His Texas Christmas Bride

“It’s nice that the town supports the team so well,” Nick said. “I guess in its own way Celebration isn’t really the sleepy little town that I thought it would be.”

“No, the people around here tend to make their own fun. It may not be a wild party—unless you come over to Kate and Liam’s for football Sunday—but it’s nice.”

It was nice. It was everything he imagined being part of a small community would be. He wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about that. If truth be told, the small-town closeness was one of the reasons he had turned down the job in the first place. But when they came back with an offer he couldn’t refuse, well, he simply couldn’t refuse.

They ordered their food—two cheeseburgers, two orders of fries, a bottle of water for Becca and a can of cola for himself—and made their way over to a group of high-top patio tables that were off to the side but still allowed them a partial view of the field.

Since most of the people in attendance had crowded into the bleachers, the area where they enjoyed their meal was mostly empty except for a small knot of teenagers who obviously had no interest in watching the game.

“Does Kate know about the latest development in our little adventure?”

“No, we were busy today, and... I don’t know. I guess I’m still getting my head wrapped around our growing family.”

“Rebecca?”

The voice came from behind him, so he couldn’t see who it was, but good grief this woman was popular. Granted, Celebration was a small town; Becca Flannigan obviously knew everyone who had ever lived here.

But he only had to take one look at her face to realize she wasn’t thrilled to see this person.

Nick turned around and saw an impeccably dressed woman with the same basic bone structure and clear blue eyes as Becca. At that moment he caught a glimpse of what Becca might look like in twenty-five or thirty years. This had to be Becca’s mother. The distinguished man with silver hair at her side had to be Becca’s father.

“Rebecca, you’re here. Good. I meant to call you today to remind you that tonight is senior night, and Kevin is getting a family portrait made on the field, and we all need to be in the picture. Make sure you meet us at the half.”

The woman stopped abruptly and trained those piercing blue eyes on Nick. The way she tilted back her head gave her the appearance of looking down her aquiline nose.

“Rebecca, who is this? Please, introduce your friend to us.”

Even though it was more of a command than a request, Nick stood. “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Flannigan, I’m Nick Ciotti. Very nice to meet you.”

As he greeted Becca’s mother and shook her father’s hand, some of the missing pieces to the puzzle fell into place.

While the Flannigans were cordial, they were also a bit cold and aloof. The way they carried themselves and the way they dressed suggested affluence. Nick could see through the stuffy, polite veneer to the judgmental subtext lurking below.

Later at halftime, as he stood at the chain-link fence that separated the track and football field from the bleachers, he watched the dynamics among the Flannigan family. As Becca joined her nephew’s senior night photograph, he realized that he and perfect, beautiful Becca Flannigan were more alike than he’d realized. Even though she was part of a big, wealthy family—the opposite of his working-class parents—he sensed that Becca felt just as alone in the world as he did.

Chapter Six

Two nights later Becca sat at Kate’s dining room table sipping caffeine-free pumpkin spice chai tea and chatting with five of her best girlfriends as they filled mini mason jars with monogrammed candy.

Anna and Jake had gotten engaged over the summer and had planned on getting married the following spring, but Regency Cypress Plantation and Botanical Gardens, which was booked out for nearly two and a half years, had an unexpected cancellation, and Anna and Jake had been able to grab it.

The only problem was now all plans were on the fast track, and it really was taking all hands to pull off the wedding of Anna’s dreams.

Two weeks ago, the six of them had sat at this very dining room table stuffing, addressing, sealing and stamping invitations to three hundred of the couple’s close friends. The available date, November 29, was one week from today—the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. It wasn’t ideal, since so many people went away for the holiday and traveled on that Sunday.

Because of the time crunch, the girls were under strict instructions that they could not leave Kate’s house tonight until they’d each filled fifty jars.