A Convenient Proposal - By Lynnette Kent Page 0,20
whose names she was supposed to remember. Plus his cousins—at least five of them, with their own spouses and kids.
“I’ll make you a cheat sheet,” Griff whispered shortly after they arrived. “You can study in bed tonight.”
Was it his breath on her ear that sent a shiver up her spine? Or just the prospect of having to know this many people by tomorrow morning?
Seated at the long table in the Campbells’ dining room, Arden managed to taste, chew and swallow exactly one bite of a delicious potato casserole before the questions started.
Griff’s oldest sister, Dana, sat on her right. “So, where did the two of you meet?” She resembled her brother, with the same curly blond hair, pinned into a loose knot at the back of her head, and those beautiful blue eyes. Both of them were the image of their father, whose piercing gaze had already flustered Arden more than she wanted to admit.
“We met in Miami.” Arden took a sip of iced tea, trying to recall the story they’d decided to tell. “On the beach, actually.”
Dana’s eyes narrowed. “Most people don’t talk to strangers on the beach.”
“My dog had slipped his leash.” They’d introduced Igor to the crowd, then put him in the laundry room with a blanket and his dinner. “Griff caught him and was walking along the shore looking for his owner.”
“Sounds like him.”
Arden gave a silent sigh of relief.
“But Igor still isn’t too friendly with Griff, is he? I mean, he doesn’t try to play with him or anything.”
“I’m afraid not.” Time for improvisation. “But you’ll notice that Igor isn’t friendly with men in general. The shelter where I found him said his previous owner was, to put it mildly, abusive, and had left Igor with a real grievance against males.” She offered what she hoped was an encouraging smile. “We’re working on it, though. I think Igor will come around in time.”
The youngest Campbell sister, Kathy, spoke from across the table. Arden turned to watch her lips, but the competing conversations in the room muddled the beginning of her comment.
“…love Griff,” Kathy said. “I’ve seen him coax foxes and deer to eat from his fingers.”
“That’s a good way to get rabies,” Dr. Campbell pointed out from the end of the table. His forceful voice would be audible no matter how high the level of background noise.
“Which is why I’ve had my rabies vaccinations.” Griff turned from talking to his mother, on his other side. “Why don’t y’all let Arden eat some of this delicious food? There’s plenty of time ahead for answering questions.”
She sent him a grateful glance.
“So take your own turn, bro.” Lauren, the middle sister, resembled her mother and Kathy, with soft, curling brown hair and green eyes. She, too, sat across the table. “How long have you two been dating?”
“That was July,” Griff replied promptly, “when we met on the beach. The fourth, to be exact. We were watching fireworks and Igor bolted because of the noise.”
“You’ve been in Miami all this time?” Mrs. Campbell’s question sounded loud in the sudden silence around the table. “But I thought you said—”
Griff held up a hand. “I did say. I spent most of the time I was gone traveling around the Caribbean. I hit the Bahamas, Turk and Puerto Rico, then Montserrat, Barbados, Tobago and most of the islands in between. But…” He raised his wineglass in Arden’s direction. “I went back to Miami more and more often. For a little longer each time.”
Arden had to admire his acting ability. He didn’t betray the lie with so much as the flicker of an eyelash.
“And you live in Miami all the time, Arden?” Mrs. Campbell’s reaction had so far been the most reserved in the family. “On the beach?”
Now everyone at the table had stopped talking to listen, so she could hear easily enough. “I have a condo there.”
“In a high-rise,” Griff added, “with an amazing view. Watching a storm come in over the horizon is better than any Hollywood movie.”
“And what kind of work do you do in Miami?”
She turned toward Dr. Campbell to answer his question. “I—”
But Griff spoke at the same moment. “I’m going to make Arden eat in the kitchen from now on,” he declared. “She’ll starve to death out here.”
“You’re right.” His dad pretended to look sternly around the table, but his eyes twinkled. “No one is allowed to talk to Griff or Arden again until they’ve left their seats.”
Arden gave another silent sigh as the focus of attention