When Gillian Malone decides her father is not finding her a mother fast enough, she enlist the help of a match maker, Celeste Tate. Lucky for Gillian, Celeste has just had something fall into her lap when a Washington socialite is left at the altar by a low-life fiance. Delaney Holmes needs the lifeline that Ava Tate and her mother Celeste can provide.
Here's a snippet from Prince Charming Wore Spurs.
He was late. Logan Malone hated not being punctual. Today of all days, when he had this
wrench thrown into the works his back rear tire decided to go flat. Reaching up, he pulled the white Stetson from his head as the automatic doors to the airport lobby opened. A flash of cool air blew the heat from his skin and ruffled the dark blonde curls he kept cut short on his head. Eyes focused on the long counter of the airlines that lined the back wall with their various logos, he stepped up to a lone clerk working on her computer.
"Pardon
me, ma'am."
She
glanced up. Her eyes widened and her smile grew. "How can I help you,
sir?"
"I
need to know if flight 625 has landed."
"Let
me check."
He
waited while her fingers flew over the keyboard.
"Oh,
they arrived twenty-five minutes ago. You might find them over at
baggage." He followed her point to the right.
"Thanks."
"Sure
thing," she replied.
Of
course, she'd be early. He took a deep breath and lengthened his steps, dodging
the oncoming human traffic, oblivious to the admiring glances of the women, young
and old, who he passed. The message his father left was cryptic. Pick up the
nanny for Gillian on the eleven o'clock flight at Dallas International. To say
he'd been shocked was an understatement. He hadn't known his father thought his
daughter needed any nanny. There were at least a half a dozen cowboys and Mrs.
Saunders, the housekeeper. They were stepping over people as it were.
However,
his father assured him it was the right thing to do. The stock needed to move
to the summer pastures and preparations confirmed for the drive to the rail
yards. Gillian would be alone quite a bit. He just wished he knew more about
this woman even though his father said she had the best references and Celeste
Tate gave her word this would be an excellent match.
He
really wished his father hadn't said those words. Everyone in Indigo Springs,
maybe in the state of Wyoming, knew about her business. Glass Slipper, Inc, he
mused. Just like his daughter, she was obsessed with that fairy tale stuff and
finding true love. Well, he'd had love once and lost it on a twist of fate. He
wasn't about to try again.
Mrs. Tate said she'd be wearing a ball cap. He
shook his head. Shoot, this day and time,
didn't everybody? He paused beside an empty carousel and scanned the waiting
passengers. At least ten people were wearing ball hats. Two were under the age
of twelve, the rest were men.
That
left the woman standing by the exit and another sitting in the corner hunkered
down beside an elderly woman looking as if she wanted to avoid the world as his
likely candidates. The exit doors opened and a man swept the woman into his
arms. He turned toward the one trying to shrink. Odds were this was his
passenger.
Cautiously,
he advanced. The closer he came, the more he could see the older woman was in
control of the conversation. He paused by the luggage carousel to watch. The
young woman beneath the brim of the cap hardly appeared to be over twenty, if a
day. He couldn't see her face because of the way she held her head, but she
looked as if she'd break in half if someone yelled boo. This is the kind of
woman his father thought could run after Gillian! Evidently, neither his dad
nor Mrs. Tate remembered what a handful a five-year-old going on twenty could
be.
As
he came closer, he could hear part of the conversation. “Yes, my daughter and
her husband didn’t get along at all in the beginning. Like two bulls ready to
go at one another.” He watched the older woman reach over and pat her arm. “You
know that saying, about how close love and hate can be.” She chuckled at her
own joke.
The young woman looked up. He caught the
miserable expression on her face as if she were begging someone to come save
her. He took a deep breath and looked down at his white hat he held in one hand.
Yep, every hero wears one. He grimaced and stepped forward.
“Sometimes, you don’t know love when it
happens, or you mistake it for lust. It happens. My mother used to say, you
have to kiss a lot of toads before –“
His
footsteps made them both look up. The older woman stopped speaking. Her deep
blue eyes raked over him and softened as she determined that he was off no
danger to their virtue. Her interest peaked, she murmured, "Oh, my."
The
woman with the ball cap swallowed and gazed at him from behind her sunglasses.
“Afternoon,”
he nodded.
“Afternoon,
young man.” The elderly woman elbowed the girl again. Her eyes twinkled merrily
as she spoke. “I think this one is for you.”
Logan
gave a lopsided grin and addressed the young woman. “Ma’am, are you Miss Carson?”
The
young woman sat up and hesitated. “Yes, I am.”
“Mrs.
Tate sent me to pick you up. She couldn't come.” To purchase your copy of Prince Charming Wore Spurs please use the links below...
