Fairy Tale Weddings by Debbie Macomber Page B

examined the comb carefully. “Can I take this?” he asked and stuck it in his pocket.
    Thorne agreed with a swift nod of his head. “I’ll want it back.”
    â€œOf course.”
    They spoke for an additional fifteen minutes and Thorne recalled with as much clarity as possible each of the two meetings he’d had with Cindy.
    Williams stopped him only once. “A limo, you said.”
    â€œYes.” Thorne slid forward in his chair. He’d forgotten that. Cindy had gotten into a limousine that first night when she’d escaped from him. She’d handed him his coat, run across the street and been met by a long black limousine.
    â€œYou wouldn’t happen to remember the license plate, would you?”
    â€œNo.” Thorne shook his head disgustedly. “I’m afraid I can’t.”
    â€œDon’t worry about it. I have enough.” Williams scanned the details he’d listed and flipped the pad shut. He got to his feet.
    Thorne stood, too. “Can you find her?” he asked.
    â€œI’ll give it my best shot.”
    â€œGood.” Thorne hoped the man couldn’t see how desperate he’d become.
    Â 
    A cold northern wind chilled Cindy’s arms as she waited on the sidewalk outside the Oakes-Jenning building. It was well past midnight. She was exhausted—physically and mentally. She hadn’t been sleeping well and the paper she should be writing during the holiday break just wouldn’t come, although she’d done all the research. It was because of Thorne. No matter what she did, she couldn’t stop thinking about him.
    Uncle Sal pulled to a stop at the curb. Cindy stepped away from the building and climbed into the front seat beside him.
    â€œHi,” she said, forcing a smile. Her family was worried about her and Cindy did her best to ease their fears.
    â€œA private detective was poking around the house today,” her uncle announced, starting into the traffic.
    Cindy felt her heart go cold. “What did he want?”
    â€œHe was asking about you.”

Seven
    â€œA sking about me…What did you tell him?”
    â€œNot a thing.”
    â€œBut…”
    â€œHe wanted to look at my appointment schedule for December 12, but I wouldn’t let him.”
    The chilly sensation that had settled over Cindy dropped below freezing. Her uncle’s refusal would only create suspicion. The detective would be back, and there’d be more questions Sal would refuse to answer. The detective wouldn’t accept that, and he’d return again and again until he had the information he wanted. This stranger would make trouble for her family. In a hundred years, she never would’ve guessed that Thorne would go to such lengths to locate her. She had to find a way to stop him…a way to make him understand and leave things as they were.
    Cindy went to bed still thinking about the whole mess and got up even more tired and troubled than she’d been before. She’d repeatedly examined her own role in this situation. Playing the part of Cinderella for one night hadseemed so innocent, so adventurous, so exciting. She’d slipped into the fantasy with ease, but the night had ended with the stroke of midnight and she could never go back to being a fairy-tale character again. She’d let go of the illusion and yes, it had been painful, but she’d had no choice. The consequences of that one foolhardy night would follow her for the rest of her life.
    She’d never dreamed it would be possible to feel as strongly about a man in so short a time as she did about Thorne. But her emotion wasn’t based on any of the usual prerequisites for love. It couldn’t be. They’d only seen each other twice.
    Thorne might believe he felt as strongly about her, Cindy realized, but that wasn’t real either. She was a challenge—the mystery woman who’d briefly touched his life. Once he learned the