Summer Wedding Bells: Marriage Wanted / Lone Star Lovin'. Debbie Macomber

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СКАЧАТЬ He slid his hands in his pockets with a contemptuous frown. Apparently he feared that even being in this place where love and romance were honored would infect him with some dread disease. It must take a good deal of energy to maintain his cynicism, Savannah thought.

      “Can I help you?” she asked.

      “No, thanks. I was just looking.” He walked slowly through the shop. His expensive leather shoes made a tapping sound against the polished hardwood floor. She noticed that he took pains not to touch anything.

      Savannah nearly laughed out loud when he passed a display of satin pillows, edged in French lace, that were meant to be carried by the ring bearer. He stepped around it, giving it a wide berth, then picked up one of her business cards from a brass holder on a small antique table.

      “Are you Savannah Charles?” he asked.

      “Yes,” she replied evenly. “I am.”

      “Interesting shop you have here,” he said dryly. Savannah had to admit she found him handsome in a rugged sort of way. His facial features were strong and well-defined. His mouth firm, his jaw square and stubbornly set. He walked in short, clipped steps, his impatience nearly palpable. Naturally, she might be altogether wrong and this could be someone other than Susan’s brother. Savannah decided it was time to find out.

      “Are you about to be married?”

      “No,” he said disgustedly.

      “This seems like an unusual shop for you to browse through, then.”

      He smiled in her direction, acknowledging her shrewdness. “I believe you’ve been talking to my sister, Susan Davenport.”

      So Savannah had been right. This was Susan’s hard-nosed older brother. His attitude had been a dead giveaway. “Yes, Susan’s been in.”

      “I take it she’s decided to go through with this wedding nonsense, then?” He eyed her suspiciously as if to suggest his sister might have changed her mind except for Savannah’s encouragement and support.

      “It would be best if you discussed Susan’s plans with her.”

      Nash clasped his hands behind his back. “I would if we were on speaking terms.”

      How he knew his sister was working with her, Savannah hadn’t a clue. She didn’t even want to know.

      “So,” he said conversationally, “exactly what do you do here?”

      “I’m a wedding coordinator.”

      “Wedding coordinator,” he repeated, sounding genuinely curious. He nodded for her to continue.

      “Basically I organize the wedding for the bride and her family so they’re free to enjoy this all-important day.”

      “I see,” he said. “You’re the one who makes sure the flowers arrive at the church on time?”

      “Something like that.” His version oversimplified her role, but she didn’t think he’d appreciate a detailed job description. After all, he wasn’t interested in her, but in what he could learn about his sister and Kurt’s plans.

      He wandered about the shop some more, careful not to come into contact with any of the displays she’d so carefully arranged. He strolled past a lace-covered table with an elegant heart-shaped guest book and plumed pen as if he were walking past a nest of vipers. Savannah couldn’t help being amused.

      “Susan hasn’t got the money for a wedding,” he announced. “At least, not one fancy enough to hire a coordinator.”

      “Again, this is something you need to discuss with your sister.”

      He didn’t like her answer; that much was obvious from the way his mouth thinned and the irritation she saw in his eyes. They were the same intense blue as his sister’s, but that was where the resemblance ended. Susan’s eyes revealed her love and enthusiasm for life. Nash’s revealed his disenchantment and skepticism. She finished up the last of her paperwork, ignoring him as much as she could.

      “You’re a babe in the woods, aren’t you?”

      “I beg your pardon?” Savannah said, looking up.

      “You actually believe all this…absurdity?”

      “I certainly don’t think of love and commitment as absurd, if that’s what you mean, Mr. Davenport.”

      “Call me Nash.”

      “All right,” she agreed reluctantly. In a few minutes she was going to show him the door. He hadn’t bothered to disguise the purpose of his visit. He was trying to pump her for information and hadn’t figured out yet that she refused to be placed in the middle between him and his sister.

      “Did you ever stop to realize that over fifty percent of the couples who marry in this day and age end up divorcing?”

      “I know the statistics.”

      He walked purposely toward her as if approaching a judge’s bench, intent on proving his point. “Love is a lame excuse for marriage.”

      Since he was going to make it impossible for her to concentrate, she sat back on her stool and folded her arms. “What do you suggest couples do then, Mr. Davenport? Just live together?”

      “Nash,” he reminded her irritably. “And, yes, living together makes a lot more sense. If a man and woman are so hot for each other, I don’t see any reason to muddy the relationship with legalities when a weekend in bed would simplify everything.”

      Savannah resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Rejecting marriage made as much sense to her as pushing a car over a cliff because the fender was dented. Instead she asked, “Is this what you want Susan and Kurt to do? Live together indefinitely? Without commitment?”

      That gave him pause. Apparently it was perfectly fine for other couples to do that, but when it came to his little sister, he hesitated. “Yes,” he finally said. “Until this infatuation passes.”

      “What about children?”

      “Susan’s little more than a child herself,” he argued, although she was twenty-four—and in Savannah’s estimation a mature twenty-four. “If she’s smart, she’ll avoid adding to her mistakes,” he said stiffly.

      “What about someone other than your sister?” she demanded, annoyed with herself for allowing him to draw her into this pointless discussion. “Are you suggesting our society should do away with family?”

      “A wedding ring doesn’t make a family,” he returned just as heatedly.

      Savannah sighed deeply. “I think it’s best for us to agree to disagree,” she said, feeling a bit sad. It was unrealistic to think she’d say anything that would change his mind. Susan was determined to marry Kurt, with or without his approval, but she loved her brother, too. That was what made this situation so difficult.

      “Love is a lame excuse to mess up one’s life,” he said, clenching his fists at his side with impotent anger. “A lame СКАЧАТЬ