Read Love On The Brazos for Free Online

investment banker from the git-go.”
     
    “My grandfather, Papaw, was in oil until he retired.  He was a wildcatter.”
     
    “Really?  What is his name?”
     
    “Clay Carlyle”
     
    “I’ll have to ask Dad about him.  I’ll bet he knows him or knows of him.  He was born and raised in Sugar Land.”
     
    “Tell me what I missed by not going to Harvard?”
     
    “Not much if you wanted Engineering.  MIT is the engineering school in Massachusetts.  Boston is a great city though.  The United States was practically born there.  I really enjoyed it.”
     
    “I’ve pretty much stayed in Texas.  We went to Hawaii one year for Christmas.  I really liked that.  I would like to do the Europe bit though.  That is on my bucket list.”
     
    “You’ll love it.  I spent a summer in France and another in Italy when I was in college.”
     
    “Oh, I want you to tell me all about it.  Rome fascinates me and all of those buildings that have survived so long.”
     
    Michael laughed, and said, I had lunch in Hadrian’s Square several times.  Hadrian’s tomb was built in 2AD.”
     
    “See, that’s what I was talking about.  Two thousand years ago.
     
    “Hadrian’s tomb is at one end of the square.  I was eating at a McDonald’s at the other end.”
     
    “You’re kidding?  You’re not kidding?  That’s sacrilege.  Well, it’s still on my bucket list.”
     
    “I’ll take you there some day.”
     
    She looked at him strangely, then “You’re on.  It’s a date.”  “Where did that come from,” she wondered.
     
    “We’re here, now if we’re lucky, we can find a parking place.”
     
    She grabbed his arm, “There; there’s one on the other side of the street.”
     
    He glanced in the rear view mirror, made a quick U-turn and grabbed the space. 
     
    “Oh, this is beautiful.  If the food is as good as the place looks, it’s going to be outstanding.”
     
    They were shown to a table.  Looking around the room, Jordy saw the polished dark wood cabinets, the backlit bar and the wild murals on the wall.  It created an atmosphere unlike any she had experienced.  She reached across the table and took Michael’s hands in hers.  “I love it Michael.”
     
    When the waitperson came to take their drink order, she asked if they had lemonade and ordered it.  Michael asked for iced tea.  Eventually, they got around to ordering; Jordy had a seafood salad while Michael had a salad with crab meat. 
     
    After lunch, Michael asked if she would like to walk around the Strand.  She did, so they began a walking tour, hand in hand, visiting many of the shops, most of which catered to the tourist trade, but there were a few antique shops that grabbed her attention.
     
    Talking as they walked, Jordy leaned against Michael’s shoulder as he joked about something he had seen in one of the shops.  He leaned toward her, his dark eyes sparkling in the pleasure of her company.  As they walked along, he had a fluid motion to his steps.  “I’ll bet he’s a good dancer,” she thought. 
     
    Jordy was examining some of the displayed antiques; he leaned nonchalantly against the wall, allowing himself the pleasure of enjoying her lithe, graceful movements and the sheer joy in her face when she found something she liked.  She turned slowly and caught him eying her.  She smiled delightedly, and said, “Caught you.”
     
    “There’s no crime against appreciating beauty.”
     
    “Why thank you.  You say the nicest things.”
     
    “I was talking about the breakfront.”
     
    “You’re gonna pay for that one.”
     
    He walked toward her, and draped his arm casually about her shoulders and in a brief show of intimacy, he drew her to him.  The pressure of her body against his sent little shocks through the light sundress.  She leaned against him, reluctant to end the moment.  “About ready to move on,” he said in an emotionally charged voice as he leaned over and lightly brushed