Love Under Two Extroverts [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)
Page 22
“That’s good to hear,” Angela said.
“What’s it going to be called?” Will asked.
“Angel’s Roadhouse.” The woman blushed. “Someone who was important to me a long time ago used to call me that—Angel.”
“I think it’s a great name,” Kate said.
“Thank you for coming tonight,” Jacqui said. “We’re glad to meet you.”
“You’re very kind,” Angela said. She looked at Will and Norm. “Kate tells me you’re the men to talk to about marketing strategies. Clay Dorchester is already designing a Web site for the Roadhouse. He suggested, as did Kate, that I talk to you two and maybe all three of you together. If you don’t mind, I’ll call next week and set up an appointment.”
“Please,” Will said. “That would be great.”
“Good.” Angela turned to Kate. “Why don’t I get us a table?”
“Yes, please. I know you’ve been on your feet most of the day.”
Angela gave Kate’s arm a squeeze, nodded to them, and then looked around the restaurant. She spotted a table and began to make her way toward it.
“I’m so happy y’all will be staying in Lusty,” Kate said.
Will and then Norm each kissed Kate’s cheek.
“Thank you, Grandma Kate. We’re glad, too.”
“We like New York, but we’re ready to be where we were always meant to be,” Norm said.
Even above the chatter in the restaurant, Jacqui heard the loud scraping of a chair, followed by a feminine gasp of surprise.
She turned her attention to the source. Angela had been working her way toward a table, when Ricoh pushed back his chair and got to his feet.
Angela froze in place, the look on her face one of shock mixed with regret. “Oh, my…Ricoh!”
For a long moment, neither moved. Jacqui knew she didn’t mistake the look of hope and longing that crossed the ranch foreman’s face. And then in the next heartbeat, his expression went to…well, to stone.
Then he turned, and left the restaurant.
Angela looked over at Kate, her eyes narrowed as if in suspicion.
“Oh, dear, that didn’t go as well as I’d hoped.” Then she gave Jacqui, Will and Norm a smile. “Please excuse me. I’ve made a mess, and now I have to go clean it up.”
They couldn’t hear what Kate said as she led Angela over to an empty table, and sat her down. The other woman looked more shaken than angry.
“I wonder what that was all about?” Jacqui leaned against Will when he put his arm around her.
“The cousins have told me that Kate’s been trying her hand at matchmaking lately. I think that might have been a misfire.”
Jacqui considered what she knew of Ricoh, and shook her head. “No, I think that was more like tearing a bandage off a wound. Hopefully, that wound will only get better from here.”
“My, my, sweetheart,” Norm said. “That does not sound like the cynical young woman we baited in that book shop behind us just a short time ago.”
“No, that sounded like the voice of a happy, optimistic woman,” Will agreed.
“How could I be anything but? You dared to care for me, and love me—and now, everything is new and wonderful.” Jacqui nodded. “You, and Lusty, have proved to me that anything, anything at all is possible. And if that’s true for me, it’s true for everyone else.” Even, she thought, a saddle-weary cowboy and a middle-aged barkeep.
“You know what? You’re absolutely right, sugar plum.”
“Yeah,” Norm said. “Let’s hear it for happy endings.”
THE END
WWW.MORGANASHBURY.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Morgan Ashbury, also writing as Cara Covington, has been a writer since she was first able to pick up a pen. In the beginning it was a hobby, a way to create a world of her own, and who could resist the allure of that? Then as she grew and matured, life got in the way, as life often does. She got married and had three children, and worked in the field of accounting, for that was the practical thing to do and the children did need to be fed. And all the time she was being practical, she would squirrel herself away on quiet Sunday afternoons, and write.
Most children are raised knowing the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule. Morgan’s children also learned the Paper Rule: thou shalt not throw out any paper that has thy mother’s words upon it.
Believing in tradition, Morgan ensured that her children’s children learned this rule, too.
Life threw Morgan a curve when, in 2002, she underwent emergency triple-bypass surgery. Second chances are to be cherished, and with the encouragement and support of her husband, Morgan decided to use hers to do what she’d always dreamed of doing—writing full-time.
Morgan has always loved writing romance. It is the one genre that can incorporate every other genre within its pulsating heart. Romance showcases all that humankind can aspire to be. And, she admits, she’s a sucker for a happy ending.
Morgan’s favorite hobbies are reading, cooking, and traveling—though she would rather you didn’t mention that last one to her husband. She has too much fun teasing him about having become a “Traveling Fool” of late.
Morgan lives in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, with a mysterious cat, a nine-pound Morkie dog who thinks he’s a German Shepherd, and her husband of forty-two years, David.
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Morgan Ashbury, please visit
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