Table Of ContentDear Reader,
I hope you will join me on a new adventure.
Our travel will take us to fog-swept coves. To the
magic of a special town and special people. On
Summer Island’s quiet streets friendship runs deep,
and the love of a good yarn runs even deeper.
One by one old friends will be pulled back home to
the rugged Oregon coast. One by one dreams will
be lost—and then found. As the seasons change,
each friend will face secrets and betrayals, along
with the healing gift of love.
Please join me on this journey home.
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With warmest wishes, g
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Christina 97
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Also available from
Christina Skye
and Harlequin HQN
Summer Island
A Home by the Sea
The Knitting Diaries
Code Name
Code Name: Bikini
Code Name: Blondie
Code Name: Baby
Draycott Abbey
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Draycott Eternal 7 p
Draycott Everlasting 59
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Bound by Dreams 7
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The Accidental
Bride 3
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If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware
that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and
destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the
publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
Recycling programs
for this product may
not exist in your area.
ISBN-13: 978-0-373-77659-7
THE ACCIDENTAL BRIDE
Copyright © 2012 by Roberta Helmer 4
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All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or pa
utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, 7
mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including 59
xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage 76
or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the 7
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and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business e
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establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. ci
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This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A. e
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A warm thank-you to all my friends
at Tuesday-night knitting for good patterns,
good cheer and great inspiration.
Thank you to Celia and Caroline—
world-class knitters and friends. Fiber days rule!
Another big round of thanks for Peggy and Victoria.
You are the best.
I couldn’t have typed The End without you!
A deep and hearty thank-you to Phyllis
at Barnes & Noble in Goodyear, Arizona. You rock!
As always, you are the queen of booksellers!
And finally, my heartfelt appreciation
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to Debbie Macomber, e
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wonderful author, wonderful friend. a
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Thank you for all your kindness and laughter. 7
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And thanks for that amazingly clever wedding twist! 6
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The Accidental
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PROLOGUE
IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL wedding.
The groom got sick. The bride overslept. The best
man was a dog.
And the day had barely begun.
The anxious bride peeked out the door at the back
of the crowded chapel, watching more and more peo-
ple cram the pews. Everything had happened so fast
over the past week. It was still hard to imagine how
much had changed.
Right now all she wanted was to have the cer-
emony over. She wasn’t used to wearing makeup,
and she never fiddled with her hair, but the wedding
consultant had taken her job seriously.
Jilly O’Hara was stunned to see her image in the
mirror, a tall, serene vision of elegance in a long
white silk gown. A cream satin sash framed her slim
waist, accentuating her height, and a single satin or-
chid gleamed in her upswept hair.
She could barely recognize herself. None of her
friends would have known her, that was for sure.
A few stragglers were being seated, to the back-
drop of restless coughing. Standing at the back of the
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10 THE ACCIDENTAL BRIDE
chapel, Jilly’s friend Jonathan made a discreet ges-
ture and smiled as the bridegroom came to stand at
the front of the crowd. The groom’s big brown dog
sat nearby, alert and perfectly behaved, a vision of
canine elegance in his red bandanna.
The organ music swelled. Jilly took a deep breath
as the instantly familiar strains of the Wedding
March filled the chapel.
She stared down the long aisle, wondering how
everything had happened so fast since she came
to Wyoming. Marriage was the last thing she had
planned for herself. Down the aisle Jilly saw her
groom, lean and a little dangerous in a severely cut
black suit that looked very expensive.
“Are you ready?” Jonathan stood smiling at the
door.
“As ready as I’ll ever be. Explain to me again why
I agreed to this,” she murmured.
Jonathan took her arm. “You’ll be fine. By the
way, you look gorgeous. Seriously, I wouldn’t have
recognized you under all that makeup and puffy
hair.”
“Gee, thanks. I think.”
As they walked outside, Jilly focused on not fall-
ing in the strappy evening sandals that the bridal
expert had insisted she wear.
Every face turned. The music swelled. The big
room seemed to blur as Jilly’s cool, thoughtful groom
smiled at her from the altar.
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