Nancy Thompson - Texas Wedding

THE GROOM CAME...C.O.D.?

Well, maybe not exactly. But just when unlucky-in-love AJ (that’s Agnes Jane to you!) had decided that she was going to focus on her career as a caterer and keep her mind off men, that’s when fate sent her a delivery she couldn’t ignore. In the form of Sergeant Shane Harrison, bearer of French chocolates, and newly arrived for a short-term project. And though clearly the good sergeant was as attracted to the lovely caterer as she was to him, Shane made it clear that when his job was done, he was outta there....

So now AJ has a project of her own—convincing the handsome footloose soldier that though he’d planned to breeze through town on his way to his next adventure, falling in love is the biggest adventure of all!

AJ smiled.

Oh, how she loved food and the effect it had on people. That was because every dish she created was infused with her passion for cooking. She watched Shane as he was enjoying a bite of cold lobster salad, and the sheer bliss on his face made her want to fall in love.

The thought unleashed a swarm of butterflies in her stomach. She’d fed plenty of people since Danny had died, but the possibility of dating, much less giving her heart away again, hadn’t seemed in the realm of available options.

The sensible part of her wanted to pull back, play it safe. But the butterflies had already flown off with her heart and even the sensible part of her couldn’t do a thing to stop it.

She took a deep breath against the rush.

Oh, no, this was not good.

It was absolutely wonderful.

Dear Reader,

After college, my husband and I decided to raise our family in the small town where I grew up. Even though the surrounding area has grown tremendously over the decades, so much remains steadfast and unchanged in my community: the high school, the football stadium, the farmers’ market, the quaint downtown with its old cobblestones and gigantic laurel oaks stretching protective branches over those who come to shop and eat and meet.

While some people need to get away from the old and familiar, I’ve always taken comfort in being a thread woven into in the well-worn fabric of an established Southern community. That’s where I got my idea for Texas Wedding, the first of three books in the Celebrations, Inc. series. When Sergeant Shane Harrison finds himself on temporary assignment in Celebration, Texas, heroine AJ Sherwood-Antonelli shows him the importance of family, friends and community.

I hope you’ll enjoy Shane and AJ’s story. Please be sure to look for the final two books in this series in October and November. And be sure to let me know what you think of them. You can reach me at nrobardsthompson@yahoo.com.

Warmly,

Nancy Robards Thompson

Texas Wedding

Nancy Robards Thompson

www.millsandboon.co.uk

NANCY ROBARDS THOMPSON

Award-winning author Nancy Robards Thompson is a sister, wife and mother who has lived the majority of her life south of the Mason-Dixon line. As the oldest sibling, she reveled in her ability to make her brother laugh at inappropriate moments, and she soon learned she could get away with it by proclaiming “What? I wasn’t doing anything.” It’s no wonder that upon graduating from college with a degree in journalism, she discovered that reporting “just the facts” bored her silly. Since she hung up her press pass to write novels full-time, critics have deemed her books “funny, smart and observant.” She loves chocolate, champagne, cats and art (though not necessarily in that order). When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family, reading, hiking and doing yoga.

Special thanks to Caroline Phipps

for educating me on the Army.

This book is dedicated to the memory of

Lynn Miller Robards. You will live forever in our hearts.

Contents

Prologue Prologue When the tall man entered Maya’s Chocolate Shop, the warm gust of wind that blew in with him—jangling the bells on the door and ruffling the ribbons on the gift baskets—seemed to sing a certain familiar name, but Maya didn’t quite catch it. She cocked her ear and listened harder...but heard nothing. Hmm... She thought she’d heard a whisper, but she couldn’t be sure. Especially when the door clicked shut and stillness settled over the shop. All Maya could hear was the cadence of the man’s boots marking time on the wooden floor as he ventured deeper into her shop. Even so, one thing was certain—the guy’s appearance in her store had stirred the winds of love. There was no mistaking it, even if she couldn’t readily identify his intended. The woman would reveal herself in due time. In addition to being a third-generation chocolatier, Maya was un marieur, a matchmaker. It was an avocation of sorts. Some claimed it was her obsession. But when the winds of love blew in as they had a moment ago, she couldn’t help herself. It was a challenge she couldn’t resist, and she wouldn’t rest until she’d done everything in her power to bring “the intendeds” together. “Bonjour!” Maya offered the handsome man her warmest greeting, which he generously returned. His was a wide toothy smile. He looked American. Or possibly Scandinavian, though Maya’s bet was on the former. “May I help you?” she asked. “Just looking, thanks.” Oui. Américain. Handsome as he was, he hadn’t come for her. But he had turned up for a reason, Maya’s instincts insisted. The signs were subtle. Visceral. A feeling that raised the hair on the nape of her neck and tingled its way up her nerve endings, before it settled down in the pit of her stomach. A figurative “you’ve got mail.” A metaphorical message she couldn’t completely qualify, other than to know that, in the past, when the signs presented themselves in this particular fashion, they were never wrong. She regarded him for a moment as he perused the shop. He looked like a soldier, though he wasn’t in uniform. There was something about his close-cropped sandy hair, his bronzed skin and those broad, broad shoulders and muscular arms. Something in the way he carried himself suggested combat. Hmm...Maya thought. Perhaps the combat wasn’t necessarily physical. More internal... A man at war with himself. All the more reason she must get busy and do her job. “I just set out some fresh truffles,” Maya said. “Would you care for a sample?”

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

Excerpt

Prologue

When the tall man entered Maya’s Chocolate Shop, the warm gust of wind that blew in with him—jangling the bells on the door and ruffling the ribbons on the gift baskets—seemed to sing a certain familiar name, but Maya didn’t quite catch it.

She cocked her ear and listened harder...but heard nothing. Hmm... She thought she’d heard a whisper, but she couldn’t be sure. Especially when the door clicked shut and stillness settled over the shop. All Maya could hear was the cadence of the man’s boots marking time on the wooden floor as he ventured deeper into her shop.

Even so, one thing was certain—the guy’s appearance in her store had stirred the winds of love. There was no mistaking it, even if she couldn’t readily identify his intended.

The woman would reveal herself in due time.

In addition to being a third-generation chocolatier, Maya was un marieur, a matchmaker. It was an avocation of sorts. Some claimed it was her obsession. But when the winds of love blew in as they had a moment ago, she couldn’t help herself. It was a challenge she couldn’t resist, and she wouldn’t rest until she’d done everything in her power to bring “the intendeds” together.