Susan Elizabeth Phillips - Call Me Irresistible

Call Me
Irresistible

SUSAN ELIZABETH PHILLIPS

To Iris, Miss Irresistible

Before Teddy knew it, his mom was hugging him and Dallie was hugging her, and the three of them were standing right there in the middle of the Statue of Liberty security office hugging each other and crying like a dumb old bunch of babies.

FROM F ANCY P ANTS

Contents

M ore than a few residents of Wynette, Texas, thought Ted Beaudine was marrying beneath himself. It wasnt as if the brides mother was still the president of the United States. Cornelia Jorik had been out of office for over a year. And Ted Beaudine was, after all, Ted Beaudine.

The younger residents wanted him to marry a multiplatinum rock star, but hed already had that chance and turned her down. Ditto a reigning actress-fashionista. Most, however, thought he should have chosen someone from the world of womens professional sports, specifically the LPGA. As it was, Lucy Jorik didnt even play golf.

That didnt stop the local merchants from stamping Lucys and Teds faces on some special-edition golf balls. But the dimpling made them look a little cross-eyed, so most of the tourists who crowded the town to catch a glimpse of the weekend festivities favored the more flattering golf towels. Other bestsellers included the commemorative plates and mugs mass-produced by the towns Golden Agers, with the proceeds going to repairing the fire-damaged Wynette Public Library.

As the hometown of two of the greatest players in professional golf, Wynette, Texas, was used to seeing celebrities walking its streets, although not a former president of the United States. Every hotel and motel within a fifty-mile radius was filled with politicians, athletes, movie stars, and heads of state. Secret Service agents had popped up all over, and way too many journalists were taking up valuable bar space at the Roustabout. But with only one industry to support the local economy, the town had fallen on tough times, and Wynettes citizens welcomed the business. The Kiwanis had gotten particularly inventive by selling bleacher seats across the street from Wynette Presbyterian for twenty dollars each.

The general public had been shocked when the bride had chosen the small Texas town for the ceremony instead of having a Beltway wedding, but Ted was a Hill Country boy through and through, and the locals had never imagined hed marry anyplace else. Hed grown into a man under their watchful eyes, and they knew him as well as they knew their own families. Not a soul in town could muster up a single bad thing to say about him. Even his ex-girlfriends couldnt do more than muster sighs of regret. Thats the kind of man Ted Beaudine was.

Meg Koranda might be the daughter of Hollywood royalty, but she was also broke, homeless, and desperate, which didnt exactly put her in the mood to be a bridesmaid at her best friends wedding. Especially when she suspected her best friend just might be making the mistake of a lifetime by marrying the favorite son of Wynette, Texas.

Lucy Jorik, the bride-to-be, paced the carpet of her suite at the Wynette Country Inn, which her illustrious family had taken over for the festivities. They wont say it to my face, Meg, but everybody in this town believes Ted is marrying down !

Lucy looked so upset that Meg wanted to hug her, or maybe she wanted that comfort for herself. She vowed not to add her own misery to her friends distress. An interesting conclusion for these hayseeds to make, considering youre only the oldest daughter of the former president of the United States. Not exactly a nobody.

Adopted daughter. Im serious, Meg. The people in Wynette interrogate me. Every time I go out.

This wasnt entirely new information, since Meg talked to Lucy on the phone several times a week, but their phone calls hadnt revealed the tense lines that seemed to have taken up permanent residence above the bridge of Lucys small nose. Meg tugged on one of her silver earrings, which might or might not be Sung dynasty, depending on whether she believed the Shanghai rickshaw driver whod sold them to her. Im guessing youre more than a match for the good citizens of Wynette.

Its just so unnerving, Lucy said. They try to be cagey about it, but I cant walk down the street without somebody stopping to ask if I happen to know what year Ted won the U.S. Amateur Golf Championship or how much time passed between his bachelors and masters degreesa trick question because he earned them together.

Meg had dropped out of college before she earned even one degree, so the idea of earning two together struck her as more than a little demented. Still, Lucy could be a tad obsessive herself. Its a new experience, thats all. Not having everybody suck up to you.

Believe me, no danger of that. Lucy pushed a lock of light brown hair behind her ear. At a party last week, somebody asked me very casually, as if everybody has this conversation over a cheese ball, if I happened to know Teds IQ, which I didnt, but I figured she didnt know, either, so I said one thirty-eight. But, oh no... As it turns out, I made a huge mistake. Apparently Ted scored one hundred and fifty-one the last time he was tested. And according to the bartender, Ted had the flu or hed have done better.

Meg wanted to ask Lucy if shed really thought this marriage thing through, but, unlike Meg, Lucy didnt do anything impulsively.

Theyd met in college when Meg had been a rebellious freshman and Lucy a savvy, but lonely, sophomore. Since Meg had also grown up with famous parents, she understood Lucys suspicion of new friendships, but gradually the two of them had bonded despite their very different personalities, and it hadnt taken Meg long to see something others missed. Beneath Lucy Joriks fierce determination to avoid embarrassing her family beat the heart of a natural-born hell-raiser. Not that anyone would know that from her appearance.

Lucys elfin features and thick, little-girl eyelashes made her look younger than her thirty-one years. Shed grown out her shiny brown hair since her college days and sometimes held it back from her face with an assortment of velvet headbands that Meg wouldnt be caught dead wearing, just as shed never have chosen Lucys ladylike aqua sheath with its tidy black grosgrain belt. Instead, Meg had wrapped her long, gangly body in several lengths of jewel-toned silk that shed twisted and tied at one shoulder. Vintage black gladiator sandalssize elevenlaced up her calves, and an ornate silver pendant shed made from an antique betel-nut container shed purchased at an open-air market in central Sumatra rested between her breasts. Shed complemented her probably fake Sung dynasty earrings with a stack of bangles shed bought for six dollars at T.J. Maxx and embellished with African trade beads. Fashion ran in her blood.

And travels a crooked path, her famous New York couturier uncle had said.

Lucy twisted the strand of demure pearls at her neck. Ted is... Hes the closest the universe has come to creating the perfect man. Look at my wedding present? What kind of man gives his bride a church?

Impressive, I have to admit. Earlier that afternoon, Lucy had taken Meg to see the abandoned wooden church nestled at the end of a narrow lane on the outskirts of town. Ted had bought it to save it from demolition, then lived in it for a few months while his current house was being built. Although it was now unfurnished, it was a charming old building, and Meg didnt have any trouble understanding why Lucy loved it.

He said that every married woman needs a place of her own to keep her sane. Can you imagine anything more thoughtful?

Meg had a more cynical interpretation. What better strategy for a wealthy married man to employ if he intended to set up a private space for himself?