“I guess everyone needs a hobby,” Mia said, “especially since you have so much time to kill.”

Grady fought the urge to smirk.

“Excuse me,” Beck said. “I want to run inside and see if Hal needs a hand with anything.”

“Let me know if there’s anything he needs me to do,” Mia told him.

Beck nodded and made his way through the crowd to the back door.

“I guess you couldn’t have taken that hike after the wedding?” Mia turned back to Grady.

“I have a different hike planned for after.”

From the corner of one eye, he could see a vision floating up the steps as if on a cloud. He took off his sunglasses and turned his head for a better look as the vision crossed the deck. She was taller than Mia and had dark hair worn long and free and curly. Her face was small and heart-shaped, her eyes huge and startlingly light blue. She wore a pale pink strapless dress of some sheer fabric that did nothing to hide her curves and all but foamed around her when she moved. He wondered what kind of material could do that-and he wondered who she was.

“Wow. It’s true what they say.” The pretty woman in the floaty dress walked directly to him and looked up at him through darkly fringed eyes.

“What’s that?” he asked, his mouth unexpectedly dry.

“All you Shields guys do look alike.”

Mia laughed. “Grady, meet Vanessa Keaton, Beck’s sister, and a very dear friend of mine. Ness, this is my brother Grady.”

“I figured that out.” Vanessa smiled and offered her hand, which he reached out to take.

He was surprised by her strength. “Nice grip.”

“Thanks.”

“Ness owns a shop here in St. Dennis,” Mia told him. “I’m a frequent and happy patron.”

“What do you sell?” he asked.

“Girly things. Froufrou stuff. Clothes and bags and jewelry.” She took a sip from her glass that held some fruity-looking drink, something that looked sweet and syrupy. Grady never understood why anyone would want to drink one of those things.

“Nothing a cowboy would be interested in,” Vanessa added.

Grady gave his sister a withering look.

“I didn’t tell her to say that.” Mia protested her innocence. “Really.”

“Sorry.” Vanessa rolled her eyes. “I just figured, you know, Montana. Ranches. Cows. Cowboys. It was a natural association for me. I hope it didn’t offend you.”

“No offense taken.”

“You know, like most people who have never been beyond the Mississippi, all I know about the west is what I’ve seen on TV.”

“You should come on out sometime, see for yourself.”

“Maybe I’ll do that. Sometime.” She turned her head and waved to someone in the yard. “Excuse me, would you? I see someone I need to speak with.” She flashed a smile at Grady. “I’m sure I’ll see you again before the week is over.”

“Like every day between now and Saturday, according to the schedule Mia sent me.”

Vanessa laughed, and floated away toward the yard on a cloud of pink. Grady tried not to watch her go, but he couldn’t help himself.

“She’s pretty, isn’t she?” he heard Mia say after Vanessa disappeared into the crowd.

“What?” He turned back to her. “Oh. Yeah.”

Mia grinned with what appeared to be satisfaction, and Grady frowned. “Get that look off your face, all right? Yes, she’s a pretty woman. I’m not blind, you know.”

“Good,” Mia said. “I’m glad you like her. ’Cause you’re going to be seeing a lot of her this week, and, well, you never know.”

“I said I wasn’t blind.” He raised the beer bottle to his lips and drained it. “I didn’t say I liked her or that I was interested.”

Over the course of the afternoon and early evening, Grady met what he figured must have been the entire population of St. Dennis. He was having trouble keeping them all straight. Was the guy over there in the khakis and the navy V-neck sweater the owner of the Inn, or the owner of the art gallery? And the fiftysomething woman with the pale blond hair pulled back in a bun-did she own the antiques shop or the bookshop? The pretty, flirty blonde with the long legs… was she the ice-cream parlor or the restaurant that everyone said served the best crab cakes in town? He was pretty sure that the little old lady with the white hair and bright blue eyes behind her granny glasses was Miss Grace, who owned the local paper. She’d more or less interviewed him, but whether it had been for some article about the wedding, or merely for the sake of gossip, he hadn’t been sure.

Grady couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen this many people in one place. Maybe his dad’s funeral, but even then, they’d been spread out over several rooms in Connelly’s Funeral Home.

And were all these people invited to the wedding? He couldn’t help but wonder. Most of the weddings he’d gone to had been mostly family affairs. This whole let’s-invite-the-entire-town thing was a totally new and foreign concept.

Then again, he reminded himself, this was a small town, and it was Beck’s town. His dad-Hal, Grady recalled-had lived here all his life, except for the time he spent in the service. He and Beck probably knew the names of every man, woman, and child in St. Dennis. Which meant that, by now, Mia probably did, too. Which would explain why most of the town was at this party to kick off what he’d come to think of as the “wedding week.”

Tomorrow he had to pick up his tuxedo and try it on for any alterations it might need. Tuesday night was the bachelor party-he’d heard someone mention something about dredging for oysters but he was pretty sure that was a joke. Wednesday, Hal offered to take the guys from the wedding party out on his boat, which could be fun. And on Wednesday night, there was something for Mia and her attendants-he couldn’t remember what that was all about, but it didn’t matter because it didn’t involve him. Thursday night was the rehearsal followed by a dinner. Friday night was some get-together for the wedding party that his brother Andrew had talked him into co-hosting. Saturday would be the wedding. And come Sunday-freedom!

He thought of the backpacking and hiking trails within a three-state radius that he’d researched on the Internet. There were several Civil War battleground hikes that had caught his eye, none of them particularly strenuous, but interesting for their history, and several others that led through the Appalachian Mountains that looked as if they could be somewhat challenging. He hadn’t set his heart on any one in particular-though the one through Virginia’s Bull Run Mountains had stuck in his mind-so he could be flexible. As long as he was here, he might as well make the most of the trip. He didn’t have a scheduled hike back in Montana until the end of next week.

He grabbed another beer and made his way around the tables that had been set up in Hal’s backyard to the one where the Shields family had gathered. Andy was already there with his wife, Dorsey, along with several of his cousins and their significant others: Aiden and his wife, Mara, and Connor and his fiancée, Daria.

“I was right, wasn’t I?” a voice behind him whispered in his ear. “You can’t help but notice it yourself.”

He looked over his shoulder and found the pale blue eyes of Vanessa Keaton looking into his.

“Excuse me?”

“That all of you look so much alike,” she explained. “You look as if you’re seeing it for the first time.”

“Oh, yeah.” He was taken off guard, not only by her unexpected presence but by the softness of her breath on the back of his neck when she’d whispered to him. “You’re right. There is a really strong family resemblance.”

“Even Mia looks like the rest of you,” she went on. “Only prettier than you guys. No offense.”

“She is prettier than I am. Thank God. And certainly, Mia’s prettier than Andy here.” He pointed to his brother, who looked up at the sound of his name. “Our cousin Connor, though-I don’t know if anyone’s prettier than he is.”