The Sometime Bride

remained composed as she crossed the small room and extended a warm hand in the older man’s direction. “Mr. Davis—”
    “Nope,” he broke in, taking her hand and surprising her by pulling her into a bear hug. “You, young lady, can call me Jack.”
    Carrie returned his firm squeeze.
    “Jack,” she said, patting his back. “Mighty glad to meet you.”
    Jack pulled back and gave her a broad, welcoming grin. “She’s even prettier than you let on, boy,” he directed at his son. “Might just think about keeping this one for myself.”
    Mike walked over and whisked Carrie out of his father’s arms. “Sorry about that, old man. But I got to her first, and you know what they say—”
    “Finders, keepers,” Mike and Carrie parroted together.
    Jack’s eyes sparkled. “Quite a handsome pair the two of you make. So, when’s the big day?”
    Mike swallowed hard.
    “June 23rd,” Carrie raced in. “The church has been reserved for months.”
    Jack shot Mike a quizzical look. “That so? I was under the impression the two of you had only recently met.”
    “Yeah, but I’d been hoping,” Carrie said, giving Mike a megawatt smile.
    June 23rd? What on earth…? Oh, okay, Mike got it. Maybe this was all a little part of the rehearsal for Carrie’s big performance at the reunion. Well, fine, he could play along with that. For now. Assuming Carrie accepted his authentic proposal—and that was still a big “if,” his dad certainly wouldn’t mind a change in dates later on. Jack wasn’t, and never had been, a stickler for details.
    “It’s a really long story,” Mike said, reaching down and taking Carrie’s hand. “The important thing is, we’ve already set some of those…uh, wheels in motion.”
    Mike didn’t know the half of it, Carrie thought, giving his hand a squeeze. Not only did they have a church and a reception hall reserved but also a caterer and a three-hundred-dollar wedding cake. Mint chocolate, through a little creative rearranging, on Carrie’s part, she thought, feeling rather proud of herself. The only thing standing in their way was the minor detail of the formal marriage proposal. And that little nuance of Mike’s admitting he loved her, which, by now, she was quite certain he did. He’d brought her home to meet his father, hadn’t he? Even Alexia, as it turned out, hadn’t gotten that far.
    “Yes,” Carrie said, taking the chair at the table Jack had offered. Mike pulled out another and sat beside her. “But we can get to all those details later. We still have plenty of time.”
    Jack shook his head with an eye on his wall calendar. “Looks more like two weeks, by my calculation. Now I don’t know much about women stuff, planning weddings and all that, but it really seems to me the two of you might be cutting things a bit tight here.”
    Carrie and Mike looked at each other.
    “Not that I’d want to do anything to discourage ya!” Jack said, whacking Mike across the shoulder in a sign of approval. “You just tell me what I’ll need to do from my end.”
    “Not a thing, Dad. Not a thing.”
    “You could walk me down the aisle,” Carrie raced in impetuously. She bit her lip in hesitation as Mike dropped his jaw and stared. “I mean,” she continued tentatively, “I never knew my father, and Grandpa’s been gone for years…”
    “I’d be honored,” Jack said, a barely perceptible moisture gathering in the corner of one eye.
    Holy cow! Was she nuts! How could she even do this to him? Why would she even do this do him? Nothing like this was in his presupposed plan. Though he’d hoped to ask that big, big question. He was still smack dab in the middle of finessing the hows and whens. Now, if he didn’t act soon, he’d be lunch meat in his father’s eyes. Just look at him! Less than ten minutes flat, and his dad was already eating right out of Carrie’s hand!
    “Uh, Carrie, sweetheart,” Mike said, laying a hand on her forearm resting on the table. “Don’t you think that invitation is a little—premature?”
    “Premature? Heavens no!” she said, wriggling her arm out from under his grasp and glowing at Jack. “Like your dad said, our wedding is only two weeks away.”
    Our wedding. It was the first time Mike had actually heard her say it. And it sent simultaneous shivers of delight and terror straight through him. This was really going to happen. He and Carrie. All pretending aside. Holy cow.
    Mike withdrew a hanky from his breast pocket and