The Bachelor’s Christmas Bride Read Online Free PDF Page B

broad shoulders and went back down the steps.
    Which was when Shannon stepped into the warmth of the apartment and closed the door.
    And realized that she was suddenly eager to get to bed, to get to sleep, to get tomorrow to come.

Chapter Three
    â€œY es, I got here, I did the closing on Gramma’s farm yesterday, and it’s nice to be spending time with Chase and Cody—I had breakfast and lunch with them and Hadley, and then Hadley took me to have my bridesmaid’s dress fitted so it will be ready for the wedding tomorrow. And tonight is the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner,” Shannon said into the phone.
    â€œDoesn’t sound like you’re missing me at all,” Wes Rumson said on the other end.
    â€œWes…”
    â€œI know, there’s no reason you should be missing me—even if we were engaged you were used to not having me around for most things. It’s the curse of the Rumson men.”
    And of his own parents’ marriage and one of the reasons Shannon had turned down his proposal.
    But she didn’t say that.
    Instead she said, “I appreciate that you called, though.” Which was true. She honestly did hope they could remain friends.
    â€œIt feels a little weird to be so included in this wedding,” she admitted then. “Hadley told me it was important to her and to Chase that the family he’s found be a part of everything. But as nice as they all are—and they all are wonderfully nice people—they’re still basically strangers to me.”
    Wes made no comment and she had the sense that he was at least half occupied with something other than their conversation.
    Still, she felt the need to fill the silence he’d left and she said, “How are things going on your end?”
    â€œGreat!” Wes said in his most enthusiastic politician’s voice. “We’re looking good in the polls, we’ll likely have the endorsements we need, even the President has promised to stop here sometime in the spring to throw his weight behind me.”
    â€œSo maybe this would be a good time to make the announcement that there isn’t any engagement….”
    â€œI keep hoping we might not have to make that announcement.”
    â€œWes—”
    â€œThe voters love you, Shannon. They love the idea of a little romance in the wings, of a wedding. And you know how I feel….”
    That what the voters loved was of first and foremost importance to him? That how he felt about her was merely an afterthought?
    But Shannon didn’t say what ran through her mind. Instead she said, “You have to make the announcement, Wes.”
    â€œThe First Lady of Montana—that would be theBigger Life you’ve always wanted,” he said as if he were dangling a carrot in front of a donkey’s nose. Bigger Life was the way he’d come to refer to her desire—as if it were an entity of its own. “No tiny apartment above a shoe repair shop—you’d live in the Governor’s mansion. And this is only the start—you know we’re shooting for the White House. You can’t get a Bigger Life than that.”
    â€œI couldn’t marry you just to have a bigger life, Wes. Any more than you should marry me to win votes.”
    â€œThat’s not fair—we talked about getting married before—”
    And even then Shannon had had doubts about it. Yes, she’d always wanted a life that was bigger than the very small, limited life her parents had lived and Wes knew that. But when it came to a relationship, to marriage, she wanted exactly what her parents had had. And that wasn’t the way she felt about Wes. She knew that wasn’t the way Wes felt about her. Which was the real reason she’d said no.
    â€œYou don’t really want to go over this again, do you?” she cajoled.
    This time rather than silence giving away the fact that Wes’s attention was split, he proved