Diana Palmer - Denim And Lace

They Live In Two Separate Worlds, But Share The Same Desire

Bess Samson was raised in privilege, but always had a thing for Cade Hollister, the rough-and-tumble cowboy next door, even ignoring her controlling, class-conscious mother’s warning to stay away from him. But he turned her down—hard. Humiliated, she grew up and moved on, but never truly gave up hope.

Cade has secretly always adored Bess—but is filled with disdain for the Samsons’ wealth. Once, the families had been friends, until dark secrets and scandal caused a bitter rift, and now her family won’t let him forget his blue-collar roots. But when an accident nearly costs Bess her life, the proud rancher must finally fight for the love he’s never forgotten.

Denim and Lace

Diana Palmer

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Dear Reader,

Denim and Lace is one of my favorite novels. It is so lovely to see it back in print again, and in ebook form for the first time! It was written in 1990. That was still a time when many people smoked and were allowed to in hospital waiting rooms. It was so much a part of our society that nobody thought anything about it. Many phrases we used, many things we did, were commonplace. Those same things would be surprising to the generations that have come up since then.

I hope you enjoy the book. It is a bittersweet one. A socialite in love with a cowboy who fought his feelings for her, hoping to become rich enough to win her. Then, years later, a passionate encounter, leading to a marriage with a tragic secret kept too long. Cade is one of my favorite heroes, because you can see the insecurities and the flaws along with the sterling character he projects. Bess was rich and lost everything. She was left with her mother, who refused to give up her wild spending sprees and expected Bess to pay for them on her salary at an ad agency. Bess learns to stand on her own two feet and grows strong in adversity. As the story unwinds, she becomes more than a match for fiery Cade.

I loved telling this story. It was fun, too, mentally reliving the days in which I wrote it. Our son was ten years old when it appeared. He was interviewed by a national news reporter, who asked how he liked his mother’s romance books. His answer was one word: Yuck! James and I almost died laughing at that totally off-the-wall response. Of course, for Christmas, our little boy got sticks and stones... Just kidding. He got an Imperial Walker from the Star Wars collection, and a Boba Fett, to boot!

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope you enjoy it. And God bless everyone!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Title Page

Dear Reader

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

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

THE MORNING COFFEE was well under way, and the bride-to-be looked as if she’d stepped from the pages of Vogue. But at least one of the guests was trying her best not to look bored to death as she stood amid the muted noises of conversation and coffee being served. These were familiar sounds to Elizabeth Ann Samson—the rattle of delicate rose-patterned china cups in their elegant thin saucers, the rustle of linen napkins, the whisper of skin against silk and wool. She smiled a little, thinking how quickly she’d trade those luxurious sounds for the hiss of coffee boiling over on a campfire and being poured into a cracked white mug. But there was no use hoping for that kind of miracle. Cowboys and debutantes didn’t mix. Everyone said so, especially her mother, Gussie. And it didn’t make a bit of difference that Cade Hollister had somehow scraped up ten thousand dollars in cash to invest in her father’s newest real-estate deal. That wouldn’t admit him to the elegant drawing room or to any party at the Samson mansion that Bess might invite him to. Bess was too shy to invite him, in the first place. And in the second, he had no use for her. He’d made that very clear three years ago, in a way that still made her faintly nervous around him. But love was inexplicable. It seemed to thrive on rejection. Hers must, she mused silently, because nothing Cade said or did stopped her from wanting him...

“Are you going to Bermuda with us in the spring, Bess?” Nita Cain interrupted her thoughts with a smile. “We thought we might rent a villa and get in some deep-sea fishing.”

“I don’t know,” Bess said as she balanced her cup of black coffee in its saucer. “Mother hasn’t mentioned what she wants to do yet.”

“Can’t you go on vacation without her, just once?” Nita coaxed. “There are several well-placed businessmen on our stretch of beach, and you look sensational in a bikini.”

Bess knew exactly what Nita was saying. The older girl had affairs with elegance and ease, and she was beautiful enough to attract any man she liked. She thought Bess was missing out on life, and she wanted to help her out of her rut. But it wouldn’t work. Bess didn’t have affairs, because the only man she’d ever wanted or ever would want was Cade. Anyone else would be just a poor substitute. Besides, she thought, she’d never match Nita for beauty, even if she tried to be a swinger.

Nita was dark and sultry and outgoing. Bess was tall and lanky and shy. She had shoulder-length brown hair with delicate blond highlights, and it waved toward her face and down her back with delightful fullness. She had soft brown eyes and a complexion that any model would have killed for, but her shyness kept men from looking at her too hard. She didn’t have spirit or grace, because Gussie had those things and didn’t like competition from her only child. So Bess stayed in the background, as she’d been trained to do, speaking when spoken to and learning French and etiquette and how to plan a banquet when she’d much rather have been riding alongside Cade when he was rounding up calves at Lariat, the Hollisters’ moderately successful cow-calf operation. It was a big ranch, but not modern. It was pretty much the same as it had been over a hundred years ago when one of Cade’s ancestors came to Texas looking for trouble and found longhorn cattle instead.

“I can’t go without Mother,” Bess said, bringing herself back from the dreams again. “She’d be lonely.”

“She could go, too, and take your father with her.”

Bess laughed softly. “My father doesn’t take vacations. He’s much too busy. Anyway, he’s been in something of a bind just lately. We’re all hoping his new real-estate project will go over well and take the worry lines out of his face. How was Rio?”