Abducted at the Altar by Charlene Sands

Author:Charlene Sands
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-03-24T16:00:00+00:00

“I, uh, should have said something about thanking the Lord for my wife and for Jeremiah, but somehow lying through my teeth while sending up a prayer to the Almighty didn’t set right. I don’t think I’ll be able to do that with the Parkers, either.”

“That’s all right. Just ask that Mr. Parker say grace when you’re dining with them. Then you don’t have to worry about it.”

Dorie glanced at Alberta. “That’s a good idea, Mrs. Whitaker. You are a gem.”

“A gem? Why, Dorie, I don’t think I’ve ever heard such a nice compliment before. I’m glad to help, but now, um, let’s see, while we’re passing around the dishes, why don’t you tell us how you and Shane met.”

Iggy began to pass the platter of steaks around the table. Shane forked a steak, the juice spurting out of the center as he slid it onto Dorie’s china plate. “Here you go, honey. I’ll fill your plate while you tell Mrs. Whitaker how we met.”

Dorie cocked her head to one side and cast him a mischievous look. “You tell the story much better, sweetheart. Why don’t you tell the Whitakers how we met?”

Shane spooned creamed potatoes off another platter and plopped them down onto Dorie’s plate, none too gently. “No, I insist. You go on, now. They’re waiting.”

“Oh, well, all right, sweetheart. It was love at first sight,” she began. “Shane took one look at me, and that was it. I met him at our church’s yearly bake sale and social. He asked me to dance and we did. We danced and danced and danced.” Fully immersed in her story now, Dorie’s blue eyes beamed excitedly. “We were having a grand time, until another man tried to cut in. I’m afraid Shane caused a ruckus when the man wouldn’t back down. Shane bloodied the man’s nose. Poor fellow, he had to be rushed to the doctor.”

Iggy Whitaker chuckled. Alberta simply grinned.

Shane’s temper flared. “I didn’t cause a ruckus, dear. Not over some silly dance.”

Dorie placed a calming hand on Shane’s arm. “Yes, you did. The whole town practically witnessed your outburst. Why, you couldn’t stand the thought of another man taking me into his arms. Of course,” Dorie continued with a gleam in her eyes, “later you were repentant. But at that moment, you knew you wanted me for your wife. It was truly the sweetest and most frightening thing I’ve ever experienced.”

“Why is that?” Iggy asked, his gaze fastened intently on Dorie, no doubt waiting to see what she’d come up with next.

“Why, because Shane was so much older than me.”

The glass of lemonade missed Iggy’s mouth. He spilled a measure of liquid onto the table, but that didn’t stop Dorie. She continued, “That frightened me. Here I was just sixteen and Shane, well, he was a mite older than that. I wasn’t all too sure that bloodying a man’s nose while trying to impress a lady would be considered proper at all. But he was so sweet and, aside from drawing blood on that dance floor, he’d been a perfect gentleman.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.