Elly: Cowgirl Bride (9 page)

“Okay.”

“I’ll pick you up at six.”

When he hung up, probably to avoid her possibly changing her mind yet again, she eyed the clock. Three hours until she got to look into Will’s eyes again. If she could go back and tell her teenage self that Will Jackson would one day have this kind of effect on her, she wouldn’t have believed it.

Her energy renewed, she got more work done in the next hour and a half than she had the entire rest of the day put together. When she shut down the computer, she let thoughts of work, of racing times, of the simmering anger inhabiting her family fade away and went to her room to get ready for her date.

Nothing was going to stop her. Not her brothers, not her own second-guessing. Will was right. She wanted this. And it thrilled her that he evidently did, too.

W
ILL FOUGHT THE KIND
of jitters he hadn’t experienced in years as he drove up the long ranch road leading to Elly’s house. Considering how easy it’d been to be with her on the trail ride and during the barn dance, the sudden attack of the nerves surprised him. They yanked him back to the days when he’d not had the confidence to approach her with more than casual friendship. Maybe the nerves had made an appearance because he knew how close she’d been to canceling this date, that she still might, and remembered how hard it was to hear her say no to his advances.

When the house came into view, he straightened and told the anxiety to get lost. He had no room for it in his life anymore. Elly had probably dated a lot of confident guys—there weren’t a lot of wusses on the rodeo circuit—and he didn’t want to pale in comparison.

Anticipation accompanied him to the front door along with the big bouquet in his right hand. But when Elly opened the door, whatever he’d been planning to say took a bullet train right out of his mind.

She wore a bright pink top, gray slacks that seemed to shine when she moved, and her long, blond hair fell loose around her shoulders. He couldn’t recall ever seeing it down, and no wonder. Any man within view of her would cease being able to function normally.

“Hey, lose your voice on the way over?” she asked.

“You look beautiful.”

Her cheeks pinkened, and he smiled that his words had done that.

“Thanks.”

Another cog turned in his brain, and he lifted the bouquet of every kind of red flower the florist had been able to pull together. “For you.”

“Oh, they’re beautiful. Red is my favorite color.”

“I know.” Perhaps that was too telling, but he didn’t care.

“You do?”

“I read interviews now and then.”

“Rodeo magazines?”

He nodded. He’d tried to avoid them, but every once in a while he’d caved.

“Shut the door. You’re letting all the heat out,” Jesse said from somewhere behind her.

For a moment, her face tensed and her eyes darkened, but she appeared to let the frustration dissolve as quickly as it had formed. “Let me put these in water, and I’ll be right out.”

Will stood on the edge of the porch and looked up at the massive blanket of stars stretching across the wide, black sky. This really was a slice of heaven, and not just because Elly inhabited it.

She hurried out the door, now wearing a black coat. “Okay, I’m ready.”

As they walked toward the Yukon, he sensed a tenseness in her and wondered what her brother had said while she was inside. To alleviate the tension, he asked, “So, how many red shirts do you have anyway?”

She chuckled. “Honestly, I’ve lost count. It’s become a running joke, and I get them for birthdays, Christmas, you name it.”

“Well, it looks good on you.”

She glanced sideways at him. “Thank you.”

Once they were seated in his SUV, he started the engine and then entwined his fingers with hers as naturally as if he’d been doing it for years. She didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she settled back in her seat and let out a contented sigh that made him feel very good about himself.

They rode in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, until they were out on the highway to Markton. They passed the property where he’d grown up, where he’d too often felt inadequate and unable to live up to his father’s expectations. He hadn’t been back to the house since his mom had moved into the duplex in town. It was easier for her to care for, and she had Judith in the unit next door. It’d been two years since his father’s death from heart disease, and he was glad his mom wasn’t living out on the small ranch alone.

“I’m glad you talked me out of canceling tonight,” Elly said.

He squeezed her hand gently. “Me, too. Otherwise, I’d be eating something I cooked, and let’s just say I’m not getting a chef job at a five-star restaurant anytime soon.”

“Well, I don’t know if I can go out with a man who can’t cook.”

He smiled. “Too late.”

As they rolled into town, he noticed her eyes go to the Feed and Grain. To draw her attention away from her strained relationship with Janie, he turned into a parking spot next to the Sagebrush Diner at the first opportunity.

“Looks busy tonight,” he said.

“Always is. Not a lot of culinary choices in Markton.”

“Guess we’re lucky the food’s good.”

Every pair of eyes in the place turned their way when he escorted her in the front door, his palm against the small of her back. He leaned down to whisper to her.

“You think Hoyt got the word out with a special edition?”

She covered her mouth when she started to laugh. “Slow news day.”

Hoyt Collins, who currently sat in a corner booth, was the one-man show at the
Markton Messenger,
a one-page, two-sided roundup of local news printed on his own laser printer and placed in stacks on the counters of all the town’s businesses each Wednesday. It was as much gossip as it was actual news, but everyone seemed to gobble them up before the paper cooled.

After they were seated and had ordered, the interest from their neighbors grew less overt but was still very much there.

“Now I know what baby pandas feel like at the zoo.” Elly pantomimed people pressing their faces and hands up against glass, seeking a closer look.

“Well, I hope my steak doesn’t end up being bamboo shoots.”

“What, going off to the city didn’t turn you into a vegetarian?”

“I’m not that much different than I used to be.”

“Oh, yeah, you are. In a good way.”

Will’s pulse leaped at her words, at the appreciative tone.

They spent a few minutes talking about a couple of cases he’d worked on in law school, then about her time at college.

“Did you ever think about not coming back here?” he asked.

“No. Though lately I’ve been wondering about the wisdom of that decision.”

“I know this sounds like a platitude, but this will pass.”

“I don’t see how it can.” Her shoulders slumped as she stared down at the table.

He tried to divert her away from her train of thought. “But you like what you do for the ranch?”

Elly looked up again. “I do. And it works well with my training schedule.”

“Do you think you’ll keep competing after winning the Finals?”

She fiddled with the salt shaker, which was shaped like a cowboy boot. “You’re assuming I’ll win the Finals. I might not even make it that far.”

“You will.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Call it gut instinct.”

“Well, I like how your gut thinks.” She smiled, which always caused a warm, wonderful feeling to envelope him.

One subject of conversation led effortlessly into another as they ate their dinner. Will hated the idea that he would have missed this if he hadn’t talked her out of canceling, if he hadn’t decided to give a relationship with her a second, grown-up chance.

“Do you remember the time Delia nabbed Mr. Childers’s favorite sweater from his classroom and replaced the flag in the front of the school with it?” he asked.

Elly, in mid-drink, nearly choked. “I remember how purple his face turned.”

“She was trying to figure out if it was just one sweater or if he had an entire closet full of the things.”

“She is a sneaky little woman,” Elly said. “Funny, but sneaky. I think it’s cool she’s working in your office.”

“Never a dull moment.”

Elly opened her mouth to say something else but froze. Her gaze was directed behind him.

When he looked, he saw the equally stunned look on Janie’s face. And the stress on Mark Hansen’s. Will might have imagined the suspended conversation around them, but he didn’t think so. In that moment, he realized that word of what was going on with the Codys and the Hansens had somehow gotten out.

Not all the stares when they’d entered the Sagebrush had been because of speculation about their romantic relationship.

Elly reached out and started to say something, but Janie broke eye contact and headed toward the other side of the restaurant. The centrally located bar would block her and Mark from Elly and Will.

The sound of Elly’s fork hitting her plate brought his attention back to her. He could almost see the shield going up around her, protecting her from the pressing attention of those around them.

He slipped enough cash from his wallet to pay for the meal and a generous tip, then took her hand. “How about we have something your mom made for dessert?”

She didn’t answer or nod, just allowed him to lead her out of the restaurant.

He wanted to kick himself for not taking her to Cody, or maybe even to Sheridan for their night out. Not a place where every living soul knew everything about her from the day she was born into the area’s most prominent family.

“I’m sorry,” he said when they reached his vehicle.

“Not your fault.” She sounded so distant, like she’d turned a switch on her feelings to the off position.

He touched her shoulder, turned her so that she faced him. When he saw her chin quiver, he pulled her close, wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. He wanted nothing more than to have her in his arms forever.

But not like this.

When Will’s strong arms wrapped around her, shielding her from the rest of the world, Elly thought she might love him. She couldn’t imagine being held by anyone else who could make her feel like life wasn’t falling down around her. She never wanted him to let her go.

But he had to, of course. They couldn’t very well stand outside the Sagebrush all night. Not that the tongues could wag any more than they already were. What had she been thinking when she’d said the Sagebrush was fine? Hell, it was right across the street from where Janie worked.

Though she didn’t want to, she stepped back from Will. “Let’s go.”

He didn’t grill her with inane questions like, “Are you okay?” He knew she wasn’t and didn’t manufacture stupid conversation to fill the silence.

As he drove her home, she stared out into the surrounding darkness.

“If you want to talk about anything, I’ll listen,” he said.

She didn’t respond at first, but something deep inside her told Elly that if she unburdened herself, her chest might not hurt so much.

“I just keep thinking about the look on Janie’s face.”

“She was surprised. You both were.”

“It was more than surprise. It was like…I’d stabbed her in the heart or something. I’m not the one who kept the secret for months.”

“No. But I’m guessing she knows what I’m doing and seeing you with me has her questioning everything.”

“Questioning our friendship? We’ve been like sisters.”

Will reached over and took her hand in his, squeezed it. “I think she’s in probably as much shock about the situation as you are. She thought Mark was her full brother almost her entire life. And he’s the only sibling she has.”

“He might be her full brother.”

“He might.” But Will didn’t sound like he believed it.

She turned toward him, watched his face in the dim glow of the dashboard lights. “Have you found out something?”

“No.” He didn’t elaborate, and she wasn’t in the frame of mind to push, afraid of what she’d hear if she kept picking at the scab.

She went back to watching the darkness outside and tried to put herself in Janie’s shoes. How would she feel if she suddenly found out one of her brothers wasn’t wholely hers, that he was Tomas Hansen’s son? Would she have been able to tell Janie, or would she have borne the horrible, painful secret alone, hoping it never came to light? Would she keep quiet for fear she’d lose her brother to the Hansen family?

Janie and Mark had always been close, and she knew Janie well enough to know this had to be hurting her, scaring her.

“You’ll work it out,” Will said. “It might take some time, but you and Janie have been best friends too long for that to all go away.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“I usually am.”

Now the low light revealed the barely contained smile on his face.

“I see you picked up an ego somewhere along the way.”

He glanced at her and winked. “Not ego if it’s true, sweetheart,” he said in a truly bad Humphrey Bogart imitation.

“Tell me again why I went out with you.”

“Because I’m irresistibly good-looking and charming?”

She snorted, but inside she couldn’t agree more. It was a minor miracle she’d gone from heartbroken to laughing in the space of a few miles, but she had—thanks to him.

When he pulled up next to the house and shut off the engine, he hopped out and came around to her side of the vehicle. She was all for women doing things for themselves, but she still sat until he opened the door for her. She didn’t think a little chivalry spelled the death of female empowerment. Sometimes it was just nice.

They walked in together as if it were the most natural thing to do, and Elly was glad to see Jesse wasn’t at home.

“So, would you like German chocolate cake, orange-cranberry scones or key lime pie?”

“Have you opened a Cottonwood Bakery, too?”

She moved toward the coffeemaker. “It’s Mom. Baking is her coping mechanism when she’s upset.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“Though compared to some coping methods I’ve seen people use, baking is a good one.”

“Yeah, but we all get fat.” She set the coffee to brewing. “So, which one?”

“Cake sounds good.”

Elly sliced two pieces as Will wandered around the room. She glanced at him when he stopped in front of the floor-to-ceiling bookshelf.

“Lot of travel books. Have you been to these places?”

“Only a couple.” She poured two cups of coffee and placed them beside the cake slices on the table.

“Then you have a poorly concealed guidebook fetish?”

She smiled. “Perhaps.” She slid into her chair, and Will followed by sitting across from her. “Running the Web site and blog for the ranch has allowed me to get to know people around the world. People who just like to read about the daily activities here, ones who have visited, ones who plan to visit. Even a couple of writers who come to me with research questions about ranching and Wyoming in general. I get interested in where they’re from and buy travel books.”

“So, do you want to visit all those places? Rome. Argentina. Pennsylvania’s Amish country?” He said the last with a smile, a nod to how different it was from the other two.

“Sure, someday maybe.”

“After the Finals, you should travel some.”

“I’ll be busy.” She took a bite of her cake and savored the taste.

“Are you ever not busy?”

She thought about it. If she wasn’t training, she was working on the Web site or blog. If she wasn’t doing that, she was conducting tours or working on other PR projects for the ranch. And if she didn’t make the Finals this year, she knew she’d craft a more ambitious training schedule for next year.

“That’s what I thought,” Will said, then took a bite of his own slice of cake.

“I’ll travel someday. It’s just more of a fantasy than reality now.”

“You like the photography too, right?”

The change in conversation direction caused her to pause raising another bite of cake to her mouth. “Yeah.”

“Why?”

“It’s relaxing, creative.”

He nodded toward the shelf of guidebooks. “Think of all the photos you could take around the world.”

It stunned her that she hadn’t thought of that. But her photography had always been tied to the ranch—just like everything else in her life. And she’d never minded. She loved it here. Still, the idea of photographing the rest of the world held definite allure.

“Just because something is fantasy doesn’t mean it can’t become reality,” he said.

When she met his gaze, she thought he was talking about a lot more than world travels.

Jesse walked in the front door, intruding on the moment. “Will.” He obviously still didn’t approve of the personal nature of her relationship with Will, but to his credit he didn’t verbalize it. Still, Will had to know because he shifted in his seat in a way that signaled he was going to leave. At that moment, she wished she didn’t share a home with her brother.

Jesse went into his office but didn’t close the door.

“I better go,” Will said.

“I’ll walk you out.”

After they both retrieved their coats, Will clasped her hand right as they passed Jesse’s office. She smiled at the deliberate gesture, and Will Jackson claimed a little more real estate in her heart.

They walked hand in hand until they reached his SUV. When she stepped into the circle of his arms, it felt as if she’d been performing the same motions for years.

“I’m sorry tonight got spoiled,” he said as he ran his thumb along her cheek.

“It would have been worse if you hadn’t been there.” She hesitated, staring up at him for a couple of seconds before continuing. “You somehow made me feel better when I didn’t think I could.”

“Do my talents know no bounds?”

She laughed. “Oh, hush and kiss me already.”

“Gladly.”

Could there possibly be a better sensation in the universe than the tingling, warm, sweet taste of Will’s lips on hers? She sank into him and let the enjoyment pour over her. When he ended the kiss, she smiled up at him and was rewarded with one of his own.

“Remember what I said.” Will pushed a wisp of hair away from her cheek. “If you want something, don’t let anything get in your way.”

His words reverberated in her mind long after the sound of his vehicle’s engine was lost in the night.

E
VEN THOUGH SHE’D BEEN
working toward the National Finals Rodeo for as long as she could remember, something about hearing Will say, “If you want something, don’t let anything get in your way,” gave her extra drive. Despite the terrible practice the day before, she approached the barn the next morning with a new outlook.

The drive and desire were still there, but she let herself remember the joy in her racing, as well. Just before mounting Pepper, she closed her eyes and thought back to when she’d just started barrel racing. She’d knocked over every barrel, but the feel of her horse’s power beneath her and the wind whipping past her face had been magic.

With that thought in mind, she hopped into the saddle and shoved everything but racing her absolute best race from her mind.

When her third trip through produced her best time ever, her first thought was to call Will and tell him all about it. Not Janie. Not a member of her family. Will. She was falling for him—the most unexpected guy.

As she went through the rest of her morning, she allowed herself to think about what things she wanted beyond the Finals. If she managed to win in Vegas, would her drive to go for it again be there? She guessed she wouldn’t know until, or if, it happened. But what else did she want?

She admitted she did want to travel. The desire had been there for a long time, but she’d relegated it to simmering on the back burner.

Definitely wanted to continue to spend time with Will, see where this attraction between them led.

Elly thought back to dinner the night before and realized there was one other thing she wanted—to heal her relationship with Janie. She couldn’t imagine not having Janie in her life. It hurt just to think about that possibility.

Before she talked herself out of it, she picked up the phone and dialed.

“Feed and Grain,” Janie answered.

“Hey.”

Pause. “Hey.”

“I was thinking, we haven’t been on an overnight trip in a while. Can you get away Friday night?”

“Elly.” The word sounded sad, resigned.

“If another day is better, I can work around your schedule.”

“I don’t think—”

“I miss you, Janie.”

For several ticks of the clock, Janie didn’t respond. Elly blinked against the tears that welled in her eyes.

“I miss you, too,” Janie finally said.

“I really want to get together and talk. Please say you’ll go with me.”

Janie hesitated again. “Okay.”

After they made plans to meet at a bed-and-breakfast near Powell, Elly immediately called Will. After Delia forwarded the call and Will answered, Elly said, “Imagine I’m kissing you right now.”

“I charge extra for imaginary stuff.”

She laughed. “How do you do that? Come up with those deliciously smart-aleck responses on the fly?”

“Another talent?”

Elly snorted.

“Okay, Delia’s rubbing off on me. I can’t help it. It’s like snark disease.”

“There are worse things.”

“So, why so chipper? Just the sound of my voice?”

“Although that’s nice, it’s actually something you did.”

Elly heard him shift in his chair and tried to imagine what his office looked like.

“And that was?”

“Told me to go after what I wanted. So I called Janie. We’re going away on Friday for a girls’ weekend.”

“Good.”

“So if you ever get tired of the lawyering gig, you totally have a future in counseling.”

“Good to know I’ve got options.”

Elly smiled even wider. The guy just filled her with sunshiney joy. “Well, I gotta go. Duty calls in the form of a bus of Korean tourists.”

“Hey, Elly?”

“Yeah?”

Will lowered his voice. “Now imagine me kissing you.”

“I heard that!” Delia said from the background.

“No, you didn’t,” Will responded.

“Yes, I did.”

“Then you’re fired.”

“No, I’m not.”

Elly laughed. “I’ll let you get back to work.”

“I’m glad you talked to Janie.”

“Me, too.”

After she hung up, Elly sat at the desk with a tremendous grin on her face. And fought the urge to drive to Cody and kiss Will for real.