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for her, the man sitting in this very waiting room, was none other than Mark Brady—the man she’d hoped to avoid for the rest of her natural life. She gave an involuntary gasp.
    Mark was leafing through the dog-eared pages of a magazine when he happened to glance her way. The automatic smile faded from his face, and his eyes narrowed as if he strongly suspected Shelly had purposely arranged this meeting.
    “What are you doing here?” Shelly demanded.
    “I might ask you the same thing.”
    “I didn’t follow you here, if that’s what you’re implying!”
    “Listen, Ms…Hansen, I really couldn’t care less.” With that he returned to his magazine, but he raised his head again a moment later. “ You’re the person who blurted out to everyone within hearing distance that you weren’t marrying me. As if I’d even asked! As if I even knew you !”
    Shelly felt the heat rising up her neck and offered the first excuse she could think of. “I…was distraught.”
    “Obviously,” he muttered from behind his magazine.
    A few minutes of strained silence passed. Shelly shifted uncomfortably in her chair, checking her watch approximately every ten seconds. She was early for her appointment, but if this was where promptness got you, she’d prefer to be late.
    “All right, I apologize,” Shelly said when she couldn’t tolerate the silence any longer. “What I said was ridiculous and…and out of turn—”
    “Out of turn,” Mark echoed, throwing the magazine down on the table. “I repeat—I don’t even know you.”
    “I realize that.”
    He inhaled deeply, which drew her attention to his broad, muscular chest. She saw that he was as meticulously dressed as he’d been at their first encounter. His dark suit and silk tie, however conventional, added a touch of sophistication to his natural good looks.
    “If there’s anyone to blame for this it’s Aunt Milly,” Shelly said, more to herself than him.
    “Aunt Milly?” Mark repeated, sounding unsure. He eyed her warily.
    She’d said this much; she might as well launch into the whole ludicrous tale.
    “Actually, it has more to do with the wedding dress than with my aunt Milly, although by now the two of them are inseparable in my mind. I don’t usually dabble in this sort of thing, but I’m beginning to think there might be something supernatural about that silly dress, after all.”
    “Supernatural?”
    “Magic, if you prefer.”
    “Magic in a wedding dress?” Mark gazed hopefully at the door that led to the inner offices of Internal Revenue, as though he was anxious to be called away.
    “It’s unbelievable, but the dress fits both Jill and me, which is virtually impossible. You saw Jill—she’s the friend I was having lunch with last Saturday. I know we were halfway across the room from you, but youcouldn’t help noticing how much shorter she is than I am. We’re completely different sizes.”
    Mark hurriedly reached for the magazine as if he wanted to shut her out before she said anything else.
    “I know it seems crazy. I don’t like this any better than you do, but I’m afraid you’re the one Aunt Milly mentioned in her letter.” Well, it was only fair to tell him that.
    Mark glanced in her direction again, blue eyes suspicious. “Your aunt Milly mentioned me in a letter?”
    “Not by name—but she said she had a clear vision of me in the wedding dress and I was standing with a tall man. She also referred to blue eyes. You’re tall and you have blue eyes and the legend says I’m going to marry the first man I meet after receiving the dress.”
    “And I just happened to be that man?”
    “Yes,” Shelly cried. “ Now do you understand why I was so disturbed when we met?”
    “Not entirely,” Mark said after a moment.
    Shelly sighed loudly. How obtuse could the man be? “You’re tall, aren’t you? And you have blue eyes.”
    He flipped intently through the magazine, not looking at her as he spoke. “I really don’t care what