Lost and Found Family

Read the Excerpt

[The scene takes place at a charity fundraiser]

“Hey, good-looking,” Emma murmured, then blushed.

Her teasing had come without thinking, as it might have less than a year ago. After their quarrel last night it sounded false.

Yet Christian’s eyes had warmed for a second. He turned to his father and the other men in the group, his tone a shade too hearty. “Am I a lucky man, or what?”

Southern gentlemen to the core, they all politely agreed. She gave her father-in-law a quick kiss on the cheek then slid her hand into Christian’s. “We need to circulate.”

She and Christian continued across the room, greeting people here and there until an older woman swooped down on them in a flash of blue organza. Emma couldn’t remember her name, but she was one of her mother-in-law’s charity friends. She hugged Christian then cast a glance at Emma’s dress. “Lovely, my dear,” she said. “And how brave of you to come.” She patted Emma’s bare shoulder. “In your place I wouldn’t be able to leave the house.”