Read His Sister's Wedding for Free Online

wedding.
    Could it be that Luke had latent romantic tendencies? Down-deep did he have the capacity
     to lose himself in love?
    "I think the place is great," Lillie responded, pushing back a wayward wisp of hair
     along with the thoughts of Luke as a tender lover. "But we're talking about an event
     for a hundred people. What about parking, dressing rooms for the wedding party? A
     kitchen for the caterers?" She shook her head. "It just wouldn't work."
    "Yes, it will," Luke insisted. "The house is in better shape than it looks. There's
     a field beyond that hedge that we can have mowed for parking. Think about it, Lillie.
     It'll be nice." He reached out, catching her arm gently to turn her around.
    Lillie felt the jolt all the way through her body. His hand felt both strong and warm
     against her bare hand. "Yeah, and we'll have cars sunk in up to their hubcaps," she
     muttered, trying to ignore the sensations his touch evoked as she followed him through
     a hedge in the garden.
    "You're just upset because it's not one of your usual wedding chapels," he challenged
     as he came to a stop on a wide vista that sloped down to the river.
    "That's not true," she denied, shoving back another strand of hair from her face.
     "Just look at this place!" Lillie picked up a tendril of climbing rose that snared
     her skirt. "It's great for a scene out of that children’s book, The Secret Garden , but not very workable for six bridesmaids in heels and organdy."
    Luke looked at the offending rose bush sprawling over the ground in a haze of green.
     "Don't worry. Landscape is my business. I'll have this place in tiptop shape by December,
     just in case this cursed wedding takes place."
    "Are you sure you're not trying to sabotage the wedding by picking this place?" The
     question tumbled out of her.
    He shot her an exasperated look. "I do have some feelings for my sister. If I get
     really desperate, I'll just kidnap her."
    "That's comforting." Lillie scanned the garden. "Where, exactly, would you seat a
     hundred people? Have you ever tried to seat people in rental chairs on a soggy riverside?
     They'll be sinking in during the ceremony. By the time the couple says, 'I do', the
     guests will look like they're sitting cross-legged on bleacher seats."
    "You're exaggerating." He cracked a smile at the image, but seemed to dismiss the
     reality of it. "I'll take care of the grounds and I have the place picked out for
     the ceremony."
    "Melanie has no idea the monster she's created," Lillie moaned as he led her toward
     the river, its surface a dark green.
    Two giant willow trees towered fifteen feet from the river bank, their limbs draping
     gracefully to create a natural canopy that shifted and moved with the rising wind.
    "Right here." Luke pointed to a spot between the trees, framed against the backdrop
     of stone steps that descended to the flowing waterway.
    "Has anyone mentioned how stubborn you are?" Lillie asked, pulling a heel out of the
     mushy grass. She was beginning to feel worn down by his determined view, and insidiously
     enchanted by her surroundings. The place even smelled wonderful, a mixture of flowers
     and cloud-laden air.
    "Yes." He strode up the gentle slope away from the trees. "Now over here, we'll seat
     the audience--"
    "They're not an 'audience'," Lillie corrected, drawing on irritation to buffer the
     effect he had on her. "They're guests. And you can't expect them to drive all the
     way out here, park their cars in a soggy meadow, climb over hedges and rose bushes
     just to sit in chairs that'll sink eighteen inches into the ground."
    "I thought optimism was your specialty, Pollyanna," Luke teased as a sudden gust of
     wind swirled around them.
    Out of the blue, a loud clap of thunder shook the meadow. Both Luke and Lillie looked
     up at the sky only to have their faces washed by a startling curtain of rain. Lillie
     heard herself gasp as she instinctively dove for the closest cover, a spindly tree
     halfway up the