Substitute Bride (Special Edition) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Cover Page

  Excerpt

  Dear Reader

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Other Books by

  About the Author

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Epilogue

  Copyright

  I can’t do it. I can’t go out there and tell him.

  Roxanne’s desertion would be devastating, all the more so because it would be so public. If only there were more time. If only all those people weren’t already out there. If only she could tell David in private, and they could concoct a face saving story.

  How different things would be if she were the one getting ready to marry David instead of her twin, Roxanne.

  It should be me.

  In the mirror across the room, Rachel caught sight of Roxanne’s wedding dress hanging next to the mirror. And suddenly, she knew what she must do.

  Dear Reader,

  As the long summer stretches before us, July sizzles with an enticing Special Edition lineup!

  We begin with this month’s THAT SPECIAL WOMAN! title brought to you by the wonderful Jennifer Greene. She concludes her STANFORD SISTERS series with The 200% Wife—an engaging story about one woman’s quest to be the very best at everything, most especially love.

  If you delight in marriage-of-convenience stories that evolve into unexpected love, be sure to check out Mail-Order Matty by Emilie Richards, book one in our FROM BUD TO BLOSSOM theme series. Written by four popular authors, this brand-new series contains magical love stories that bring change to the characters’ lives when they least expect it.

  Pull out your handkerchiefs, because we have a three-hankie Special Edition novel that will touch you unlike any of the stories you’ve experienced before. Nothing Short of a Miracle by Patricia Thayer is a poignant story about a resilient woman, a devoted father and a cherished son who yearn for a miracle— and learn to trust in the wondrous power of love.

  If absorbing amnesia stories are your forte, be sure to check out Forgotten Fiancée by Lucy Gordon. Or perhaps you can’t pass up an engrossing family drama with a seductive twist. Then don’t miss out on The Ready-Made Family by Laurie Paige. Finally, we wrap up a month of irresistible romance when one love-smitten heroine impulsively poses as her twin sister and marries the man of her dreams in Substitute Bride by Trisha Alexander.

  An entire summer of romance is just beginning to unfold at Special Edition! I hope you enjoy each and every story to come!

  Sincerely,

  Tara Gavin,

  Senior Editor

  Please address questions and book requests to:

  Silhouette Reader Service

  U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

  Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

  Substitute Bride

  Trisha Alexander

  A huge “thank-you” to my wonderful editor, Gail Chasan, who has been with me through fifteen books and who I hope will be with me for many more to come. You’re the best!

  Books by Trisha Alexander

  Silhouette Special Edition

  Cinderella Girl #640

  When Somebody Loves You #748

  When Somebody Needs You #784

  Mother of the Groom #801

  When Somebody Wants You #822

  Here Comes the Groom #845

  Say You Love Me #875

  What Will the Children Think? #906

  Let’s Make It Legal #924

  The Real Elizabeth Hollister… #940

  The Girl Next Door #965

  This Child Is Mine #989

  *A Bride for Luke #1024

  *A Bride for John #1047

  *A Baby for Rebecca #1070

  Stop the Wedding! #1097

  Substitute Bride #1115

  *Three Brides and a Baby

  TRISHA ALEXANDER

  has had a lifelong love affair with books and has always wanted to be a writer. She also loves cats, movies, the ocean, music, Broadway shows, cooking, traveling, being with her family and friends, Cajun food, “Calvin and Hobbes” and getting mail. Trisha and her husband have three grown children, three adorable grandchildren and live in Houston, Texas. Trisha loves to hear from readers. You can write to her at P.O. Box 441603, Houston, TX 77244-1603.

  Prologue

  “Hey, David, Rachel, c’mon! What’re you doing?”

  Rachel Carlton looked up to see her twin sister, Roxanne, standing in the shallows, water fizzing around her bare brown feet. Behind her, the August sun glittered off the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, causing the surface to look as if it had been dusted with diamonds, and turning Roxanne’s brown pigtails into spokes of gold.

  “Come on!” Roxanne yelled again. She stood there, hands planted on her hips, feet splayed apart, obviously annoyed.

  “We’re building a sand castle,” Rachel called, the note of apology automatic.

  David Hanson, who, at twelve, was two years older than the twins, abandoned the turret he’d been fash ioning and stood. “We’re coming,” he called.

  “Well, hurry up.” Roxanne turned and ran back into the surf.

  David watched her, a smile of admiration tugging at the corners of his mouth as she dived fearlessly into an oncoming wave. Seeing the smile, something painful pinched at Rachel’s heart.

  Roxanne could always make David smile.

  Roxanne could always make everybody smile, even when she was doing something she shouldn’t be doing, which was most of the time.

  Rachel, on the other hand, seemed to produce only frowns of impatience or, at the most, shrugs of tolerance.

  “Let’s go,” David said, his dark brown eyes continuing to watch Roxanne as she cavorted in the surf. “We can finish the sand castle later.”

  Rachel looked down. “That’s okay. You go.”

  He needed no further encouragement. The words were barely out of her mouth before he was racing across the dunes toward Roxanne.

  Now it was Rachel’s turn to watch, her blue eyes filled with a barely acknowledged yearning. This was the way it always was. No matter what David might be doing, if Roxanne called, he went Rachel couldn’t count the number of times he had completely forgotten everything…especially her.

  But why shouldn’t he? she thought with resignation. Although she and Roxanne were identical twins—so identical, in fact, that even their father had a difficult time telling them apart—they were nothing alike inside.

  Roxanne was exactly like their father, daring and brave, always ready for the next adventure, always looking for a new challenge. She plunged headlong into life, unafraid of anything or anyone.

  Rachel took after their mother. She was cautious and thoughtful. She rarely took risks, and when she did, it was usually because Roxanne had goaded her into it.

  No wonder people preferred to be around Roxanne, Rachel thought sadly. If she’d had to choose between the two of them, she’d have chosen her sister, too.

  Sighing, Rachel cast one final look of longing at the half-finished castle, then she slowly walked to the water’s edge.

  Chapter One

  Eighteen years later

  “And when David calls, say I’m sick—no, say I had a terrible headache and I’m sleeping and you don’t want to disturb me. Okay?”

 
Rachel stared at her twin. “Roxanne, I really don’t think—”

  “C’mon, Rachel, what’s the big deal?” Roxanne zipped up her black miniskirt and smoothed it down over her hips. Then she turned to look at herself in the cheval glass mirror. “Yesss,” she said, a satisfied smile playing around her mouth as she pivoted to look at all sides.

  Rachel studied her thoughtfully. Roxanne, as always, looked terrific. Her shoulder-length golden brown hair, recently permed and styled in the breezy curls Rachel had adopted earlier that year, framed her face like a bright halo. Rachel still fought feelings of resentment every time she thought about Roxanne’s hair. Why was it that no matter what Rachel did or how she tried to assert her independence, she was never allowed to have anything of her own?

  Telling herself the hairstyle wasn’t important, she continued to study her sister, who was still admiring herself in the mirror. In fashionable, chunky black heels, with the short skirt and lacy white shell topping it, her rounded breasts, small waist and long legs were shown to advantage.

  But it wouldn’t have mattered what Roxanne was wearing, Rachel thought with resignation. She could be in old jeans and a beat-up T-shirt, with no makeup on, and she would still turn heads.

  She always turned heads.

  “Please, Rach. It’s just a little white lie…” Rox anne wheedled.

  Rachel hardened her heart. “It’s not a little white lie.” No matter how much she loved Roxanne, what her sister was asking was wrong. “It’s a huge, horrible lie. You’re engaged. Your wedding is less than two weeks away. I—I don’t know how you can do this to David.”

  Roxanne walked over to the bed where Rachel sat watching her, and took her hands. “Please, sweetie, please do this for me.” Her dark blue eyes were earnest, imploring. “It’s not like you haven’t done it before.” Her smile was intimate—a reminder of all the times Rachel had filled in for Roxanne when Roxanne hadn’t wanted to do something, of all the times they’d covered for each other and stood up for each other, of all the shared secrets….

  “Don’t remind me.” Rachel wasn’t proud of the times she’d aided and abetted Roxanne in her deceptions. But mostly, the things they’d done in the past were harmless pranks. This wasn’t.

  “If you’ll cover for me with David just this one last time, I swear, I’ll never, ever ask you again,” Roxanne cajoled.

  Rachel stubbornly shook her head.

  Abruptly, Roxanne shrugged and dropped Rachel’s hands. “Okay, fine,” she said breezily. “Don’t help me. When David calls, tell him whatever you like. I really don’t care. I’m going out, anyway.”

  “But Roxanne, I just think—”

  “That’s your trouble. You think too much. You’ve got to learn to live. Go for the gusto. Grab the brass ring. Be daring.”

  “No matter who you hurt?”

  Roxanne sighed dramatically. “Oh, honestly, Rach, you’re hopeless. What David doesn’t know won’t hurt him, and he’ll never know about this.” Then, seeing the unhappiness clouding Rachel’s eyes, her voice softened. “Look, sweetie, I promise. After David and I are married, I will be the best little wife in the world. I won’t ever do anything remotely like this again. But right now I can’t help myself. Carlos is so—” she gave a little shiver “—so exciting and romantic…and sexy. David is…well, you know…David.”

  Rachel thought David was exciting and romantic and sexy. She’d always thought so, ever since she’d been old enough to appreciate those qualities. “David is wonderful,” she answered quietly. “You’re lucky to have him.”

  Roxanne grimaced. “Oh, you just don’t understand. If you were the one who was going to be tied down for the rest of your life, you’d feel the same way I do.”

  No, Rachel didn’t understand. She would never understand. Because if she were engaged to David Han son, she would be the happiest woman in Houston. The happiest woman in the universe. He would be all she would ever need or want to make her life complete.

  “I’m not telling him you’re asleep,” she finally said. “I’ll tell him you went out and…and I don’t know where. You can figure out what you’re going to say when he asks you about it”

  Roxanne smiled happily, then bent over and kissed Rachel on the cheek. “Thanks, sweetie. Love you.” She grabbed her purse, waved goodbye and started out the door. Then she stopped. “Oops. Better not wear this.” Tugging off the big, square-cut diamond ring gracing her left hand, she carelessly tossed it on top of her dresser. Then she waved again and left.

  Rachel sat for a moment longer, but when she heard Roxanne’s car backing out of the garage, she stood and walked over to the dresser. Lifting the ring, she stared at it for a long moment, then slowly slipped it on. She touched it lovingly. If this ring belonged to her, she would never remove it. Never.

  Closing her eyes against the ache surrounding her heart, she prayed David wouldn’t call tonight. She did not want to be an accessory in this subterfuge. David didn’t deserve to be treated this way. He was so good, so sweet, so thoughtful and caring. He was perfect, and how Roxanne could think this Carlos Terraza could possibly be more appealing than David was beyond Rachel.

  The trouble had all started three weeks earlier. It was a Friday night and David was away on a business trip, due back the next morning. The Carltons had been invited to a reception at the Mexican consulate, but Wylie Carlton, the twins’ father, had another com mitment, and Rachel had a bad cold and didn’t feel like going out. Roxanne, never one to twiddle her thumbs, saw no reason why she shouldn’t go alone.

  There she’d met Carlos Terraza, an attaché posted to the consulate, and ever since, she’d spent every possible moment with him. Rachel wasn’t sure what she’d been telling David, but she knew Roxanne hadn’t seen him in several days. Rachel suspected Roxanne was sleeping with Carlos, even though Roxanne had not said so and Rachel hadn’t asked.

  Rachel didn’t want to know. The more she knew, the guiltier she would feel.

  What was wrong with Roxanne? Why couldn’t she be happy with David?

  Rachel thought about what Roxanne had promised, how she’d be true to David once they were married. Would she be able to keep that promise? If, practically on the eve of their wedding, she couldn’t stay away from another man, how was she magically going to change because she had a wedding ring on her finger?

  What would David think if he knew?

  Rachel swallowed.

  Dear God.

  She prayed he would never find out Roxanne’s betrayal would hurt him unbearably. David was the most honorable person Rachel knew. He had more integrity in his little finger than most people had in their entire bodies. Being lied to would have to be the most cutting of all wounds. It made Rachel sick to think about it.

  Yet what could she do?

  Feeling totally impotent, she told herself to forget about Roxanne and David. She had no control over either one of them, so what was the point in worrying? She remembered something her grandmother Tobin used to say when Rachel was little and worrying about something that might happen. “Don’t borrow trouble, missy. Expect the best, and if you do, the best will probably happen.”

  Don’t borrow trouble.

  It was good advice then, and it was good advice now, Rachel told herself determinedly. She decided she would pour herself a glass of wine, put some soothing music on the CD player and soak in a hot bubble bath.

  And she would not spend one more minute thinking about anything unpleasant.

  David Hanson hung up the telephone and sighed wearily. He hated talking on the phone, and he particularly hated conference calls. Unfortunately, for the past hour he’d been a captive participant in an especially tension-filled conference call between him, his grandmother Georgina, his future father-in-law, Wylie Carlton, and Wylie’s executive vice president, Helmut Braun. The topic of the extended conversation was the upcoming merger of Carlton Oil Company and Han-son Drilling, which would take place a week after David and Roxanne were married.

&nb
sp; Sometimes David wondered if the only reason his grandmother and Wylie Carlton were so in favor of the match between him and Roxanne was the merger of the two powerful companies and the resultant jump in stock prices that they were sure would follow.

  Thinking about the merger depressed him. Thinking about anything to do with the business depressed him. The problem was, he hated his job. He had never wanted to work in the family business. He had never been the least bit interested in oil exploration or anything connected to it.

  It hadn’t been so bad when, after graduate school, he’d worked in the field. At least then he’d been outdoors and the work was interesting. But ever since he’d returned to Houston almost two years ago to take his place in management, he’d spent his days in endless meetings and strategy sessions where no matter what the topic, the main focus was always how the company could increase profits and decrease costs.

  Yet what could he have done differently? After the death of his parents, his grandmother had raised him. He was her heir and the only Hanson left. The company would be his some day, and his grandmother had been grooming him to take over since he was in his early teens.

  How could he crush her hopes and tell her he didn’t care about the company that his grandfather had built single-handedly? How could he say that what he really wanted to do was work with kids? That ideally, he would like to become a counselor and specialize in helping underprivileged kids—in particular, fatherless boys—because he felt he could make a difference in their lives. And because he knew what it was like to grow up without a father.