Lone Star Wedding by Sandra Steffen Page A

Parker’s questions with a word or two, but she added nothing to his attempt at conversation. Her stoicism brought back her sense of control.
    She’d done a lot of thinking after he’d left her apartment the other night…okay, after she’d pushed him from it. Parker Malone elicited strong feelings, some good, some bad. The fact was, she reacted to him. He brought out the best and the worst in her. Take his smiles, for instance. They warmed her, and made her smile in return. Then there was his intelligence. She didn’t always agree with the things he said, but when it came right down to it, he made her think. And his kisses. What they did to her was pretty incredible. Whoa. She decided then and there that she wouldn’t think about Parker’s kisses. Instead, she concentrated on his opinions. He was very stubborn about his views. He saw the world as black and white, marriage and divorce, a beginning and an end. She doubted forever was even in his vocabulary. That was the bottom line. That was why she couldn’t give in to all the positive things about him, all the favorable reactions she had to those positive things. That was why she opened the door and got out of the car before Parker had shut off the engine. Sadly, Parker Malone was too big a risk to her heart.
    A couple of the cowboys who worked for Ryan tipped their hats as she strode past them in the stable. “You must be Lily’s daughter,” one of them said.
    A genuine smile, the first in several minutes, lit her face. “Do you know where my mother is?” she asked.
    The cowboy motioned to a doorway on the far wall. “She’s in the east corral with the new horse.”
    Hannah thanked the young hired hand. Being careful where she walked, she went in search of her mother.
    As it turned out, she wouldn’t have needed directions. All she had to do was follow the sound of Lily’s voice.
    â€œThere, there. That’s it,” Lily murmured to the baby horse. “You’re a dainty little thing, aren’t you?”
    Hannah raised her eyebrows at that. Dainty? The tip of the black filly’s head already reached Lily’s shoulder, which she bunted in a way that most definitely was not dainty.
    â€œHi, Mom.”
    Lily’s face shone when she turned. “Hannah. Hello. Where’s Adrienne?”
    â€œShe already left for town.”
    Her mother raised her exotically arched eyebrows. “How will you get back to San Antonio?”
    â€œParker has agreed to drive me.”
    â€œParker?”
    â€œIt was Ryan’s idea.”
    Lily chuckled. “That sounds like Ryan. What do you think of my new baby?”
    â€œShe’s very…energetic.”
    â€œShe just hasn’t learned her manners, yet. I’m glad you’re here. It’s time I came up with a name for her. Any ideas?”
    Hannah cocked her head to one side, strolling out into the corral. The horse was dark black, like the mare hovering nearby. Her coat was shiny, her legs long and thin. Hannah knew there was a huge segment of the population who had a passion for horses. Her mother was one of them. For a time, Maria had been wild about the creatures, but as with so many of Maria’s hobbies, it had been a passing phase.
    Hannah studied the foal. The only names she could think of were names she’d heard on the news or in the movies. Flicka, Black Beauty, High Stepper, Possum, MorningGlory. Since this particular filly was black, Midnight seemed fitting, although more than a little trite. “What have you considered and discarded so far?” she asked.
    Lily rubbed the filly’s knobby head. “With that white mark in the middle of her forehead, an obvious name would be Lily. But I simply can’t name her after me. I’ve considered Lilith, it means ‘of the night,’ and Leila, which means ‘dark as night,’ and Lisha, ‘darkness before midnight.’ But