| |
Mary Suzanne Breedlove and Patrick Dean Garner were married on the afternoon of July 10th, in the First Methodist Church as planned. Jolie watched, sitting beside Danni and Andy and Brady Fallon.
The church was packed. Sunlight streamed through the stained-glass window behind the pulpit and cast a golden aura around Suzanne and Pat as they said their vows.
Suzanne looked beautiful with her long blond hair secured in a bun at her nape and her retro rodeo hat, a swath of turquoise blue chiffon tied around the band and trailing down her back. Pat, too, looked handsome in a Texas Tux, Jolie thought, but he didn’t compare to Jake Strayhorn.
She thought Jake was beautiful, also dressed in a Texas tux and standing beside Pat. She glanced down at the diamond ring on her left hand and thought of the day when she would marry Jake, though they hadn’t yet determined a date. Strayhorns hadn’t yet found a new cook.
Billy was still in jail in Abilene, slated to be moved to Dallas, and Jolie had visited him. She was a mother figure to him and she knew that. She didn’t mind. Billy had never had anyone to care about him in all of his life. He might be lost and misguided, but he wasn’t worthless. No human being was worthless and he was, after all, the father of her daughter. When he wasn’t on drugs, his propensity for crime diminished.
“Propensity” was a new word she had learned.
Jake came to her as soon as the ceremony ended to escort her to the reception at the Circle C Ranch. She could tell he was nervous. He fidgeted for the whole twenty-eight-mile drive from town to the ranch and kept tugging at his collar. Except for the day he proposed, she had never seen him nervous.
When he walked into the ranch house, Jude broke into tears and came and hugged him. Brady shook his hand and gave him one of those guy hugs. Even J.D. had to pull his handkerchief from his back pocket and dab his eyes. Jolie almost cried herself, blown away by the fact that all of these years these people had lived within driving distance of each other, but never associated with each other.
Jolie felt as if she were a part of something important. She thought her heart might burst with happiness. Three months ago, when she began the chaotic journey to change her life, she hadn’t dreamed she would find so much of everything. She was a real-life Cinderella. She would soon marry a prince and live in a real house that compared to what she had left behind in Grandee, Texas, was a castle.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anna Jeffrey is an author of contemporary romance novels with a mainstream flavor as well as zany romantic comedy. She has written 12 romance novels as Anna Jeffrey and co-authored 8 romantic comedies/mysteries as USA Today Bestselling author, Dixie Cash.
Anna Jeffrey’s books have won the Write Touch Readers’ Award, the Aspen Gold and the More Than Magic Awards. Her books have been in the finals of numerous other writers’ awards.
She enjoys reading, painting and drawing and various crafts.
Currently, she lives in Oregon. You can keep up with her books on her website, www.annajeffrey.com;
or on her Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=anna%20jeffrey%20books.
ALSO BY ANNA JEFFREY
The Sons of Texas
The Horseman
The Cattleman
The Tycoon
Miranda’s Chronicles
Desired
The Strayhorns
Lone Star Woman
The West Texas Books
Sweet Water
Salvation, Texas
Sweet Return
The Callister Books
The Love of a Lawman
The Love of a Stranger
The Love of a Cowboy
––––––––
BOOKS BY DIXIE CASH
You Can Have My Heart, but Don’t Touch My Dog
I Can’t Make You Love Me, but I Can Make You Leave
Our Red Hot Romance is Making Me Blue
Curing the Blues with a New Pair of Shoes
I Gave You My Heart, but You Sold it Online
My Heart May be Broken, but My Hair Still Looks Great
Since You’re Leaving Anyway, Take Out the Trash
