Love Under Two Cowboys - By Cara Covington Page 0,1

And they're so happy together, all three of them. Makes me want to cry, I'm so happy for them all."

Carrie just shook her head. "You want to talk about romance? You and that handsome G-man husband of yours are the most romantic newlyweds I've ever known."

"I still can't believe that he loves me, and that he married me."

The truth was, every couple Carrie had met it this small town - and she used the term "couple" very loosely - oozed romance.

I wonder if there's something in the water here that needs to be investigated by the EPA?

This seemed like as good a time as any to ask Michelle something that had kind of been bugging her for a while.

"Michelle, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"Of course not. You can ask me anything you like."

Carrie frowned. How to ask the question without offending? "So many of the families I've met here are living what I'd always thought of as 'alternate lifestyles'..."

"You're referring to the menage families."

"Yes! And yet you and Joe..."

Michelle smiled and shook her head. "Joe and I are just the two of us, and that suits us both perfectly. Even though I grew up here in Lusty, I never really dreamed of having more than one husband. Is that because my parents are also just two? I don't know. Tracy's parents are just two, and yet she married Peter and Jordan, who were a couple themselves." Michelle fussed a little with the placement of the condiments and the napkins that had been set out on the large buffet. "Other families are three or four, and that suits them perfectly. I guess that's what makes Lusty so great. A lot of people everywhere give lip service to the concept of 'to each his own', but here, we really mean it."

From what Carrie had seen so far, Lusty, Texas, was a phenomenon unto itself.

"Oh, my, you ladies have done a spectacular job! It all looks so wonderful!"

Carrie couldn't help but smile at the sound of that soft, feminine voice. Speaking of a phenomenon, Kate Benedict suited that definition to a tee. She was, in Carrie's estimation, a marvel without equal.

"Thanks, Mrs. Benedict." Carrie couldn't help but smile when that woman turned her grinning gaze on her. Then the matriarch of Lusty shook her head. "Now, Carrie, you're even more stubborn than our Ginny was."

Carrie felt her cheeks heating, which was not a common occurrence for her. She rarely blushed. "Grandma Kate," she dutifully corrected.

Kate Benedict got such a huge smile on her face, Carrie wondered why she was so stubborn about giving the elderly woman the form of address that so clearly made her happy.

It's all those cowboys' fault. Kate Benedict is their grandmother, and I don't want them getting any idea that I have any ideas.

Carrie stomped on her mental brakes. That was all of the brain power she was going to give those two men today. She turned her attention back to the buffet. The food that needed to be kept warm was in the heated trays, and covered, and the food that needed to be kept chilled was on ice, and also covered.

Much of the menu being offered here today consisted of dishes that Kelsey, a highly trained and accomplished chef, had created. But there were a couple of items Carrie had supplied. One, a pasta and chicken salad, had been well received at the restaurant. The other dish she'd prepared, a meatball, mushroom, and tomato casserole, had won enthusiastic approval from both Ginny and Kelsey in their taste testing earlier in the week.

"That about does it, I think." Kelsey came out of the on-site kitchen and set two large baskets of patted butter on the table. She turned and grinned at both her grandmother and Carrie.

"You always provide such a bountiful spread, sweetheart," Kate said. "And such a delicious one."

Kelsey grinned. "The idea of running out of food is a terrifying one for a chef. We have nearly as much again in the kitchen if we need it. Folks sure do like to eat at these ceremonies."

"We do indeed, especially since you and Tracy started catering for us," Kate agreed.

Kelsey flushed with pleasure. Carrie completely understood. There was nothing better for a cook than to have people really love her food.

Kelsey said, "Well this time we have a couple of new dishes that Carrie's come up with. She's also going to help me devise seasonal menus - just a few extra dishes we