The Hollow Page 0,111

have mentioned that-"

"It's all right. In fact, it's better than all right. I had a nice chat with your mother, then one with your dad-who dazzles me a little because you look so much like him when you smile."

"Number One O'Dell Charm Tool. Never fails."

She laughed, leaned back. "There's something I should tell you before you go. I've been working it out in my head for a while now, then today, when I was talking to your father, something occurred to me. Why was I working on it so much? Why couldn't it just be? Because, well, it is."

"What is?"

"I'm in love with you." She let out a half laugh. "I love you, Fox. You're the best man I know."

He couldn't find words, not with so much blowing through him. I love you, she said, with a smile that made the words sparkle in the dark. So he lowered his brow to hers, closed his eyes, and gave himself to the moment. Here she was, he thought. Everything else was details.

Then tipping her head back, he kissed her brow, her cheeks before laying his lips on hers. "You're telling me this, then sending me home?"

She laughed again. "Afraid so."

"Maybe you could just come over for an hour. Make it two." He kissed her again, deeper, and deeper. "Let's go for three."

"I want to, but..."

Even as she started to yield-what was an hour or two when you were in love-Gage came out of the front door. "Sorry." He glanced at Fox, cocked his head. Fox nodded.

"How do the two of you manage to have a conversation without speaking?" Layla wondered as Gage strode down to his car.

"Probably has something to do with knowing each other since birth. I'm going to ride with him." Fox caught her face in his hands. "Tomorrow night."

"Yes. Tomorrow night."

"I love you." He kissed her again. "Damn it, I've gotta go." And again. "Tomorrow."

When he walked to the car, his mind was too full of her for him to notice the dark cloud that smothered the moon.

LEAVE IT TO QUINN, LAYLA THOUGHT, TO FIND the perfect bridal boutique. Every minute of the two-and-a-half-hour drive had been worth it once they'd arrived at the charming three-story Victorian house with its stunning gardens. Layla's retailer's eye noted the details-the color schemes, the decor, the fussily female sitting areas, the oh-so-flattering lighting.

And the stock. Displays of gowns, shoes, headdresses, underpinnings, all so creatively contrived, made Layla feel as if she wandered along a wedding cake, with all its froth and elegance.

"Too many choices. Too many. I'm going to choke." Quinn gripped Cybil's arm.

"You're not. We've got all day. God, have you ever seen so much white? It's a blizzard of tulle, a winter forest of shantung."

"Well, there's white, and ivory, cream, champagne, ecru," Layla began. "I'd go for the white with your coloring, Quinn. You can pull it off."

"You pick one. That's what you do-did-right?" Quinn rubbed a hand over her throat. "Why am I so nervous?"

"Because you only get married the first time once."

Quinn poked at Cybil and laughed. "Shut up. Okay." She took a steadying breath. "Natalie's setting up the dressing room," she said, referring to the shop's manager. "I'll try on what she's picked out. But we're all going to pick at least one gown each. And we have to vow to be honest. If the gown sucks on me, we say so. Everybody, spread out. Dressing room, twenty minutes."

"You'll know yours when you see yourself in it. That's the way it works." But Layla wandered off.

She looked at lace, silk, satin, beads. She studied lines and trains and necklines. As she stood, eyeing a gown, visualizing Quinn in it, Natalie bustled over.

Her cap of salt-and-pepper hair suited her gamine face. Small, black-framed glasses set it off. She was tiny and trim in a dark suit Layla imagined she chose to contrast rather than blend with the gowns.

"Quinn's ready, but doesn't want to start without you. We've got six gowns to start."

"I wonder if we can add this one."

"Of course, I'll take care of it."

"How long have you been in business?"

"My partner and I opened four years ago. I managed a bridal boutique in New York for several years before relocating."

"Really? Where?"

"I Do, Upper East Side."

"Terrific place. A friend of mine bought her gown there just a few years ago. I live-lived-" Which was it? Layla wondered. "Um, in New York. I managed a boutique downtown. Urbania."

"I know that store." Natalie beamed. "Small world."

"It is. Can I