A Rainbow in Paradise Read Free Page A

question in her eyes, he gestured toward the
lawn where Chris and Sarah already danced and their parents waited
to join them. Eden nodded and Logan led the way.
    Then somehow she was in his arms and they
were moving to the music. I'm holding paradise, he thought
as he steered her into an awkward waltz, wishing for the first time
that he'd bothered to learn the old European ways of dancing. She may be belagaana , but I'm holding paradise in
my arms and I never want to let her go.
    * * * * *
    "Lovely wedding, wasn't it?"
    The words hadn't registered with Eden until
she realized someone was directing them toward her. She looked up
from where she was organizing wedding cake leftovers onto a tray
and spotted Alexa McAllister, who had been folding chairs last time
she looked. Eden smiled vacantly, trying to focus on Alexa's words.
"I'm sorry, Alexa. What did you say?"
    "I said it was a lovely wedding," Chris's
sister-in-law repeated, a glimmer of amusement lighting her blond
good looks.
    "Yes, lovely," Eden answered.
    It had been only a few minutes since the
bride and groom had left together in Chris's road-worn pickup
truck, tin cans rattling behind them, paper streamers dangling from
most available surfaces. Eden had heard some of the relatives
volunteering to help clean up and had offered a "me, too," starting
at the table with the cake. Now, as she watched, Alexa began
helping her, organizing pretty pieces of cake onto the tray.
"Reverend Phelps does a nice ceremony, doesn't he?"
    I'd like to have him do mine and
Logan's , Eden thought, and then shuddered at the very idea. What's the matter with me today ? "Yes," she said absently.
"He does do a nice service."
    Alexa worked quietly for a moment, carefully
filling the tray with cake slices, and then said, "When we've
finished cleaning up here, a bunch of us are going into Holbrook
for the Fourth of July picnic at the park. It'll be Jim and Meg and
their little girl, Kurt and me, Logan, maybe a few of the other
guests. We're hoping you'd like to join us."
    Logan ! Eden had barely heard the other
names. "Yes, I think that would be fun," she said, trying to keep
her voice calm.
    "Good," Alexa answered. "We'll count on it,
then." Moments later, the cake forgotten, she excused herself to
return to the job of folding chairs.
    * * * * *
    Eden looked at her watch. Almost five
o'clock, and we've still hardly spoken to each other. She and
Logan had spent the entire day near each other, seldom farther than
a couple of yards apart. The almost-electric power that surged
between them whenever he came near had been pulsing like mad
throughout the day, at levels high enough to exhaust her waning
energy, yet they'd scarcely exchanged a dozen words. It seemed as
if... as if they were both too overwhelmed to speak. At least, she
knew she was.
    I never imagined anything like this ,
she mused to herself, watching from the corner of her eye as Logan
took aim at the beanbag toss, organized to benefit a local church
day care. The smooth stretch of well-worked muscles beneath the
crisp cotton of his white dress shirt reminded her that this was a
man of confidence and power, a man she'd be wise to take
seriously . I've never imagined anyone like him , she
amended, her eyes alight.
    The game ended with Logan winning a large
stuffed animal and donating it back to the day care, and then the
other men went to join their wives and Logan turned toward her. The
determined look on his face told Eden that Logan, too, had been
thinking about their day together. "Eden, can we talk for a
minute?"
    I wonder. Do you think we can ? "Sure,"
she said, nodding.
    He took her elbow and led her aside, away
from the tables where the McAllisters were preparing to eat their
barbecue supper.
    "Hey, you two! Where're you going?" Meg
called.
    "We'll be back," Logan answered over his
shoulder.
    "Give 'em a little privacy," Jim encouraged,
while Chris's brothers and their wives chuckled in quiet
assent.
    "Just get back in time for