Sweet Southern Nights. Rochelle Alers

cooperated or I was out.”

       Levi smiled. “Did she change?”

       “She was okay for about a week, then she threw a mother of a tantrum and I bowed out. Yvette begged and pleaded, but I refused to give in. There is just so much verbal abuse I’ll take, even if it’s from family. She’d asked my cousin Traci, but she also declined. And knowing Traci she would’ve punched Yvette out. In the end she decided to have her twin sister as her only attendant.”

       “What’s Robert’s connection to the groom?”

       Angela groaned inwardly. She didn’t want to talk about Robert. Not today. It was enough that she would see him again after five years.

       “He’s his cousin.”

       Levi took another quick glance at his passenger. Her expression was as neutral as her tone. “What’s up with the women in your family marrying these guys?”

       “You don’t understand,” Angela said.

       “If it didn’t work out with you and Robert, why would your cousin believe it would work for her and Craig?”

       “Craig isn’t a cheater.”

       “Cheating isn’t the only thing that can…” Levi’s words trailed off when he spied the stately gleaming white mansion in the distance. Red-jacketed valets were parking cars as wedding guests arrived at the antebellum Greek revival mansion with its massive columns that supported the upper floor.

       Slowly, he maneuvered behind a black, late-model Lexus and within seconds a parking attendant raced over to his door as Levi lowered the driver’s side window. Levi got out of the car and gave the valet, who didn’t look old enough to have a driver’s license, his keys. The attendant handed Levi a red ticket, then put another one on the dashboard. “I’ll take it from here, sir.”

       Levi opened the back door, reached for his jacket in the backseat, slipped it on, and walked around the BMW to help Angela out of the car. One blue-suede pump touched the ground, then the other, as he gently eased her up.

       Curving an arm around her waist, he pulled her close to his side. Lowering his head, he brushed a light kiss over her lips, aware that she’d be shocked by the public display of affection. Her breath caught.

       “Are you ready?”

       Angela quickly recovered. “I was born ready,” she answered, her voice filled with confidence.

       They followed several couples up the stairs and into the expansive entryway of the landmark mansion. The house and surrounding three-hundred-acre estate had once belonged to one of the wealthiest tobacco-growing families in the county. Light from a massive chandelier reflected off the highly polished marble floor. Baskets and vases of white flowers in every variety lined the walls, which were covered in oyster-white silk fabric.

       The cocktail hour was scheduled for two, the wedding ceremony for three, immediately followed by a reception that was to take place in another part of the mansion.

       An elderly woman dressed in black approached them. “May I please take your coat?” she asked Angela.

       She smiled. “Yes.” The word was barely off her tongue when Levi helped her out of her coat, and handed it to the woman who gave him a yellow ticket. With her back to him, Angela felt Levi go completely still when he stared at her dress. “What’s the matter, sweetie?” she whispered, glancing over her shoulder.

       Leaning in close, Levi pressed his mouth to her ear. “Sweetie’s wondering where the rest of your dress is.”

       Extending her arms, Angela pirouetted on her toes, allowing him to view the front and the back of her dress. The halter dress clung to her body like a second skin, the soft swell of breasts visible above the décolletage whenever she took a breath.

       She smiled a sexy moue. “Halters always have a bare back.”

       Levi’s fingers splayed at the small of her back as they stood in the foyer. “I couldn’t imagine what you were hiding under your coat, but I wasn’t expecting to see so much of you.”

       Angela noticed his strained expression. “It’s not that low cut.” Looping her arm over his, she said, “Didn’t you tell me that you had my back and my front?”

       “No comment,” he said under his breath. “Let’s go inside.”

       She had got not only his attention, but also that of the men milling around the entryway as they stared, slack jawed at her lithe figure.

       Levi escorted her through the throng waiting to enter one of the three ballrooms in the historic mansion. A string quartet played softly, as white-jacketed waiters circulated with trays of hot and cold hors d’oeuvres. Bartenders at portable bars set up at opposite ends of the ballroom were busy mixing and pouring drinks.

       The light from half a dozen chandeliers reflected off the precious gems that adorned the ears, necks, wrists and the manicured fingers of the women in attendance. It was as if Louisville’s most prominent African-Americans had come out to see and be seen. Levi saw Duncan standing off to the side next to a pretty, petite, dark-skinned woman with short, curly hair clinging to his arm. He recognized her as one of Maywood Junction’s schoolteachers.

       “Come with me, Levi. I want to introduce you to my mom and dad.”

       He followed Angela as she led him across the ballroom to where a tall, attractive fashionably dressed couple stood talking quietly to another couple. When the woman turned slightly he smiled, knowing what Angela would look like in three decades. Her mother was stunning!

       Levi stood beside her as Angela hugged her mother and kissed her father before she acknowledged the other couple. He forced back a grin when her father raised his eyebrows after looking at the back of Angela’s dress. She whispered something in her father’s ear, and his gaze shifted to Levi.

       Angela reached for Levi’s hand. “Mom, Dad, I’d like you to meet Levi Eaton. Levi, these are my parents, Benton and Dianne Chase.”

       “I’m honored to meet you,” Levi said, shaking Dianne’s hand before repeating the gesture with Benton.

       Tall and slender with coppery skin and snow-white thinning hair, Benton narrowed his deep-set dark eyes and stared at Levi. “You’re an Eaton?”

       Levi nodded. “Yes, I am,” he said proudly.

       The older man squinted slightly behind the lenses of his glasses. “You look a lot like Solomon Eaton.”

       He smiled. “He’s my father. Do you know him?”

       Resting a hand on Levi’s shoulder, Benton led him away from his wife and daughter. “I met your father a couple of years ago when we got together for a fundraising golf tournament in Palm Springs. I’d heard through the grapevine that the president wanted to appoint him to the federal circuit court. I was sorry to hear Solomon declined. It’s not often someone of your father’s stature turns down a position like that. Forty years ago black judges were as scarce as hen’s teeth—especially in the South.”

       “Are you a judge?” he asked Benton.

       “Yes.”

       Levi managed to mask his surprise behind an impassive expression. “I expected you to talk to me about dating your daughter, not talk about my father.”

       Benton waved in a dismissive gesture. “I promised myself I would stop commenting on the men Angela dates. It’s a lost cause. She claims she doesn’t want to be involved with any of them.” He shook his head. “The only thing I can do is hope for the best for my baby girl.”

       “Hey, Dad, Levi,” said a familiar voice. Levi turned to find Duncan standing behind them. “I see you’ve met the best pediatrician I’ve ever had the honor of working with.”

       Benton’s smile was dazzling. “So, you’re a doctor?” He patted Levi’s shoulder. “How do you like working in Maywood Junction?”