Read Barefoot in Lace (Barefoot Bay Brides Book 2) for Free Online

rewarded him with a smile that was both inviting and a little uncertain. “Doesn’t every stylist dream of working for a big fashion magazine or a top-notch photographer?”
    “So do it.”
    She shook her head, her dreamy expression melting into determination. “Oh, no. I committed to my two closest friends to launch a business, and we’re getting more successful and better known with each wedding.”
    “Why did you do that, if you have other professional dreams?”
    “Because…” She took a slow breath, measuring her response. “Some things are more important than seeing your work on the pages of Vogue .”
    “Like?”
    “Like family,” she replied without a second’s hesitation.
    He frowned, realizing she’d mentioned she was from the Boston area and told Alex she had a brother, but hadn’t talked about any other family. “Where’s yours?” he asked.
    “Well, it depends on which family you mean. Ari and Willow are like my sisters now, and they are family, which doesn’t have to be blood.”
    The statement hit him harder than he’d expected, but he pushed the emotional response back to the dark corner where he kept thoughts like that. “Are they all from Boston, too? Were you childhood friends with these women?”
    “Oh, no. We met when we were all on the board of the American Association of Bridal Consultants, which had us traveling together every month to different destination-wedding locales. We cooked up the idea of combining our talents into one business and chose Barefoot Bay as our location. I threw in with them because I wanted the solid sense of a team and that security that comes with knowing someone has your back. Do you get that?”
    Did he get that? Better than anyone. He also knew how… fleeting …it could be. He lifted his arm and pointed to his panta monos tattoo. “ I have my back,” he told her.
    “Oh, that’s right, you’re the Lonesome Dove.”
    “I prefer eagle.”
    “And eagles fly alone? Well, have fun with that. Like I said, family is everything, and they are mine.”
    Family is everything. He swallowed a response that would only sound bitter and angry. “What about the family that you were born into?” he asked.
    Her expression flickered slightly. “Cracked and broken up, I’m afraid.”
    He wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, but he recognized the hitch of pain in her voice. “As in…” he prodded.
    “As in my family is not a solid foundation to stand on, and since I really need and want that, I have chosen to build my life with these dear friends.”
    She regarded him for a moment, the moonlight making her eyes a soft, pale green, but then she closed them as something hit her. “How thoughtless I am,” she said suddenly. “I shouldn’t be talking about family to a man who recently lost his sister. I’m so sorry.”
    “No, that’s fine.” He paused as they reached the water’s edge, the sand as cold and hard as his heart right then. “I usually avoid the subject of family, even before this latest tragedy.”
    “What about the rest of your family?” she asked. “You said there are no other close relatives.”
    “My parents were killed in a car accident when I was seventeen. Ruthie was thirteen.”
    He heard her suck in a soft, shocked breath.
    “We lived with my grandmother, who Ruthie lovingly called Cruella DeMille.”
    Gussie gave a sad smile, listening.
    “And when she died, I raised Ruthie until she was eighteen.”
    “Oh, God.” She gave his arm a squeeze of sympathy. “No wonder you don’t talk about your family. You’ve lost three people.”
    He nodded, absolutely unwilling to tell her the number didn’t stop at three. It would have killed the whole night.
    “Is that why you take such emotional pictures?”
    The question surprised him. “I’ve never thought of it that way, but maybe.”
    “Your shots are always so poignant.”
    “Thanks, but that’s not because of my past. I told you I can find a subject’s vulnerability