Free The Best Man in Texas by Tanya Michaels

couple of days to think it over before she saw them tomorrow. But she’d agreed instantly, seeming overjoyed by the idea.
    “I was touched when Giff said he wanted to be married there.” Grace’s blue eyes watered. “Some of my friends suggested that I sell the house when Giff’s father died. With Giff already in college, it was more room than I really needed, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. And now, he’ll have his wedding there! And maybe, not too many years from now, there will be grandkids running around the yard and helping me bake Christmas cookies.”
    Brooke’s own eyes turned misty. The vision Grace’s words painted was exactly what Brooke herself had always wanted.
    Grace sniffed. “Look at me! I swear, I never used to cry. And now I’ve turned into one of those women who can’t get through a two-minute movie trailer withouttearing up. No more maudlin talk! Back to the party—I know the two of you want an intimate wedding ceremony, but a big congratulatory bash would give other people a chance to offer their happy wishes as well.”
    Just how big was Grace thinking? “I don’t want to put you to a lot of trouble,” Brooke said slowly.
    The older woman waved a hand. “I haven’t had enough fun in the past two years, and I’m determined to make up for it. A joyous shindig is exactly what I need. And it’s an opportunity to finally meet your family, in a fun setting.”
    There was something to be said for easing Grace slowly into a relationship with the Nichols, amid the buffer of other partygoers.
    Brooke smiled gamely. “You’ve talked me into it.”

Chapter Eight
    Leaning back in her office chair, Brooke glared at the phone that had just started ringing. Again.
    Between details she’d been writing up for other people’s weddings, calls she’d been making about her own wedding and talking to Grace about this Friday’s party, Brooke felt as if she hadn’t been off the phone for more than five minutes in the past two and a half weeks. Some days she spent more time talking to Grace than Giff, although that didn’t really bother her. After all, he was working harder than ever now to take a couple of weeks off after the wedding. We have the next sixty or so years to talk—might as well pace ourselves.
    With a resigned sigh, she reached for the receiver. “The Katy Chronicle , Brooke Nichols speaking.”
    “Hey, sis. Is this a bad time?”
    Depends, Brooke thought wearily, wondering if there was some new drama going on in Meg’s life. Everything had seemed copacetic when they’d met to pick up Brooke’s wedding dress, but that had been over a week ago and it didn’t take Meg long to make drastic life changes. “I have a few minutes.”
    “I thought about not calling because you know how they are—it will probably blow over in the next forty-eight hours—but just in case, I decided it was only fair to warn you. I mean, this weekend is your engagement party, and I know you hate being caught off guard.”
    Brooke’s stomach sank. “I’m going out on a limb here. Does your call have something to do with Mom and Dad?”
    “She phoned me twenty minutes ago to ask if she can stay with me for a few nights. I told her sure, I mean what do I care, I work most nights anyway, but—”
    “Megan.” Brooke let just enough impatience seep into her voice to get her sister’s attention.
    “Right. Apparently they had a fight over an impulse buy.”
    Brooke groaned. Her mother, who had grown up in a household of seven children, had regaled them with stories of deprivation and complaints about how she’d always had to make do with hand-me-downs. Brooke had barely met her aunts and uncles, as Didi wasn’t one for keeping in touch. Didi had taken off for Vegas as soon as she was legally old enough, hoping to follow her exotic dream of becoming a showgirl— She’d been told that she possessed raw talent as a dancer but was far too short. Though she’d been forced to abandon that