All I Need Read Free

me and my mum. Closest I ever came was as a lad, watching people come and go from the church up the street from my house in Oxford. Main thing I remember is that the women always wore outlandish hats.”
    “British women and their hats. I’ve never really understood that.”
    “Neither have I. Mum said it was just tradition. Women wore hats to church so for a special event like a wedding they wore their best one.”
    “I’m guessing you’re wishing your mother could have been here today.”
    Daniel’s lips tugged into a smile. “Yes, she always did love an excuse to buy a new hat.” He tried for a laugh but it didn’t quite work.  The truth was he missed her far more than he cared to admit. He’d have given anything to have had her there.
    “I’m sure she’d have loved to have had the chance to meet Justine. Mothers always want to size up the women their sons marry.” The compassion in Arnold’s voice was soothing. He’d always had an uncanny knack at helping Daniel calm down---before giving his graduation speech, while preparing his dissertation and now again as he managed to find a comforting way for Daniel to remember his mother.
    “Yes, she’d definitely have done that.”
    “Well, since your mom can’t be here to ask the tough questions, I’m going to ask you the same thing I asked my sons on their wedding days. Do you love her?”
    The question took Daniel by surprise, but he answered without hesitation. “Yes.”
    Arnold smiled, the crinkled skin around his eyes softening his expression. “Good. That’s all you need.”
    ***
    Justine craned her neck to look out the narrow church window. Where the hell is she? The wedding was due to start ten minutes ago and she was still down one bridesmaid. First the florist had delivered the wrong bouquets, then the church had decorated the pews with red bows instead of the white ones she’d specially ordered, and now this. What next?
    She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Daniel. She envisioned him, waiting at the end of the aisle, dashing in his black Armani tux, dark hair irresistibly tousled, crooked smile making her melt. She blew the breath out slowly. You’re getting married today. Nothing else matters. Even though she was only twenty-three, Justine had been waiting for this day for years. She still remembered the first time she’d laid eyes on Daniel.
    It was her junior year at NYU and she’d grown restless with the guys she’d been dating. She decided it was time to bump up her long range plan, and play catch-up with her brothers. They were all either engaged or married and Justine was still the child, the little girl. A husband, a permanent male fixture by her side, rather than an unknown cast of characters accompanying her to weddings and events, would certainly help her to be looked at as older, taken more seriously.
    The problem was finding someone. It’s not that she hadn’t been trying—she went on dates like no other twenty-year-old, with nearly fevered determination—it’s just that her dates were far from ideal. And to be her husband, a man needed to be as close to perfect as one could get. Not an easy find. Older men were too boring and unappealing. She tried an up and coming actor, but he’d been conceited and not at all focused on her. She dated a member of a successful band, but he’d been so coked up and strung out he’d scared her. Plus she’d nearly passed out while waiting for the results of her AIDS tests after she’d realized how many women he’d screwed. Deciding she never wanted to go through that kind of stress and worry ever again, she became even more determined to find a man she could stand to be with on a permanent basis.
    She was narrowing her list of acceptable candidates with almost frightening speed and was beginning to wonder if the guy she was looking for even existed. Then she heard some girls talking in the cafeteria.
    “There he is,” one whispered.
    “Where? Where? Oh my God, you’re