Pamela Morsi Read Free Page B

last?”
    Gussie smiled at him, pleased.
    “Very good questions,” she said in a tone of praise peculiar to employer and employee. “Every venture needs defined parameters.”
    She was thoughtful for a moment.
    “You will, as I said, need to be seen with me and show preference for me,” she told him. “The way rumor spreads in a small town, all you will need to make your intentions public is to let a few words slip to those who frequent the barbershop, and Amos will hear all about it soon enough.”
    Rome nodded.
    “I was hoping for a late-spring wedding,” she went on. “When the flowers are at their peak. But I suppose, in this instance, midsummer would be fine. Let’s say the Fourth of July—that sounds like an auspicious day for a wedding. It is going to be absolutely perfect. The most perfect wedding this town has ever seen. I do hope you will be there, Mr. Akers.”
    Rome couldn’t even meet her eyes. He was pretty certain that it was a goodly distance from where they stood to wedding bells with Amos Dewey.
    “Six weeks, Mr. Akers,” she said. “You have six weeks to get me happily married.”

2
    W EDDINGS OFTEN TURNED A WOMAN’S MIND TO MARRIAGE . Gussie Mudd, however, did not need any assistance as she made her way to the large, prestigious, dark brick church in the center of town.
    Lucy Timmons was to be married that evening. Keeping the church spick-and-span was the task of the Circle of Benevolent Service, the foremost ladies’ group at the church. Today the women were combining that work with some special efforts to pretty up the place for the wedding of the daughter of one of their most distinguished members.
    Gussie had picked the most perfect blossoms in her garden to arrange in a basket for Lucy’s wedding. She spent much time among her flowers in the early mornings. The soft hush of sunrise and the sheer beauty of the blossoms gave her a sense of quiet certainty that helped sustain her. It was as if she were venturing out into uncharted territory. She needed to gird herself with calm and serenity to face the challenge.
    She glanced down at the basket bouquet she carried upon her arm. The vivid gladioli and hyacinths caughtthe eye, but could not distract from the delicate loveliness of the buttercups and roses. Fresh and pretty and bright, it was the perfect offering for a spring wedding. A symbol of all that was beautiful and new. A life together, two as one.
    That’s what Gussie wanted for herself. Simply a bond of affection with a man she loved and admired. That did not seem to be asking too much. Gussie loved weddings. She loved the flowers, the bells, the ribbons and the frothy white cake. She had been to many such occasions in her life and mentally she’d taken notes. She knew that when the time came, her wedding would be the most beautiful and perfect one ever.
    But before she could have the wedding, she had to acquire a bridegroom. That morning she had seated herself at the escritoire and slowly, thoughtfully, painstakingly made a list of every possible setback or snag her plan might encounter. Though she always kept a positive attitude, especially in front of employees and business associates, she was not naive. It was not going to be easy. Not that Gussie didn’t see herself as a very worthy bride. She was a handsome woman, in an ordinary sort of way. More important, she was neither difficult to please nor in expectation of expensive fripperies. She was practical-minded, owned her home and had a profitable business. After years of taking care of her father, she felt confident of being able to accommodate herself to the vagaries and uneven temper that she assumed were typical of gentlemen in general.
    But she knew that bringing a man like Amos Dewey to heel would be extremely tricky. An incautious word or a careless error, and he might easily see through her ruse. And her plan involved more than simply lying toone man; it meant lying to the whole town. If everyone found out, it