Mission: Irresistible (37 page)
“I’ll give you a thousand dollars for the veil,” she blurted, surprised at her feelings of desperation.
Claire shook her head. “I’m sorry, but it’s not for sale.”
“Three thousand,” Delaney said firmly, acting as if there was no way the woman could refuse. Three grand was probably twice what this little consignment store netted in a month.
“It’s not a matter of money.”
“Five thousand.” Enough haggling. She was determined to possess the veil.
“You would spend that much for a wedding veil?” Claire’s eyes widened.
“Her grandmother left her a two-million-dollar trust fund and she just turned twenty-five,” Tish interjected. “She can spend as much as she wants.”
“No.” Claire shook her head.
“If it’s not the money,” Delaney asked, “what is it?”
The shopkeeper took a deep breath and looked as if she wished they would all just go away and leave her alone. “There are complications.”
“Complications?” Delaney frowned. “What kind of complications are we talking about?”
“Um… well… throughout the years the veil has… er… backfired,” Claire stammered.
“Backfired? What does that mean?”
“There’ve been a few incidents.”
“Like what?”
“Whenever people hear about the legend, they feel compelled to wish upon the veil.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
Claire nervously moistened her lips. “Nothing in and of itself. The problem occurs when people wish for one thing and what their hearts really want is another thing completely. Because you see, when you wish on the veil, you get whatever your soul most deeply hungers for. It’s just that some people aren’t ready to face what’s truly in their hearts and souls.”
“Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it,” Jillian said.
“Exactly.” Claire nodded.
“But this wedding veil is absolutely perfect,” Delaney said, feeling wildly out of control, but unable to reel herself in. “I have to have it. Would seventy-five hundred dollars convince you?”
A long silence stretched across the room. All five of them were staring at the wedding veil.
“You really are desperately needin’ a bit of magic in your life, aren’t you,” Claire Kelley murmured, her Irish brogue more noticeable now.
Delaney looked from the wedding veil to Claire and saw understanding in the shopkeeper’s eyes. Eerily, it seemed as if the woman comprehended all of Delaney’s doubts and fears concerning her impending marriage.
“Yes.”
Far more than you can ever know.
Delaney raised her hands in supplication. “Please, sell me the veil.”
“I cannot sell it to you.”
An emotion she could not name, but that tasted a bit like grief, took hold of her. Why was possessing this particular wedding veil so important? There was no rational explanation for it, but an odd feeling clutched deep within her. The yearning was almost unbearable.
“Ten thousand.” She felt like an acolyte begging a Zen master for enlightenment.
Claire sucked in her breath and looked around the shabby little shop. “You really want it that badly?”
Delaney nodded, too emotionally twisted up inside to speak.
“All right.” Claire let out her breath in an audible whoosh. Her reluctance was palpable. “You may have it.”
She felt as if someone had lifted a chunk of granite off her heart.
Delaney’s breath came out on a squeak of pure joy. “Really?”
“Yes, but only under one condition,” Claire cautioned.
“Yes, yes.”
“You must swear that you will never, under any circumstances, wish upon the veil.”
“I’ll sign a waiver, a contract, whatever it takes. My friend Jillian is a lawyer; she can bear witness.”
“Delaney.” Jillian made a clucking noise. “Are you sure you want to do this? Ten thousand is a lot of money for a wedding veil.”
Defiantly she met Jillian’s eyes. “I want it, okay? Just back me up here.”
Something in her face must have telegraphed her seriousness. Delaney rarely took a stand on anything, hardly ever expressed an opinion or even a strong desire, but because of this, whenever she did take a stand, people usually listened.
Jillian held up her palms and took a step back. “Hey, if it’s what you want, I say go for it.”
“Thank you.” She turned back to Claire and reached inside her Prada handbag for her checkbook. “I promise never to wish on the veil. Now may I have it?”
Claire stuck out her hand to seal the deal. “Done.”
And that was the moment Delaney realized that although she’d managed to find the special magic she’d been aching to believe in, she had just made a solemn vow never to use it.
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Contents
PRAISE FOR LORI WILDE’S PREVIOUS NOVELS
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2005 by Laurie Vanzura
Excerpt from
Kiss the Bride
copyright © 2013 by Laurie Vanzura
Cover design by Shasti O’Leary Soudant
Cover image by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images
Cover copyright © 2008 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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ISBN 978-0-446-55436-7
