Second Chance Girl. Susan Mallery

don’t think so. I have records of all my purchases. I didn’t steal anything. As for taking advantage of his grandmother, I buy everything sight unseen. If anyone is at risk, it’s me. He’s a pinhead.” She sipped her coffee. “Good-looking, but still. That’s no excuse.”

      She thought about everything he’d said. “He didn’t talk to me first, you know. He just accused. There was no thought that he might have been wrong. And to think that all this time, I’d liked him.”

      Carol’s brows drew together. “Okay, you’ve lost me again. What?”

      “That summer when Mom took me to England and you stayed with Dad, that’s when I met Ulrich. He was four years older and I thought he was so sophisticated and handsome. There was a dance. He danced with me.” She didn’t mention the part about him telling her that she would grow up to be a beauty. That was too private to share, even with her sister who knew almost everything about her.

      “I was a kid and he was nice at a time when not many guys were. I daydreamed.”

      “Your handsome prince.” Carol’s tone was sympathetic. “Or in this case, your handsome duke.”

      “Who turned out to be a complete jerk. I hate him.”

      “You disdain him,” her sister corrected mildly.

      “That, too. He ruined everything. It’s so unfair. I was minding my own business, and then suddenly, there he was, polluting my world.” Violet reached for a donut and took a bite. “I know he can’t hurt me. Nana Winifred is going to be furious when she finds out about this. I hope she slaps him.” The thought of the elderly woman backhanding Ulrich across his high cheekbones brightened her morning.

      “You have quite the vindictive streak,” Carol said mildly. “I totally respect it and you. So you’re not going to do anything.”

      “I’m not sure what I would do. Call his grandmother? That sounds like tattling. Plus it would break her heart and I don’t want that. She adores Ulrich.” Which meant the cliché of there being no accounting for taste was painfully true.

      “What’s the next step?”

      “Aside from whining to you?” Violet sighed. “There isn’t one. I’m only sorry I danced with him.” And liked it. That was the real kick in the gut. That she’d liked the dance and the man and she’d imagined oh so many wonderful things about him.

      “But if I ever see him again, I’m going to tell him he’s a complete and total jerk.”

      “You go girl,” Carol told her.

      * * *

      MATHIAS GLANCED AT the clock and knew he didn’t have much time. He put down the small glass piece he was working and pulled off his protective goggles. It was nearly three in the afternoon, so approaching eight in the morning outside of Shanghai. Maya, his brother Del’s fiancée, had emailed him requesting a video call. They’d settled on a date and time, although Mathias honestly had no idea why she wanted to speak to him. He barely knew Maya.

      She’d been his brother’s girlfriend back in high school, but he hadn’t bothered paying attention to much beyond his own life. By the time she’d returned to Fool’s Gold a few years ago, he and Ronan had already left their little hometown in the California mountains. They’d met a couple of times since, but that was it. So what did she want with him now?

      A question that would be answered soon enough, he told himself just as his screen shifted to show an incoming call.

      He hit the video button and Maya appeared on his screen. She was a pretty, green-eyed blonde wearing an oversize T-shirt and holding a mug.

      “Morning,” she said with a smile.

      “Afternoon. How’s China?”

      “Good. How are the States?”

      “Also good.”

      Maya grinned. “I hear you’re taking care of Sophie for a month. How’s that going?”

      He grimaced. “Let’s not talk about that. I’ve had to bribe Natalie, our office manager, to keep her in her office while I work. That dog has an uncanny ability to find the most expensive piece of glass with her tail and destroy it.”

      “Yikes. I’m sorry.”

      “Me, too. I’ve hired a dog walker in a futile attempt to tire her out. She gets two walks a day. She sleeps well, but loudly.” He thought about mentioning the massive piles of poop, but decided against it. Maya was probably still on her first cup of coffee.

      “You’re being domesticated,” Maya teased. “By the time Elaine’s back, you won’t want to let Sophie go.”

      Mathias leaned back in his chair. “Right. That’s going to happen.”

      She laughed. “Okay, maybe you won’t be sobbing, but I suspect she’ll find her way into your heart.” She took a sip of her drink. “So you’re probably wondering what I wanted to talk about.”

      “I am.”

      “It’s the wedding. You know it’s at the end of the month, right?”

      “I received your charming email invite, so yes.”

      “Good. I was hoping you could help with that.”

      “I don’t understand. With what?”

      “The wedding. Planning it, really.”

      Mathias nearly came out of his chair. “You’re getting married in less than four weeks and you haven’t planned your wedding?”

      He was aware that he sounded painfully like a woman, but even he knew that weddings took months to pull together. There were a million details about which he knew nothing.

      “I have my dress,” Maya said helpfully. “That’s something. Originally Del and I were just going to do the justice of the peace thing but we’ve been talking and we want a traditional wedding. There’s a business in town—Weddings Out of the Box. I’ve spoken with the owner. Do you know her? Is she the one engaged to Nick?”

      “She is and you should be talking to her, not me.”

      “I’m going to but I was hoping you would go to the meetings, too. Be my representative in person.”

      Mathias wanted to writhe in his chair. He wanted to stand up and say there was no way in hell. “Why not ask Nick?”

      “Because he and Pallas are a couple and he won’t tell her if I don’t like something. Mathias, please? I’ve seen your work and I like how you create. Your pieces make me feel really good inside. I want that for my wedding.”

      Was there a conspiracy? First his mother and now his future sister-in-law, both wanting something from him. Something he didn’t want to give. Something he should absolutely refuse.

      “Please,” Maya said quietly. “I need you, Mathias. I need your help to make this happen.”

      He swore under his breath before glaring at her. “You’re going to owe me, Maya.”

      She laughed and clapped her hands together. “Forever, I swear. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have the first meeting set up already. I’ll email you the information. You’re the best.”

      “Yeah, yeah. Sell it somewhere else. I meant what I said—you owe me.”

      She blew him a kiss and hung up. Mathias stared at the screen before closing the program and reaching for his cell phone.

      “Hello?”

      Some people’s voices were distorted over the phone, but not Carol’s. That combination of slightly sexy, slightly sweet came through perfectly. Mathias told himself to ignore the automatic tightening in his gut.

      “It’s Mathias. I need your help.”

      “Don’t