Matched in Miracle-Book 6

Mischief and Masquerade

Katherine Eleanor Wellington jammed her finger on the end call button and threw it onto the bed.

“Wow. Harsh.” Emily Hayes, her best friend, sat on the floor with her leg drawn up to her chest, painting her toenails chartreuse green.

Kate slumped into the chair at her desk. “You’ll never guess who they suggested this time.”

Emily chuckled and wiped a bit of the polish from the edge of her big toe. “Sir Edmund Lancelot of Avalon?”

“Just as well be.” This was the third loser her parents had tried to hook her up with. Good grief! Why couldn’t they let her find a guy on her own? Fall hopelessly in love on her own. Live her own life…ON HER OWN!

Emily capped the bottle and fanned her toes. “Okay, so who is it?”

“Some guy in a remote country I’ve never heard of.” Kate retrieved her phone and typed in the man’s name into the search bar. “Richard Devonshire VII.” She said his name out loud as she typed it in.

Emily stopped fanning her toes and looked up at Kate. “Oooo…sounds like he comes from either money or royalty.”

“Or both.” Kate turned the screen so Emily could get a good look at the handsome man with blond hair, blue eyes, a smug smile, and a firm jaw. He stood in front of an ancient stone fountain dressed in a red suit coat over a lavish gold shirt and brocade vest. He definitely screamed of money.

Emily snatched the phone and studied the image of the drop-dead gorgeous man. “Now that’s a face I could fall in love with, even if he was the poorest man on earth.”

“You have met the last two guys my parents tried to set me up with.” Kate clenched her jaw. “Brent…”

“Total conceit-wad.” Emily finished.

“Marcus…”

“Player.” Emily handed the phone back to Kate. “I still don’t understand why you’re letting your parents choose your husband. If it was me, I’d tell them to piss off.”

“I should.” But Kate couldn’t do that to them. She adored her mother and father. They’d given her the best of everything. Everything. While her friends laughed at her for her loyalty to her family, only Emily stood up for her. But even then, her best friend didn’t really understand the ramifications of going against her parents’ wishes.

“So what does the internet say about this prince charming?”

Kate scrolled through his social media account. “It says that he is the steward of Ravenswood, a history buff, and an advocate for community resilience. Whatever that means.” His cover photo was of a castle on top of a small hill. Could she live in an English countryside?

“What else does it say?” Emily picked up the topcoat bottle of polish and painted her other toenails. “I mean, does it say how old he is?”

“Says he’s thirty-four.”

“Wow, that’s ten years’ difference.”

“Same as my parents.”

Emily switched to the other foot. “Okay, so go on.”

It looked like he was involved with not only his estate, but community events as well. “There’s lots of pictures of him at what looks like a local outdoor festival.” She continued to scroll through his photos. “Oh, look, here’s one with a caption that says, raising money to restore the east wing.” Kate turned the phone around before sitting on the carpet next to Emily.

Together, they spent the next half hour perusing the images and videos. The people in Devonshire seemed to adore him. Emily let out a breathy sigh. “Do you think he’s as nice as he is handsome?”

Kate closed out of the app and dropped the phone beside her. “According to what people are commenting on his posts, he seems to have quite a fan base.”

“So how are your parents proposing you meet with him? Are you all going to his castle? Do you need a lady-in-waiting?” Emily giggled at the last comment.

That sparked an idea. “Yes…but I want you to do something else for me.”

“Oooo…plotting. I love it!” Emily leaned closer as if they were in on a delicious secret.

“I’ll be your lady-in-waiting, and you can pose as me.” The more she thought about her idea, the more excited she got about it. “That way I can observe him…just to make sure.”

“Yeah, but what if he realizes our switch?”

“Then we’ll laugh, and he’ll call off the arrangement, and we’ll all go on our marry way.”

Emily bit her lower lip. “And then your parents will just find somebody else for you to get married to.”

“True that.” Honestly, if it wasn’t for family tradition, loyalty, and sense of obligation, Kate would simply run away and marry the first poor guy who had integrity. She really wanted to marry for love, not for prestige, money, or social status.

“Alright, so explain your plan.” Emily pinched her lips together.

“We’re supposed to meet at a hotel in Texas.”

“Why Texas?”

Kate repeated what her mother had told her. “It’s out of the way, off the beaten path. Nobody there knows either of them. We can court in anonymity.”

“How big is this town?”

“Hold on, let me check.” Kate picked up her phone and searched for Miracle, Texas. “It says one thousand and ninety-six as of the last census.”

“Wow, that’s pretty small.” Emily scrunched her eyebrows. “But don’t people in little towns know everybody and everybody is in everybody’s business?”

“My mom assured me we would be free to get to know each other, since I don’t have a public profile, and nobody’s probably even heard of Ravenswood.” Kate held her best friend with her most pleasing look. “Please say you’ll do this.”

Emily paused for so long, Kate didn’t think she’d agree. “Alright, but on one condition.”

“Name it, it’s yours.”

“If your prince falls head over heels in love with me, I get to keep him.”

Kate held out her hand. “Deal.”

This is a rough draft, but I would love to get your feedback!