by Ali Parker
It wasn’t my place to run outside and do anything. I’d made this bed, and now I had to wallow in it. This was why he hadn’t cared if his brother danced with me. It could have been anyone and he wouldn’t have cared. All of that reminiscing from the night before was simply to put me in my place, to remind me that, though we had a past, I was a friend and nothing more. I’d missed my chance with him.
Maybe he and Ella were cooking up a deal. The pain of it wrung my heart like a used rag. As the tears threatened again, I wanted to drop to the floor and curl into a ball and cry myself into a coma. The tears only made my head throb more, and I leaned forward, resting my face in my hands.
It had been an idiotic move asserting myself as his wife. Even though Mason had come up with the idea, I didn’t squash it. Ted probably thought I assumed too much and decided Katie was the perfect person to date to make the picture perfectly clear.
I sat up and scrubbed my eyes, grinding the tears into my flesh and clearing my nose with a sniffle. As I stood to leave, Mason walked in with a bundle in his arms.
“Check them out!” He stopped dead in his tracks holding the sweetest puppies out for me to meet. “Are you okay? Hey, what’s the matter?”
“I’m fine.” I choked down the tears, and the blood drained back to normal as I tried to steady my breathing. “It’s a stupid hangover. Serves me right for going out in the first place.”
Mason didn’t look like he had an interest in buying what I was selling, but he quickly changed the subject as if he would accept it. “The truck driver is giving away puppies. He brought them along on his route to see if anybody wanted them.”
“They are so adorable.” He passed the chocolate-colored Labrador puppy to me and then held his buff-colored brother up to his face, giving him a kiss. “You are keeping them?”
“Yeah, he had the pair left. I didn’t feel right leaving one. Besides, they’re brothers. That’s special.” Mason nuzzled the little pup close, and it licked his stubbly face and sneezed. We both shared a giggle, but I couldn’t help sniffling again.
I cuddled the chocolate-colored puppy close and his fur caressed against my raw, teary face. “Well, I adore them.”
“You aren’t leaving, are you? I was going to see if you could puppy sit while we unload the truck?” He didn’t take his eyes off the puppy, but all I wanted to do was bail. For a moment I considered pouring my heart out to Mason, but he had his own problems, and it wasn’t fair. Like he said, brothers were special.
“I’ll stay a little while, I suppose. If I get to feeling too bad, I’ll take them inside to your mama.” He passed me the buff pup and smiled.
“Thanks. I’ll try to hurry back.” He gave them both one last scratch behind their ears and made sweet kissy sounds at them.
As he rushed out to finish with the truck, I lowered myself to the floor with the puppies and let them explore the office. The next time I wanted to fall apart, I’d make a faster getaway.
Chapter 29
Ted
The next morning came sooner than I’d wanted, but I figured checking in on the pups would be a good start to the day. That and seeing Lauralee.
“Good morning, Lolly,” I said in my best puppy voice as I entered the office with the two newest family members in tow.
She spun in her chair, her mouth in a tight line, her eyes dull as a dead fish, like her mood. She glanced down to the two pups who were already at her feet and begging and smiled.
I couldn’t blame the little guys for wanting her attention, and as she reached down and scooped them up, she flashed me enough cleavage to make my cock stand at attention. Mason had told me she’d been feeling bad the day before, and even though I’d known about the hangover, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was something else. “How’re you feeling today?”
“I’m fine.” She gave the puppies each a kiss on their little noggins and then placed them back at her feet where the chocolate one wagged his tail and tried to climb back up. Something about the clipped way she’d made that declaration didn’t convince me.
“You sure? If you need to take the day off, I’ll understand. Or you can take it easy and help me name the puppies.” I dropped to my knees and wrestled the buff-colored pup until the other came and joined in biting my cap. I looked up to see her turned back to the computer and wondered for a moment if I’d missed her answer. “Lauralee?”
She kept her head forward, and I could hear the click of the keys as she typed. She’d been working on transcribing all of our files, and I wondered if the work had gotten to be too much. Finally, she turned her head a little. “I’ve got a lot to do.” The incessant clicking began again, and I gathered up the pups and took them along with me outside.
I placed them in the hay and watched them wrestle each other. Mason walked in brushing the dirt off his pants and then squatted down to play.
“We need to get these two named so we can start training them to be ranch hands.” He grabbed a handful of hay and teased them with it. But as I watched, I couldn’t help but feel there was something off about Lauralee. Something more than she let on.
“Can you watch these two?” I walked away before he could answer and when I walked back into the office, she was still typing away.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Her back stiffened and I heard the release of breath as she slumped.
“I’m fine. Don’t you have work to do?” She didn’t even glance my way, and I wondered if I’d done something wrong. Her temper got the best of her at times, and I wasn’t sticking around to get into it with her.
I walked out to find Mason and the pups had disappeared and then found him with them in the field. I kicked around going back in to the office with Lauralee, but if there was one thing I’d learned about her through the years, the best thing you could do when her redheaded temper was flared, was to give her space.
Maybe I wasn’t doing the right thing with Katie. Lauralee might not like it at all and it might bring up old, hurt feelings. But I wanted her to have the prom of her dreams, and only Katie could help me pull it off. Well, Katie and one other person.
I made my way to the house and hoped I’d find Mama alone. Daddy would probably make fun of me, but it was what I had to do.
Mama was in the kitchen alone thumbing through one of her cookbooks. “You got a minute?” I asked, walking into the room. I kept my voice low so Daddy didn’t hear.
Mama looked up, holding her finger on the page where she’d left off. “Sure, what’s on your mind.” She glanced back down to the book and placed her marker on her page before she shut it.
I crossed the room to the center island and took a seat in front of her. “Lauralee. Constantly. But more specifically, dancing.”
“Dancing, is it?” She narrowed her eyes and looked away as if thinking hard about something. “I never taught you, did I? No. No, that was the others.”
“Yeah, remember I made a huge mess out of my prom? Well, I’m thinking of recreating the night and asking Lauralee to go with me. Her friend Katie is going to help if I go through with it, and—well, I need to learn to dance before Friday.”
“Before Friday? I can only do so much in my condition, you know?” She stepped around the counter and stood in front of me. “So, this will be a short lesson. You’ll have to pay attention, son.”
I usually wasn’t intimidated by little women, but my mama had always been the exception. “What are you going to show me? I don’t think I can do all that fancy twirling around like Luke does. I don’t want to step all over her or throw her across the room.”
“Good thing, cause if you wanted fancy steps and spins you should have found me before the cancer did.” She shook her head and held up her hand. “Take my hand, put the other on my shoulder blade. I’ll show you a simple two-step. You know how to slow dance, don’t you?”
“Just stand with her and sway?” I shrugged, taking my mama’s hand.
“Pretty much, but move your feet a bit. Here, I’ll teach wi
th you leading, so you move forward, I’ll move backward.” She turned me around so we had plenty of kitchen floor to work with and then stepped. “Quick, quick slow, slow. Slow counts are going to take two beats, quick steps one. Mirror my steps and step, step.” She moved me around the kitchen and pretty soon I had the hang of it.
“That’s pretty easy.” I kept moving us around the floor and wondered what all the fuss was about.
“Now, let me show you the Texas Two–Step.” She changed the step a little, moving us across a bigger space. “Step together, walk, walk. You keep on your heels, elbow up, lock that arm.” She repeated the process, and before I knew it we were covering ground, and I was dancing. It was basically the same movements. “There you go. That’s not so bad.”
“It’s not. I expected it to be much worse. I think I can do this.” I moved us around the kitchen and back to where we started. “Now, I’m all set for Kinsey’s dance floor, but are these going to work for prom. I might not be wearing boots.”
Mama’s eyes lit in surprise. “Are you getting all cleaned up for a tux?”
My head went up and down as the blood rushed to my face. “I want it to be special, so yeah, I’m thinking about it.”
“You’re not going to propose, are you?” She placed her hand over her heart, and before I could shake my head with the negative, tears welled up in her eyes. “That would be so romantic.”
“I don’t know about all that. I wanted to make up for all the trouble of last time and maybe put myself out there a bit.” I let her words sink in as her face fell and she turned back to her book.
“You think I should propose?” It surprised me that Mama would be encouraging such a thing. I didn’t think she’d be too happy about me making such a huge step in life with everything else I had going on.
“I think if you hadn’t thought of it on your own, you should probably wait. It’s only that you’ve been so close your entire lives that I think it’s the right move. Normally, I might want you to go out in the world and sow your oats a bit, but from what I’ve heard, you’ve been doing enough of that. It’s time you simmer yourself down a bit, whether it’s in a steady relationship, or in a marriage.”
“I’m thinking steady relationship, but I won’t lie. I’ve never imagined myself with any other woman long-term.” And it was true. Anytime I’d allowed myself to imagine the big picture, I’d seen Lauralee and me and even a couple ginger-headed kids with our own place in the world.
“She’s going to be so excited.” She rested her head on her hand where she leaned against the counter over her book. “You should go to find a tux as soon as possible. I don’t think you’ll get one in Perryville. I believe the bridal shop they had closed down in the nineties.”
“I didn’t know they ever had one. But yeah, I am going out to meet Katie. She’s helping me plan everything. Even the flowers. I wanted to get her a bouquet and one of those corset things.”
“A corsage,” Mama corrected me with a giggle.
“Whatever, I’m not one for all that fancy stuff. But I know she’ll like it.”
Mama stood upright and pulled me into a hug. “She’ll love it, baby. She loves you.”
“Thanks, Mama. For the dance lessons and everything.”
“I’m glad you finally came to me with that. I’d worried you never would.” She placed her hand over her heart.
“Means that much to you?” I noticed her eyes going misty.
“It’s a mother’s dream to dance with her sons on their wedding day as much as it is a father’s wish to dance with his daughter and give her away.” She brought her apron to her eyes and wiped. “I’m so glad that this cancer business hasn’t stolen that opportunity from me yet.”
“You’ll be fine, Mama. And I promise I won’t take too long.” It hurt my heart to see her cry. What boy ever wanted to see his mother do that? And I hated cancer even more than I already did.
“Don’t you go rushing on my account. Take the time to reel her in. You have your whole lives together.” She patted my arm and then turned back to her book as I kissed her head. I made my way out and sneaked past Daddy who snored from his chair in the living room. Minding the door to keep quiet, I went out to the porch and saw Mason approaching with the pups running circles at his feet.
“Two might have been a problem. I think we’re going to have to name them Stubborn and Hardhead.” He placed his hands on his hips and looked down as they chewed his boot.
“Hard-headed, are they? Then I’ve got the perfect names for them.” I met his eyes directly. “Joe and Charlie.” Mason laughed. There weren’t two more stubborn men than ours and Lauralee’s dads.
“I don’t think either of them would like that. The pups, not the old men.” He looked down at the pair and shook his head. “How about brownie and peanut?”
I looked at him in horror. “What kind of girly shit is—”
“Lauralee’s suggestion, not mine.” He made a face like he wasn’t convinced it was the way to go either. “But it does kind of make sense with their colors.”
I shrugged. I had wanted more manly names for our dogs but wondered if going with her suggestion would put her in a better mood. I glanced down to the pups, who were rolling around with each other in the dirt. “How about Thor for the blondie and Max for the chocolate one?”
Mason stared at the pups for a moment and then nodded. “I think that’s perfect. Thor and Max it is.” We slapped hands and then decided to take them down with us to the field and let them get familiar with the other animals. Mason had given them a tour of the chicken coop, but neither had much interest in the chickens and according to Mason, had run like scaredy-cats. We went to the stables and climbed on our horses, each taking a pup into the saddle with us.
As we rode out, Mason trotted up beside me. “Are you avoiding Lauralee?”
“I’m not avoiding her, but I am giving her some space. She’s in a bad mood.” I kept a steady hand on Thor who was suddenly trying to be brave and take a leap.
“Yeah, I noticed. What did you do?” The accusation was thick in his voice.
I pulled back on the reins and gave him a hard look. “I didn’t do anything. Things have been better than ever lately, so if she has a problem, it doesn’t have anything to do with me. We’re trying this friendship thing, putting it first and all, and we haven’t even had a fight in days.”
He stopped, not getting too far ahead of me. “That’s good. Is that like a record or something?” He cleared his throat as if he had more to say.
“Very funny. It’s not a record, but it’s been nice enough. I may be about to screw it all up though. Who knows.” I clicked my tongue and Major took off walking again, the steady gait proving best for Thor’s accompaniment.
“What are you going to do, propose?” He glanced over and grinned. “You are, aren’t you?”
“Why does everybody keep going there? I’m asking her to prom. Like on a special date.”
“You do realize that the two of you aren’t allowed to attend once you’ve graduated.” He swatted a horsefly away from Max and held the puppy as it tried to chase it. “Hold up there, whistle britches,” he said to the pup.
“I’m aware. I’m planning a special prom-like date.” We stopped outside our barn, and I climbed down off the horse, taking Thor with me. “We have too much to do with these two underfoot. I hope they grow fast.”
“Not me, I think they’re best as puppies. And nice going on the date. She’s going to be excited. Especially if you propose.”
Between him and my mama, I was already beginning to regret the date and only because I was worried that Lauralee would be expecting the same thing when it all went down. I wanted what I had planned to be good enough. For once, I wanted things to be perfect. “I’m not going to propose.”
Of that I was certain.
Chapter 30
Lauralee
I opened my eyes barely a sliver and only to see what time it was. Sometime in the night I’d fallen
asleep or perhaps worn out from all the tossing and turning. No matter how much I wanted to find peace, my brain wouldn’t let it happen. I’d gone over my relationship with Ted a thousand times and through all the ups and downs I’d never stopped loving him. The grim realization didn’t sit well considering how badly I wanted to hate him for messing around with Katie.
Katie. How could she? She had a lot of nerve giving him her number, much less sneaking around behind my back to see him. Our entire lives she’d listened to all my troubles over Ted, and if anyone understood how much I loved the man, it was her. She’d comforted me, dried my tears, and given me advice on him since we were both old enough to talk about boys.
She even made me promise to let her be my bridesmaid when I married him because she said it was a given. How could she up and decide to step in the way after all this time? Had I told her too much? I clutched the blankets to my chest and sat up in bed trying to get my wits about me. I’d let this wallowing go on all night, and I wasn’t sure I’d even taken a pause while I slept.
The clock read eight forty-six. I was late for work. Now I had to drag in feeling miserable.
I only had myself to blame. I’d been so short with him the day before. It was no wonder he avoided me the rest of the afternoon. I had thought he’d come back in and I’d have a chance to confront him, but no, he had deprived me of the chance.
I slid down to the foot of my bed as my phone rang. Darting back across the expanse to the nightstand where my phone had been charging, I noticed the screen. You’ve got to be kidding me. I glared down at Katie’s name and took a deep breath as my jaw clenched tight. I poked the screen with enough force it hurt my fingertip. “Hello.”
“Hey. How’s it going?” Katie’s voice was as bubbly as ever, and the more I thought about it I couldn’t see how Ted was going to stand it for too long.
