Excerpt of The Marshal Takes A Bride by Sylvia McDaniel

A RELUCTANT BRIDE

At the sound of the rapid knock, Tucker glanced up from the paperwork on his desk. Why did the sight of Sarah always cause his heart to give a small leap? She stood in the doorway, her face red, her body taut Something was dreadfully wrong.

"Can I come in?" Her voice was polite and brisk.

Tucker jumped up from behind the desk and hurried around to greet her. "What's wrong? You wouldn't have come if there wasn't a problem"

He could see the tension in her body in the way she walked toward him carrying a small tin.

"What's in there?" he asked, afraid of the answer.

"This is what's the matter," she said, laying the tin on the desk and pulling off the lid. Then she reached inside a layer of white tissue paper and pulled out his mother's bridal veil.

Tucker cringed. "I tried to warn you."

Sarah watched him, a frustrated expression on her beautiful face. "I was bluntly honest with her, and she didn't hear me. She had the gall to ask me to wear the thing when I marry you!"

Tucker stared at her, thoughts racing through his mind. How could he honor his plan to help Sarah find another man when his own mother was so determined to see him wed to Sarah? And when all he could think of was the chance to kiss her again...