It was such a plum assignment—a week in Hawaii for the wedding festivities—that I’d chosen Krista to come with me. She’d been my first employee when I’d started my business. Escaping a terrible marriage, she’d sought refuge in the relative anonymity of what we did, as we moved from one wedding to another. Most of my employees had similar stories. I made it a point to hire women who needed second chances.
Just like I’d needed one.
These days Krista did most of the administrative work, but she still stepped in as a bridesmaid from time to time. She was also my research guru, and while she excelled at coming up with believable backstories, she wasn’t so great at remembering them.
Which is why I told her, “Don’t forget that your last name is Richter.” I had asked her to use an alias so that her ex-husband wouldn’t be able to locate her.
“Yep. Off to lie to everybody,” she said cheerfully.
“It’s not a lie . . .” I let my voice trail off and didn’t finish with my usual “we’re protecting people” because she was busy mumbling “Richter, Richter, Richter” to herself.
I sighed. That wasn’t at all suspicious. I hoped Camden didn’t notice.
Because I’d signed a non-disclosure agreement as thick as my wrist. My company couldn’t take the financial hit if Krista or I revealed that we didn’t actually know Sadie. Not to mention how Sadie’s former friend had betrayed her—there was no way I would do the same thing. I’d keep her secrets safe.
Speaking of the bride-to-be, there was a commotion at the door and Sadie strolled in. She wore a lace crop top and a matching long white skirt. She looked breezy and effortless even though I knew she’d just spent hours getting her hair and makeup done and that the outfit she was currently wearing had been custom tailored for her by Stefan, the representative from the designer label.
She seemed to be glowing, and that only intensified when she saw her groom. I’d liked Sadie as soon as I met her, and I considered myself a pretty good judge of character. She was sweet and caring, and one of the most single-minded and determined people I’d ever met （a trait I admired and shared）。
Plus, she was actually in love with Dan. It probably seemed like a foregone conclusion, but when you were in my line of work you saw everything. From the couples who were madly in love that you knew would stay together until they died, to the people who openly hated each other yet still got married. I’d also helped more than one bride flee.
It made my job more enjoyable when the couple were blissfully happy like Sadie and Dan. It apparently had been an extremely short courtship and engagement—she’d confided in me that they’d both known the first night they met that they were meant to be together.
As he leaned her back and kissed her to the crowd’s delight, I tried not to let out a little sigh of jealousy. Despite what I said to my mom, I did want that for myself.
I’d add that to my master to-do list. Find a soul mate.
Easy enough.
I turned around and dished up a small plate of food for Sadie. In my experience so many brides forgot to eat at events like this one—I’d had several faint on me. It was my job to look after her when she was too busy to look after herself.
With my plate in hand, I approached her group, saying hello. Sadie hugged me and then quickly introduced me to Dan and Irene. When she got to Camden, he had a weird look on his face and announced, “We’ve met.”
“Here.” I gave Sadie the food. “I wanted you to eat something.”
“Thank you! That’s so thoughtful!”
Although I wasn’t making eye contact with him, I could feel Camden’s gaze on me. It wasn’t in a sexy way, like he found me attractive and couldn’t stop himself from looking at me. More like he was a highly skeptical person and I’d accidentally tripped his danger alarms. I again resolved to spend the rest of this week ignoring him. Starting with right now.
“You’re welcome!” I told her. “Can I steal you away for a minute?”
Dan said, “Only for one minute. I can’t stand to be away from her for much longer than that.”
He was so sincere in his adoration that I didn’t even feel the urge to roll my eyes. It was sweet. Sadie and Dan kissed quickly before she and I moved over to a corner of the room. I wondered if she knew how fortunate she was to have a guy like Dan, who clearly worshipped her.
“I’m the luckiest girl in the world!” she said with a sigh, as if she’d known exactly what I was thinking. “And everything is almost perfect, except . . .”