Charmed in Charleston: At the Altar, #21

By Kirsten Osbourne

Emma Saxton is a single mother whose life is going nowhere. All her time is spent earning enough money to put food on the table, and she feels as though that will never change. After speaking with a friend, she calls Dr. Lachele at Matchrimony and agrees to meet a man at the altar and marry him immediately. She's lonely, but her main concern is her daughter, Josie, who is her entire world.

Tired of spending all his time working and knowing he needs a wife if he doesn't want his house to crumble down around him, Beau Bainbridge agrees to be introduced to his future bride at the altar. When he sees Emma walking toward him, he is immediately attracted. For him, little Josie is just a bonus. Will the formerly single mother be able to adjust to life as the wife of a man of wealth? Or will she continue to be afraid every day that something will go wrong and she'll once again be left alone?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Unlimited Dreams
• Release date: Oct 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393991359

Book preview

Chapter One

Emma sat at her desk, trying to concentrate on the translation in front of her. It was for a romance author, and the book was downright boring, and that was saying something from a devoted romance novel reader. There was no humor, no action—just a bunch of flowery descriptions and purple prose. Emma couldn’t stand purple prose, which most people thought was the entire content of romance novels. Emma knew better, though. Purple prose was rarely used in good romance novels.

She sighed, needing a quick break, and she popped over to Facebook to read through all the statuses there. It took her five minutes to become terribly lonely. She shook her head. Envying her friends’ love lives did nothing for her.

She glanced over in the corner of the room, where her daughter, Josie, was napping on the bed there. Josie was three, and she had been born exactly two months after her father—a fireman—was killed in the line of duty. Joseph had never seen his beautiful little girl, and it had hurt Emma more than she could express.

But now—three years later—she was lonely. Looking at her friends’ Facebook statuses, filled with new babies and dates with their husbands, no longer hurt, but it made her realize she was going nowhere with her life. In fact, she now rarely left the house. She was raising her daughter as a single mother, and she was working way too many hours to make ends meet. Thankfully she could work at home while Josie played, but she wanted to actually spend some time with her daughter—and maybe have an adult conversation or two.

She rubbed the back of her neck, considering. A friend of hers—Heidi Hart, who was now Heidi Henderson—had told her about being matched with a total stranger by a woman with purple hair. It had seemed crazy at first, but the longer she was alone, the more she thought about actually doing it.

Finally, she picked up the phone and called Heidi, not sure if she’d be working, but she knew she’d call her back if she was.

Hello?

Heidi, is this a terrible time?

Not at all. I’m sitting in the break room eating tacos. Have I mentioned my love of Taco Bueno tacos to you? Heidi asked.

Not in the last twenty-four hours, Emma answered dryly. She and Heidi had been pen pals back in the nineties and had progressed to email and finally phone calls. They’d only met in person once, but Emma still considered Heidi one of her closest friends. What’s the name of that company you used to meet Slade again?

Heidi coughed. You made me choke on my taco! Are you actually considering it?

I think I am. I mean . . . I’ve been alone since Joe died, and Josie is three now. I’ve mourned him and mourned him, and then I mourned him a little more. I need to move on with my life now, but I’m not sure how to do it. Your purple-haired matchmaker seems to be the key.

Her name is Lachele Simpson, and her company name is Matchrimony. You think you could marry an absolute stranger? After being in love with Joe since seventh grade? Heidi sounded skeptical, and Emma really couldn’t blame her.

I don’t know. But I have to do something, or I’m going to become a hoarder who never leaves my house! Emma sighed. I really need to do this for Josie . . . and for me. We’re going to wither away here in this tiny little house.

I think it’s a good idea, for what it’s worth.

Your opinion always matters to me. Give Slade and the kids a hug and kiss from me.

I will. Love you!

Love you right back! Emma hung up the phone and quickly searched the internet for Matchrimony. She found it with no trouble, and—before she lost her nerve—she dialed the number and waited for someone to answer.

Matchrimony, this is Dr. Lachele.

Emma jumped. She hadn’t expected Dr. Lachele to answer her own calls. Hi, this is Emma Saxton. I want to get married.

Emma heard a laugh that sounded more like a cackle than anything else. You get straight to the point, don’t you?

Well, I really need to get out of the rut I’m in. My husband died just before our baby was born, and she’s three now, and I . . . well, I’m wasting away in a tiny little house we bought together, working way too many hours trying to make ends meet.

I completely understand. When are you available for interviewing? I do a comprehensive interview that takes a full day. Your daughter is welcome to be there, because watching you with her will help me get a good read on you psychologically speaking.

I guess anytime. I work from home, and I can squeeze in a day anywhere.

Emma heard the sound of pages flipping. Where are you anyway?

I live in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. It’s just north of Minneapolis.

How does a week from Saturday sound? I have a wedding to go to this weekend, or I’d be there then.

A week from Saturday should be fine. Do I pick you up at the airport?

Nah, I’ll rent a car. No need for you to get your baby out in the cold. I assume there’s snow on the ground since it’s March?

Yes, quite a bit of snow still, actually.

Give me your address really quick, and I will see you bright and early that Saturday morning. Plan to spend the entire day with me.

All right. Josie and I will be ready for you. Emma waited until the line had died before she looked at her little girl, sleeping peacefully across the room. I’m doing this for you, Josie.

*****

Beau Bainbridge got home from work, exhausted as usual. He collapsed onto his couch and tried to think about the contents of his fridge and what he could make work for supper.

He knew he needed to hire a housekeeper to keep up with things like grocery shopping and laundry and housework . . . and maybe even make meals for him, but he felt like he didn’t even have time to go through the interview process. He worked six days a week until he could find another pharmacist to work alongside him, but for some reason, he just wasn’t getting the number of applicants he’d expected. Maybe it was time to check the listing.

He sighed, getting up to scout out the food situation. He should have stopped for something on his way home, but he hadn’t thought about it until he’d gotten in the front door, and by then, he was too happy to be home to leave again.

He found a box of Cheerios and some milk that had only been expired for a day. He called that a win and made himself a feast out of the breakfast cereal. He could just see his mother’s face frowning at him for eating it for supper, but sometimes he just didn’t care.

He plopped down in front of his desk and turned his computer on, checking his email. He couldn’t help but wonder if there was a message there that would be interesting to him.

Oh, an email from Dirk. He clicked on it, wondering why on earth he’d taken to talking to himself.

The email was all about how happy Dirk was and how his wife was expecting. Wow. That was not what he expected from Dirk! He and the other man had gone to grad school together a million years before, and though they’d been going for different disciplines, they had become friends, both of them enjoying hiking.

He tapped out a quick email asking where he’d met the girl. He knew that Dirk was a college professor in Albuquerque now, and he couldn’t imagine he was active enough to meet other people.

Beau took a few more bites of his cereal as he scanned through the rest of his emails and saw that Dirk had already responded. It was late, but when Beau glanced at the clock, he realized that though it was after ten in Charleston, it was two hours earlier in Albuquerque. When he read the email, he laughed out loud. Dirk had gone to a crazy matchmaker with purple hair who owned a company called Matchrimony and matched people up at the altar. He hadn’t met his wife until the ceremony! Who on earth could be desperate enough to agree to such a thing?

He tapped out another email telling Dirk how happy he was for him before shutting the computer and taking his empty cereal bowl to the kitchen sink to be piled on top of all the other dishes he hadn’t done for a few days.

He rubbed the back of his neck as he headed for his bedroom, already ready for sleep. These twelve-hour days were killing him.

By morning, the idea of having someone match him at the altar wasn’t