The Bridesmaid by Julia London

admired her features, right up to the moment her head slid down on his shoulder and she began to snore.

Chapter 6
    Lisa took the news about Kate’s delay with a lot of whining, wailing, and “How am I going to do this without you?”
    Kate talked her neurotic cousin off the ledge. She made her understand that she was only missing a dinner, not a major event. It was one meal. Not a huge loss—besides the dress, it was not even a small loss. Lisa said she understood. She even seemed to agree with Kate.
    But not fifteen minutes after Kate had hung up, her mother called.
    “When are you going to be here?” her mother demanded with a slightly accusatory tone.
    “Mom, seriously. I am on a train to Phoenix. A train! I started on a plane, then a car, and now I am on a TRAIN. I am doing the best I can.”
    “Well, I didn’t say you weren’t,” her mother sniffed. “It just seems like you could have rented a car or something.”
    “Mom, do you know where Texas is? It is very far away from Seattle. You can’t drive from Texas to Washington in a blizzard!”
    She must have been speaking with agitation, because Joe put his broad hand on her knee and squeezed reassuringly.
    “Oh, I know,” her mother said wearily. “I was just hoping. We’ll all be sick if you miss the wedding, and Lisa doesn’t need any distractions. I’ve always said that girl is too high strung for her own good.”
    “I won’t miss the wedding,” Kate said firmly. “We are almost to Phoenix, and we hear they are bringing scabs in.”
    “Bringing what ?”
    “Scabs.”
    “Strikebreakers,” Joe offered. He had removed his coat again and loosened his collar. His hair, thick and dark brown, looked as if he’d dragged his fingers through it a dozen times. And he had a very sexy shadow of a beard that Kate had to tell herself not to stare at.
    “Who is that?” her mother demanded, jarring Kate back to the present.
    “Ah… Joe.”
    “Joe! Who’s Joe?”
    “He was on my flight. We’re both trying to get to Seattle.”
    “Oh. You should invite him to the wedding,” her mother said cheerfully, as if Kate and Joe were sitting in a café sipping mimosas. She’d never heard of Joe until this moment and was inviting him to a major family event. Her family was crazy.
    “Oh my god,” her mother said suddenly. “Here comes your aunt. I wonder what the crisis is now, ” she muttered irritably. “You’d think Lisa was the first woman to ever get married. Katie, sweetheart, keep us posted. We’ll hold the wedding for you if necessary!”
    “Mom, you can’t hold the wedding,” Kate said, but her mother had already signed off.
    Kate clicked off, made a sound of severe frustration, and Joe laughed.
    “Your family sounds as crazy as mine.”
    “I think I’ve got you beat,” Kate said. “Where is your family, anyway?”
    “Scattered,” he said. “My brother is in Paris—”
    “Paris!”
    “Married to a Frenchwoman. My dad and sister are in Connecticut and my mom in Illinois. Yours?”
    “All in Seattle,” Kate said. “My aunt and uncle—Lisa’s parents—live right around the corner. It’s like some weird religious-sect compound, everyone always back and forth.” Joe laughed, but he had no idea how tied up in each other’s business they all were.
    “So while you were assuring your mother you’re not just playing hooky, I was digging for news. It looks as if the major airports, like Phoenix, will have enough controllers to get a few flights off the ground.”
    Kate gasped. “Really? You mean we might really get to Seattle?”
    “If we can book a flight,” he said. “I’m going to make a call. I’ve got a kick-ass travel agent.”
    He punched in the number and then said, “Hey, Brenda. It’s Joe.” And he smiled. It was a very easy, very sexy smile, and Kate imagined it could melt the false eyelashes off a woman. “Remember that trip we booked to Seattle? Well, I’ve run into a little trouble…”
    Fifteen minutes