Bridesmaid For Hire. Marie Ferrarella

       Prologue

      “You understand that I normally don’t like to interfere in my children’s lives,” Anna Bongino stated emphatically.

      Animated, the silver-haired, well-dressed woman was perched on the edge of her chair in Maizie Sommers’s real estate office. Anna drew ever closer to the edge as she spoke.

      Despite the declaration written in bold black letters on the outer door, the subject under discussion was definitely not about real estate.

      “You’re a mother, Anna,” Maizie told the woman in the kind, understanding voice she often used when calming down nervous first-time buyers. “Interfering in our children’s lives is written in the bylaws. You’ll find it listed right after toilet training and staying up all night.”

      Sitting back in her chair, Maizie smiled at her friend. She might have been in charge of a thriving real estate business that she’d started right after losing her husband, but the subject matter under discussion was just as near and dear to her heart. Maybe even more so. To her, matchmaking wasn’t just a hobby. Maizie felt it was her calling.

      When approached for help, she and her lifelong best friends, Celia Parnell and Theresa Manetti, both successful small business owners in their own right, pooled their vast clientele and were able to hone in on just the right match. So far, they were batting a thousand.

      Finding the perfect match had all begun innocently enough. They had decided to take matters into their own hands and find matches for their own children. That successful endeavor had slowly blossomed to the point that their services were sought out by desperate parents or relatives who wanted only the best for their loved ones. They wanted them to have a chance at the happiness that had, heretofore, been eluding them.

      Which was why Anna Bongino was now sitting in her office, tripping over her own tongue and trying not to be overly embarrassed as she stated what had brought her here today.

      “Gina is a bright, outgoing, beautiful girl,” Anna said almost insistently.

      “I’ve seen her photograph,” Maizie replied, agreeing, at least for now, with the “beautiful” part of Anna’s assessment.

      “But she’s turning thirty-two soon,” Anna practically wailed.

      “That’s not exactly having one foot in the grave yet, Anna,” Maizie pointed out, doing her best to maintain a serious expression. This “advanced” age was clearly a sore point for Anna.

      “Well, it might as well be,” Anna cried. She drew herself up. “Did I tell you what my unmarried daughter does for a living?”

      “No, we haven’t gotten to that information yet,” Maizie replied.

      “She’s a professional bridesmaid,” Anna all but cried. “Have you ever heard of such a thing? I certainly haven’t,” Anna declared distastefully, then sighed mightily. “You know that old saying, always a bridesmaid, never a bride?”

      “I am familiar with it,” Maizie answered sympathetically.

      “Well, Gina’s taken it to a new level. Professional bridesmaid,” she said with disdain. “She made the whole thing up.” It was obvious that Anna was not giving her daughter any points for creativity as she went on complaining. “It’s Gina’s job to make sure that the bride experiences her day without any drama. Gina makes sure to handle any and all emergencies on the ‘big’ day so that the bride and her bridesmaids don’t have to endure any of the hassle.”

      “That’s rather a unique vocation,” Maizie commented. “What was Gina before she became this ‘professional bridesmaid?’” she asked, as calm as Anna was agitated. Maizie was trying to get to know her subject so that she and her friends could ultimately find the young woman’s match.

      It seemed clear that she had brought up a sore point. Anna’s face fell as she responded, “Gina was an accountant with a Fortune 500 company. She was going places, Maizie. But she said it wasn’t ‘fulfilling enough’ for her. So she gave all that up to help brides have a wonderful day—as if becoming a bride wasn’t wonderful enough.”

      “Is that why she gave up accounting?” Maizie asked, trying to get as complete and rounded a picture of the young woman as possible. “Because it wasn’t fulfilling enough for her?”

      Anna huffed. “That’s what she said. It also wasn’t ‘hands on’ enough for her. Gina had been a bridesmaid so many times—six,” Anna emphasized almost grudgingly, “that she felt she could take this so-called ‘knowledge’ and parlay it into this ‘creative’ vocation.” Anna shook her head in complete despair.

      “Now she’s so busy getting other people married off that she doesn’t have any time to look around for a suitable man herself.” Almost completely off her seat by now, Anna leaned forward over Maizie’s desk, her hand reaching for Maizie’s. “I need help, Maizie. I need you to throw a sack over my daughter’s head and whisk her away to some wonderful hideaway where she can meet the man of her dreams—or barring that, anything close to it,” Anna stressed.

      The image amused Maizie. “And what’s ‘he’ like, or don’t you know?”

      “Oh, I know. Or I thought I did. Gina was going out with Shane Callaghan about ten years ago. It looked as if that match was getting serious. I had such high hopes for it. And then, just like that, it stopped being serious.” It pained Anna to talk about it, even after ten years. “They broke up.”

      “Why?”

      Anna frowned, frustrated. “Damned if I know. Gina wouldn’t talk about it. I suspect that she got cold feet, but because I couldn’t get her to talk about it, I don’t know if I’m right or not.”

      “Shane Callaghan,” Maizie repeated. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but for the life of her, Maizie didn’t know why or where she had heard it before. “Do you know where this Shane Callaghan is now?”

      Anna shook her heard. “I haven’t a clue. If I did, I wouldn’t