Page 1 of Bridles and Bribery

Chapter 1: Tying the Knot

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, sis.”

Here it comes.The knot forming between Jillian Harris’s shoulder blades grew tighter. Criticism was the one thing she could always count on receiving from her family. They never failed to toss in a little unwanted advice and wrap the whole shebang in thinly veiled disapproval — their famous triple punch served straight to the gut. She was honestly surprised it had taken them this long to complain about how quickly she and her fiancé had gotten engaged.

“I just need some assurance you’re not making the biggest mistake of your life.” Her sister, Julie, paced the office like a general preparing for battle. “Second biggest mistake,” she amended in a more severe voice. “Or is it the third? I’ve lost count.” She was three years older than Jillian, college educated, and a successful accountant — three things she didn’t hesitate to rub in her younger sister’s face every chance she got.

Ever since Jillian had dropped out of college to work full time as an ER receptionist, Julie had treated her like a totalfailure in the career department. The fact that she was about to become the first sister to get married was probably going to become yet another bone of contention between them. Julie treated everything like it was a competition.

“I love Dave.” Because of their whirlwind romance, Jillian wasn’t sure what it would take to convince her family of that. It was true, though. She was ridiculously in love with the man she was about to marry. It felt like she was living inside the pages of her own real-life fairytale — one that came with a prince of a guy and a three-story townhome that felt as big as a castle compared to the studio apartment she’d been renting for the past several years.

Julie twirled in her direction, making the long skirt of her crushed red velvet maid-of-honor dress wrap around her ankles. “Oh, come on, Jillian! You also love floppy-eared puppies, fuzzy kittens, and chocolate mint ice cream.” Her blonde hair was pulled back in a bun with sprigs of white baby’s breath tucked into it. Long wavy tendrils dangled past her pearl teardrop earrings.

Ice cream, huh?Jillian knew it was a subtle reminder that she was packing a good twenty pounds more around her waistline than Julie was. It was partly due to her pregnancy and partly due to the cravings she’d given in to since becoming pregnant. Going on a diet after the baby was born was high on her to-do list.

“Feel free to add yourself to the list of things I love.” She spun back to the dressing mirror her fiancé had parked in the corner of his office for her benefit. She eyed the ivory wedding gown and the lacy hem that draped all the way to the floor. It would’ve pooled around her ankles, creating a tripping hazard, if she hadn’t worn the highest heels she owned. “I happen to love you, Mom, and Dad very much.”Though you try my patience every second we’re in the same room.

She cocked her head sideways, trying to decide if the empire waist of her dress made her normally curvy figure look fat. Until a few weeks ago, she hadn’t realized there was such a thing as maternity wedding gowns. The one she’d purchased online was looser than she would’ve liked, something she’d amended by adding a white silk sash beneath her bosom. She probably could’ve gotten away with ordering one size smaller.

“Quit trying to change the subject.” Julie moved across the room to stand with her in front of the mirror. “Getting married is a big step, one I hope you’re ready for. Come on, Jillian! None of us knew you were even dating anyone!” She made it sound like an accusation.

As a rule, Jillian told her perennially cranky family as little as possible, so she didn’t bother defending her decision. “Like I said, it happened pretty quickly.” She reached around her back to make sure the white sash was still tied in a perfect bow. It was.

They were standing beside Dave’s desk on the third floor of the building that housed his law practice, Heart Lake Legal Services.

“Exactly how long have you and Dave been dating?” Julie pressed.

It was a question Jillian had been dodging the entire twenty-four hours her sister had been in town. However, she knew she couldn’t keep the details of her relationship with Dave Phillips a secret forever.

“One month,” she sighed, knowing her answer wouldn’t appease her sister at all.

Julie’s gasp felt like it filled the room. “Are you serious?”

“Yes,” Jillian snapped. Her patiencewas thinning quicker than usual. She blamed it on her pregnancy hormones. Now that she was five-and-a-half months along, it was easy to blame just about everything on them.

She took a deep breath, struggling to hang on to her temper. “We started dating Christmas morning, got engaged on New Year’s Day, and here we are.” Whether her sister liked it or not, she was about to get married.Not soon enough for me!The minutes on the retro chrome clock perched on Dave’s desk were ticking past with painful slowness. The sooner they were married, the sooner her disapproving family could return to Albuquerque. They’d moved there shortly after Jillian’s graduation from Heart Lake High. To this day, they hadn’t forgiven her for her refusal to relocate with them.

“Jillian,” Julie groaned in a voice one might use on a toddler about to get in trouble.

“Julie,” Jillian mocked in the same tone. She glanced toward the door, torn between worry and hope that their mother would stop by to deliver some last-minute motherly wisdom before the wedding. It probably wasn’t going to happen, though. Since her return to Heart Lake, Nell Harris had been giving her younger daughter the infamous silent treatment. Jillian had spent the last twenty-four hours trying not to care, but it still stung.

Especially with the number of demands her mother had been sending through Julie — not the least of which was her insistence that the wedding venue needed to be changed.

Though Jillian knew it was unusual to get married in an office building, she’d begged Dave to keep the ceremony small and private, and this was his way of doing it. It helped that he owned the place. His law practice took upthe entire third floor. He rented out the lower two levels to other businesses.

Julie’s expression grew mutinous. “One month isn’t long enough to get to know somebody, as inreallyget to know them.” She flicked a hand irritably toward her sister’s blooming belly. “How in the world did you explain your condition to Dave?”

“By telling him the truth.” Jillian lifted her chin, wishing there was a law against engaging in family squabbles on a person’s wedding day. It wasn’t as if telling Dave had been optional. She couldn’t exactly hide her pregnancy from him — not even if she’d wanted to, which she hadn’t.

“Allthe truth?” Julie pressed in a nasty voice.

Alarm trickled down Jillian’s spine. She quelled a shiver. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She was a forty-nine-year-old woman, for crying out loud, more than capable of making her own decisions.

“It means I do your taxes, sis.” Julie’s expression adopted a glint of glee. “Or have you forgotten that I see every expenditure, every receipt, every?—?”

“I haven’t forgotten.” Jillian had tried to forget, but it hadn’t worked. It was her cross to bear that her older sister basically got to spy on her every move through her debit and credit card transactions.

“Then it should come as no surprise that I saw the $60,000 deposited into your account last summer by the surrogacy firm in Dallas you’ve been hobnobbing with.”

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