Lone Star Wedding Read Online Free Page A

My son, Zane, thinks I should write them down. Maybe I will. In my old age. Suddenly, at fifty-three, I feel like a very young man.”
    He took Lily’s hand and turned to the guests. Raising his voice above the laughter and noise, he motioned to the wide double doors Rosita Perez, his devoted friend and long-serving housekeeper, had just opened. “Some of the finest musicians in San Antonio have been tuning their instruments for the better part of the past hour,” he saidgood-naturedly. “Let’s all go outside where we can appreciate their music as well as the stars on such a beautiful summer night.”
    Hannah was swept forward with Lily and Ryan and the throng of guests heading outdoors. She found herself in the courtyard, surrounded by people she didn’t know. Ryan had been right about the beautiful summer evening. Night had tamed the scorching temperature, turning it gentle, touching it with mystery. Lily had once told Hannah that Ryan’s mother, and later, his first wife, had been avid gardeners. The courtyard and the grounds were testimony to the love and care they’d given the lawns and gardens surrounding the sprawling adobe-styled house. Masses of large, purple sage plants looked almost black beneath the pale glow of artificial lights. Roses covered arbors, and flowering vines climbed the sandstone walls that surrounded Ryan’s home.
    The orchestra was playing, and several people moved onto the dance floor. Hannah had gotten separated from her mother and Ryan. Making small talk with an older couple nearby, it occurred to her that she and Cole were the only guests present who were connected more closely to Lily than to Ryan. She made a mental note to remind the ushers, when the time came, to seat guests on either side of the church, so as to better balance the guests, rather than in the traditional manner of the bride’s guests on the left, the groom’s on the right.
    â€œIt’s a small world.”
    Hannah recognized the deep voice spoken a few feet behind her. She took a calming breath, then turned to face Parker Malone. “Sometimes it seems that way.”
    There was something deliberate in the step he took in her direction, something just as deliberate in his smile. He’d removed his navy jacket, loosened his tie and rolledup the sleeves of his white dress shirt. By all rights, he should have looked less intimidating. Her heart pounded an erratic rhythm because he didn’t look less anything. She cleared her throat, pretending not to be affected.
    â€œI’m Parker Malone.”
    Since it would have been impolite to refuse it, she took his outstretched hand, but only briefly. “I know.”
    Parker waited to see if she would add anything, for instance, her name. She didn’t say a word. Evidently she knew her etiquette, but she only took civility so far. He’d always been under the assumption that women were uncomfortable with long stretches of silence. Hell, now that he thought about it, most of the women he knew never shut up long enough to find out. There was something different about this woman. He’d tried to dismiss memories of their brief meeting, but he’d had very little success putting her out of his mind. That wasn’t so surprising. He’d always believed that first impressions were the most potent, and his first impression of Hannah Cassidy had been a fantasy in the making.
    â€œAre you enjoying the party, Hannah?”
    She acknowledged his use of her name with the barest lift of her eyebrows. Parker would have preferred a proper introduction even though he’d grilled Ryan regarding all the Cassidys weeks ago.
    â€œYes, I am.”
    It might have been her intention to instill her voice with an overlying coldness, but Parker earned a very good living by paying attention to the most subtle nuances and inflections in his clients’ voices. She wasn’t as cold as she wanted him to believe. A smug