Love Under Two Cowboys - By Cara Covington Page 0,3

of us." Henry Kendall nudged his brother, Morgan, and before she knew it, the line that formed the semicircle behind the bower became much longer. Then Matt and Steven Benedict joined them, squeezing into place, flanking their wife.

For just a moment, Carrie had the sense of being alone in a room full of loving families. Loneliness and sadness warred with wisps of memory, painted photographs, and still-life snapshots. She had wisps of seeing her mom and dad at some sort of party, her and her older sister Chloe all dressed up, their outfits complete with pretty dresses, crinolines, and shiny Mary-Jane shoes. Stupid to wish for what never was. Life was what it was, and pining over what "might have been" was a waste of time.

A shiver caressed her, and she recognized it as the sensation of being watched.

Fear flickered to life within her and then died almost immediately. It wasn't a specter of the past that caused that skittish kiss of nerves on flesh. She shifted her position just slightly, and sought out the source of the feeling.

Chase and Brian Benedict stood to her left in the row behind her and stood out even in this crowd of damn fine-looking women and men. She didn't mean to really look so openly or let them know she was doing so, but they'd both dressed in crisp white shirts open at the collar, and between the two of them they made a mouth-watering sight. She couldn't help but stare at them - and blush when she realized they'd both had their gazes fixed on her even before she'd turned around.

Caught, unable to tear her eyes away, Carrie felt her nipples tighten and her pussy become moist. Chase flicked his gaze down, then back up. His lips slid into a slow and sexy smile. She realized that one small lapse on her part had just put paid to all the times in the last two months she'd told those two cowboys that she wasn't interested in them in the slightest.

Now what the hell am I going to do?

That question was abandoned in the short term when applause erupted in the hall.

Carrie turned her attention to the back, clapping with the rest of the crowd. It didn't take long for Ginny and her men - all three of them - to reach the front.

Carrie's eyes immediately went to Benny. Nearly seven, towheaded and gap-toothed, Benny Rose had been blessed with more than his share of charm. He's gonna be a handful when he turns sixteen. Carrie imagined that there might be some extra-vigilant daddies watching their daughters in this town in about nine years' time.

At the moment, Ginny's boy wore the biggest grin, and his chest was puffed out as if he'd never been so proud.

Carrie looked at Ginny, and couldn't help but feel a little bit teary-eyed at the sight her new friend made. Wearing a wedding dress of white silk with a halter top that gathered just below the bust, Ginny was a vision of elegance and beauty. At four months pregnant her baby bump barely showed, and in the gown, it showed not at all. She'd swept her brown hair up into an intricate chignon, with a coronet of tiny white rosebuds decorating her hair, instead of a tiara. Around her neck, on a delicate chain, a golden angel sparkled in the lights of the hall.

The happiness and love in Ginny's eyes far outshone the beautiful gown she wore.

The guests of honor greeted their families, and then turned to Kate Benedict who had quietly moved to the front and stood on a tiny raised platform, under the bower.

"This is such a happy day for all of us!"

Although her voice didn't sound loud or booming, Kate's dulcet tones proved enough to quiet the entire assemblage.

"For those of us who have been privileged to always call Lusty home, who have grown up, or grown old here in this special place, surrounded by the love of family, we cannot know what it is to face the world alone. We can, none of us, even imagine the courage and strength of character it takes to raise a child alone, without family or friends, because we've all been blessed with an abundance of both.

"But we do, every single one of us, understand love when we see it. We understand and respect the depth of a mother's love, and that she would go to any lengths to protect her child."

Kate paused, her eyes shiny with tears,