he trusted the man’s judgment and knew there had to have been a good reason for what he’d done. Chance just wished Angelica could see things that way.
He shifted his attention back to the ceremony when the minister got to the actual vows and Logan turned to him with his hand out. Chance took from his jacket pocket the wedding ring his friend had given to him earlier and handed it to his soon-to-be brother-in-law. As he watched Logan slide the diamond-encrusted band onto Hannah’s ring finger, Chance couldn’t help but smile. He had no intention of going down that road himself, but he didn’t mind watching others get married when he knew they were meant for each other. And he had yet to meet two people better suited to share their lives as husband and wife than Hannah and Logan.
“By the power vested in me by the great state of Wyoming, I pronounce you husband and wife,” the minister said happily. “You may kiss the bride.”
Chance waited until Logan kissed Hannah and they turned to start back down the aisle with his niece skipping along behind them before he offered his arm to the matron of honor. As they followed the happy couple toward the door, a blonde woman seated next to his cousin Sage and his fiancée, Colleen, caught his eye.
With hair the color of pale gold silk and a complexion that appeared to have been kissed by the sun, she was without question the most gorgeous female he’d ever had the privilege to lay eyes on. But when her vibrant blue gaze met his and her coral lips curved upward into a soft smile, he damn near stopped dead in his tracks. It felt as if someone had punched him square in the gut.
Chance had no idea who she was, but he had every intention of remedying that little detail as soon as possible.
* * *
Felicity Sinclair felt as if something shifted in the universe when she looked up to find the best man staring at her as he and the matron of honor followed the newly married couple back down the aisle. He was—in a word—perfect!
Dressed like the groom in a white Oxford cloth shirt, black sport coat, dark blue jeans and a wide-brimmed cowboy hat, the man was everything she had been looking for and more. He was tall, broad-shouldered and ruggedly handsome. But more than that, he carried himself with an air of confidence that instilled trust. She could only hope that he was related to the Lassiters so that she could use him in her PR campaign.
When he and the matron of honor continued on, Fee turned to the couple seated next to her. “Sage, would you happen to know the name of the best man?”
“That’s my cousin Chance,” Sage Lassiter said, smiling as they rose to their feet with the rest of the wedding guests. “He owns the majority of the Big Blue now.”
Excited by the fact that the best man was indeed a member of the Lassiter family, Fee followed Sage and his fiancée, Colleen, out onto the flagstone terrace where the reception was to be held. She briefly wondered why she hadn’t met him at the opening for the newest Lassiter Grill, but with her mind racing a mile a minute, she dismissed it. She was too focused on her ideas for the PR campaign. The Big Blue ranch would be the perfect backdrop for what she had in mind and there wasn’t anything more down-to-earth and wholesome than a cowboy.
When her boss, Evan McCain, the new CEO of Lassiter Media, sent her to Cheyenne to take care of the publicity for the grand opening of the Lassiter Grill, she’d thought she would be back in Los Angeles within a couple of weeks. But she’d apparently done such a stellar job, her stay in Wyoming had been extended. Two days ago, she had received a phone call assigning her the task of putting together a public relations campaign to restore the Lassiter family image and Fee knew she had her work cut out for her. News of Angelica Lassiter’s dissatisfaction with her late father’s will and her recent association with notorious corporate raider Jack Reed had traveled like wildfire and tarnished the company’s happy family image, and created no small amount of panic among some of the stockholders. But by the time she hung up the phone, Fee had already come up with several ideas that she was confident would turn things around and reinstate Lassiter Media as the solid enterprise it had always been. All she needed to pull it together was the right spokesperson in the right setting. And she’d just found both.
Of course, she would need to talk to Chance and get him to agree to appear in the television spots and print ads that she had planned. But she wasn’t worried. She’d been told all of the Lassiters had a strong sense of family. Surely when she explained why she had been asked to extend her stay in Cheyenne and how important it was to restore the Lassiters’ good name, Chance would be more than happy to help.
Finding a place at one of the round tables that had been set up on the beautifully terraced patio, Fee sat down and took her cell phone from her sequined clutch to enter some notes. There were so many good ideas coming to her that she didn’t dare rely on her memory.
“Do you mind if I join you, dear?”
Fee looked up to find a pleasant-looking older woman with short brown hair standing next to her. “Please have a seat,” she answered, smiling. “I’m Fee Sinclair.”
“And I’m Marlene Lassiter,” the woman introduced herself as she sat down in the chair beside Fee. “Are you a friend of the bride?”
Shaking her head, Fee smiled. “I’m a public relations executive from the Los Angeles office of Lassiter Media.”
“I think I remember Dylan mentioning that someone from the L.A. office had been handling the publicity for the Lassiter Grill opening here in Cheyenne,” Marlene said congenially. She paused for a moment, then lowering her voice added, “And when I talked to Sage yesterday, he said you were going to be working on something to smooth things over after Angelica’s threats to contest J.D.’s will and her being seen with the likes of Jack Reed.”
“Yes,” Fee admitted, wondering how much the woman knew about the board of directors’ concerns. Something told her Marlene Lassiter didn’t miss much of what went on with the family. “I’ll be putting together some television commercials and print ads to assure the public that Lassiter Media is still the solid, family-friendly company it’s always been.”
“Good,” the woman said decisively. “We may have our little spats, but we love each other and we really are a pretty close family.”
They both looked across the yard at the pretty dark-haired woman talking rather heatedly with Sage. It was apparent she wasn’t the least bit happy.
“I know it’s probably hard for a lot of people to believe right now, but Angelica really is a wonderful young woman and we all love her dearly,” Marlene spoke up as they watched the woman walk away from her brother in an obvious huff. Turning to Fee, Marlene’s hazel eyes were shadowed with sadness. “Angelica is still trying to come to terms with the death of her father, as well as being hurt and disillusioned by his will. That’s a lot for anyone to have to deal with.”
Compelled to comfort the older woman, Fee placed her hand on top of Marlene’s where it rested on the table. “I’m sure it was a devastating blow to her. She worked so hard for the family business that many people just assumed she’d be running it someday.”
“When J.D. started cutting back on his workload, Angelica knew he was grooming her to take over and we all believed she would be the one leading Lassiter Media into the future,” Marlene agreed, nodding. “When he left her a paltry ten percent of the voting shares and named Evan McCain CEO, the girl was absolutely crushed.”
Fee could tell that Marlene was deeply concerned for Angelica. “It’s only been a few months since Mr. Lassiter’s passing,” she said gently. “Maybe in time Angelica will be able to deal with
