, the other man moved behind his desk and sat. His brow creased in utter confusion, he clasped the back of his neck, circled his head and sighed heavily.

      “Problem?” Garrett asked.

      Reese’s jaw tightened. “You could say that.”

      “Something to do with the firm?”

      “No. I...” He trailed off, glanced out the window then back to Garrett. “I just spoke with Fanny.” He didn’t expand. He simply leaned back in his chair, eyes locked on a spot just over Garrett’s shoulder.

      Sensing he wasn’t going to like what came next, he remained tactfully silent. But when Reese continued blinking at nothing in particular, Garrett pressed for more. “What did my sister have to say?”

      Reese closed his eyes for a second and then opened them, his gaze sharply focused on Garrett now. Anger. Pain. Bafflement. All three glared out at him.

      Garrett braced himself.

      “Fanny broke off our engagement.”

      “She...no.” Garrett exhaled roughly, completely astounded by the news. “That can’t be right.” He must have misunderstood, must have heard wrong.

      “I assure you, it’s true.”

      “But...” Garrett struggled for words. “She’s happy, really happy. She told me so.” Just the other day. She’d jumped into his arms and said, Oh, Garrett, I’m the most blessed woman in the world.

      What had changed since then?

      Something. Something she hadn’t shared with him. “What did Fanny say, exactly?”

      Reese scrubbed the back of his hand across his mouth. “It wasn’t what she said so much as how she said it. She was upset, on the verge of tears. I’d never seen her like that, so...” He shuddered. “Emotional. She’s always been a steady sort, solid, even-tempered. I can’t fathom what’s put her off like this.”

      None of what Reese said sounded like his sister. Not the Fanny that Garrett knew, at any rate.

      “I asked her what was wrong,” Reese continued, “told her we’d work it out, together. ‘That’s what couples do,’ I said. It was as if she didn’t hear me. Or maybe she didn’t want to hear me.” He shook his head. “She just kept babbling, on and on and on, her words tumbling over one another. I could barely keep up.”

      This time, Garrett spoke his thoughts aloud. “That doesn’t sound like Fanny.”

      His mind kept returning to that particular point.

      “No, it’s not,” Reese agreed. “She said we didn’t add up, those were the exact words she used.” He shook his head again. “We don’t add up, as if our relationship was nothing more than a mathematics equation that needed solving.”

      Garrett’s blood turned cold. Ice-cold, but he remained silent, letting Reese talk.

      “We