Not Another Wedding Read online

  Yeah, yeah…happily ever after. Whatever.

  Sure, Poppy Sullivan believes in love…but love at first sight? Not likely. That’s why she’s determined to stop her good friend from marrying the wrong woman. So she sets to work immediately and walks right into the very impressive chest of Beck Lefebvre. Not a good omen, considering how things ended up the last time he was in town.

  She isn’t surprised to see Beck at his cousin’s wedding, but she’s appalled at his assumption that he deserves a second chance. She’s equally appalled at her inclination to give it to him. No way is she falling for his charm again! Although her vow to resist him may be too late…

  “It’s good to see you.”

  When Poppy made no response, he lifted an eyebrow. “Don’t remember me?”

  She opened her mouth to tell him of course she didn’t because she’d never seen him before in her life, when his smirk clued her in. While a man might add six inches to his height, put on thirty pounds of muscle and grow a beard, his mannerisms didn’t change.

  Beck Lefebvre.

  And just like that, her spark of attraction turned to anger. “No.” She lied, enjoying the surprise on his face.

  Of course, she’d expected him to be here. He was Jamie’s cousin. It would have been weird if he didn’t show up. She just hadn’t thought he’d have the nerve to approach her. Or worse, to act like they were long-lost friends having a reunion.

  But he merely smiled in the face of her rudeness and stepped closer. “I’m disappointed, Red.”

  Poppy bristled. Her hair was auburn with definite shades of brown, not red. She tossed it at him as she walked away.

  Dear Reader,

  I’ve always loved the idea of old flames reconnecting. There’s something so compelling about people who go their separate ways but somehow find themselves back together. And is there a more romantic setting for them to be reunited than at a wedding?

  Picture then, two people catching a glimpse of each other across a crowded room and everything else going quiet as they fall back into each other’s arms with nothing to stand in their way. Now scratch it. Because reality? Never that simple.

  Poppy Sullivan is not happy to see her old beau, even if he seems to think she should be. But she needs his help, and the more time she spends with Beck Lefebvre, the more she realizes she might need him, too.

  Not Another Wedding was a blast to write. And if you’re wondering what music I played and who I imagined in the roles of the characters while writing, visit my website, www.jennifermckenzie.com.

  Happy reading,

  Jennifer McKenzie

  Not Another Wedding

  Jennifer McKenzie

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Jennifer McKenzie lives in Vancouver, Canada, where she enjoys being able to ski and surf in the same day—not that she ever does either of those things. After years of working as a communications professional and spending her days writing for everyone else, she traded in the world of watercoolers, cubicles and high heels to write for herself and wear pajamas all day. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, eating chocolate, trying to talk herself into working off said chocolate on the treadmill or spending time with her husband.

  Books by Jennifer McKenzie

  HARLEQUIN SUPERROMANCE

  1827—THAT WEEKEND...

  Other titles by this author available in ebook format.

  For my parents, Ron and Colleen, who have been married many long and happy years. May we all be so lucky.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Epilogue

  Excerpt

  CHAPTER ONE

  POPPY SULLIVAN STILL couldn’t believe Jamie, one of her oldest and dearest friends, was getting married in a week. She glanced at the pink-striped wedding invitation sitting on the passenger seat of her car and swallowed the concern souring on her tongue.

  Mr. and Mrs. Clive Burnham

  request the pleasure of your company

  at the marriage of their daughter

  Emmy Bianca

  to

  Mr. James Cartwright

  son of Georgia Cartwright

  on Saturday 29th June

  at five o’clock

  Goldfinch Estate Winery

  Naramata, BC

  The information had been emblazoned on her brain for six weeks. From the moment she’d received the invitation and the sparkling hearts inside the envelope had spilled across her beautiful walnut floors, clashing with her cream decor.

  Poppy still hadn’t found them all. One had been grinning at her, as much as an inanimate and juvenile cutout could grin, just this morning when she stumbled toward the kitchen for her first cup of coffee. She knew more lurked, hidden and waiting for the right breeze to waft in and blow them out. She wasn’t about to let them haunt her. Just as she wasn’t about to let a mistake haunt Jamie for the rest of his life.

  She pressed the gas pedal harder and watched her speed climb. She didn’t get to drive often in Vancouver, living close enough to her office to walk, so she enjoyed every opportunity she got to take her little blue convertible out. But today she didn’t appreciate it quite so much. Wind funneled through the open window, making her russet hair pop and snap like an angry bonfire.

  Jamie and his fiancée, Emmy, had only known each other two months. Hardly long enough to make parental introductions, and who in their right mind decided to get married after eight weeks? It was ludicrous. And Poppy should know. She’d only dated her last boyfriend for a month before they decided to move in together. And look how that turned out.

  Not that Poppy’d been able to talk to Jamie about her concerns over his rushing into marriage. No, because whenever she called Jamie, Emmy was with him whispering in the background or giggling and telling Poppy how she couldn’t wait to meet in person. And Poppy refused to tell him through email. This was a serious matter and deserved a face-to-face conversation.

  Her fingers tightened on the wheel. Time was officially running out. She had only eight days left to find a way to stop the madness.

  * * *

  IT TOOK HER longer than anticipated to get to Naramata, BC, the small town where she’d grown up and her parents and older sister still called home. Poppy blamed the out-of-towners who flooded the community during the summer months, tripling the population between June and September. They clogged up the roads driving either too slow—fearful of the twisty, mountainous route—or too fast, flying into the curves indifferent to the oncoming traffic and thousand-foot drop-offs.

  She’d left Vancouver before noon, refraining from stopping by the
offices of her event planning business and limiting herself to checking email only. But by the time she pulled into her parents’ driveway, she had less than an hour before they were due at a welcome barbecue being held at Jamie’s boutique winery. All wedding guests had been invited, which was pretty much everyone who had ever called Naramata home.

  “Poppy, sweetheart.” Rose Sullivan came barreling out of the house, her arms wide, and practically knocked Poppy back into the driver’s seat when she reached her. “What took you so long? We expected you an hour ago.”

  “I know.” Poppy had planned her route down to the last detail. Almost. “I forgot how bad vacation traffic is on a Friday.” Apparently, half of Vancouver had headed for the area to spend the weekend lounging by the lake or touring the many wineries in the region.

  Her dad, Bob, stood stoically behind, waiting until her mom finished fussing before giving her one of his famous bear hugs that squeezed out any breath left in her lungs, but Poppy didn’t mind. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the pleasure of being back with her family even if just for a week.

  “Can I get you a drink?” Rose put an arm around her as she ushered her inside. “You look warm.”

  Poppy was warm. The interior of the province ran much hotter and drier than the coast. “No, I need to grab my bags and a quick shower though.” She hugged her mom again. They didn’t see each other enough living so far apart. They kept in touch through regular phone calls and emails, but neither took the place of in-person contact.

  “Your dad will get the bags,” her mom said. Poppy glanced behind and found her father already dragging her golf clubs and the three full-size suitcases from the trunk. “Let’s sit down for a minute and catch up.”

  Poppy would love to put her feet up and hash over everything in their lives, but she refused to show up at the barbecue with hair that looked as if she had been through a hurricane and mascara that had become a smeary mess on her cheeks. Unless the only thing she wanted to convince Jamie of was that she had turned feral.

  She managed to extricate herself after another long hug. “Tomorrow morning, okay?”

  “All right. I guess I should get ready for the barbecue, too.” Her mother embraced her again. “It’s so good to have you home.”

  It was good to be back.

  Poppy’s old bedroom was on the second level and hadn’t changed much in the twelve years since she’d graduated high school and left for university in Vancouver. The walls were still a pale green and the prints were the same black-and-white botanicals she’d picked out when she turned thirteen. She wished she could flop down on her old double bed and rest for a moment. It might not be as comfy as her king-size bed with its four-hundred-thread-count linens in the city, but she’d appreciate the respite. Plus, the room seemed deliciously cool thanks to the air-conditioning.

  But duty called.

  She didn’t have time to wash and blow-dry her hair, so she twisted it into a heavy knot on top of her head to keep it from getting wet and stepped in the shower. She stayed under the spray long enough to strip the tension from her muscles from the drive and then a few minutes more. By the time she flicked off the water, she felt much improved.

  She decided to leave her hair down, letting it frame her face with its natural waves. Poppy had learned a long time ago not to fight her hair. It was too thick and bouncy to fall into one of those sleek, stylish cuts. And when she’d tried coloring it in her youth—once blond and once a disastrous black that had left little patches of dark all along her hairline—she’d looked like death. So she worked with what she had. Though there were still days she wished she’d inherited her father’s straight brown hair, she’d come to appreciate that not everyone had hair like hers.

  She returned to her bedroom, discovered the suitcases on the bed and rooted through until she found the one holding her outfit for tonight. The dress was a tight, cap-sleeve, bandage style in dark blue that made her feel sexy and just a little naughty, even though the hem came almost to her knee and the neckline only hinted at the faux boobs her amazing underwire bra created. Wynn had whistled when she’d shown him. And as her best friend, business partner and gay man about town, he would know if it was worthy of a whistle or two.

  A quick glance at the clock told her she had five minutes before her mother started making noises that the bus was leaving. No time to bother with much makeup. But since it would be hot outside until the sun dipped behind the mountains about three hours from now, and Poppy had zero interest in running to the bathroom every two seconds to make sure her face hadn’t melted off, she didn’t mind. She only put on concealer to hide the circles under her eyes from the late nights at work this week, a touch of blush and a couple coats of mascara.

  Satisfied she no longer looked as if she’d been living in the forest subsisting on nuts and berries for the last year, she tucked her lip balm and face powder inside a gold clutch, grabbed a pair of matching gold sandals and headed downstairs.

  There was a wedding to call off and no time to waste.

  * * *

  BECK LEFEBVRE STOOD at the edge of Jamie’s lawn, which was covered in a blanket of pink flower petals, and frowned. He did not want to be at this wedding barbecue welcome or whatever Jamie called it. There were things to do at the office. Important things, like the delicate deal he was in the midst of finalizing, and now had to manage by phone and email. The Lefebvre Group owned five hotels and would be adding their sixth next month under Beck’s guidance. Not that his mother had cared when he’d explained it to her.

  Instead of realizing Beck couldn’t just up and leave Seattle to come to Naramata for a week of wedding celebration for his cousin Jamie, she’d told him as best man he was expected to be in attendance and had laid down one hell of a guilt trip.

  As if he needed another reason to avoid family entanglements.

  Besides the flowers scattered across the yard, bunches of some filmy white material lay draped over everything that was stationary, including the rows of grapes surrounding the back lawn. A small wooden floor covered the pool and a band in the corner played a mixture of seventies rock and classical music. They wore matching tuxes and had a sash strung over the drum kit proclaiming congratulations to the happy couple. The whole thing was sickeningly sweet. Like Barbie’s Dream Wedding, which Emmy would probably consider a compliment.

  Though scarcely past six, the party was in full swing. Jamie told him things started early here, where people farmed for a living and rose with the sun. Beck recognized no one, but that didn’t come as much of a surprise, considering he hadn’t been back for more than ten years.

  He was working on finishing his first Laphroaig when his mother hunted him down. He should have seen her coming or heard the sound of her heels, but he’d been entertaining himself by calculating how many parquet squares were on the dance floor and wondering how long he had to stay before he could leave Jamie’s winery located on the bluff and return to the family compound by the lake.

  “Beck, darling. What are you doing over here?” Victoria Antonia Lefebvre Jackman Hastings smiled at her only child and reached up to lay a hand on his arm.

  “Having a drink.” Beck showed off his scotch, which offered the bonus effect of knocking her hand loose.

  Hurt flashed in her blue eyes, but her voice remained friendly. “I meant, why are you standing over here like a lump instead of mingling?”

  “It’s not my party.” Beck refused to feel bad. Just because she wanted to pretend they were one big happy family didn’t mean he had to play along.

  “You’re the best man.”

  “I’m here, aren’t I?” He turned from her, pretending interest in the scene before them. He spotted Jamie in a white suit, the counterpoint to his own charcoal one, just as Jamie was blond and kind and all things sugar and light, while he was dark and not so kind—all the better not to get run over in business. Beck doub
ted anyone ever referred to him as sweet.

  “A wedding is a big moment in a person’s life. Jamie needs you.”

  “Jamie is doing just fine.” Shouldn’t it be enough that he’d shown up a week before the main event?

  “Beck.”

  “He’s fine.” Beck double-checked to make sure. Jamie stood with his arm around Emmy, who wore a light pink dress and shoes with matching pink polka dots. He knew because she’d pointed them out to him at the start of the night. “He doesn’t need me.”

  Victoria tilted her head to meet his eyes. Beck stared back.

  “All right.” She sighed, her perfect blond bob swinging. “I’ve arranged for us to have brunch on Sunday with Emmy and her family. You’re expected at eleven.”

  “Joyous.” Beck couldn’t wait to spend even more time with his twice-divorced parents, aunt, cousin and his soon-to-be in-laws.

  “It’s Jamie’s wedding, Beck. You have duties.”

  “Yes, and I’ve already planned the bachelor party.” A tame one, with no strippers, as requested by the groom. This Wednesday, there’d be golfing followed by dinner and drinks. As far as Beck was concerned, the only other thing he had to do was show up to the wedding on time and in his tux.

  “Well, consider this brunch another duty. This is our way of welcoming Emmy into our family. Grace will be there.”

  Beck kept his face bland. Grace was Emmy’s younger sister, and for some reason his mother had decided they’d make a good match. As if he needed a blonder, sillier version of his cousin’s fiancée in his life. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate your company.”

  The hopeful light in Victoria’s eyes dimmed. “Beck.” She laid a hand on his arm again. “I expect you to arrive on time and be polite.”

  This time he waited before shrugging it off, then swallowed some of the melted ice from his glass to wash away the bitterness on his tongue. “Aren’t I always on time and polite?”