“You’ll be haunted to the grave if you forget anyone.No matter what you say, who you apologize to, it will be taken as a personal affront.You’re welcome to run the whole thing by me.We probably do need to limit it at some point.”
“To a hundred?”he asked hopefully.
She scowled.“I was thinking a thousand.”
“People?”
“And horses.”
A cold frisson of panic clutched him.“What?”
“People, Cade.A thousand people.I was joking about the horses.Tell me you’ve at least decided on a date?”she persisted.
“I was thinking about October, maybe November.I don’t suppose you—”
“Oh, hell and no.No chance.I can help you find someone, but I can’t handle everything from a distance.”
“What about Miss Libby?”He’d heard rumors that their grandmother used to host some of the best parties in South Texas.And she’d hosted many of them at the ranch.
“It’s been too many years.She can give you pointers, but she doesn’t know the companies down in that area any longer.”
“Your mother?”he asked desperately.
“Again, too far away.You’re welcome to meet with both of them, but your event person may want to do that.”
“I see.”
“I’ll try to have some people for you to interview by the first part of the week.”
He nodded.A runaway train was easier to stop than Erin.This time, he was grateful.
“You’re going to be fine.”
He’d rather climb on the back of a roaring, snorting sixteen-hundred-pound bull than deal with a guest list.
Inside, the DJ announced that it was time for a line dance, and Erin gave a quick excuse then hurried off.
He went to the bar and ordered his second beer of the evening.Other guests were reaching for glasses of champagne, but he preferred to drink Santo, a rich, thick brew that suited his personality.
Because of the heat and late spring humidity, there weren’t a lot of people outside, but he still wandered to the far side of the courtyard and leaned against the outer adobe wall.In a crowd of any size, he tended to seek out quiet corners.
Now that the toasts and obligatory pictures were out of the way and the party was in full swing, he loosened his bulldogger tie and unfastened the top button of his Western shirt.He took a deep drink and glanced toward the clubhouse.
Inside, his new sister-in-law was also participating in the line dance.He wasn’t sure what radiance looked like, but Lara had to come close.She and Connor had gotten married in a private ceremony weeks before.He’d only met her the previous evening, but he’d instantly seen why his brother had been attracted to her.She was witty, beautiful and elegant, a fitting partner for the ruler of the Donovan empire.Connor was clearly besotted, if the fact he couldn’t keep his hands off Lara was any indication.When she’d briefly left the room, he’d followed her movements and momentarily lost track of the conversation.
Until he’d seen the two together, Cade had been a bit skeptical of love.To him, it seemed like an emotion that fucked with people’s common sense, something with the power to be dark and destructive.
No doubt his father had loved his mother, but he hadn’t been strong enough to tell his own father to fuck off so he could be with the woman he loved.Instead, he’d married Angela Meyer.She was obviously a fine woman, if his half-siblings were anything to judge by, but Cade had seen the way Jeffrey looked at Stormy up until the day he died.
Love for a man she could never have had kept Stormy stuck, and it wasn’t until a year ago that she’d even gone on a date.
But watching Connor opened Cade’s jaded eyes, just a little.
A few minutes later, champagne in hand and a stupid smile on his face, Connor wandered over.
“Congratulations,” Cade said.
“Glad you could make it.”
