First Love - [Bridesmaid's Chronicles 04] Read online

  "Yeah? Well, then I'm pissed at you, too."

  "Nice, Pop."

  He jammed his hands in his pockets and paced. He'd spent the last twenty-some-odd years working his keister off to build an empire. Make his family secure. Give his girls a good lifethe kind of life he'd never had with his own lazy-ass pop. But did anyone give a rat's ass? Shit no. Syd had her back up, and his baby girl had run away. He'd thought they were a handful back when they were spitting formula and dirtying their diapers. Ha! They'd been easy back then.

  Now was hard. Now that he was trying to make good for them, protect them. And they were grown and fighting him every step of the way.

  * * *

  Chapter Five

  Your wedding will be a feast for the eyes, and your reception a treat for the tongue. Release doves for a visual flair. Accent your wedding cake with dark, exotic flavors. And don't forget about your most overlooked sense: smell. Consider piping in a delicate scent we recommend eucalyptus and give your guests the joy of watching you wed even while they engage in a little aromatherapy .

  from Hot Tips for the Cool Bride

  The western sky glowed purple with the setting sun, making the Colorado Riverironically dubbed Town Lake by the locals in Austinshimmer. A crushed-stone path circled the lake, veering off into Zilker Park on the south side, across from where Julia and Roman strolled hand in hand, heading east toward the Congress Avenue Bridge.

  They'd left the car with the valet at Mezzaluna, an upscale restaurant where they'd had a marvelous Italian dinner with Charles Travers, the sales rep for CenTex Spirits. Roman had eaten there many times, and he chose the place because he knew about Julia's love of Italian food. Of secondary consideration was the fact that the restaurant was downtown and therefore close to Travers's office.

  He'd called Charles from the road, relieved to find that the sales rep had been happy to move their ap-pointment from afternoon cocktails to an early dinner. He hadn't committed to a purchase, but Roman was cautiously optimistic.

  "I think it went well," Julia said. They'd made the valet open the car for them so that she could switch out her Jimmy Choos for something a little easier on the feet. Now she was wearing some designer tennis shoes that she swore were comfortable. Roman was dubious, but he knew better than to argue with Julia about fashion footwear. They'd walked the few blocks to the river, then strolled along the path watching the joggers. They'd turned around under the Lamar Boulevard Bridge and now they were heading back the way they came. Since Julia was keeping pace and hadn't once complained, Roman had to concede that he knew next to nothing about women's shoes.

  "It's really pretty along here," she said, as they watched some rowers go by, oars rising and falling in unison. "I can't believe I've spent so little time here since I moved to Fredericksburg."

  He cocked his head at that. "You come here all the time," he said.

  "Well, sure. To Scarborough's," she said, referring to one of Austin's exclusive stores. "And Nordstrom's. And that fabulous little paper store near Central Market." She swung their hands, clearly getting into her topic. "And Central Market, too. I mean, yum." The grocery store was more an anti-grocery store, with fabulous gourmet foods, local delicacies, and the absolute freshest of produce. "And all the stores on South Congress, of course." She held out her wrist, flashing a leather bracelet with JULIA spelled out in individual silver beads. "I got this at Primadora for only a fifth of what I would've paid in New York. And the most darling purse."

  "That's just a few blocks from here," he pointed out. "You never thought to take a walk?"

  She blinked at him with such bafflement that he had to laugh. "Why would I?"

  "Hopefully tonight I'll show you."

  She grinned at him and squeezed his hand tighter. He squeezed back as they started up the gentle incline toward the Congress Avenue Bridge and, of course, the bats.

  "There," he said.

  She followed the line of his finger, then stopped. "What on earth ?"

  In front of them were dozens of people clustered in little groups, just hanging out on the bridge as traffic whizzed by. A few were sitting on blankets under the bridge, their heads tilted back as they looked toward the sky.

  Roman grinned. He hadn't been sure she'd be surprised. Now he knew he'd made the right decision bringing her here. This was going to be good.

  "What's going on? Is Sandra Bullock going to bun-gee jump from the bridge or something?" she asked, referring to one of Austin's more famous inhabitants.

  "Not that I know of," he said.

  " O-kay ," she said, tilting her head to the side as she squinted at him. "Then what's going on? UFO

  sightings? President Bush in a motorcade? Live music on the street?"

  "Bats."

  Her forehead scrunched up. " Ew ! What are you talking about?"

  "Austin's bats." He pointed to the bridge, wondering if he should be amused or planning an alternative for their evening. Julia had an adventurous personality; it was one of the things he loved about her. But maybe a bat encounter was taking things a little too far. Especially since, at the moment, she wasn't exactly getting into the spirit.

  "Austin has bats?"

  He chuckled. "Famous for them. Over a million Mexican free-tail bats live under that bridge. They come out around sunset to eat bugs. Well, during the summer, anyway."

  Her eyes widened as she pointed to the bridge. "There? There are a million bats living under there? And people are here to watch them?" She shook her head. "Pop was right. Texans are freaky." But her lips curved up at the corner, and he knew she was intrigued.

  "You've really never heard of them?"

  "No, and I think I would have remembered." She did a little shimmy, as if maybe a bat had snuck into her clothing and she'd had to get rid of the thing.

  "Come here," he said, taking her hand and pulling her close. "Since this is your first bat experience, we really should find a prime viewing spot."

  She lifted a brow. "What if I said I didn't want to stay?"

  "Trust me. It's worth it."

  For a second he thought she'd argue, and he really didn't want to have to fight that battle. Finally, though, she shrugged. "We'd just argue about it until the bats came out anyway, and you'd end up getting your way. We might as well stay." She stared out over the crowd of bat watchers. "Freaky," she said, almost under her breath.

  He'd been leading her down the crushed-granite path, and now he found a space on the grass with an excellent view of both the underside of the bridge and the sky above. He sank down, tugging her along with him. She settled back against his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her.

  "What now?" she asked.

  "Now we wait."

  "Oh." She sniffed the air. "Is that bat guano?"

  "I doubt you can smell it from here."

  "Hmmm."

  His chuckle reverberated through her. "Trust me."

  "I do," she said. "But I'm beginning to doubt my judgment." They sat in silence for a moment before she twisted around to look at him. "I think dinner went pretty well."

  "Me too," he said. "And I'm glad you came." And as a bonus, now he had an entire evening with his fiancee.

  It really didn't get much better than this. A clear, sultry evening. A beautiful woman on his arm. And, of course, the bats.

  "I, urn, really don't mind if you don't want to sit out here with the bugs." She was turned to face him, and her gaze darted around, still just a little wary.

  Roman laughed and kissed her forehead. "Darling, if I didn't know better, I'd think you're chicken."

  "It's just bats . Don't they get in your hair? Suck your blood?"

  "You've been watching too many old movies. You said you trusted me."

  "I take it back."

  "Too late. Sit. And wait. Here," he said, moving his leg and managing to slide up so they were sitting next to each other rather than in a line. "I know a great way to keep you occupied." As her eyes widened, he pressed his lips to hers. Such soft
lips. He'd known their touch for only a few short months, but in his heart, he'd known it all his life. Not that he was sappy about the woman or anything.

  They fit together so perfectly. He realized once again just how lucky he was. They'd been made for each other, no doubt about it. An instant, primal connection zinged between them, and it had from the very beginning. It had struck them both, almost as if someone had cast a spell. A love spell , he thought as he tugged on her lower lip with his teeth. She responded in kind, her enthusiastic kisses doing a number on his body and making him think that maybe the damn bats weren't that big a deal after all.

  When her hands slid up his back, her clever fingers having somehow worked their way under the mate-rial so that the heat of her palms stroked the smooth of his back, Roman shifted, wanting to stand up and carry her back to their hotel room like a caveman.

  But then she stiffened, her head cocking to one side. She pulled away, breaking the kiss and staring not at him, but at something off to the east. Her mouth made a perfect little "O" and her eyes were just as wide.

  "Jules?"

  "I think I saw one." Her voice was soft, her whisper almost reverential. "There. Do you hear that?"

  He did. A hum, unrecognizable except that he'd heard it before and knew what it wasthe rhythmic flapping of millions of bat wings as they rose from under the bridge into the sky to hunt for their feast of mosquitoes and other riverside bugs.

  "Oh!" Her hand went to her mouth, her eyes even wider as she climbed to her feet, oblivious to the dozens of people around them doing exactly the same thing. "Wow! They're so amazing!"

  He tried to see the picture through her eyesthe tiny black bats bursting from under the bridge, their bodies silhouetted against the deep purple sky.

  "Was I right?" he asked. "Do you like it?"

  She leaned up against him, her hands in his and clutched in front of her. She swayed a little, then sighed. "Yeah," she finally said. "I like it." She smiled at him. "Who would've thought there could be something so I don't know romantic about a bazillion bats flooding the sky. But there is. The sound of their wings and the setting sun, and all the other couples out here to watch them come out." Her shoulders lifted in a soft shrug. "Thanks for bringing me. I like. And I never would have come on my own."

  That was the thing about the two of them, he thought. They seemed to make each other whole. Because although he'd seen the bats beforeand thought they were spectacularhe'd never seen the romance of it until just now, looking at their stunning ascent through her eyes.

  "The bats are only one of the things Austin is famous for, you know," he said.

  "So you say." She turned in his arms. His hands were clasped in the small of her back, and her breasts pressed against his chest. "What other delights do you want to show me?"

  He wanted to show her nothing except the inside of their room at the Austin Motel. But she deserved a better tour than simply what they could discover between the sheets. They'd come into town, and by God, he was going to show her the town.

  "Music, for starters," he said. "Alex took Syd into Gruene, but you still haven't seen much of what Texas has to offer in the way of live music. And there's no place better for that than Austin."

  Julia had never been a huge fan of live musictoo crowded, too much standing around with the potential for serious injury in open-toed shoes, and too much noise. Tonight, though, she was having too good a time with Roman to complain. She'd see where the evening led, and if she ended up calling uncle well, they'd just end up back at their room, and that was hardly a downside.

  Since the bat bridge was only five blocks from Sixth Streetone of the town's live music hubsthey started out their magical mystery tour by walking north on Congress Avenue. The Capitol Building glowed in front of them, lit by innumerable well-placed lights, and blushing a sort of brownish pink, the color of the local Texas granite from which the famous building had been constructed. "It's just a little bit taller than the Capitol Building in DC," Roman said with a grin. "We do things bigger in Texas, you know."

  "I'm beginning to figure that out," she said. She hooked her arm through his, bumping his hip slightly as they walked. Office buildings lined the streets, new construction mixed with older facades dating back to the nineteenth century. Some successful and not-so-successful dot-com's had started in those buildings, and Austin had earned the rep of being another Silicon Valley.

  All in all, the town had a distinctiveness that Julia found charming. Bats, high tech, and music. Definitely an intriguing combination.

  Though late on a Monday, the area was hardly dead. To their left was what Roman called the Warehouse District. "Lots of dance clubs and restaurants. Mostly DJ stuff, I think." That wasn't their destination, and they didn't veer off course.

  Sixth Street itself lived up to its reputation. The sidewalks swarmed with people dressed to party mostly, from the looks of it, students from the University of Texas, located just a few miles to the north. Most of the buildings still had their original facade, squat brownstones with ornate stonework lined up one after the other, the occasional modern building thrown in for good measure. The happening part of the street seemed to extend for several blocks, and as Roman and Julia walked hand in hand, she breathed deep, enjoying the scent of city air mixed with pizza, pretzels and an abundance of alcohol.

  The stately Driskill Hotel, which Roman swore was haunted, capped off one end of the street, with the decorand the decorumbecoming less sophisticated as they walked to the east.

  They passed at least half a dozen doormen urging them to come check out the drink specials, but Roman waved them all off. Instead, he pointed out various bars and restaurants, telling her stories about his days at the university, and his nights on Sixth Street.

  " I don't know if this is still the center for the hard-boiled music crowd," he said. "But it brings back memories."

  "I like it here," she said. "It's lively. Fun." She aimed a grin his direction. "A lot more first-datish than our first date, don't you think?"

  "That's why I had to bring you here. I had to make up for inadequate courting."

  She lifted a brow. "Courting? What are you? Some English lord?"

  "Just a country gentleman, ma'am." He tipped an imaginary hat.

  "Hmmm." She stopped on the street, forcing the pedestrian traffic to meander around them. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked him up and down. "I suppose I'll buy that. You were pretty gentlemanly on our first date." They'd met when she'd been sunbathing by the Inn's pool, and he'd been working on renovations to Sonntag House next door. He'd been describing her assets to Alex a little too loudly on his cell phone, and in a huff she'd gone over to confront him. Once she saw him, she'd been just as impressed by the view as he'd been of hers. And he was even more impressed that she was gutsy enough to come over and give him a piece of her mind.

  He'd apologized profuselya pure gentleman, just like he claimedand they'd gone to lunch. Then dinner. Then breakfast. Then started all over again. Not your typical first date, especially since it lasted more than twenty-four hours. But it had been so very special. Especially since only two hours into it, Julia had known that Roman was The One.

  Even so, she hadn't slept with him. Not on that first date. "Yeah," she continued. "I guess you were a gentleman on that first date. By our second, though" She trailed off, thinking just how un gen-tlemanly that had been. And how positively delicious.

  He pressed a hand over his heart, his face contorted in mock offense. "Darling, you wound me.

  The way I remember it, it was you who made the first move."

  "My point exactly. A gentleman would have rejected me. Brought me to my senses."

  "That gentleman would have been an idiot." He pressed a kiss to her lips. "Apparently I've been wrong. I'm not a gentleman after all."

  "Guess you'll have to make it up to me," she said breezily.

  "I think I can manage that." He took her elbow and they continued walking. "And after the gentlemanly part,
I think we can even move on to the decadent part."

  "That's what I like. A man who can read my mind."

  A few doors down they paused, the sound of an acoustic guitar and a drum meshed with the pure vocals of a bluegrass singer, and Julia caught herself smiling. Roman steered her into the building, entering a narrow bar that opened on the left to a stage area with tables.

  It was the bar, though, that caught her attention a long skinny bar, behind which stood three bartenders in front of shelves filled from floor to ceiling with a variety of beers.

  "This was my Friday night haunt during college," Roman said. "Maggie Mae's has pretty much any beer you've ever heard of. What'll you have?" Roman's mouth pressed against her ear, not because the band was so loud, but to be heard over the din of people.

  " Um , Coors?"

  His mouth quirked. "I think we can do better than that."

  He brought her a beer the color of caramel, and she took the first sip cautiously. Beer wasn't her thing, but it was a Texas thing. And if she was going to marry Roman, she'd have to become a Texas girl. And, even if her husband owned a winery, beer was still on the agenda.

  To her surprise, she liked it. Smooth and drinkable and, in the stifling Texas heat, deliciously refreshing. When she told Roman, he just laughed. "Why do you think beer's so popular in Texas?"

  He led her to a table near the band, and they listened as the singer covered a few country songs, then performed some of his own. They were there for only forty-five minutes, and managed to bump into at least six people Roman knew, including a tall brunette in a tight skirt. She and Roman made polite conversation while she eyed Julia suspiciously. As soon as Roman introduced Julia as his fiancee, the brunette suddenly remembered another engagement. She went through the kiss-kiss-it's-good-to-see-you routine, then sashayed out.

  "She looked a little annoyed to realize you're off the market," Julia said, her hand clutched possessively on Roman's wrist.