Second Chance Brides by McDonough Vickie;

Author:McDonough, Vickie; [McDonough, Vickie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1821735
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2010-02-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

Saturday evening arrived sunny with a north wind that brought slightly cooler temperatures. Shannon was ever so glad the stifling summer heat was gone, at least for the moment. But with this being Texas, heat was never gone for good, so she’d been told numerous times.

Lively music filled the air, and dancers promenaded, curtsied and bowed, and swung their partners in wide circles. The American square dance reminded her a bit of an Irish jig, though it seemed more organized.

She watched Mark, grinning wide, catch the hand of his pretty blond partner, and they danced forward and back, once, twice, three times. He looked happy. She sighed. He had no idea that her heart ached for him. Why couldn’t he smile at her like that? All he ever did was stare at her, probing with those amazing eyes.

She’d never planned to fall for a Corbett, not after their shenanigans, but something about Mark called to her. He seemed happy enough on the outside, but there was a longing in his heart, something he yearned for or that pained him, something that he’d never expressed to her—and she doubted he’d ever spoken of it to his brother. Trying to talk seriously with Garrett was a waste of time, if you asked her. The man was full of blarney and had been born in the wrong century. He should have been a court jester. She grinned, thinking how silly he’d look jumping around in one of those jester outfits she’d seen in a book. Garrett danced his partner around Mark and bumped his brother, almost knocking him down. Garrett laughed, but Mark scowled.

“Those Corbett brothers must be happy with so many people showing up this evening.” Leah wiped down the table that had held her baked goods. “It’s hard to believe everything sold in less than ten minutes when it took hours to bake it all.”

“You’ll have to be making more next time. I’d be happy to help you.”

“I might just take you up on that offer.” Leah shoved her fist to her back. “I did so much baking that I don’t think I can dance tonight.”

“Not even with Dan?” She shot her friend a playful look.

“No, not even him. But he won’t be here tonight. He’s mourning his mother.”

“Have you seen him since the funeral?”

Leah nodded, and her cheeks turned pink. “I walked over to the livery while you were at work yesterday morning and took him several of the muffins left over from our breakfast, but I haven’t seen him today. I wonder how he’s getting along.”

“’Twas nice how the Corbetts offered to cancel the social since the funeral was just two days past. But Mark said Dan told them to go ahead and hold it.”

Leah nodded. “It would have been nearly impossible to get word out that fast, and he didn’t want people coming all the way to town and finding out the social had been called off.”

Shannon stacked the dirty pie pans into a crate and then added the soiled plates on top.

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