Chapters (42)
- Cover Page
- Dedication
- Dear Friend
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Acknowledgments
- Reading Group Guide
- An Excerpt from the Goodbye Bride
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- About the Author
He was watching her, most likely noting her newly flushed cheeks. His eyes twinkled as if he could tell the kiss had left her shaken. She drew her shoulders back and tilted her chin as the preacher said his final words.
“I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Lucas Wright.”
Four
Four
Expectations can make or break a relationship.
—Excerpt from Finding Mr. Right-for-You by Dr. Kate
“In honor of the first man in her life,” the DJ announced from the makeshift stage, “the bride would like to have the first dance of the evening with her father.”
Kate disengaged herself from Lucas’s friends and wound her way through the circular tables to the parquet dance floor, where her dad waited with extended hand. She went into his arms with the first notes of “Unforgettable” playing behind her. It was the only part of the day going according to plan. Everything else had been turned on end, but sharing this dance with her dad was exactly the way it was supposed to be. Kate closed her eyes and relished the normality of it, unwilling—unable—to think past this moment.
“You’re holding up well.”
She looked up at her father. His face had aged the last couple years, and Kate realized she hadn’t visited him in Maryland enough. Phone calls and letters didn’t allow the same connection, and she’d spent most of her spare weekends with Bryan in Boston. And for what?
“Really?” She felt as transparent as Saran Wrap and just as fragile. Making rounds with Lucas had been hard. Everyone wanted to know how they’d met and how they’d kept it a secret. Lucas’s eyes had said it all. We didn’t. The two of them had a million details to work out. She didn’t know how they’d remember everything they’d come up with on the fly tonight.
“What do you know about this guy?” Her dad shuffled stiffly, leading more like a boot-camp drill sergeant than a dancer. His hair—what was left of it—was combed neatly to the side in a part not quite deep enough to be a comb-over.
What did she know about Lucas? Not even enough to fill a pen cap. “He makes furniture, and his shop is right below my place on Main Street. In fact, he owns the building. I was renting my office space and apartment from him. He did the renovations.”
She’d let Lucas know months ago that she was moving out this month. Little had she known she’d be moving into his home. She realized she didn’t know where he lived.
“What else?” A benign smile hid his concern.
“He’s a nice Christian man, Daddy. Harmless.”