her to drive, though. They thought she was—as Dylan put it—“a lunatic behind the wheel.” Granted, she had had a couple of near misses, and it just so happened that Kate and Dylan were in the car with her at the time. She had swerved her way out of both messes—or “near-death experiences,” as Kate called them—and she didn’t have a single ticket on her license. As far as she was concerned, they had nothing to complain about.
She quickly went through the rest of her texts and read another one Kate had sent telling her that she had reserved two rooms at the Hamilton just as a precaution, in case all eight bedrooms at the Buchanan house were filled. Isabel remembered there was also a coach house on the property with two large bedrooms, and she wondered if those would be occupied, too. Were all the Buchanan brothers and sisters going to be home for their parents’ anniversary celebration? It was a big family.
Six boys—four were married now. And two girls—one was married, the other still single. If they were all back home with their spouses and children, it would be quite a crowd.
They were such a fun family. She loved all the Buchanans . . . all but one, anyway. Michael Christopher Buchanan, or Bonehead as she secretly called him, was the exception. He was rude, and if there was anything she couldn’t abide, it was rudeness. He was also insensitive, impatient, and obnoxious. Yes, he was good-looking, but then all the Buchanan men were. Michael was tall, dark, and handsome, and she imagined there were a lot of dim-witted women who would fall at his feet.
She wasn’t dim-witted.
He didn’t particularly like her, either. He never said so, yet it was obvious all the same. She knew she was being judgmental, but she couldn’t seem to care. As long as she kept her unkind opinion of Michael to herself, she didn’t think she was committing a sin, at least not a big one. True, she had spent only one weekend with him, when he and the rest of the Buchanans came to Silver Springs for Dylan and Kate’s wedding. That was over four years ago, but it was long enough to form a strong opinion of the man. He had seemed pleasant at first. She had assumed he had good manners and was as charming as his brothers. Big mistake. He didn’t have a charming bone in his body.
Kate had paired her with Michael for the wedding ceremony, which meant she had to walk down the aisle to him. Since Kiera was the maid of honor, she was paired with Dylan’s best man, his brother Alec. Isabel begged Kate to let her trade Michael for one of the other brothers, but her sister wouldn’t let her. She insisted Michael had a great sense of humor and was fun to be around.
After only a few hours with him she wondered if maybe he showed his good side to others. Most of the time he seemed oblivious to her. It was a fact, she wasn’t used to being ignored by men, but in his eyes she simply didn’t exist. The man looked right through her.
During that monthlong weekend, every time Michael saw her, he had to be reminded what her name was. He couldn’t be bothered to remember it. If she didn’t immediately respond to his question,
“What’s your name again?” he called out, “Hey, you there.” And if she continued to ignore him, he shouted, “Hey, kid.” Oh yes, he was real fun to be around.
The insults didn’t stop there. At the wedding dinner there was assigned seating, and she was forced to sit beside Michael. Once again he snubbed her by spending the entire meal with his back to her, talking to an older woman wearing way too much makeup and sporting such big breasts Isabel
was amazed she could stand upright. The woman couldn’t keep her hands off Michael, and he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the attention.
Then there was the whopper of insults. When it was announced that all the bridesmaids and groomsmen were to take the floor for a dance, Michael grabbed the wrong bridesmaid and swept her onto the dance floor, leaving Isabel to stand alone. She quickly scanned the room for another groomsman without a partner, but there weren’t any nearby. She couldn’t tell if the blood rushing to her face was from anger or embarrassment.
Trying to appear unfazed by the slight, she nonchalantly turned and headed toward the open French doors to go outside on the terrace for some fresh air. She had just made her way through the first row of tables when she was intercepted by Dylan’s friend Noah.
“May I?” he asked as he held out his hand.
Assuming he was taking pity on her, she hesitated. But when Noah said, “Please? This is my favorite song and I don’t want to waste it,” she took his hand and let him lead her to join the rest of the wedding party on the dance floor. In no time at all Noah had her smiling and enjoying herself.