Diana Palmer - The Bride Who Was Stolen In The Night

“Well, I’ll be,” Troy murmured. He pulled off onto the side of the road as the big truck came alongside them. “I thought you said he wasn’t coming home.”

“I didn’t know he was,” she said through her teeth.

A window powered down, and there was Chayce framed in it, his black eyes snapping in a face so handsome that it drew women everywhere he went. His hair was black, like his eyes, and he looked formidable.

“How are you, Chayce?” Troy asked with an effusive grin, trying to placate him. “Good to see you!”

Chayce didn’t answer. He sat there as if he were carved out of stone, with a powerful chambray-clad arm resting on the steering wheel as he glared past Troy, whose complaints about Chayce seemed to have become a thing of the past.

Chayce glared at Abby and she glared back. Four years, almost, and he couldn’t even smile at her. She was bitter, and she looked it. But along with the bitterness was a painful maturity, and that showed, too.

“I thought you were in the Bahamas,” Abby said curtly.

“I was. I got your letter this morning. They forwarded it to California, but it was held up.” He glared at both of them. “What’s this nonsense about the two of you getting married in August?”

“N-nonsense?” Troy blurted out. “We…we just want to get married, Chayce. Now you don’t have to do a thing, except give Abby away. I’ll even buy her wedding gown…”

“I’ll buy the gown,” Chayce said icily. “When she marries.”

Troy went as red as his hair and began to look nervous.

Abby’s chin came up as she faced Chayce. “You heard him,” she told her guardian. “We’re getting married. And we’ll probably be moving the ceremony up.” And you can do what you please, her eyes added coldly.

“Why the rush to the altar?” Chayce replied curtly. He glanced at Abby with eyes so intimidating that she actually moved back an inch. Seconds later, his gaze fell on Troy. “Is she pregnant?” he asked in a tone so soft and cutting that Troy swallowed visibly and put an arm around Abby for comfort and support.

Abby didn’t even feel the arm, she was so outraged. “How dare you, Chayce!”

“She’s…she’s no…no such thing!” Troy blurted out. “For the love of heaven, I have a responsible job and I’m an upstanding member of the community! Decent men don’t seduce women before the wedding!”

Chayce’s eyebrows arched up at the statement.

“This isn’t going to get us anywhere,” Abby said.

Chayce’s eyes narrowed. They didn’t blink. They glittered. In this mood, he was dangerous. Abby felt chills run down her spine. Troy’s arm around her wasn’t quite as steady as he made it seem, either.

“We’ll discuss this at home, Abby,” Chayce said after a minute. He gave Troy a curt nod, powered the window back up and sped away, leaving a trail of dust as high as the truck behind him.

“Whew!” Troy exclaimed, removing his arm. “What brought that on, do you suppose? He was against it last year, sure, but you’re of legal age now!”

“I haven’t the slightest idea. Not that it matters,” she said furiously. “He isn’t telling me when I can get married!”

Troy glanced at her warily. “Now, honey, try not to get into a fight with him. We can’t afford to make him too mad. He’s a powerful man.”

She searched his eyes. “You aren’t afraid of him?”

He laughed, but it fell short of humor. “Of course not. Now let’s get on down to the holding pens. I want to show you our new bulls.” He glanced at her. “You won’t do anything impulsive around my father, like opening gates…?”

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