His Heart to Have (Cowboys of Whispering Winds) (2 page)

“Good morning, Mrs. Callahan,” her best friend’s voice greeted her, full of amusement.

“Not a word,” Allie replied, shooting daggers toward her friend.

“Honeymoon over already?” Missy teased.

“I’m glad you’re finding humor in this,” she replied sarcastically.

“It’s not every day my best friend gets married.”

“It’s not funny, Missy. This is a disaster. Ugh, I feel I like a fell off a horse, climbed back on and fell again.” Allie walked to the minibar and grabbed a bottle of water, gulping it down to ease her dry, cotton mouth.

“What did your husband have to say about it this morning?”

“Stop that! He’s not really my husband, at least not for long. Who’s to say the marriage was even legal?”

“Oh, it was legal all right.  Jase and you, insisted that Charlie and I sign as witnesses,” Missy confirmed.

“I guess there is nothing else to do but face the situation head on.”

“It could be worse. After all, you married your other best friend. A lot of intentionally married couples can’t even claim that.”

“That’s what makes it so bad! This will ruin our friendship. Why did we go and do something so stupid?”  What she didn’t say, was that the situation was so bad because she loves him.  She loved him since before she’d even known Missy, and that was a long time. It was her most guarded secret; even if Jase did decide to show further interest than their friendship, he was not the marrying type.  He’s never had a girlfriend.   He was a love ‘em and leave ‘em type of guy.   After last night, she’d probably lost her best friend and the only man she’s loved forever. 

“You need to calm down,” Missy chided. “What’s done is done, and honestly, if two people were ever meant to be together, it’s you and Jase.  Now, go take a shower, get cleaned up and go talk to Jase; figure this out.”

Allie sighed in resignation. Missy was right about one thing: she needed to calm down so she and Jase could discuss this rationally.  But first she had to go find something for her headache. She dug through her purse until she found some pain reliever and swallowed it down with a large gulp of water. Escaping to her room, she shed Jase’s clothes and hopped in the shower. 

Scorching hot water beat down on her, working out the kinks of her hangover.   Not until her skin started to wrinkle, did she turn the water off.  Even then, she sat in the bathroom, enjoying the therapeutic effects of the steam.   At long last, she left the bathroom and put on her own clothes; a pair of jeans and worn t-shirt displaying the logo of Piggles Grocery.  Comfort at its best.  With her hair still wet, she pulled it back in a pony-tail and slipped on a pair of socks.  Grimacing, she realized her boots were still over in Jase’s room.  She’d only brought one other pair of shoes and dug them out from her suitcase.

Back in the common room, a note waited for her on the table.  Picking it up, she read the quick scrawl telling her Missy was at breakfast with Charlie and to feel free to meet them downstairs. Allie’s stomach rolled at the mere thought of food.  Her head might be feeling better but her stomach was an entirely different matter. Maybe some toast in a little while. First things first- she had to face Jase. She grabbed her keys, purse and the clothes she borrowed from him and went across the hall, back to his room to face the music. Best to get this awkward conversation out of the way no.

***

Jase rolled over in bed, keenly aware that something was different.   He was alone.  Just a few hours ago, he’d lain in his hotel bed staring at his new wife.  In her sleep, Allie had murmured words of love, and he caressed her hair, soaking in those first moments as newlyweds. 

Okay, so they hadn’t gotten married under traditional methods. But they were married, good and legal, and he would never regret it. If she wanted to plan a big, fancy wedding when they got home, that was fine by him. He’d been in love with Allie for as long as he could remember. Anything she wanted, he’d give her. That’s how it had always been and always would be. But her disappearance had him worried. Why’d she leave this morning without a word? Someone knocked on the door.

“Jase, it’s me Allie. Are you in there?”

“Just a sec.” He threw the sheets off and stood up. A cold rush of air reminded him he was naked, and he went to pull some clothes out of his suitcase. Where’d his last pair of clean jeans go? He could’ve sworn he had another pair in there, along with another clean t-shirt. Not wasting any more time, he threw on the pair he’d taken off the night before and went to the door.

“It’s about time,” Allie snapped when he opened it.

“Good morning to you too,” he answered. This wasn’t a good start. His stomach clenched with a forming fear.

“We need to talk,” she said simply, her tone straight with no inflection to indicate what she was thinking.

“Yes we do,” he agreed. Man, did they need to talk. He took a seat on bed, patting the space beside him in an invitation for her to join him. Instead, she pulled out the chair at the desk and sat in it, maintaining her space. “Why’d you leave this morning?” he asked.

“Can’t you put a shirt on?” she asked, her eyes averting his.

“Really Allie? It’s not like you haven’t seen me a hundred times without a shirt on. And you saw me with a whole lot less on last night,” he couldn’t help teasing.

She threw a bundle of clothes at him. “Stop it, Jase.  This isn’t funny.  What are we going to do?”

He pulled a shirt over his head. “About what?” he asked.

“This marriage. How could we have been so stupid?”

Jase felt like he’d been kicked in the stomach.  Sure they were drunk when they’d decided to get married, but he’d been sober enough to know he wanted to marry her for real.  He’d thought she felt the same.  He’d seen it in her eyes when she first said last night that they should find a chapel and get married. However, her words, just now, made it obvious that they weren’t on the same page.  He remained silent, trying to form a response.

“What are we going to tell our parents? They’ll never forgive us for a drunken marriage. But a divorce, in their eyes, would be worse. This is a nightmare. I’ve got it! An annulment- that’s it!” she exclaimed. “We’ll quietly get this annulled and no one will ever know. Charlie and Missy won’t breathe a word to anyone.” Allie rambled on, unaware that each word was driving the knife further into his heart.

“I hate to break it to you sweetheart, but there’s no annulling this marriage,” Jase told her.

“Why not?” she asked, her face paling.

“Once consummated, it can’t be annulled,” he answered.

Allie’s face turned a bright red, no doubt remembering the wild night they’d shared after the ceremony.  It wasn’t all wild though.   As the drunkenness wore off, they became more passionate. More like making love. Or so he thought. Slowly, he stood and walked around to the edge of the bed.  Sitting back down, he was directly in front of Allie. He put both of his hands on her shoulders and asked the question he didn’t want the answer to.

“Why are you so intent on ending this marriage before it has barely begun?” His eyes bore into hers, searching for the answers behind her words.

“You’re my best friend, Jase. We drank too much and didn’t know what we were doing. Everyone knows you’re not the type to settle down,” she answered.

Jase knew his reputation, unfortunately.  Some of it was justly deserved from his younger days; but, the truth was, all this time, he’d never become seriously involved with anyone because his heart belonged to her.  All these years of looking after her, being there for her- couldn’t she see how he felt?

“How’s this,” she began again. “Let’s go back and act like we meant to get married and have been thinking about it awhile, realizing we were in love. Our parents will never know we were drunk. After a few months we’ll separate, telling them we recognized we rushed into this,” she said.

“You’re kidding me, right?” he growled, becoming angry. After all these years of covering up for her, he was done. A marriage wasn’t something you lied about. He loved her, damn it, but he wouldn’t have her like this.

“Why are you so mad? This is the best way out of this. You know how our parents will act if they find out the truth.”

Removing his hands, he clenched his fists. He’d reached his limit. They were so far from each other right now; not only were they on different pages, but different books altogether. Looking her straight in the eyes, he lost the patience he’d always had with her. “You’re twenty-seven years old, Allie. For once, grow up and accept responsibility. I’m done trying to make things right for you and covering up your mistakes. We got drunk, we were ‘stupid,’ as you said, and got married. That’s what happened and I’m not going to make up some story just to save face with our parents. And if you think they’ll be disappointed because we got married drunk, how much more disappointed will they be when they find out the truth years from now, which, I promise you, they will. I’m sure they also had moments when they were young, even if not to this extreme. But, regardless this is our doing and I’ll own up to my part of it.”

“You just don’t want to give up all your little blonde city girls coming to play cowgirl and have fun with the big, strong cowboy,” Allie spat out at him, reacting in anger to his recriminations.

He stood up and turned away from her so she couldn’t see the hurt she just inflicted on him. Whether she mean them or not, her words stung. Sometimes he wondered why he loved her- she was brash, impulsive and drove him mad.  He pulled his boots on and threw his hat on over his mussed hair, not bothering to comb the mess.  All he wanted, at this moment, was to escape this room.  He couldn’t think with her right there.

Pausing at the door, he took a deep breath to steady the anger.  “I’m going downstairs. After breakfast, I’m packing and checking out.” He walked out the door without a backward glance.  Getting home to the Whispering Winds never sounded so good.

***

“What just happened?” Allie cried to the beige, sterile wall. That encounter didn’t go anything like she’d expected. Her worst fear was happening- not even a full twenty-four hours had passed, since the most irresponsible night of her life, and she was already losing her best and oldest friend in this world. Why was he being difficult about fixing this mistake they made?

She dreaded telling her parents.  This would be the final nail in her proverbial coffin.   No one ever took her seriously.  That is, no one except Jase; but even he just told her to grow up.  She’d been in more scrapes than she cared to admit.  More often than not, Jase had done what he needed to keep her out of trouble, like when she double booked a room last spring.   He stepped in taking the fault, claiming he’d taken that reservation and was to blame. No one questioned why he would be answering the phone, because it was Jase; they simply took his word for it. Or the countless times she’d run out of gas and he’d come to her rescue. Even when she’d tried going away to college, she’d called Jase in tears one night, crying, because she felt like she wasn’t meant to be there. The next morning he was there to take her home, no questions asked.  That evening he’d stood by her side holding her hand, in a show of support, the entire time she told her parents she wanted to drop out.

There was never a time Jase hadn’t been there for her.  No matter how hard she searched her memory, she came up blank.  She moved out to the balcony, needing the fresh air to calm her.  Even in the morning hours, neon lights flashed and people filled the streets.  Watching the diverse group of people milling about, she couldn’t help but wonder how their visits had gone.  Did they make some life changing decision while here?  Why couldn’t what happened in Vegas stay in Vegas, for real?   She’d had enough of the city.   Wyoming was home and she couldn’t wait to return to wide open spaces.

Maybe Jase was right.  Thinking back, she’d never really been held accountable for any of her actions. Being an only child, her parents had indulged; until recently, that is.  She’d always skirted around any repercussions with Jase’s help or talked her way out if it.  But if Jase wasn’t going to help, where did that leave her?  They’d need a lawyer for the divorce, and Bumblton only had one.  One lawyer who happened to be her uncle, and would find a way to tell her parents despite attorney-client privileges. If she could just get through this, she swore to herself she’d be more responsible. Every stride she’d made to settle down and take her roles seriously would be in vain.  “Mom and Dad are going to kill me,” she muttered to the morning breeze.

“No they won’t,” a deep, gravelly voice said from inside. 

The unexpected answer caused her to jump, even though she knew whom the voice belonged to. Only one voice could send warm chills through her.  Slowly, she turned and saw Jase standing in the door frame between the room and balcony.

“How long are we going to do this for?” he asked.

“You mean it? You’ll go along with it?” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Only for you, Allie Cat.”

“Thank you, Jase,” she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug, like she’d done so many times before.

An awareness overwhelmed her that hadn’t been there before. She could feel the sinewy muscles of his back through his shirt.  The urge to run her hands up and down him was almost more than she could bear.  She looked up at him, their faces mere inches apart. Memories of last night flooded her, awakening every nerve in her body. She released her arms and jumped backwards, as though a searing flame had touched her.

“Three months?” she posed as a questioned.

“Okay. Three months it is,” he agreed.

“What made you change your mind?”

“Charlie and Missy are stopping at the casino one last time before leaving,” he told her, avoiding the question. “When you didn’t come down, I figured you’d still be here. Let’s go grab breakfast, and we’ll work out the details.”

In the hall, he casually threw his arm around her shoulder.  For the time being it felt like nothing had changed between them, like they were the best friends they’d always been and nothing had changed.  He ushered her into the restaurant downstairs and to a table toward the back corner. Dim lights softly illuminated the dining room and a candle glowed through a clear glass vase at each table, presenting an intimate feeling, despite the public setting.