later?" "I..."
"C.C.'s ready!" Alex bellowed from the top of the stairs. "Can we get this dumb thing over with."
With a laugh, Sloan kissed her fingers. "Don't worry, I'll make sure the groom's in place."
"All right, and - damn!" She swore, then snatched up the ringing phone.
"Hello? Oh, William, I really can't talk. We're about to start the wedding....
Tomorrow?" She lifted a distracted hand to her hair. "No, of course. Umm...yes, that's fine. Late afternoon would be best. Three o'clock? I'll see you then." Still off balance, she turned to find Sloan watching her with very cool, measuring green eyes.
"You take big chances, Calhoun."
"That wasn't what it sounded like." She caught herself trying to explain and frowned. "What do you mean, 'chances'?"
"That's something we'd better discuss later. We've got a wedding to get to." "You're absolutely right." They strode off in opposite directions.
Moments later, the Calhoun women took their turns walking down the garden path. First Suzanna, then Lilah, then Amanda, followed by a beaming Jenny and a thoroughly embarrassed Alex. They took their places with Amanda doing her best not to glance in Sloan's direction. Then she forgot everything as she watched C.C. come forward, a wispy veil over her hair. Beside her, prepared to give her youngest niece away, Coco held her arm and wept.
She watched her sister marry under an arbor of delicately fragrant wisteria. Through a mist of tears she looked on as the man who was now her brother-in-law slipped the circle of emeralds onto C.C.'s finger. The look that passed between them spoke more eloquently of promises than any of the vows exchanged. With her hands clasped with her sisters', she saw C.G's face lift to Trent's as they shared their first kiss as husband and wife.
"Is it finally over?" Alex wanted to know.
"No," Amanda heard herself say as her gaze drifted to Sloan's. "It's just beginning."
"Beautiful wedding." After Amanda was thoroughly kissed by Trent's father, she managed to nod in agreement. "Trent tells me you put most of it together."
"I'm good with details," she said, and offered him a plate for the buffet.
"So I hear." Trim, tanned and expansive, St. James smiled at her. "I've also heard that all of the Calhoun sisters are lovely. I can now corroborate that myself."
He was quite the elegant old flirt, Amanda mused but smiled back as he arranged food on his plate. "We're delighted to welcome you to the family."
"It's odd the way things have worked out," he said. "A year ago I looked up from my boat in the bay and saw this house. I simply had to have it. Now, not only is part of it a portion of my business, but it's a part of my family." He glanced over to see Trent and C.C. dancing on the terrace. "She's made him happy," he said quietly. "I never quite had the knack for that myself." With a vague movement of his shoulders, he brushed the thought aside. "Would you care to dance?"
"I'd love to."
They'd hardly taken three steps on the dance floor, when Sloan swung Coco around and smoothly switched partners.
"You might have asked," Amanda muttered as his arms slid around her.
"I did, before. Anyway, she'll flirt with him the way he wants instead of treating him like a distant relation."
"He is a distant relation." But she glanced over and saw that Coco already had St. James laughing. "Everything's going well, I think."
"Smooth as glass." Just as smoothly, he noted, as she fit into his arms. "You did a good job."
"Thanks, but I hope it's the last wedding I have to plan for quite a while." "Don't you think about getting married yourself?"
She missed a step and nearly stumbled over his feet. "No - that is, yes, but not really."
"That's a definitive answer."
"What I mean is it's not in my short-range plans." No matter what longings had tugged at her when her gaze had locked with Sloan's under the arbor. "I'm going to be busy over the next few years with the retreat. I've always wanted to manage a first-class hotel, to make policy instead ofjust carrying it out. It's what I've been working for, and now that Trent's giving me the chance, I can't afford to divide my loyalties."
"An interesting way of seeing it. With me it's always been a matter of getting tied down with one person in one place, then finding out I made a mistake."
"There's that, too." Relieved that they weren't arguing, she smiled. "I never asked, but I guess