As Houston looked down the aisle, she saw Jean Taggert standing between her uncle and her father. And ahead of the guests, on a raised platform that was canopied in greenery and roses, stood the men—in the wrong places.
Houston should have known it was too good to be true that all her plans would come about without anything going wrong. As it was now, she was walking up the aisle toward Leander. Quickly, she glanced at Blair to share the joke, but Blair was looking straight ahead—toward Kane.
Houston’s stomach began to turn over. This wasn’t just a simple mistake. With a pang, she thought of the flowers that Blair had sent her. Could Blair have arranged this so she’d not have to marry Leander? Did she want Kane?
The thought was ridiculous. Houston smiled. No doubt Blair was making a noble sacrifice and taking on Kane so Houston could have Lee. How sweet, but how wrong she was.
Still smiling, Houston looked toward Kane. He was staring at her intently and Houston was glad that he recognized her.
At least for a moment she was happy, but when his face darkened and he turned away, the smile left Houston’s face.
He couldn’t believe she’d arranged this switch so she could marry Leander, she thought. But of course he could.
As they drew closer to the platform, Houston tried to think of how to get out of this gracefully. Miss Jones thought she’d covered every possible situation that a lady could get herself into, but she’d never thought that a lady would find herself marrying the wrong man.
As the twins stepped onto the platform, Kane kept his head turned away, and Houston couldn’t help feeling a pang of resentment that he was going to do nothing to change positions. Didn’t he care if he got one twin or the other?
“Dearly beloved, we—.”
“Excuse me” Houston said, trying to keep her voice low so that only the five of them could hear. “I’m Houston.”
Leander understood instantly. He looked at Kane, who was still facing straight ahead. “Shall we exchange places?”
Kane didn’t look at either woman. “Don’t much matter to me.”
Houston felt her heart sink. Leander wanted Blair and Kane would take her, too. Quite suddenly, she felt as useful as a fifth wheel on a wagon.
“It matters to me,” Leander said, and the two men traded places.
Behind them, during the discussion, the audience had begun to twitter, but when Kane and Lee switched places, there was full-fledged laughter. Even though the people tried to cover their amusement, they weren’t successful.
Houston stole a glance at Kane and saw the anger in his eyes.
The service was over quickly and, when Reverend
Thomas said to kiss the brides, Lee enveloped Blair with gusto. But Kane’s kiss was cool and reserved. He wouldn’t look her in the eyes.
“Could I speak to you in your office, please?” she asked. “Alone?”
He gave her a curt nod and released her as if he couldn’t bear to touch her.
The four of them walked out of the room very fast and, once outside the library, people descended. Kane and Houston were quickly separated, as one guest after another wedged his way close to the bride. There was much giggling about the mix-up at the altar. Not one person could resist the temptation to remind everyone how Lee never could seem to make up his mind about which of the twins he wanted.
Jean Taggert pulled Houston aside. “What happened?”
“I think my sister thought she was doing me a favor by giving me Leander. She was going to sacrifice herself by taking the man I love.”
“Have you told Blair that you love Kane? That you wanted to marry him?”
“I haven’t even told Kane. Somehow, I felt that he might not believe, me. I’d rather show him how I feel over the next fifty years.” In spite of herself, tears sparkled in her eyes. “At the altar, he said he didn’t care whether he married me or my sister.”
Jean grabbed Houston’s arm and pulled her away from an approaching relative. “When you marry a Taggert, you have to be strong. His pride’s been wounded and he’s liable to say or do anything when he’s hurt. Find him now and tell him what your sister did, or tell him it was just an error in planning—anything—but don’t let him brood in silence. He’ll build everything into a mountain of anger, and then there’ll be no hope of reaching him.”
“I asked him to meet me in his office.”
“Then why are you standing here?”
With the beginning of a smile, Houston deftly flung the long train twice over her left arm and marched down the hall to Kane’s office.