Luck Be a Lady - Cathie Linz [2]
As always and with much love, thanks to the Chilibabes—Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Lindsay Longford, Suzette Vann and Margaret Watson for your brainstorming wisdom and friendship. Ditto for Jennifer Greene and Julie Wachowski, who will never acknowledge how good they really are no matter how many times I tell them. A special hug goes to Jayne Ann Krentz, who has been there for me year after year. Thank you, dear friends.
Thanks to the Berkley team starting with my editor extraordinaire, Cindy Hwang; as well as Leis Pederson; my publicist, Kathryn Tumen; and Dominique Jenkins (we’ll always have ALA, Dominique!). My agent, Annelise Robey, already knows how much I treasure her.
Last but never least, a huge thanks to my readers who have supported me over the years—none of this would be possible without you.
Chapter One
It was the perfect day for a wedding. Thank God the groom showed up this time. Megan West couldn’t deal with a repeat of her cousin Faith’s last attempt to get married, when the groom took off.
But that was then, and this was now. A new groom made all the difference in the world. Now former Marine Caine Hunter would be at Faith’s side. Megan was so pleased Faith had found Caine—the man of her dreams.
“You were smart to come here to Las Vegas and have a small ceremony with only a few close friends and family,” Megan told Faith as the two of them completed their final preparations for the big event. “And having it here at the Venetian was brilliant.”
Faith grinned. “I thought so.”
Megan was determined that everything go right this time around. And the magical location sure helped. The instant you entered the Venetian’s lobby, with all the mosaic Italian marble floors and the colorful fresco ceilings, you knew you were somewhere special. And that was a good thing, because Megan fiercely believed that Faith deserved the best.
Faith was like a sister to her. They’d been born two days apart and grew up two blocks apart. Even now, back in Chicago as adults, they lived within walking distance of each other in their Streeterville neighborhood. But now Faith was going to become a married woman. And Megan wasn’t.
Megan told herself it was natural to be emotional leading up to today. Not that she gave any sign of what she considered to be her inner wimp. That wasn’t her way.
Instead, she focused her energies on making this day the best of Faith’s life. And after that . . . well, there were plenty of things for a non-gambling librarian like Megan to do while here in Vegas. Plenty of things for her to do right here at the Venetian—the unique stores, the singing gondoliers, the gelato, the Hermitage art museum adjacent to the lobby. Megan would be able to check them all out later this weekend. First she had to make sure Faith was safely married to Caine.
“We’re actually a little ahead of schedule, if you can believe that,” Megan said as she checked her appearance in the wall mirror. She and Faith were waiting in a small room designed for brides just off the wedding chapel area. Like the rest of the hotel, it was elaborately decorated in creams and gold.
“The Venetian was one of my favorite places when I lived here in Vegas and worked at the library,” Faith said. “And since Caine and I met in Italy, it seemed like a nice vibe to add to the ceremony without having to return to the Amalfi Coast. Not that I wouldn’t love to go back there. But this time we’re honeymooning in New Zealand. And I’m not honeymooning alone. Not that I was really alone last time because I met Caine there. I’m babbling, right? Yes, I’m incoherently babbling. I babble when I’m nervous. But I’m not really nervous. Should I be nervous? Are you nervous?”
“I’m not nervous,” Megan said.
“Because you’re not the bride and you’re the optimist in the family.”
“No, because I know Caine would never let you down.” Megan was getting tired of being the optimist in the family but it was hard to change her image after all this time. Sure, Faith had become a blonde