All of Me Read online

  ***

  Logan walked into Emily’s boutique and nearly plowed into Dylan’s back. The bouquet in his arms came dangerously close to being squashed. “Did you need to stop in the middle of the room?”

  Dylan was staring at the enormous crystal chandelier hanging over the staircase. “This is a fashion boutique? It looks like something you’d see in Paris.”

  “Thanks.”

  Logan looked up and saw Emily leaning over the edge of the railing on the mezzanine floor. “We’ve got your bouquets.”

  “Bring them up,” she yelled. “We’ve finished fitting the dresses.

  Dylan’s eyes widened in surprise. “You mean there were semi-naked women in here and you didn’t ask me to help sooner?”

  “There’s usually semi-naked women in here. Emily designs her own clothes. Women come here for their fittings.”

  “How do you know so much about what happens in here?”

  Emily poked her head over the railing. “What are you two whispering about? Everyone wants to see what the bouquets look like.”

  Dylan’s face broke into a grin. “What are you waiting for? Lead the way.”

  As Logan walked up the stairs, he glanced back at Dylan. “Behave yourself. If Tess thinks you want to make out with one of the bridesmaids, she’ll blame me for bringing you here.”

  “I can’t wait to meet the dragon lady.”

  At times like this, Logan wondered how Dylan had reached the ripe old age of thirty-three without being beaten over the head with a club.

  When they got to the top of the stairs, Logan stopped and stared. Tess was bent over a laptop with Molly. Emily was sitting in front of a sewing machine sewing a red dress and two other women were doing the same thing.

  He’d only met one of Connie’s sisters the other day and she was here, helping to wrap little piles of candy in gauzy net. He’d swear the other two women sitting beside Denise had to be her sisters. They had the same jet black hair, the same blue eyes and one of them had the same dimple in her chin.

  He felt Dylan’s babe radar kick into action and he gave him a hard stare. A lot of good it did him. Dylan was already making his way across to the candy wrapping station.

  Emily jumped off her chair and took the box out of Dylan’s hands. “And who would you be?”

  Dylan looked down at Emily and gave her one of his rare, but charming smiles. The kind that told Logan he was looking for a girlfriend. “Dylan Bayliss, ma’am. I’m a friend of Logan’s.”

  Emily’s gaze flicked between Dylan and Logan. “Thanks for getting the bouquets. Let’s have a look at them.”

  She walked across to a long narrow table. Logan put the bridal bouquet down and within seconds he was surrounded by women oohing and aahing over the white roses and green foliage.

  “It’s going to look beautiful with her dress,” Molly said.

  Tess poked Logan in the ribs. “I can’t see.”

  He stepped to the side and hauled her in front of him. “Do these meet with your approval?”

  Dylan opened the flap on his box and pulled one of the red bouquets out. When he saw Logan’s hands sitting on Tess’ waist, he frowned.

  Logan dropped his hands. “Dylan’s been helping me.”

  Tess glanced across at Dylan and smiled. “Hi, I’m Tess. The short redhead who yelled at you over the railing is Emily. Denise, Joanne, and Kristine are the bride’s sisters, and Karen McKenzie and Doris Stanley are here to help with the dress alterations.”

  Dylan nodded. “Nice to meet y’all.”

  “I just love your Texan drawl,” Denise gushed. “Do you live in Bozeman?”

  At least Dylan had the intelligence to leave the last bouquet on the table before he started flirting with the bridesmaid. “Just moved here. Are you a local?”

  Before Logan could hear the rest of Dylan’s pickup lines, Tess nudged him across to her laptop.

  “Did you get my text about the cake?” she asked.

  “We’re going there next. When did you have the time to bake one?”

  “I didn’t. Annie and I keep a few cookies and cakes in the freezer for emergencies. We made a fruit cake a couple of weeks ago. As soon as we heard about the wedding we took it out of the freezer. Annie’s decorated it and it’s ready to go to the chapel.” She looked across at Dylan. “Where did you meet your friend?”

  “In Bozeman at a group I go to.”

  Tess’ eyebrows rose. “I thought you were going to say in the Army or when you were in Seattle. He doesn’t look like a group type of person.”

  Tess didn’t know how close to the truth she was.

  “When you pick up the cake, can you take it straight across to the hospital? Father Ritchie has set up a table in the foyer of the chapel. He’s assured me that no one will eat the cake before the wedding.”

  After tasting Tess’ baking, Logan knew that might be harder than was humanly possible. “You believe him?”

  “Of course I do,” she whispered. “He’s a priest.”

  “Priest or not, your cakes are on people’s most wanted list. I hope he’s got a guard on duty.”

  “It’s a chapel. People don’t steal from a church.”

  Tess looked so sure she was right, that Logan felt sorry for spoiling her delusions of human morality. “I hate to be the one to break the bad news to you, but cake is cake. If you’re hungry, it doesn’t matter to most people where it’s sitting. If someone eats one side of the cake and steals the decorations off the top, it’s not going to look good.”

  “What do you suggest, then?”

  “I’ll leave it in Connie’s mom’s room when we get to the hospital. I’ll make sure I bring it with me before the ceremony starts.” Logan glanced at Dylan and sighed. Connie’s sisters had made room for him at their table. At six-foot-five he wasn’t one of the smallest men around. Combined with wide shoulders and a body built like a tank, he was a force to be reckoned with.

  The big man who hardly smiled at anyone was putting candy into little tulle circles. It seemed about as foreign as Dylan playing nanny to an eight-year-old boy.

  “You about ready to head across to the café?” Logan asked him.

  Dylan ate a candy and winked at Connie’s sisters. “I’m all yours.”

  Logan didn’t wait for his friend to follow him down the stairs. Dylan was already getting into the wedding spirit. Logan was still waiting for cupid to appear.

  Flirty talk wasn’t on the wedding list Tess had given him. It wasn’t on the spreadsheet she’d opened on her laptop. And even if cupid sharpened his arrow, Logan doubted Tess would ever want to hear flirty talk coming out of his mouth.