their father?” Mrs. Payne uttered another sigh, a wistful one, and her face softened—the faint lines she had entirely disappearing so that she looked like the young girl she must have been when she fell in love with Mr. Payne. “Having them act so much like their father has kept him alive for me—and probably for them.”
“But they put their lives at risk...”
Mrs. Payne let out an indelicate snort. “Living puts our lives at risk—driving a car, taking a bus, going to the mall or a movie...bad things happen everywhere. Not just Afghanistan. Cooper survived that—he can survive anything.”
Tanya wasn’t as confident of that as his mother.
The older woman gave her a slight nudge toward the garment bag hanging from the hook on the wall. “Start getting dressed, honey. Your sister and Nikki are on their way.”
“Rochelle?” She tensed with shock and concern. “She’s still going to stand up there with me?”
“She’s your sister. Family sticks together.”
The Payne family definitely did, but not the Chesterfield family. Money had always divided them and probably always would.
Knuckles wrapped against the door. “That better not be Cooper. I told him to stay away from you until the wedding.” She opened the door to Tanya’s grandfather’s lawyer.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Mr. Gregory said. “But I really need a word with Ms. Chesterfield.”
“Tanya,” she corrected him as she so often had had to over the years. Her grandfather may have demanded formality but it made her uncomfortable.
Mrs. Payne studied the handsome gray-haired man intently before nodding. “You’ll do...”
The lawyer’s face reddened and he uttered, “Excuse me, ma’am?”
Mrs. Payne had been single a long time. Perhaps she was finally ready to envision a future for herself instead of just helping brides and grooms get ready for theirs.
“Tanya needs someone to walk her down the aisle,” Mrs. Payne explained. “I was going to enlist my eldest boy, but it would be better to have someone who’s been part of Tanya’s life.”
Arthur Gregory had been a part of her life for a long time—since before his hair had gone gray and he’d developed lines around his dark eyes and his tightly lipped mouth.
“I’m sure Ms. Chesterfield would rather—”
“No,” Tanya interrupted him. “I would be happy to have you walk me down...” To her stand-in groom. If not for Stephen’s disappearance, Cooper probably wouldn’t have even attended the wedding.
“I’ll leave you two to discuss it,” Mrs. Payne said as she bustled from the room and closed the door behind herself.
The lawyer stared after the petite woman. “She’s something else...”
If Tanya remembered correctly, Mr. Gregory had never married. “Mrs. Payne is wonderful.”
“But misguided,” the lawyer said.
“I’m sorry she enlisted you in the wedding,” Tanya apologized. “If it makes you uncomfortable, you don’t have to participate.”
“The whole wedding makes me uncomfortable,” he admitted.
She had a million reasons of her own, but she asked, “Why?”
“I’m worried that these people may be taking advantage of you.”
If anything, it was the reverse, she was taking advantage of them. “They are helping me.”
“But you wouldn’t need help if Stephen hadn’t disappeared,” he said.
“Exactly.”
“He disappeared from here.” The lawyer stared at her as if that meant something.
She arched a brow in question.
“And immediately after that, she suggested that her son take his place.”
Tanya wasn’t exactly certain why Mrs. Payne had pushed Cooper into that—unless she wanted them together. Had she been aware all those years ago that Tanya had had a crush on her son?
“That was very sweet of her to help me out. I only have a couple of days until I turn thirty.” And Stephen hadn’t been found yet. She didn’t dare wait until the last day—in case that ransom demand was made.
“It was perhaps too convenient,” Mr. Gregory suggested.
“What are you saying?”
“Your grandfather always worried that you and your sister would be taken advantage of because of your inheritance.”
Like their father had taken advantage of their mother. What little money her father had left her, their mother had used to track down their father. She’d obviously intended to use it to buy back the man’s love that her father had bought off. Tanya and Rochelle hadn’t seen or heard from her since she’d left.
Her voice sharp in defense of her friends, she replied, “That is not the case with the Paynes.”
“Your grandfather did not trust Cooper Payne,” Mr. Gregory said. “He warned the boy years ago—”
“He what?” she gasped, both shocked and horrified. “Did he try to buy off Cooper, too?”
The lawyer shook his head. “He just pointed out to him that you were out of his league.”
She would like to believe that her grandfather wouldn’t have done such a humiliating thing to her and Cooper, but she knew better. The old man had enjoyed humiliating and manipulating people, especially his own family.
“You still are out of his league, Tanya,” Mr. Gregory continued. “The only reason you’re marrying him is because your real groom conveniently disappeared.”
Remembering all that spattered blood, she flinched. “There was nothing convenient about Stephen’s disappearance.” Terrifying? Yes. Convenient? No.
“It is convenient for Cooper Payne since he’s stepping in as your groom. I can’t believe that his mother managed to obtain a marriage license at such short notice.”
Neither could Tanya, but Mrs. Payne was definitely a full-service wedding planner. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for a bride.
It wasn’t awe in the lawyer’s voice, though. It was suspicion. Tanya narrowed her eyes and glared at Mr. Gregory. “If you’re implying that the Paynes are responsible for what happened to Stephen, you’re dead wrong.”
“This is why your grandfather put the stipulation on your inheritance,” the lawyer said cynically, “because you tend to be too naive and trusting.”
She laughed. No one had ever accused her of being either of those things. “Grandfather didn’t know me.” Because he’d never made the effort. “And neither do you. Moreover, you don’t know the Paynes at all. They are known for their honor and protectiveness. They would never harm anyone.”
“You think that is still true of Cooper?” he asked her. “He’s been to war. You don’t know how that can change a man. He isn’t the boy you remember.”
Tanya had thought so, too, but then she had seen glimpses of that boy—in his camaraderie with his family and his concern for her and Stephen. And in his kiss...
“Why would Cooper hurt Stephen?” she asked.
“Jealousy,” he suggested. “Over you...”
“We were never anything but friends.” Because that was the way he’d wanted to keep it.
Mr. Gregory chuckled. “The kid mooned around after you. He had a major crush on you. That was why your grandfather told him to