Austin's Lost Bride (The Sterns) by Mindi Winters Page A

no one would stay once they found out about one of her other little problems; they would certainly quit and she couldn’t risk rumors starting to spread, so it was just her. Her and her three big problems.
    This job at the Chicago Museum of Architecture was particularly fun. She liked old homes almost as much as she liked cooking great food. The museum was opening a new exhibit on Colonial American homes and the turnout was great. Invitations went to all the big donors and it looked like most of them had come. Nearly 200 of Chicago’s affluent were in attendance, sitting around the various tables, listening to the parade of speakers and most importantly, eating her fantastic food.
    She turned away back to look at her buffet table and all the wonderful foods she had created to make people enjoy eating something delicious. The thought of possibly losing her business, her home, everything, was too much; she started to tear up under the strain of it all.
    An older gentleman next to her licked some sauce off his fingers. “Here you are, Miss. I’ve got some tissue you can have. I always bring extra to these things. Some of these speakers can just be so mind-numbing to listen to I just have to cry myself. But that’s OK. It’s the good food and good company that I come for.” He handed Casey some tissue and asked for a business card. “You make such good food. I’ll just have to tell my wife to have you for our own family events coming up.”
    Casey thanked him and gave a weak smile in return. Another catering gig that I probably don’t have the time to do thought Casey. She sighed again and slumped down in a nearby chair.
    She rubbed her left cheek and still couldn’t understand how things had gone downhill so quickly from just two years ago. Her business was thriving, she was a new fiancée, and she didn’t have any issues with her house. Now it was all turned upside down with her business failing, her love life in tatters and her house was haunted. It wasn’t exactly where she expected to be in life, but there it was what it was and she needed to deal with it.
    She shook her head. Keep moving. Keep busy. That was the key to getting it off her mind and finally getting ahead. She stood up and went back to her table. More fruit she noted and she started making her way back to the museum kitchen area for things to restock the table. How Colonial architecture influenced later Civil War era building was the topic of the next speaker and Casey glanced up at the Master of Ceremonies and felt a flutter in her stomach as she walked by and out of the event area.
     
     
    Lucas Stern passed the podium off to the next speaker and the audience applause. He could barely stand it. Walking to the side of the stage in his tuxedo he felt acutely self-conscious. The museum had invited him to be MC because of some writing he had done on 19th Century Era American homes had caught the eye of one of the trustees, and he was a regular donor. It was an honor to be asked, and he was pleased to accept, but he hated wearing something so formal. Tuxedos were so constricting to the normal clothes he wore daily and the last time he wore a tux wasn’t exactly a happy occasion.
    A ghost hunter! Get real. What women would want you? Chasing ghosts is for children and psychos. I want a real man.
    Two years later it still stung when he thought about it. Louise was ‘the one’ or so he had thought and they were about to get married when she finally realized that he hadn’t been joking about what his real occupation was.
    He forced a grin as two trustees passed him on the way back from the buffet table and one of them leaned into him, “You’re doing a great job, Lucas, but you should be having fun yourself. Go grab something to eat.”
    He nodded in agreement and turned straight for the open bar instead. A drink sounded better right now.
    Why couldn’t you be normal like everyone else?
    He shook his head to get the shriek of her voice out of his