Teresa Hill - A Little Bit Engaged

Kate puzzled over that. Anything?

“I just got out of a five-year engagement.”

“I remember.”

“I can’t do this!” she said.

“Why not?”

“It was two days ago!”

“So?”

“I have to figure out what went wrong, to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“You know what happened, Kate,” Ben claimed.

Only then did she realize that she was still sitting on his lap, in his car, in her driveway, for anyone to see! She let go of his shirt, pushed away from him and slid onto her own seat with every bit of dignity she could muster, which wasn’t much.

Dear Reader,

Well, if there were ever a month that screamed for a good love story—make that six!—February would be it. So here are our Valentine’s Day gifts to you from Silhouette Special Edition. Let’s start with The Road to Reunion by Gina Wilkins, next up in her FAMILY FOUND series. When the beautiful daughter of the couple who raised him tries to get a taciturn cowboy to come home for a family reunion, Kyle Reeves is determined to turn her down. But try getting Molly Walker to take no for an answer! In Marie Ferrarella’s Husbands and Other Strangers, a woman in a boating accident finds her head injury left her with no permanent effects—except for the fact that she can’t seem to recall her husband. In the next installment of our FAMILY BUSINESS continuity, The Boss and Miss Baxter by Wendy Warren, an unemployed single mother is offered a job—not to mention a place to live for her and her children—with the grumpy, if gorgeous, man who fired her!

“Who’s Your Daddy?” is a question that takes on new meaning when a young woman learns that a rock star is her biological father, that her mother is really in love with his brother—and that she herself can’t resist her new father’s protégé. Read all about it in It Runs in the Family by Patricia Kay, the second in her CALLIE’S CORNER CAFÉ miniseries. Vermont Valentine, the conclusion to Kristin Hardy’s HOLIDAY HEARTS miniseries, tells the story of the last single Trask brother, Jacob—he’s been alone for thirty-six years. But that’s about to change, courtesy of the beautiful scientist now doing research on his property. And in Teresa Hill’s A Little Bit Engaged, a woman who’s been a bride-to-be for five years yet never saw fit to actually set a wedding date finds true love where she least expects it—with a pastor.

So keep warm, stay romantic, and we’ll see you next month….

Gail Chasan

Senior Editor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

lives in South Carolina with her husband, son and daughter. A former journalist for a South Carolina newspaper, she fondly remembers that her decision to write and explore the frontiers of romance came at about the same time she discovered, in junior high, that she’d never be able to join the crew of the Starship Enterprise.

Happy and proud to be a stay-home mom, she is thrilled to be living her lifelong dream of writing romances.

To everyone at St. Mary’s.

I’m positive it wasn’t that long ago that I sent my son to

kindergarten in his little blue dress pants and white polo

shirt. I remember so clearly thinking I’d have a child at

St. Mary’s forever. And yet, somehow, this is our last

year. My daughter’s graduating from the eighth

grade this spring. Somehow, twelve years have gone by.

Thanks for all you do, for all your

hard work, for all the memories.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Epilogue

“So, have you and Joe set a wedding date yet?”

Kate Cassidy barely managed not to choke on her carrot-stick appetizer.

Trapped in the corner by an interior designer, she swallowed hard and relaxed her facial muscles in hopes of avoiding that really unattractive expression she wore when she just wanted to scream.

It was truly an unattractive look.

Kate knew because she’d looked in the mirror one day while she made it, hoping it wouldn’t be that bad. But it was. She’d vowed to eradicate the expression from her face, but it was hard. Especially lately, when someone asked that question. Third time this evening at the Board of Realtors dinner, in fact.

“Not yet,” she said quietly, with what she hoped was a bit of a smile.

“Oh.” The woman, Gloria someone, waited expectantly for Kate to elaborate, which Kate wasn’t going to do. She’d learned that if she was silent long enough, most people quit asking and went away. But Gloria wasn’t budging.

Okay. If things got really bad, she could always sink so low as to play the sympathy card. Sorry, Mom. She let her expression fall, allowed a shimmer of tears to come into her eyes.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Kate. I guess it’s just too soon, huh?”

Kate nodded with what she hoped was appropriate sadness and grief, hoping her mother would understand. Kate had finally found something she didn’t know how to handle. All her plans that had always gone so well seemed to have fallen apart, and she didn’t know what was right anymore or what to do. It had started with her mother’s death and spilled over into every aspect of her life.

“It just takes time,” Gloria said kindly, making Kate feel worse. “And Joe’s such a sweetie. I’m sure he understands.”

Kate wasn’t so sure he did. And she didn’t want to think about it. She wanted to ignore the whole mess and hope it went away or solved itself, or that the answer just dropped out of the sky or something.

Vaguely aware of new voices around her, Kate looked up to see Charlie Sims, president of the Magnolia Falls, Georgia, Board of Realtors.

“Kate, how are you?” he asked, extending a hand.

“Great, Charlie. How are you?”

“Couldn’t be better, my dear. Have you met my wife, Charlotte?”

“No, I haven’t.” Kate smiled down at the pint-size blonde on Charlie’s arm.

Charlie introduced them, and then Charlotte launched into a tale about their recent wedding. Kate didn’t listen. She was too busy planning her escape. Was there anyone in this room who didn’t know that she and Joe were supposed to have married this summer but hadn’t because Kate’s mother’s cancer had come back and she’d died in the spring?

There. Kate spotted two absolute strangers in the corner. She was ready to make her excuses when Gloria said, “Oh, that sounds like fun. I’d love to do that.”

“Fabulous,” Charlie said, sounding genuinely appreciative.

That got Kate’s attention. She wanted Charlie to be happy with her, because there wasn’t a real estate agent in town Charlie didn’t know. He was a veritable gold mine of referrals for Kate’s fledgling mortgage company.

“What about you, Kate?” Charlie’s wife asked. “Care to come join us?”

Kate stood there with her mouth open. She had no idea what she’d just been asked to do, but if Gloria could do it, surely Kate could, too. Anything for Charlie and his referrals.

“Of course,” Kate said. “Sounds like fun.”