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  THE GROOM CAME...C.O.D.?

  Well, maybe not exactly. But just when unlucky-in-love AJ (that’s Agnes Jane to you!) had decided that she was going to focus on her career as a caterer and keep her mind off men, that’s when fate sent her a delivery she couldn’t ignore. In the form of Sergeant Shane Harrison, bearer of French chocolates, and newly arrived for a short-term project. And though clearly the good sergeant was as attracted to the lovely caterer as she was to him, Shane made it clear that when his job was done, he was outta there....

  So now AJ has a project of her own—convincing the handsome footloose soldier that though he’d planned to breeze through town on his way to his next adventure, falling in love is the biggest adventure of all!

  AJ smiled.

  Oh, how she loved food and the effect it had on people. That was because every dish she created was infused with her passion for cooking. She watched Shane as he was enjoying a bite of cold lobster salad, and the sheer bliss on his face made her want to fall in love.

  The thought unleashed a swarm of butterflies in her stomach. She’d fed plenty of people since Danny had died, but the possibility of dating, much less giving her heart away again, hadn’t seemed in the realm of available options.

  The sensible part of her wanted to pull back, play it safe. But the butterflies had already flown off with her heart and even the sensible part of her couldn’t do a thing to stop it.

  She took a deep breath against the rush.

  Oh, no, this was not good.

  It was absolutely wonderful.

  Dear Reader,

  After college, my husband and I decided to raise our family in the small town where I grew up. Even though the surrounding area has grown tremendously over the decades, so much remains steadfast and unchanged in my community: the high school, the football stadium, the farmers’ market, the quaint downtown with its old cobblestones and gigantic laurel oaks stretching protective branches over those who come to shop and eat and meet.

  While some people need to get away from the old and familiar, I’ve always taken comfort in being a thread woven into in the well-worn fabric of an established Southern community. That’s where I got my idea for Texas Wedding, the first of three books in the Celebrations, Inc. series. When Sergeant Shane Harrison finds himself on temporary assignment in Celebration, Texas, heroine AJ Sherwood-Antonelli shows him the importance of family, friends and community.

  I hope you’ll enjoy Shane and AJ’s story. Please be sure to look for the final two books in this series in October and November. And be sure to let me know what you think of them. You can reach me at [email protected].

  Warmly,

  Nancy Robards Thompson

  Nancy Robards Thompson

  Texas Wedding

  Books by Nancy Robards Thompson

  Harlequin Special Edition

  †Fortune’s Unexpected Groom #2185

  **Texas Wedding #2214

  Silhouette Special Edition

  Accidental Princess #1931

  Accidental Cinderella #2002

  *The Family They Chose #2026

  Accidental Father #2055

  Accidental Heiress #2082

  Harlequin NEXT

  Out with the Old, In with the New

  What Happens in Paris (Stays in Paris?)

  Sisters

  True Confessions of the Stratford Park PTA

  Like Mother, Like Daughter (But in a Good Way): “Becoming My Mother...”

  Beauty Shop Tales

  An Angel in Provence

  *The Baby Chase

  †The Fortunes of Texas: Whirlwind Romance

  **Celebrations, Inc.

  Other books by this author available in ebook format.

  NANCY ROBARDS THOMPSON

  Award-winning author Nancy Robards Thompson is a sister, wife and mother who has lived the majority of her life south of the Mason-Dixon line. As the oldest sibling, she reveled in her ability to make her brother laugh at inappropriate moments, and she soon learned she could get away with it by proclaiming “What? I wasn’t doing anything.” It’s no wonder that upon graduating from college with a degree in journalism, she discovered that reporting “just the facts” bored her silly. Since she hung up her press pass to write novels full-time, critics have deemed her books “funny, smart and observant.” She loves chocolate, champagne, cats and art (though not necessarily in that order). When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family, reading, hiking and doing yoga.

  Special thanks to Caroline Phipps

  for educating me on the Army.

  This book is dedicated to the memory of

  Lynn Miller Robards. You will live forever in our hearts.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Excerpt

  Prologue

  When the tall man entered Maya’s Chocolate Shop, the warm gust of wind that blew in with him—jangling the bells on the door and ruffling the ribbons on the gift baskets—seemed to sing a certain familiar name, but Maya didn’t quite catch it.

  She cocked her ear and listened harder...but heard nothing. Hmm... She thought she’d heard a whisper, but she couldn’t be sure. Especially when the door clicked shut and stillness settled over the shop. All Maya could hear was the cadence of the man’s boots marking time on the wooden floor as he ventured deeper into her shop.

  Even so, one thing was certain—the guy’s appearance in her store had stirred the winds of love. There was no mistaking it, even if she couldn’t readily identify his intended.

  The woman would reveal herself in due time.

  In addition to being a third-generation chocolatier, Maya was un marieur, a matchmaker. It was an avocation of sorts. Some claimed it was her obsession. But when the winds of love blew in as they had a moment ago, she couldn’t help herself. It was a challenge she couldn’t resist, and she wouldn’t rest until she’d done everything in her power to bring “the intendeds” together.

  “Bonjour!” Maya offered the handsome man her warmest greeting, which he generously returned. His was a wide toothy smile. He looked American. Or possibly Scandinavian, though Maya’s bet was on the former.

  “May I help you?” she asked.

  “Just looking, thanks.”

  Oui. Américain.

  Handsome as he was, he hadn’t come for her. But he had turned up for a reason, Maya’s instincts insisted.

  The signs were subtle. Visceral. A feeling that raised the hair on the nape of her neck and tingled its way up her nerve endings, before it settled down in the pit of her stomach. A figurative “you’ve got mail.” A metaphorical message she couldn’t completely qualify, other than to know that, in the past, when the signs presented themselves in this particular fashion, they were never wrong.

  She regarded him for a moment as he perused the shop. He looked like a soldier, though he wasn’t in uniform. There was something about his close-cropped sandy hair, his bronzed skin and those broad, broad shoulders and muscular arms. Something in the way he carried himself suggested combat.

  Hmm...Maya thought. Perhaps the combat wasn’t necessarily physical. More internal...

  A man at war with himself.

  All the more reason she must get busy and do her job.

  “I just set out some fresh truffles,” Maya said. “Would you care for a sample?” />
  Chapter One

  Sergeant Shane Harrison regarded the photograph of the pretty blonde as he sat in his car, which was parallel parked across from the storefront. His gaze zipped from the photo to the black metal numbers marking the address, and then to the lettering on the window that spelled out Celebrations, Inc., Catering Company.

  Yep, this was the place.

  His gaze zagged back to the photograph for one last look at the woman’s enticing smile. At least the first person he’d met in Celebration, Texas, had a pretty face. He’d always been a sucker for a pretty face. The photograph had been the tipping point that had convinced him to make this personal delivery of chocolate and snapshots to a civilian.

  He wasn’t in the habit of playing delivery boy for strangers. However, when he’d visited Maya’s Chocolate Shop as he’d passed through St. Michel on his way back to the United States from the Middle East, he’d struck up a conversation with Maya, the shop’s proprietor. When she’d learned the next stop on his tour was Celebration, Texas, she’d nearly leaped over the counter in excitement.

  Maya had a good friend who’d just opened a catering business in Celebration. Her name was AJ Sherwood-Antonelli—a mouthful of a name if he’d ever heard one. Maya thought it would be fun to surprise AJ with a special delivery of “celebratory chocolates,” as she put it. She’d said something about a “chocolate-gram from a nice-looking soldier”—or something like that. Her words might’ve embarrassed him, if he’d been prone to such a weakness. But he wasn’t. In the end—after several samples of Maya’s sweets—it was her bribe of a box of hand-dipped truffles as payment that convinced him to bring a box to her friend.

  Actually, if the truth be told, it was the photograph of the beautiful woman that persuaded him. He studied the picture again. Something about AJ’s smile captured him; or maybe it was something in the way her eyes shone as she looked through the camera.

  Whatever it was, that indefinable “something” made him want to know her better. Or at least meet her. He wasn’t looking for anything long-term. Actually, he wasn’t looking for anything. Period.

  For the next six weeks, he was stationed at Fort Hood. He’d be spending most of his days in Celebration on an undesirable assignment scouting sites for an off-base MOUT school (Military Operations Urban Terrain). The assignment, known in the army as “Realtor duty,” was the hell most soldiers dreaded. Once he’d secured the venue, he’d help set up the school training facility.

  Six weeks of drudgery. He couldn’t think of many other things he’d rather not do.

  Centering the stack of photographs on the box of chocolates, Shane gave himself a mental shake, preempting a downward mood spiral. The assignment was only six weeks. Then he’d head off on a plum European assignment he’d coveted for eighteen years. In the meantime, he needed to just suck it up.

  So what was another six-week tour?

  It was a trade off. That’s what it was. And even though getting stuck in suburban hell made him feel like doing anything but “celebrating,” maybe the diversion of female company would help pass the time.

  * * *

  The door chime beckoned AJ from the backroom kitchen where she’d been perfecting a selection of sliders to serve at A Taste of Celebration, a food festival sponsored by the Celebration, Texas, Chamber of Commerce. The event was next weekend, and it would be the first big community-wide showcase for her new catering company. She’d done a steady stream of business over the past year and a half out of her home kitchen, but A Taste of Celebration was the first time Celebrations, Inc. would make its debut to the public as an official business with its own commercial kitchen and office space.

  It was September, and even though the holidays were a couple of months away, it wasn’t too early to start getting the word out about the catering company’s new digs. People would start thinking about the holidays soon, and in the meantime, there would be tailgating parties and fall festivals—all sorts of catering opportunities. A Taste of Celebration had the potential to earn her some bookings.

  She wiped off her hands and made her way into the reception area. Since she was the only one in the office, she kept the door locked. Not that she felt unsafe in this town where everyone knew everyone... Okay, so maybe she did have a few issues about safety. Even so, she kept the door locked because she didn’t want to be surprised by someone happening in unannounced.

  But surprised she was—and a little wary—when she saw the tall, good-looking stranger peering in through the glass and clutching a sack of photographs and a small box.

  She was five-three, and he had a good foot on her in height. He also had close-cropped blond hair, broad shoulders and muscular arms. Quite a nice sight to behold, but the frivolity of his Adonis-like assets faded when he rapped on the glass door again and held up one of the photos.

  She squinted at it, and her curiosity blossomed when she realized it was a picture of her and her friend Maya LeBlanc.

  It had been taken last fall when she and her friends had gone over to St. Michel with their boarding-school buddy Margeaux Broussard to support her as she mended relations with her terminally ill father.

  Hoping she didn’t have flour on her face, she wiped her hands on her apron and gave a quick swipe across her cheeks before she turned the lock and opened the door. After all, a stranger in possession of a photo of her with her friend Maya surely wasn’t there to cause trouble.

  She opened the door a crack. “May I help you?”

  “AJ Sherwood-Antonelli?”

  “Yes? I’m AJ...”

  “Special delivery, all the way from St. Michel.” He slid the photo through the small opening in the door. She accepted it.

  “Where did you get this?”

  “From Maya. This is for you, too.” He held out the pink and black box, which AJ immediately recognized as Maya’s signature package. Her mouth watered at the thought of the confections inside.

  “She said to tell you congratulations on your new business. I think there’s a note in the box.”

  She opened the door wider and took the chocolates. “Won’t you please come in?”

  He stepped inside, glancing around the unfinished lobby area—all plain, plastered drywall, no furniture. Not even a desk. A self-conscious wave washed over AJ.

  She’d moved in three months ago. Essentially, Celebrations, Inc. was a one-woman show financed by her own seed money, which was supplemented by monetary and in-kind investments from her friends Caroline, Pepper and Sydney. They helped her in various capacities such as prepping desserts, marketing, booking and serving. However, AJ had been so busy with the food end of the business, she hadn’t had time to fix up the front of the house.

  In the little bit of free time AJ had, she’d concentrated on testing new recipes and refining the company’s menu. The kitchen had been the sole focus of her efforts. There hadn’t been much time left for decorating the public area of the small space she was leasing.

  Pepper had been after her about it. AJ was so embarrassed by the sudden realization of how stark and unfinished this first impression must be, that she made a mental note to give Pepper the green light to have her way with it.

  She could already hear her friend’s I-told-you-so’s. And they’d be well deserved.

  Standing here with this attractive man, AJ was acutely aware that if business kept growing at the current rate, having Pepper do something about the reception area would alleviate this woefully self-conscious feeling she currently had standing here with—with—

  “And who are you?” she asked.

  “Shane Harrison.” He offered his hand and she accepted, giving it a quick shake.

  “Nice to meet you, Shane. How do you know Maya?”

  He smiled and the appeal of his crooked grin dazzled her for a moment. “I don’t, really,” he said. “I happened into her shop last week while I was in St. Michel, and when she learned I was coming to Celebration, Texas, well, basically she bribed me with chocolate to bring you this car
e package. Oh—here are the rest of the photos.”

  AJ accepted them. As she flipped through them one at a time, smiling at the memory of the trip to St. Michel she, Pepper and Caroline had taken a few months ago, her mind raced as she remembered Maya talking about how she fancied herself a matchmaker.

  But that’s not what this special delivery is about, she told herself.

  AJ stole a quick, assessing glance at Shane, then returned her gaze to the photos. He was a good-looking guy, tall and tanned and solidly built with sturdy, mile-wide shoulders. Not at all my type. Even so, the thought sparked a heat that started in her cleavage and crawled uncontrollably up her neck, until it burned on her cheeks.

  It was ridiculous. No, not only ridiculous, just plain absurd. When was the last time a great set of shoulders caused her to blush like a high school girl with a crush?

  It had been a very long time.

  She hated being out of control.

  As she flipped through the photos one more time, she bit the insides of her cheeks hard until finally she felt her face cooling.

  “Well, Mr. Harrison—” she began.

  “Actually, it’s Sergeant Harrison. I’m stationed over at Fort Hood for the next six weeks or so. But actually, I’m living in town for closer proximity to a project I’m heading up.”

  A military man.

  Even though he wasn’t in uniform, she could see that he fit the bill. Physically fit with shoulders so wide he could probably carry the weight of a nation...

  Inwardly, she rolled her eyes at the cheesy sentiment, bringing herself back down to earth by reminding herself that shouldering the weight of a nation went hand in hand with a willingness to fight to the death for it.

  She’d once loved a man who’d sworn to serve and protect. And he was dead now. The pain of that memory helped deflate the silly direction Maya’s living, breathing candygram was tempting her thoughts.

  “Thank you for delivering this, Sergeant Harrison, but I have to get back to work. I was just getting ready to grill some sliders.”