Page 26 of Once upon a Summer Night

“Yours had a title,” Gwen pointed out with a snicker.

Ellie dropped back onto the sofa and giggled. “Unfortunately, he had very little else to recommend him!”

About five years ago, Winnie had decided that she wanted to see Ellie and Gwen happily settled. While most of her efforts had fallen on Ellie, poor Gwen had to suffer when Winnie sprung the first of what turned out to be many blind double dates on them. The last one had been the final straw, though, and both women had sat her down to explain that while Winnie’s efforts were appreciated, they were not necessary.

Winnie acquiesced gracefully, but Ellie had always remained suspicious. She glanced at the paperwork fanned out on the coffee table in front of her, the Celtic Connections logo prominently displayed at the top of each page.

“Well, this time, she pulled out all the stops.” Quickly, Ellie explained what was going on, and Gwen’s silence stretched. “Gwen. I had to.”

“I would’ve done the same thing for her,” Gwen admitted reluctantly. “I’m sorry, Ellie. But even I’ve heard of Celtic Connections. They’re the ones who matched my cousin. The one whose wedding cost over a million? Remember her?”

Ellie sat up straight. “Kristin Bouchement?”

“Yep.”

“But…she was a monster! Sorry. I know she’s your cousin.”

Gwen snickered. “If it hadn’t been for her saint of a wedding planner, I would’ve hated her. I remember the original bridesmaid dress she put me in was ‘shrimp.’ That was the actual name of the color.”

“Shrimp?”

“You’d call it prawn.” Ellie could almost hear Gwen shudder before she continued, “In college Kristin wasn’t the most pleasant woman to be around. And maybe a bit afterwards, too. But Justin’s chilled her out.”

Ellie pursed her lips. “The most high-maintenance woman in the history of women, chilled out?”

“I don’t think you ever met Justin in person. He’s super down to earth. They’re perfectly matched and she does a lot of charity work now.”

“Wow,” Ellie replied, impressed. “I didn’t think she had it in her to care about anything other than herself, to be perfectly honest.”

“No one did. Then Justin happened. When that company is featured in the entertainment news, you know something big is going to happen. And now you’re their first client in the UK! That’s a ton of pressure on them. Push for perfection.”

“You sound like Winnie!” Ellie chuckled, but she ended it on a sigh. “I’m terrified about tomorrow’s press conference.”

“I bet. I’m booking a flight into Heathrow right now.” Ellieheard tapping as Gwen continued, “There. My flight arrives—ugh, just after midnight. Go to sleep and I’ll let myself in.”

“You have more money than sense.”

Gwen laughed lightly. “There are definitely times when the trust fund is useful.”

“Like going to South Africa on a safari?” Ellie asked knowingly.

“You know damn well I didn’t go to South Africa,” Gwen teased. Her voice grew serious. “You don’t want to know where I really was, El. It was a tough trip, but I’m so glad I went.”

“Do your parents know?”

“Oh, hell no. If they knew, they’d insist on sending someone in my place. Safety and all that.”

Ellie nodded, though Gwen couldn’t see her. The Allens were lovely, warm people—until Gwen’s safety was called into question. Then they locked down tighter than Fort Knox. Recently, they’d been easing up—Ellie suspected it had more to do with Gwen’s moving to a different state—but she knew them well enough to know they would do everything in their power to stop Gwen from going anywhere she would be in danger.

“Someday they’ll let me live my life on my own terms,” Gwen said. “But until then, for all intents and purposes, I had a delightful stay in Johannesburg and saw many interesting animals.”

“Where were you really?”

“Don’t worry about it. Go to bed and I’ll see you in a couple hours. Love you, E!”

“Love you, G.”

The next day,Ellie stared mulishly at her aunt, who was fretting over her niece’s hair.

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