Lana's Lawman

Book 2: Brides of Destiny

by Karen Leabo

Genres: Women's Fiction; Romance; Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

In a tender story of fateful encounters and second chances, Karen Leabo maps the territory of true yearning and its power to heal old sorrows.
 
Though it’s been years since Sloan Bennett has seen Lana Gaston, time melts instantly when he comes to her rescue during a Texas thunderstorm. Lana was everything a teenage bad boy couldn’t have . . . but she felt like his for three magical weeks. Then she broke his heart—and Sloan walked away from Destiny, Texas. But now he’s back, wearing a badge, and wondering if fate has decided to give him another chance.
 
A struggling single mom, Lana can’t help looking back at all the wrong choices she made. With Sloan so close again, she’s filled with old regrets and deep new longing. Could the silly souvenir of a policeman’s badge, given to her by a fortune-teller, have more meaning than she ever dared to dream? Once, Lana didn’t have the courage to tell Sloan how much she cared. So she hurt him instead. But as his sensual lips dare to kiss away yesterday’s pain, she’ll risk her heart to let him know that this time, she’s his forever.
 
Includes a special message from the editor, as well as excerpts from these Loveswept titles: Blaze of Winter, Light My Fire, and Santerra’s Sin.

Release date: October 8, 2012

Publisher: Loveswept

Print pages: 320

Sample

ONE
 
Rain poured down on the windshield in murky sheets. Lana Gaston flipped the wipers up to high, continuing her creep along the dark, narrow lane that led to St. Theresa’s Church. She would have pulled her Mercedes onto the nearest side street to wait out the storm, but she was already running late, and she loathed the idea of her tardiness holding up the wedding.
 
“Think we’ll have a tornado?” her eight-year-old son asked hopefully, tugging at the collar of the new button-down shirt she’d coerced him into wearing. “That would be really cool.”
 
“It’s a little late in the year for tornadoes,” Lana answered. Then she smiled. Given the turbulent relationship between the bride and groom, a tornado for their wedding would be almost apropos.
 
She glanced skyward. “Just kidding,” she murmured toward heaven. “I don’t really want a tornado. In fact, I’d really really appreciate it if you’d let up on the rain a little so I can make it to the church.”
 
The only response she got was a rabbit darting across the road in front of her. She slammed on the brakes. The aging Mercedes skidded on the slick pavement, performing a perfect one-eighty while Lana struggled with the steering wheel for control.
 
Her efforts were useless. After what seemed like an eternity of screeching tires and dizzying maneuvers, the car ended up nose down in a culvert, facing the wrong way.
 
The engine died with a groan. For several seconds all Lana could hear was the rain pounding on her roof and her heartbeat pounding in her ears. “Rob, are you okay?”
 
“Awesome driving, Mom.”
 
“Hey, we’re alive, aren’t we?” she snapped back, relief warring with frustration. “Did you want me to run over the bunny rabbit?”
 
“No, I guess not. Sorry.”
 
She immediately regretted her temper. Rob, unfortunately, was only parroting his father, using the tone of voice and the sarcasm Bart would have used if he were there. “No, sweetie, I’m sorry for snapping. I’m just upset about being late for Callie’s wedding.”
 
“Can’t you call her on the cellular?”
 
“The cell phone isn’t working right now,” Lana confessed. She’d had to cancel her contract because she couldn’t afford it anymore. It seemed like lately she couldn’t afford a whole lot, not since Bart’s child support payments had been so drastically reduced. She couldn’t blame him. She’d agreed to the payment schedule during their divorce. It was just that she’d thought she would have a better job by now, and her school tuition and books ate up a lot of her income.
 
“Maybe we can walk the rest of the way,” Rob suggested.
 
Lana appreciated the fact that her son was trying to solve the problem. “We could if it weren’t raining so hard. I refuse to show up for Callie and Sam’s wedding looking like a drowned rat.”
 
Rob sighed. “I wish you’d just let me stay at Dad’s instead of coming to this stupid wedding.”
 
“We’ve been planning this for a long time,” Lana explained patiently. “Your dad has plans this weekend, remember? It’s Charlene’s birthday.” Charlene being his former secretary and current applicant for wife number two.
 
“Big deal. Why didn’t you just leave me at home with a sitter, then? I’m missing The Simpsons.”
 
“Because I wanted you with me. And Callie wanted you at her wedding. She’s just about my best friend, you know, and she’s your friend too. She came to your birthday party and your cello recital and your swim meets and your football games. Don’t you want to be there on this most important day of her life?”
 
Rob didn’t answer, but his silence spoke quite eloquently. He’d rather be in front of the tube, zoned out on his favorite show. Or at his father’s, where he could run wild and do whatever he pleased, eat ice cream for dinner, and play with his expensive toys. He’d rather be anywhere but spending time with his boring, crabby mother.
 
A flash of headlights brought her back to her present dilemma. Yes! Probably someone headed for the wedding too. She could hitch a ride and worry about the car later. She opened her window, stuck out her red umbrella, and waved it frantically at the approaching motorist.
 
The car slowed. Please let it be her knight in shining armor, she prayed, and not some lowlife murderer-rapist-kidnapper. Not that Destiny, Texas, harbored a lot of those, but you could never be sure. After all, only two days earlier Callie’s soon-to-be sister-in-law had been arrested on suspicion of murder. But stuff like that didn’t happen very often around there.
 
As the car pulled to the side of the road in front of her, a bank of red and blue flashing lights burst to life. A police officer, Lana realized with a surge of relief. Most of them were okay.
 
The driver’s door opened and the officer emerged, looking large and reassuring in his blue uniform and black slicker. As he walked toward her in an easy, loose-limbed gait, he pulled a flashlight from his belt and flipped it on.
 
“Cool, a cop,” was Rob’s only comment.
 
The man shined the flashlight beam in Lana’s face, then over the car’s interior. “Hi. Looks like you got yourself a problem here. Anyone—” He paused and stared a moment. “Anyone hurt?”
 
“N-no, we’re fine, but we’re in a real bind—” She stopped. Holy cheese, was this guy who she thought he was? “Sloan? Sloan Bennett! I … it is you, isn’t it?” The short hair and the uniform had thrown her off for a moment, but she never could have forgotten the shape of his face, those sharp cheekbones and the straight, perfect nose, the sensual lips … especially the lips. Her face burned.
 
“Lana,” he said, his voice devoid of emotion. “Lana Walsh.”
 
She had a million things she wanted to ask him—like how had he ended up a cop, of all things? Had he gone to college? Did he still ride a motorcycle? Was he married? And where the heck had he disappeared to after graduation? She’d seen him around that summer, once at the gas station, once at the grocery store, although she was pretty sure he hadn’t spotted her. Both times she’d tried to gather up the courage to approach him, wanting to explain. But both times she’d realized she didn’t have the words to explain because she didn’t understand it herself—the consuming need she had for him, tempered by a fear she couldn’t put a name to.
 
So she’d bided her time, thinking she would have another chance, that at some other time and place she would be more … prepared. Then there’d been that gossip about him and Nicole Johnson, and he’d simply vanished.
 
She realized she was no more prepared now than she’d ever been. “Listen,” she said a little breathlessly, “I’m late for Callie Calloway’s wedding, and I’m a bridesmaid, and I have to get to the church right away.”
 
“I was going there myself, to handle the parking lot traffic. I’ll give you a lift,” he offered, but not eagerly. Like maybe he knew he had to because he was a cop, but otherwise he wouldn’t think twice about letting her drown.
 
“Thanks.” He didn’t have to ask her again. Right then she needed a knight in shining armor, and she couldn’t be picky about who that knight was. She turned to Rob. “You’ll have to get out on my side, sweetie, or you’ll end up falling in the ditch.”
 
Lana opened her door, hiked up her long velvet skirt, and warily allowed Sloan to assist her out of the awkwardly angled car and under his umbrella. His hand was strong on her upper arm, and she felt the burn of his touch long after he’d released her. “C’mon, Rob, get under the umbrella.”
 
Rob scrambled out after her, his wide eyes riveted on the policeman’s uniform. “Is that a real gun?”
 
“Sure is,” Sloan replied, suddenly sounding much less harsh. He opened the back door of the squad car. Rob dived in and Lana followed, relieved that she’d gotten only a little damp.
 
“Do you need anything from the car?” Sloan asked.
 
“Oh, my shoes!” She looked down at the Loafers, which she’d elected to wear instead of the custom-dyed peau de soie pumps when she’d seen the rain. “They’re on the floor in the backseat.” She handed him the keys.
 
“Mom, do you think he’d let me ride in front?” Rob asked excitedly, peering over the front seat at the impressive array of electronics attached to the dash.
 
“Just stay put for now, please?” she said wearily. “It’s only five minutes to the church.”
 
Rob flopped back down in the seat, his arms crossed, a mutinous expression on his face. “You never want me to have any fun.”
 
“I love for you to have fun,” Lana said. “But we’re late and in a hurry, and we don’t really have time to worry about having fun.” Because if they did, truth be known, she would like to ride up front with Sloan. And she’d be far more interested in the man than in his machines.
 
Sloan opened the front door and slid behind the wheel. He took off his hat and shook the water from it. “Callie and Sam picked a heckuva day to get married.”