A Family Kind of Wedding Read Online Free PDF Page A

want it,” Katie advised.
    Swinging his gaze around what he called “a thousand square feet of chaos,” Jarrod asked, “Where’s Josh?”
    â€œAt soccer practice. Earlier he was at Tiffany’s. He and Stephen have kind of bonded, I guess you’d say.”
    â€œBetter than you and Tiffany?”
    â€œActually, Tiff and I are getting along just great,” Katie said. “She wants me to rent out this place and take over hers.” She explained quickly about Tiffany’s offer earlier in the day. “So Tiffany and I don’t have a problem.”
    â€œReal sisters, eh?”
    â€œHalf sisters.”
    â€œClose enough.” He winked at her, and she grinned. “Like you are to me.”
    â€œRight.”
    â€œSo John’s getting his wish.”
    â€œNot completely, but this ragtag family is finally coming together a little, I think. Tiffany has agreed to be in Bliss’s wedding, and I never would have thought that was possible.” There was still some envy on Tiffany’s part because Bliss was John Cawthorne’s only legitimate daughter, but things were working out.
    Katie snagged a peanut from a bowl on the table and plopped it into her mouth. “I would never have thought that Tiffany would agree to be in Bliss’s wedding.”
    â€œSee? Finding a man didn’t hurt Tiffany’s disposition, did it?”
    â€œOh, get over yourself. So now men help women’s personalities? Come on, Jarrod, that kind of thinking went out with hula hoops.”
    â€œI’m just pointing out a simple fact.”
    â€œI’m not getting married, okay?” Biting her tongue before she said anything she might really regret, Katie took up her scratchy sponge and scrubbed the frying pan so fiercely, she wondered if she’d scrape the Teflon right off the metal. Though she relied on her brothers from time to time, they—especially Jarrod in his current older-brother mood—could be worse than irritating. “My marital status is, as they say, none of your business.”
    He had the audacity to laugh. “But your car is.”
    â€œTouché, brother dear,” she said with a sigh. “Want something to drink?”
    â€œGot a beer?”
    â€œNope. Bottled water, tomato juice and grapefruit juice.”
    â€œThanks anyway. Too healthy for me. I think I’ll pass.” He grabbed a handful of peanuts and tossed them one by one into the air, catching them in his mouth—a trick he’d perfected before Katie had even entered grade school.
    â€œThanks for helping out,” she said over her shoulder.
    â€œAny time.” He was out the door, and it slapped shut behind him. Katie rinsed her hands and dried them quickly. Since Josh was at soccer practice, there was just enough time for her to do some research for a story she was investigating—the biggest news story in Bittersweet in years. She found her purse and slung the strap over her shoulder as she breezed out the back door. Someone had to solve the mystery surrounding Isaac Wells’s disappearance, and she was determined to get the ball rolling. One way or another, her byline was going to be on the story when it broke.
    * * *
    Astride a tired, sorrel mare, Luke squinted against an ever-lowering sun. His bones ached from over six hours in the saddle, and sweat had collected on his back. Dust covered his hands and face, and all he wanted was a cool shower and a cold bottle of beer. As the horse eased down a steep cattle trail, Luke eyed the rough terrain of rocky cliffs, narrow ridges and scraggly stands of oak and madrona. The place wasn’t exactly Eden. Not by a long shot.
    He’d spent the afternoon following deer and cattle trails that fanned across the hilly, sun-dried terrain. Thickets of scrawny trees offered some shade, but for the most part the earth was covered with brittle, bleached grass, rocks and a sprinkling of weeds. There