A Wedding on Lilac Lane by Hope Ramsay (best book clubs .txt) 📕

free clinic, and another doc would help you. You need to have a life too, you know.”

“I have a life,” he said.

“No, you don’t. When was the last time you went fishing or sailing? I can see that you’ve been spending your time at the office or working on this party. That’s not exactly a life. And I’m thinking it’s my fault.”

“I’m happy with my life.” Especially the last couple of weeks, but he could hardly tell his father that he was falling in love with his fiancée’s daughter.

“You need to move into the master bedroom and redecorate.”

Dad’s words almost made his head explode. Did he know what was going on? Or maybe Dad was simply worried that Dylan was feeling lonely in the big house all by himself. Which was true, except for when Ella was there.

“I’m fine,” Dylan said in a tone that might have conveyed just the opposite.

“You should find a nice girl, Dylan.” Dad gave him a wink, his blue eyes catching the bright sunshine.

This was the second time Dad had suggested this. What was it, guilt for moving out? Or had Dad become like all the other engaged people in the world who thought everyone should join them in the bliss of holy matrimony? “So, what kind of girl do you think I should find?” he asked, just for fun.

“A pretty one…with brains.” Dad gave him a swift elbow to the ribs, the way he used to do when he was teasing. God, it had been a long time since he’d seen that twinkle in Dad’s eyes.

But Dylan didn’t have a chance to laugh out loud because Ella came up the ship’s ladder and strolled in their direction, and damned if she didn’t look exactly like the kind of girl Dad had so recently described.  Instead of laughing, a gigantic hole formed in his chest. He’d found the girl. But he didn’t think the relationship would work out.

As if to punctuate the point, Brenda followed Ella up the ladder. They were dressed almost like twins in free-flowing flowered dresses. Brenda’s was dark blue. Ella’s was forest green—a color that made her fiery hair seem all the redder. She had it piled on top of her head in a somewhat neater bun than usual, but the sea breeze had already started to tug at the hairpins, leaving wisps to fall down her neck and cheeks.

He wanted to nibble those cheeks and kiss that neck. His fingers itched to take all those hairpins out, and his brain stalled on a searing memory of her kneeling above him in his bed, her hair falling down over her shoulders all the way to his chest. His mouth went dry.

“I need a drink,” he muttered, when what he really wanted was to take her in his arms and give her a big hello kiss. But he couldn’t do that, and besides, Dad had told him to keep his distance from Brenda. So he had a good excuse to become scarce.

*  *  *

Ella watched her mom’s back stiffen the moment Dylan walked away without a word of greeting. His casual dismissal had hurt Mom. And who could blame her?

Mom was out of line blaming Dylan for being late, even though Ella was perfectly capable of dealing with the caterer and Jude St. Pierre’s people. And Dylan’s receptionist had called a couple of hours ago to tell them that Dylan’s day had spun out of control.

But Dylan was still out of line for walking right past Mom without even saying hello. Why had he done that? Was he reneging on his deal? Was he still trying to break Mom and Jim up? Ella didn’t think so. But she wasn’t happy with him walking past Mom like that. And she hated the fact that she was the one who had to run interference between the two of them. Would that become a habit?

“I need to go check on the bar setup,” she said to Mom, providing an excuse to break away. “I’ll be back before guests start arriving.”

Mom nodded. “Thank you, honey. You’ve outdone yourself. Everything is perfect.”

Wow. In her lifetime, Mom had never said anything like that to her, ever. She gave Mom a big hug. “Thanks, Mom. Now stop worrying. Jim loves you. And I love you. And Granny loves you. We’re going to have a wonderful time tonight.” She let go. “I’ll be right back, okay?”

She turned away and headed down the ship’s ladder into the salon, where she found Dylan accepting a drink from the bartender.

“Hey, get it together, okay?” she said in a low voice. “You just hurt Mom’s feelings.”

He studied her over the rim of his glass. The amber flecks in his eyes were the same color as his drink. “What? How? Dad told me to give her a wide berth, and that’s what I did.”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake.” Ella rolled her eyes. “Did he tell you that? I can’t believe it. Don’t listen to him, okay? She’s been all worried that you were going to be late.”

He blew out a long breath. “I’m sorry. Without Dad at the office, things got crazy. I was fully intending to be here to help you deal with the caterers and stuff, but I had a very sick patient that put me behind.”

Oh no. Now that she was standing in front of him, Dylan looked exhausted. Too many late nights, too much work at the clinic. He deserved a break.

“I was fully capable of dealing with the caterers on my own. What happened? Did you have another patient pass away?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No. But I had to send one to the emergency room. And my day was a zoo after that.”

“Is your patient going to be okay?”

He shrugged. “He was admitted with angina. My guess is that he’s going to need coronary bypass surgery.”

“I’m sorry.”

He took a gulp of his drink. “It’s okay. He’s been heading in that direction for a long time. Dad and I tell him to