The Sometime Bride

while when nothing’s happening!”
    “Don’t worry, Grandma,” Carrie said. “I promise not to put anybody to sleep.”
    Grandma Russell chuckled. “From what you’ve told me, you and that handsome groom of yours will be sure to wake up any crowd!”
    “Right,” Carrie agreed, feeling the fire of deceit spread from her temples to her collarbone.
    “Can’t wait to see what he looks like, dearie,” Grandma Russell crooned into the phone. “Me and the girls have been speculating all day.”
    “That makes two of us,” Carrie said quietly, ending the call.
    “What’s that?” Mike asked from the landing.
    Carrie looked up, startled. “Oh, Mike, I didn’t hear you come in.”
    “No?” he asked. “Could have sworn you said something about the two of—”
    “Oh no,” Carrie said with a blush. “That was my grandmother. Just got off the phone with her about…”
    “Some of those plans that needed canceling?” Mike ventured.
    Carrie gave him a shaky smile. “More or less.”
    “Say, you all right?” he asked, taking the steps two at a time and coming up to where she sat trembling at the bend in the stairs. “Because to tell you the truth, Carrie, you don’t look so hot.”
    “Bet you say that to all the girls,” she said, twisting her lips into the best imitation of a smile she could muster.
    “Actually,” he told her, “it’s just the opposite.”
    “Now I see why you’re not married.”
    Mike crossed his arms over his chest and leaned a shoulder against the wall. “This has something to do with Wilson, doesn’t it?”
    Carrie vehemently shook her head as moisture brimmed in her eyes.
    Mike cocked his chin and scrutinized her.
    “Okay,” she admitted, making an inch-wide motion with her thumb and forefinger. “Maybe a little…”
    Mike shook his head and held his ground.
    “All right already! More than a little bit, okay? What is it exactly you want me to say?” she asked as coal-hot tears streamed down her cheeks. “That my life is a total mess? That everyone in my hometown is expecting me to show up for a bridal shower tomorrow—with my groom-to-be—and my groom-to-be has dumped me for a woman with a better financial portfolio?”
    Mike dropped down on the step beside her and draped a steadying arm around her trembling shoulders.
    “You don’t have to be nice to me,” she asserted, trying her damndest to set her jaw but failing miserably.
    “I know,” Mike said, reaching over and raising her chin. “But I want to be.”
    “But why?” Carrie asked with a sniff. “What could possibly be in it for you? I’ve already told you I want nothing more than…”
    “Carrie, I have a question,” Mike said, searching her bleary eyes.
    “About what?”
    “The people at this shower. Do they know…? I mean, have any of them actually met Wilson?”
    “Well, only Paulette. But that was over a year ago.”
    “So then, she might not notice if Wilson has changed a bit? Lost some weight? Shaved his beard?”
    “Lost some weight? What in the world are you talking about? Wilson was—and always will be—the ultimate bean pole! And he never had a beard!”
    Carrie stared in amazement as Mike’s lips curved into a devilish smile. Though, in truth, the thought had crossed her own mind once or twice—she’d never envisioned the absurd notion becoming a reality.
    “Wait a minute! You couldn’t possibly be thinking… That you—”
    Mike nodded. “Darling, I’ve waited forever to meet your family.”
    Carrie straightened under the weight of his arm. “Very funny.”
    “I wasn’t joking.”
    Carrie looked him square in the eye. “But you can’t be serious! Why ever on earth would you do that for me?”
    “To buy you some time?” he said, giving her shoulders a light squeeze. “Hey, I know firsthand how disorienting this type of situation can be. The last thing a nice girl like you needs is having to face her family with the abysmal news—when you alone haven’t even adjusted to it yourself.”
    Carrie wriggled out from under his arm and set aside the cell phone. “Who says I haven’t adjusted?”
    Mike raised his brow and trailed a finger down her tearstained cheek. “Wild guess?”
    Carrie dropped her head. “I would never accept an offer like that from a stranger.” Even one who sent her stomach all aflutter like him, Carrie told herself. “Particularly not knowing you well enough to really know what you expect in return.”
    “No problem. I can tell you