Rescued by a Bridesmaid

By Melinda Curtis

Long before Scarlet became a Bonander of the New York Bon-Bon Chocolate Bonanders, she grew up on the wild side of the Appalachians. Now this country girl turned debutante needs to head to the wilds of Ecuador to find her cousin’s missing groom in time for the wedding. All she’s got is her toothless Uncle Cletus, a beat-up motorcycle with a sidecar, and the sexy best man, Mike Romero to conquer rough terrain, territorial spiders, and one nasty drug lord who bears a striking resemblance to Mike.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryant Street Publishing
• Release date: Dec 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9781094433240

Melinda Curtis

Melinda grew up on an isolated sheep ranch, where mountain lions had been seen and yet she roamed unaccompanied. Being a rather optimistic, clueless of danger, sort she took to playing "what if" games that led her to become an author.  She spends days trying to figure out new ways to say "He made her heart pound."  That might sound boring, but the challenge keeps her mentally ahead of her 3 kids and college sweetheart husband.

Book preview

Acknowledgements

I couldn’t have finished this novella without the love and support of my family and friends. As always, Mr. Curtis was patient during the completion of this project. My undying thanks to my writing group – the Tiny Killer Bees! Readers can particularly thank Cari Lynn Webb for the charm and chutzpah of Scarlet, who often walked a fine line between Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider and Joan Wilder in Romancing the Stone. Thanks also to Mr. Curtis and our son Colby, who came up with Kaboom and the bus sequence of events over an evening of bottomless bowls of pasta. Annissa Turpin, I love your covers for the Bridesmaid series! Thanks to PurplePapayaLLC and IndieWrites for helping spread the word about my writing. And thank you, dear reader, for reading.

Chapter 1

The man with one-eye was bluffing.

He ran a finger beneath the edge of the black eye-patch – again – and stared at Scarlet Kuhn Bonander with a dark eye that seemed to see everything she wanted to hide – her measly pair of twos, the too-stiff padding in her wondrous bra, and the two lies she had to live by to stay in the Bonander family.

I’ll see you a Goober. And… Mike Romero of the eye-patch spoke in that larger than life voice of his. It went with his broad shoulders and bulging biceps and the by-the-way-I’m-bigger-than-everyone attitude. And by bigger, he obviously meant better. He’d been looking down on Scarlet since they’d met an hour ago.

They played poker with vending machine candy in a scarcely populated VIP lounge at the Las Vegas airport, waiting for Jackson Hardaway’s flight to land from Ecuador for what was supposed to be ten days of pre-wedding festivities. However, Mother Nature had ruined their plans.

On television, the muted news report showed updates on the earthquake in that far away land – buildings collapsed on Ecuadorian streets, people being rescued from the rubble, and an ever-increasing death toll. Next to her, Tiffany, the bride and Scarlet’s cousin, watched the news feed and sat as tensely knotted as a stale pretzel, ready to snap. There’d been no word from Jackson, the groom, since the earthquake two days ago. If they didn’t hear from him soon…if he wasn’t on the plane arriving shortly…Tiff might break.

Hence the poker game with ridiculous stakes, the kink in Scarlet’s neck, and the contortion of catastrophe burning up her stomach.

And… Mike-the-bluffer said with a raised eyebrow. I’ll raise you a pack of chewing gum.

You’ve got nothing. Scarlet didn’t hesitate. She tossed a pack of gum on the low table, thus depleting her pot. Nicole, loan me another death by chocolate cookie so I can raise the stakes.

Don’t you think you’ve had enough? Nicole, a bridesmaid and master baker, snapped the lid on her Tupperware cookie-keeper closed. She and Scarlet were bridal party acquaintances, not close to the bail-me-out level of friendship.

This hand is over. Mike made to lay his cards down.

Wait. Scarlet never gave up, even if she had to bluff. She glanced at Tiff. I know you keep breath mints in your purse.

You only play desperate when you have nothing, Tiff said without tearing her gaze from the television. But she said it with a half-smile.

Scarlet would take half-smiles over tears any day of the decade.

I didn’t think it could be done. Groomsman Shane crowed and slapped Mike on the back. You cleaned Scarlet out.

Not so fast. Scarlet snapped her cards on the table. I call. Let Mike prove he had something in his hand to beat her.

"Twos? Nicole wrapped her arms around the Tupperware. You’d think the contents were made from gold. I gave you a cookie for a pair of twos?"

Scarlet shushed her. Let’s see what you’ve got, big guy.

Mike stared her down. His face was stony. Not the plump, pale planes of a classic marble statue. His face was tan and rough-hewn. A hard chin. Bladed cheek bones. An eye as dark as an Appalachian cave. And that eye-patch. It was equal parts bad-ass, villain, and pirate, and gave Scarlet the me-man-you-woman tummy tingle.

Mike fanned his cards across from hers. A pair of –

"Threes? Shane flipped over the hand he’d folded with. I had a pair of eights."

He’d bankrupted Scarlet with a pair of threes? She clenched her cavity-free teeth.

Sucker. Mike took a victory bite of a death by chocolate cookie. He smiled at Scarlet like a pirate who’d just plundered a Spanish galleon. You have a tell.

I do not. Bo Kuhn had raised Scarlet to be the bluffer, not the bluffee. "You have a tell." She swiped a finger beneath her eye.

Not. Mike scratched his cheekbone. My eye-patch itches.

She’d been played!

I could have had a small straight if I had a jack of clubs, Tiff said softly.

They all looked at the bride, measuring her emotional status.

When no breakdown seemed imminent, Scarlet checked Tiff’s cards. You had a pair of queens.

Did I? There was a tremulous quality to Tiff’s voice that Scarlet hadn’t heard since they were thirteen. And then suddenly, Tiff clutched Scarlet’s hand. Here she comes.

She being a uniformed airline representative. Her skin was tanning-bed brown, her lipstick an unfortunate shade of orange, and her news an unwanted blue. I’m sorry, but Jackson Hardaway wasn’t on the plane.

He wasn’t on the plane, Tiff echoed distantly as the bearer of bad news left. Why wasn’t he on the plane?

For a moment, no one answered. Everyone stared at the television and the rising death toll.

I’m sure he’s fine. Nicole opened her Tupperware. Cookie? She thought sweets solved everything, even impending broken hearts. If only that were true.

He’ll be on the next flight. Shane dutifully took a cookie, and dutifully tried to keep Tiff’s hopes up. He probably gave up his seat to someone’s grandmother.

Their naivety poked at Scarlet’s patience like a poorly trained acupuncturist. Why not just speculate he’d given a seat up to Santa?

Tiff was her cousin, Scarlet’s adopted father’s niece. And Scarlet loved her. But Tiff had been engaged six times in five years and jilted five guys, earning her the nickname Runaway Bride in the press (oh, the joys of being a debutante and a famous chocolate heiress). Karma had finally gone around, come around, and landed in Tiff’s lap. If she wasn’t being jilted, her groom was dead.

Kind of made Scarlet wonder about her own karmic come around.

What were his plans? Mike leaned forward and took Tiff’s other hand in a most un-Mike-like way (based on his Nice to meet you, Scarlet. Now bite me, attitude). Where was Jax when the quake hit?

 He wasn’t scheduled to arrive in Quito until yesterday. Tiff’s smile was fleeting. That’s good, right?

That’s good, Mike

Reviews for Rescued by a Bridesmaid

[Deb Pden · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed the adventure, in this story, of the series. Nicole only made a short appearance and Sean made none. Did they get married in Vegas ? Don't know, is Jax headed home to Tiff?