Lone Star Wedding (13 page)

Flirting? Her? Hannah didn't know what was coming over her, but she wasn't flirting. Although she was enjoying the bantering very much.

She should have been nervous, and yet she felt safe with Parker. Not from his advances. He had bedroom eyes if she'd ever seen any, and yet with him, she felt safe in a different way. With him, she could talk, and laugh, and be herself.

A telephone rang in another area of the house. Moments later, a dark-haired young woman who was probably in her early twenties appeared in the doorway. Hannah reeled backward. She hadn't thought to ask if she and Parker were alone.

“An urgent call for you, Mr. Malone.”

“Thanks, Lissett.” To Hannah he said, “Will you excuse me?”

“Of course.”

“I'll be as brief as possible.”

He spoke to Lissett on his way through the doorway. The other woman nodded, then strode stiffly into the room. “Can I bring you something to drink?”

Hannah shook her head. When the younger woman turned to leave the room, Hannah said, “Lissett. What a beautiful name.”

Lissett's large brown eyes warmed instantly. “My mother promised my grandmother she would name her first daughter after her. After giving birth to four boys, she was finally able to keep her promise. I'm just glad my grandmother's name wasn't Bathsheba.”

Hannah smiled. “Dating with one older brother looking out for me was difficult enough. I can't imagine finding a boy who could pass four brothers' inspections.”

Without warning, Lissett burst into tears.

 

Parker hung up the phone. Trying to knead a kink out of his neck, he left his study and went in search of Hannah. The business call had taken longer than he'd anticipated, much longer than he'd realized. He had an apology all ready. Certainly, one was called for.

He found her sitting on the end of his leather sectional, her bare feet curled beneath her. She had a half-empty glass of lemonade in one hand, a magazine in the other. He couldn't tell for sure, but she didn't
look
angry. He knew better than anyone that looks could be deceiving.

“I'm sorry that took so long, Hannah.”

She looked up at him, her gray eyes large and serene. “Was it important?”

He nodded, waiting for some sort of scathing comment or sarcastic remark.

“That's what I thought.”

That was it. No reproach, no fault-finding, just a calm acceptance, as if she knew there had to be a good reason for the delay.

She uncurled her legs, slid her feet to the floor, and stood, stretching like a cat in the sun. Her movements shouldn't have been lust arousing, and yet a restless tension stirred inside him.

“Did Lissett leave?” he asked.

“She went home a little while ago.” Wandering to the glass topped table behind the sofa, Hannah said, “She's sweet, but if her four older brothers don't stop trying to control her and force her not to see the man she's in love with, I have a feeling they're going to see a different side of her.”

His housekeeper had four older brothers? Parker had known her for two years, and yet it was news to him. Hannah had known her for less than an hour and she seemed to know the intimate details of Lissett's life.

Hannah was a people person. But it went beyond that. She wasn't like other women he knew. She certainly wasn't like
him.
He was still in need of that shower and change of clothes. Reluctant to leave Hannah alone again, he took a moment to study her. She'd removed the clasp from her hair, but hadn't bothered to slip into her shoes. She picked up a family photograph that had been taken when he and Beth had been small children.

“Happier times?” she asked.

He took the photo from her hand, studied it for a few seconds, then returned it to the table. “Looks can be deceiving.”

“Your parents must have been in love once.”

“Define love.”

Her head came up. “You can't define love. It's a feeling, and feelings are indefinable.”

“I don't know if they were ever in love. Frankly, I never asked. By the time I was old enough to talk, they were fighting like cats and dogs.”

“They must have been very young.”

“They were seventeen when they met. My grandfather forbade J.D. to see her. So naturally, they snuck around behind their parents' backs. She got pregnant. So he married her.”

“That's exactly what I told Lissett would happen if she doesn't stand up to her brothers. Sorry. Go on.”

“Six months after the wedding, my sister, Beth was born. Eighteen years later, she made the same mistake our parents made.”

“Babies aren't mistakes, Parker.” He shrugged, and she said, “Sometimes they're surprises, but not mistakes. Your sister has a child?”

He pointed to a silver-framed picture of a dark-haired boy in his early teens. “His name is Reed Harrison Malone Wilder. That's a lot of name to live down.”

Hannah had been thinking it was a lot of name to live up to. “How old is he?” she asked.

“He's fourteen. He's smart, but he doesn't work to his potential. He went through a pudgy stage a few years ago, but the last time I saw him, he could practically look me in the eye. He's snide, manipulative and, when he isn't paying attention, charming.”

He sounded like somebody else she knew.

“He's the spitting image of my father, inside and out.”

Hannah had been thinking of somebody else.

“It drives Beth crazy.”

“What about Beth?”

“She looks more like our mother.”

Hannah shook her head. “I meant, what is she like?”

“She's stubborn.”

Like the other Malones she knew, she thought. “What does she do?”

“She runs a little diner on the outskirts of San Antonio.”

“Is she married?”

“She was. Lord, what a whiner. Stan is the only man I've ever met who could beat his breast with both hands tied behind his back. If she would have let me handle the divorce, she wouldn't be in this predicament, trying to make ends meet, coming up short every month, and so exhausted at the end of the day she can't see straight, let alone keep track of a kid like Reed. It's one of the reasons he gets in trouble. He needs a firm hand.”

“Do you believe in disciplining children?”

“Damn right I do. But then, I also believe in a lot of issues politicians like to skirt.”

Hannah could well imagine what those issues were. It drove home the fact that they were nothing alike. She was forgive and forget. He was an eye for an eye. She believed in the sanctity of marriage. He believed in ending such a union by obtaining the proper signatures on the dotted line.

Still, he cared deeply for his sister. Hannah didn't know why it mattered to her, but it did. He seemed lonely just now. And tired, and in need of a warm smile.

Wandering to the other wall, she said, “Are you still planning to go to the Botanical Gardens?”

“I'd have to shower and change first.”

She didn't see that as a problem.

“Care to join me?”

She shook her head and rolled her eyes.

“Scared?”

Her
harumph
spoke volumes. “You don't scare me, Malone.”

“Why don't you come over here and say that?”

“Do I look stupid?”

“You look beautiful.”

Just like that, her knees went weak. She'd bet her eye-teeth his step in her direction was deliberate. Still, she was pretty sure the compliment had been as genuine as the intensity in his eyes.

She held up one hand in a halting gesture. Taking the hint, he didn't come any closer. “We don't have to go out. I could fix us something to eat here.”

It was getting late, and she was hungry, as well as intrigued. “Can you cook?” She didn't even apologize for the incredulity in her voice.

He slid a hand into his pocket and rolled his shoulders. “I wouldn't starve if I was marooned on a tropical island.”

“Well, what do you know. We have something in common.”

He picked up her glass of lemonade on his way into the kitchen. While he gathered all the ingredients he needed to prepare western omelettes, she said, “I planned a wedding for a couple who met when they became stranded together on a remote island. The bride wore mangoes on her head, and the groom carried a spear. It was one of the more unusual weddings I've attended.”

She sipped her lemonade, and watched Parker crack eggs, add a pinch of salt and a little Tabasco sauce before beating the mixture with a wire whisk. The kitchen was well stocked, but it wasn't what she would call cozy. The coziness came from the easy camaraderie between her and Parker. He was really a very good conversationalist. She supposed it went with the territory.

He told her about a few of the more bizarre divorce cases he'd handled, and she told him about some of the people she'd planned parties and weddings for. “I'd say the most unusual couple, other than the mango and spear-
toting pair, is one I'm working with right now. Their names are Starr and Moonie.”

He listened intently the entire time she described Moonie Leight and Starr Weston. “He whispered her name, although they'd never met, and she fell in love at first sight. She's convinced it was written in the stars. Moonie calls it fate.”

There was a long stretch of silence after she finished. The omelettes sizzled, and Parker finally said, “Don't the waiters and waitresses at The Pink Flamingo wear name tags?”

“You're missing the point.”

“What point?”

He smiled, and it occurred to her that he was teasing her. Something had shifted in their relationship. Mesmerized by his smile, so stark and white and mysterious, so uniquely his own and so different from her openness, something shifted in her, something a lot like hope and a little like desire. Or was it the other way around?

“I like what you're thinking, Hannah.”

Was she that transparent? “I'm thinking that we're complete opposites.”

“Which just proves that opposites attract.”

“Attraction isn't enough. I'm not looking for a wild, passionate fling.”

“Don't knock it until you've tried it.”

“There's the commitment factor.”

“You mean forever. An impossible notion.”

She could have argued, but what was the point? He believed in passion. She believed in forever. Which left them in limbo, between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

“I want you. You want me. The question seems to be, what are we going to do about it?”

Hannah carried two place settings to the bar. Adrienne
always said that if she ever found a man who could challenge her way of thinking and who didn't turn her stomach at breakfast, she would marry him. Hannah was beginning to understand that type of reasoning. Parker certainly fit the criteria. Oh, sure, there was the bothersome little fact that they were complete opposites. Or were they?

They shared common interests, common ground. Hannah loved her family. Parker loved his. She was a fair cook. So was he. They liked the same kind of omelettes, the same music, the top down on the convertible. They both liked living in the city, and they both enjoyed easy bantering and thought-provoking conversation. And she doubted she would ever tire of looking at him across any table, morning, noon or night.

He was a man she could fall deeply in love with. A part of her was on the brink of doing just that. For his part, he'd made no secret of the fact that he wanted her. No matter what he said, or what he claimed, she believed there was more to his feelings than that. He'd had an unhappy childhood, poor role models. To make matters worse, he saw the negative side of marriages every day in his work. As a result, he saw marriage as a risk. Given time, she wondered if he might come to realize that there were some risks worth taking.

Doling out silverware, she said, “Ryan's having another dinner party this weekend.”

“Yes?”

“My sister is going to be there.”

“I'm not interested in your sister, Hannah.”

Parker watched Hannah's expression change with her changing thoughts. He wasn't certain she appreciated his brand of humor, but he certainly enjoyed baiting her. “You were saying?”

“Would you like to go?” she asked.

“You mean, as your date?”

She didn't look up, but he noticed the tremble in her fingertips where she toyed with the edge of a pot holder. Something told him she was having a difficult time restraining the impulse to throw something at him.

“Hannah?”

“Yes,” she finally said. “As my date.”

“This weekend?”

She nodded. “Friday. Why, is that a problem?”

“Not really. I was just wondering how I was going to learn to etch by Friday.”

The pot holder she'd been holding bounced off his chest. Or maybe that was desire.

P
arker stood with a small group of men in the living room in Ryan's sprawling ranch home. He contributed to the conversation from time to time, but his attention rarely strayed far from Hannah.

Her head was bent close to Lily's, the overhead lights glinting off hair nearly the same rich, dark shade of brown. It had been a festive gathering, relaxed and informal from the beginning. Ryan and Lily had greeted their guests at the front door. “Is she here yet?” Hannah had asked before she'd even said hello. As it turned out, Maria had been the last to arrive. Hannah and Lily welcomed her and fussed over her like the prodigal son of Bible notoriety.

The party was small, consisting of Ryan and Lily, and eleven guests, some family, some long-time friends. The atmosphere was easy, the conversation flowing as freely as the champagne Ryan had poured before toasting to the future. After the toast, everyone had wafted outside to the courtyard where Ryan himself had manned the grill, insisting that Rosita and her husband Ruben were his guests along with the others.

Ryan was an astute businessman, but only a mediocre cook. He'd taken a lot of ribbing about the height of the flames shooting out of the grill. No one had really minded eating blackened hamburgers, including Parker. Tonight, Parker couldn't even bring himself to mind the fact that Ryan and Lily were so open in their affection and com
mitment to one another despite the fact that it was making obtaining a divorce for his client much more complicated than it already was.

The outdoor lights had come on automatically without anyone's notice. When the mosquitoes had invaded the party, the guests had retreated inside. Parker spent part of the evening with Hannah, but more often than not, he found himself separated from her while she talked with her mother and sister. Parker didn't mind. He could be patient when he wanted to be. He laughed and joked along with everyone else, but his gaze repeatedly returned to Hannah.

A need had been building in him all day, hovering beneath the surface, waiting. This desire was nothing new. It had been in the foreground since the first time they'd met. Studies indicated that first impressions were strong. And his first impression of her had been sexual in nature.

Since then he'd come to realize that Hannah was much more wholesome than his earlier impression had indicated. She was fresh, her expressions honest, her smiles genuine. A man knew where he stood with her. Parker liked that about her.

Their gazes met across the room, her smile sliding away, only to be replaced by a sultry expression he liked even better. She wanted him. It didn't matter that they were opposites, that she believed in forever, and he believed in tonight. She wanted him. And being wanted by Hannah Cassidy was a heady sensation.

“Hannah's a lovely girl,” Ryan said.

Hannah was a lovely
woman.
Since Ryan wasn't being condescending, Parker simply nodded.

“My children are a mixture of both their parents, but all three of Lily's children take after her.”

Again, Parker nodded. Although Cole hadn't been able to get away from his law practice in Denver on such short
notice, Parker had met Hannah's brother at Ryan and Lily's party. He had no idea what Chester Cassidy had looked like, but Ryan was right. The Cassidy offspring all shared the Spanish-Apache characteristics that were so evident in Lily. All of the surviving Cassidys had dark hair, and long, lean builds. Maria, although thin to the point of being gaunt, looked the most like Lily. Maybe it was their brown eyes. Hannah's were gray. Or maybe it was the brightly colored clothes they'd chosen. As usual, Hannah's clothes were neither brightly colored nor revealing. Unlike Maria, Hannah seemed to realize that she didn't need to broadcast her femininity in neon lights. Her white blouse was simple yet elegant, her black slacks draping over her hips and thighs in such a way that drew a man's eyes and toyed with his imagination.

There was something different about her tonight, and it wasn't simply the fact that she wasn't wearing brown. It was a difference that came from the inside, like a warm glow, a slow smile, a secret look. All those things combined in the most intriguing way. As most men, Parker knew what they meant. She wanted him. And she was thinking about that, and what she was going to do about it. She was going to have him. Perhaps not tonight. Perhaps not even tomorrow night. But soon.

“Look at her.” Ryan gestured toward Lily with his right hand, the ice cubes in his glass clinking at the sudden movement. “She's like a mother hen, clucking over her long-lost chick. There isn't anything I wouldn't do to ensure that she is always this happy. If there's one thing I've learned in this life, it's that there's no insurance for happiness. Which is why we should all live life to the fullest, savoring the good times.”

Ryan's nephew, Logan, caught Parker's eye from the other side of the small group of men who were standing
in a semicircle near the fireplace. Winking broadly, the younger Fortune said, “Does anyone else hear harp music?”

After making a hollow threat to cut Logan out of the will, Ryan handed his nephew his empty glass, then sauntered toward his intended.

“Girls,” he said, snagging Lily's hand. “Mind if I borrow your mother for a few minutes?”

Hannah smiled warmly at Ryan, and beamed at Maria. It was so good to see Maria, to spend time with her, to connect with her baby sister. Although she was a little thinner than she'd been the last time Hannah had seen her, Maria looked good. She'd always loved bold, bright colors. Her red dress was cut low in the front, and there was a slit up the skirt. Her lipstick was bright red, too. It gave her an exotic look, and made her appear older than twenty-three. The same inner excitement she'd had as a child was bright in Maria's brown eyes. Hannah had been worried about her younger sister, but seeing her tonight had eased her mind and held the worries at bay.

While Ryan spoke in hushed undertones to Lily, Hannah said, “Mom seems happy, doesn't she?”

Maria glanced at the couple who had paused in the center of the room. “Yes,” she said quietly. “He must be good in bed.”

Hannah gasped, and Maria laughed.

“Oh, don't be a prude, Hannah. And don't knock it unless you've tried it.”

Hannah couldn't help smiling. Reveling in the feeling of closeness with her sister, she whispered, “Now you sound like Parker.”

“Ah, yes,” Maria said. “Mother said you and Parker arrived together. That must mean you're a couple. Lucky
you. After all, if a man looks as good as Parker in a suit, he must look out of this world in the buff.”

“Maria, for heaven's sake.”

“Well?” she asked wryly, grinning. “Does he?”

Hannah's gaze strayed to Parker. The room took on a dreamy quality, her voice dipping low as she said, “I wouldn't know.”

Maria turned pensive, but she didn't say any more because Ryan was calling for attention. “Everyone,” he said loudly over the din of the other voices. When all eyes had turned to him, he smiled around the room. “I'd like to thank everyone for coming tonight.” His gaze homed in on Maria. “I'd especially like to thank you, Maria. Your presence here tonight has made your mother and I both very happy.”

Lily nodded at her youngest child, her eyes artful and serene. Maria nodded in return, smiling for everyone. For a moment Hannah felt the way she had before her father had died, when they were all together and all was right with the world.

While everyone else watched Ryan reach for Lily's hand, Hannah looked beyond them, where three men stood in companionable silence. Parker chose that moment to look her way, his gaze meeting hers from the other side of the room. One of the other men said something. Parker nodded, but his gaze didn't leave hers. Something intense flared through Hannah, something she wasn't sure she'd felt in exactly this way. It wasn't just a simple case of a woman wanting a man. There was more to it than that.

“Lily won't wear my engagement ring until I'm a free man,” Ryan said loud enough for everyone to hear. He reached into his pocket. Bringing out a thin box, he lowered his voice, and spoke to Lily, alone. “Not only do I understand, but I love you even more for your goodness,
your honor, and your conviction. But you'll have to forgive a smitten man for wanting to inundate you with gifts.”

Lily slipped her finger beneath a row of clear tape, deftly opening the package. Eyes bright with emotion, she lifted a delicate tennis bracelet from the folds of expensive silk. “Oh, Ryan.”

He took the bracelet and painstakingly fastened it around Lily's slender wrist. “I had your name inscribed on the charm near the clasp. I look forward to the day when you wear my engagement ring, my dear. There are some who say I went a little overboard with diamonds, rubies and sapphires in that ring. This bracelet is bright and yet less flashy. Perhaps it's more your style.”

“Ryan, the ring is beautiful. You don't have to give me another gift.”

Ryan's nephew, Logan, made light of the moment, jokingly calling, “You heard the woman, Uncle Ryan. Might as well take it back.”

Logan's new wife Emily elbowed him in the ribs. It gave the men a chance to clear their throats and the women the opportunity to blink the moisture from their eyes.

Maria Cassidy's eyes had narrowed slightly, but they were as dry as the desert.

Ryan went to a tall cupboard and brought out a tray containing several more wrapped packages, which he proceeded to hand to each of the women present. Maria played along, opening her gift, pretending to be thrilled at the sight of the ruby earrings. Hannah's earrings were blue sapphires, Logan's wife's were studded with emeralds.

Maria was as gracious as the other women, but inside she seethed. Perhaps it was fitting that hers were made of rubies, because she saw red. A man of Ryan's wealth could well afford to give expensive gifts. As far as Maria was
concerned, the earrings were nothing but a token, a mere pittance of what the Cassidys deserved.

Maria allowed herself to be pulled into the excitement as her mother and Ryan both took her hand, pulling her to her feet. She loved being the life of the party, the belle of the ball, and she truly basked in the warm glow of adoration and attention. It brought back her cloud of euphoria. Nobody guessed that she'd gotten her dress at a secondhand store. Maria forced the thought away, lest it should gather other dark thoughts. She didn't want the darkness to descend upon her, not tonight.

Bonnie Schumaker, the grandmotherly woman who lived in the trailer next to Maria's in the small, dried-up town of Leather Bucket, had offered to keep the baby overnight. That meant Maria was free. For one entire night. She could stay up until dawn and sleep until noon. The only thing that would make the night more perfect was a man to share it with, a man who told her things she wanted to hear in return for the opportunity to touch her lithe, supple body.

Her mother had told her the gathering would be low-key and informal. Maria wouldn't have agreed to attend if all the Fortune men had been invited. After all, she'd seduced half of the younger generation and had tried to seduce the other half. All because Hannah and her mother had refused to listen when she'd insisted that Cole's birth-mark was proof that he was a Fortune. If they had taken her seriously, she never would have had to take matters into her own hands. She never would have been forced to concoct a plan to produce a Fortune heir to get the Cassidys what was rightfully theirs. She wouldn't have had to try so hard, so long, to get pregnant. She certainly wouldn't have been forced to visit a sperm bank in order to conceive.

If only Lily, Cole and Hannah would have listened.

The darkness hovered, closer. Maria pushed it away. What was done was done. It had been a good plan. It wasn't her fault it had gone awry, just as it wasn't her fault that she had Matthew and Claudia's baby, and they had hers. She would find a way to make things right. But she didn't have to do it tonight. Tonight, she was free. Tonight, she looked more like her old self. Hadn't Lily and Hannah and Ryan all told her she was beautiful? She felt more like her old self, too. Oh, yes, she felt beautiful and lithe and sexy.

If only she had a man to appreciate it.

Unfortunately, the majority of the men present tonight were married. She happened to glance at Hannah. It was all she could do not to scowl at the moisture in boring old Hannah's eyes.

Maria cast a covert glance at Parker. It wasn't fair that Hannah was here with a man so obviously virile. A man such as Parker deserved a woman who knew how to take care of his every need. Hannah had as much as admitted that she didn't know how he was in bed. Good old boring Hannah was probably still waiting for a commitment.

The poor guy. Maybe Maria should do him a favor and tell him he's barking up the wrong tree.

“Isn't that right, Maria?” Lily asked.

“Hmm?” she murmured, bringing her attention to the matter at hand. She answered her mother's questions and smiled at Ryan. Underneath, she was bored to tears. Of course, nobody knew. God, she should have been an actress.

She was aware of the soft murmur of voices all around her, just as she'd always been. Her teachers used to say she lacked concentration and failed to work up to her potential. They were wrong. She was smart. In many ways,
she was smarter than they were. She always knew where everybody was in a given room. She remembered the most minute details of people's appearances, their houses, their very lives. Every detail was bright and indelibly imprinted in her mind. Every noise was compounded. She'd bored easily in school, but that was because there were so many more interesting things to think about than math or English or geography.

There were boys. And later, men. Certain men, that is, who knew how to hold a woman's attention. A delicious tingle washed over her. She wet her lips and crossed her legs. Yes, it was too bad all the men here were taken.