Heaven in a Wildflower by Patricia Hagan Page A

excited voice right outside her bedroom. Curious, she scrambled out of bed and went to stand by the door and listen.
    “Elton, this is wonderful.” Her mother was exuberant. “We haven’t seen Delilah and Stephen in years. You know, he’s about the same age as the girls. A few months older, I think. I wonder if he turned into a handsome man. Unattractive little boys often do,” she added optimistically.
    “You can never tell,” her father responded, “but what bothers me is whether you can be ready for them by tomorrow. Her letter took so long to get here. Knowing Delilah, she’ll be upset to find out she arrived almost unannounced.”
    “We won’t tell her. What’s to be done, anyway? She can have the guest rooms on the west corner, and Stephen can have one of the garconnières .Having them here a whole month is going to be wonderful. I’ll get started making plans right away.”
    They went on down the stairs, and Anjele hugged herself with delight. House guests! And for a whole month! And, unless she missed her guess, Delilah Pardee’s motive in coming was to try and find a wife for Stephen. Even in a place as large as Atlanta, Anjele sadly supposed it would be difficult to find a girl interested in someone so homely, for she didn’t share her mother’s optimism that Stephen had drastically changed. Of course, if the Pardees had been rich, there wouldn’t be a problem, but they weren’t. Her father and Wilbur Pardee had known each other as boys and stayed in touch when the Pardees moved to Georgia. Wilbur had his own feed store there, but she’d heard her father say he made only a modest living.
    But Anjele didn’t care why Miss Delilah was coming. Exultation came over knowing her mother would be busy, while Claudia, since she didn’t have a beau, would be expected to entertain Stephen.
    Sure enough, no one noticed when Anjele quietly left the house just before lunch. Her mother was so busy making up menus and invitation lists she had a tray sent to her room, and Claudia joined her, also caught up in the whirl of planning.
    Gator wasn’t there when Anjele arrived at the willow tree, and she felt a stab of disappointment, but a few moments later, he came walking up the bank from where he’d left his boat tied below.
    “Okay,” he greeted her, “let’s see if you can fish any better than you can swim in quicksand.”
    She wrinkled her nose in feigned annoyance and joined him to run into the warm summer day.
    Soon, they were in the isolated cove, and Anjele surprised him by placing the squiggling worm on a hook herself. Seeing his look of astonishment, she laughed. “What’s the matter? Haven’t you ever seen a girl who wasn’t afraid of worms?”
    Brett knew he’d never seen a girl like her, period, and damn well liked everything he saw. “No, I guess I haven’t, but frankly, I was starting to think you’re completely worthless.”
    “Oh, I’m so glad,” she said with exaggerated pleasure. “I was really starting to worry about your opinion of me, kind sir, especially after you saved me not only from drowning but from quicksand as well.”
    “You weren’t going to drown. Snakebite, maybe, or lose a leg to a hungry gator. And I’ve poked that quicksand bed. It’s not deep. You’d have been stuck till somebody, or something came along, but if you want to be eternally grateful, it’s okay by me.” His dark eyes shone, for he enjoyed the easy banter between them.
    Anjele continued to astound. In a short while, she managed to haul several large catfish up and into the boat, while Brett sat glumly without so much as a nibble on his line. Still, he couldn’t remember a more enjoyable time. But all too soon, time slipped by, and reluctantly he said he had to get back to the field.
    “Do you want these fish?” she offered, a bit embarrassed to have bested him. She needn’t have been, for although Anjele did not know it yet, Brett Cody was too sure of himself to ever feel threatened in