Must-Have Husband

store ?” Grandpa asked before making a show of trying to clean out his ears. He set his steely gray eyes on Mac. “You mean you do this part-time while you’re in school or something? A graduate program, perhaps?”
    “No, sir. That’s what I do full-time. Would if—”
    “He’s very good at it too,” Connie inserted proudly. “Charitable, besides. Can you believe Mac gives ten percent of his proceeds to the indigent?”
    “Is that why he dresses like them?”
    “Grandpa!”
    Mac felt his temperature spike. Now he didn’t know much, but he could tell when he was being insulted. “I think I’ll just go refill our champagne,” he said to Connie, retrieving the empty flute from her hand.

    As he departed, Connie turned angry eyes on her grandfather. “That wasn’t very nice, and you know it.”
    “What’s our loveable old grandpa done now?” Linda asked, approaching.
    “He just told Mac he looked like a homeless person.”
    “That wasn’t very welcoming.”
    Wendell Senior motioned toward Mac as he strode away, his clothes nearly bursting at the seams. “Well, just look at him! With that ill-fitting outfit and that hairy monkey mug. He looks like he swings from the trees!”
    “Tried but failed,” Linda said under her breath.
    Connie shot her a silencing look, then met her grandpa’s eyes. “Mac really is a very nice man. I wish you’d give him a chance.”
    “But how did all this happen? The first thing I know, you’re engaged to that nice young attorney, Walt…”
    “You were just saying you never liked him!”
    “That was before.”
    “Before what?”
    “Before I realized you’d tossed him over for Tarzan.”
    “Tarzan never had a beard,” Linda added unhelpfully.
    “He is not Tarzan. But Mac is a very skilled outdoorsman. He saved my life. Both of ours, in fact. Didn’t he, Linda?”
    Their granddad surveyed Linda doubtfully. Connie nudged her.
    “It’s true!” Linda spouted. “That’s how he and Connie met. We went hiking.”
    “Got lost in the woods,” Connie said.
    “Could have been there for days.”
    “Weeks even.”
    “Eaten alive by bears.”
    Wendell Senior motioned across the room. “And that man over there—spilling champagne on his hiking boots—saved you?”
    “Yes,” both girls said together.
    “Harrumph.” He cocked his chin sideways and appeared to be considering something. “Didn’t you girls just get back from the wilderness?”
    Linda rushed in. “Yes, but she met Mac weeks ago.”
    “This last trip was our second one.”
    “You’ve only seen the man twice and you’re engaged?”
    “Heavens, no.” Connie gave a little giggle like that was the most ridiculous thing she’d heard. “We’ve been dating for weeks.”
    “Where?”
    “There!” Linda said, overlapping with Connie’s words. “Here! In Napa!”
    Grandpa Oliver narrowed his gaze. “Here, there, and…everywhere?”
    “It’s been on the computer,” Connie said, thinking quickly.
    Linda didn’t miss a beat. “That’s right. Internet dating. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. It’s really big right now.”
    Wendell Senior studied both their faces. “And people get engaged this way?”
    “All the time,” Connie said.
    “Well, maybe if you’d dated him in person, you could have given him some tips on his wardrobe.”

    Mac returned with their champagne just in time for Connie to make their excuses and retreat from her grandfather. She didn’t know why he’d been so tough on Mac. It really wasn’t fair to judge him by his occupation…or appearance…or dress code. She sighed inwardly, knowing that was just the Oliver way. She accepted the flute Mac handed her with a grateful smile.
    “Thanks. I was just telling Grandpa we were about to take our seats for cake and ice cream.”
    “Sir,” Mac said politely. “It was very nice meeting you.”
    Wendell Senior twisted his lips and remained silent until Linda pinched him. “Ow!” He gave Linda a cursory glance, then returned his gaze to Mac’s. “And it was a…” He seemed to be struggling with the words. “…pleasure meeting you as well. I hope that you’ll enjoy the party.”

Chapter Five

    Thankfully for Mac, the meal portion of the evening passed a lot more pleasantly. They were seated at a table with Linda and her gregarious husband, Beau, as well as Ollie and his girlfriend, Trudy. Trudy had come in late, rushing over from her stint as an intern at a local television station. She hoped to work