When the Cowboy said “I Do”

by Crystal Green

  She would have to think like the fake Holly now. She would have to remember how she and Bo had met as adults in Bozeman, just like he’d told her dad. She would have to call her college friends and give them that cover story about how she had fallen for Bo right after Alan had spurned her, and she’d been too embarrassed to admit to a rebound relationship to go public with it until now. She would have to act over the moon about this fiancé of hers.

  Holly slid a glance to him as he used some liquid soap on the dishes. His thick blond hair was ruffled, giving him the impression of being groomed and a bit messy all at once. Somehow, that gave him a roguish air, and it tugged at her.

  “Okay,” she found herself saying. “I can do both of those things. Wedding date. Campaigning.”

  “We should lay out a deal, too—what’s expected, not expected.”

  “Lay one out?” The imagery was more provocative than he’d probably intended.

  “A deal. Lay out a deal.”

  Another amused grin. She was glad she was so entertaining.

  “We already named a six month term,” she said.

  “We’ll have to come to an agreement about the money I’ll be giving you, too.”

  “I have a question about something else first.” Here came the common sense part. “As far as this ruse goes, aren’t you worried about what’ll happen when you get married now, only to get an annulment a short time later? What will your constituents think of you then?”

  Of course, Bo already had that covered, and his cocky stance showed it. “All I want to do is get elected. When the townsfolk see that I’m there for them, getting things done, keeping my campaign promises, they just might have sympathy for the both of us. They’ll blame the failure of our marriage on all the work and long hours we’ve had to endure for the town’s sake, but I’ll take the brunt of any PR fallout beyond that.”

  “That’s a risky strategy.”

  “I just need an opportunity to get into office, Holly. From there, I’ll fly.”

  God help her, but she believed every word, yet that didn’t mean she didn’t have an even bigger concern. “Then there’s acting like we’re a real couple….”

  He grin grew, and she knew just what he was thinking.

  “There won’t be any of that,” she said.

  “What?”

  “You know what.”

  “Nookie?”

  It was as if he’d shot her up with adrenaline, because it flew through her, making her heartbeat go on a rampage, stealing more of her breath.

  Bo finished rinsing a plate, turned off the water and put the item in its drying rack. He leaned back against the counter, as casual as you please.

  “There’ll be no nookie, then.”

  She gave a clipped nod, doubting he would find her attractive, anyway, since she was swelling up a little more day by day, plus her stomach would no doubt be popping soon. She would be a beach ball, and although she didn’t mind that at all, she wouldn’t believe that a confirmed bachelor like Bo would be into it.

  He grabbed a dishrag and wiped down the counter before she had a chance to.

  “Tomorrow,” he said, “some of my supporters are holding a rally in the resort’s main parking lot. Two o’clock. Can you get out of work to be there?”

  “I make my own hours with the online data entry, so it won’t be a problem to show up.”

  He tossed the dishrag into the sink, then ambled toward her. Every one of her heartbeats seemed to stack themselves on top of the other, wobbling.

  When he got within inches of her, she had no choice but to look up at him.

  “Your dad,” he murmured. “He’s just outside and we’re right in the line of his view, thanks to the window.”

  Was he hinting that they should kiss good-night, just for show?

  Holly’s lips warmed, electric with anticipation as he brushed his gaze over them.

  A kiss.

  She could practically imagine sinking against him, holding on to his shirt as he pressed his mouth against hers…

  Getting control of herself, Holly moved away, heading toward the foyer. Behind her, she heard Bo chuckle, then follow.

  She took his coat and hat from where she’d hung them on the foyer rack and handed them over. He put them both on.

  Going to the door, he rested his hand on the knob. “By the way, I’ll be bringing something to the rally that we’ll need for you.”

  “What?”

  “Just a minor detail.”

  Without further explanation, he opened the door, tipping his hat to her as he went outside and shut the door behind him, leaving Holly holding her breath and even more off balance than ever.

  “You did what?” Erika said the next afternoon in the parking lot of the Thunder Canyon Resort.

  The mountains loomed in back of her, just above the red-white-and-blue bunting that had been put up for the rally. A mostly young crowd wearing those Golden Days Ahead With Bo! cowboy hats and sweatshirts under thick coats had gathered, sporting signs for their candidate. Clouds hovered over the action, covering the sun.

  Holly took Erika by the hand and led her to the outskirts of the festivities, near the edge of some pine trees.

  Once there, Erika waited for Holly to explain, looking more than a little worried.

  “I know,” Holly said. “I can’t believe I’m doing this. I spent all of last night tossing and turning, trying to figure out a better way. But there isn’t one.”

  “Holly, I understand how it feels to be judged and how afraid you are to go through that with your family, but there’s got to be another way.”

  “Well, it’s too late now. This morning, my dad actually had a smile on his face, as if he’d thought about my engagement good and hard and he was starting to come to peace with it.” Holly’s chest seemed banded together. “Do you know how good that felt, to see him like that?”

  “But it’s based on a falsehood, Holly, and you’re the last person I ever thought who’d would be tangled up in such a web of them.”

  See, even her good friend held Holly to such standards that she wondered how she’d ever lived up to them in the first place.

  Instead of facing the disappointment of failing Erika, too, Holly pulled her wool coat around her, glancing toward the rally, where Bo’s campaign manager, an older, no-nonsense woman named Rose Friedel, was getting the action started.

  Holly attempted another explanation for Erika’s sake. “I think my head’s not on right because of these pregnancy hormones.”

  Yeah—that had to be it. They’d mixed her up and shaken her around as good as any strange cocktail.

  “Pregnancy hormones or not,” Erika said, “you’ve still got time to back out of this deal.”

  “But—”

  “But your father and family.” Erika touched Holly’s arm. “I’m here to tell you that what you saw on your dad’s face yesterday when he found out about the baby will pale in comparison to what he’s going to show you when this house of cards comes tumbling down. And it will tumble, Holly.”

  Holly nudged the dirt with the toe of her boot. She wished Erika could’ve seen how Bo had so deftly handled her father, how he’d whipped up a solid story that covered her.

  How he’d wooed her dad as surely as he wooed everyone else.

  “And what if we could pull it off?” she asked.

  Erika groaned.

  Holly’s voice gained strength. “What if six months come and go and no one is any wiser or the worse for this temporary masquerade?”

  Erika started to leave. Then she seemed to reconsider, turning back to Holly long enough to lower her voice and say, “I’m going to stand by you, whatever you decide to do. But I wish you would think this through a lot more.”

  She walked toward the rally, where Holly knew Erika’s for-real fiancé, Dillon Traub, was waiting.

  Yes, Erika was going back to a reality that Holly could only hope for, because her own was about as true as a three-headed moose.

&n
bsp; As her friend disappeared into the crowd, a shiver traveled through Holly.

  It was as if…

  She looked toward the entrance to the resort, and there he was, near the elegantly rustic building’s entrance, apart from everyone else.

  Bo.

  He’d just emerged from the five-story central wing, dressed unlike any politician she’d ever seen, in his jeans, boots, sheepskin coat and that cowboy hat.

  He’d seen her first, and she had no idea how long he’d been watching her. But just the very idea that she’d been in his sights sent a thrill through Holly, head to toe.

  He sauntered toward her and, suddenly, she had no idea what to do with herself. Maybe pick this imaginary piece of fuzz off her coat. Maybe pretend as if she was terribly interested in the rally.

  Still time to back out of this deal…

  But when Bo came to stand in front of her, all of Erika’s guidance spiraled away, and Holly smiled up at him, unable to stop herself.

  Her fiancé.

  Committed, for better or worse.

  “You ready?” she asked, hoping he hadn’t heard the tiny tremble in her voice.

  “Just about.” He dipped a hand into his coat pocket, fisting it around something he didn’t yet reveal.

  Then he reached out and clasped one of her hands in his.

  Warm. So warm.

  It took her a moment to realize that he had taken out a ring, and she gasped.

  This was what he’d meant by bringing her a “detail” for their ruse. She hadn’t even thought about a ring, only concentrating on the business parts, like when the wedding should be and where.

  The diamond sparkled. Simple and elegant, just the sort of ring she would’ve picked out for herself.

  “My grandmother left it to me before she passed on,” he said.

  His grandmother’s ring?

  “Bo, you can’t use this. It’s almost a slap in her face.”

  “She would’ve approved of what I want to do for Thunder Canyon. Grams was practical like that. Kind of like you, too.”

  He slipped it onto Holly’s finger, taking their charade a dangerous step further.

  As she admired the alluring gleam of it, she couldn’t speak. That’s when the tears would come, and she wouldn’t waste them on a semi-proposal that shouldn’t hold any meaning. She would be giving this ring back soon enough.

  But, in the meantime, it didn’t hurt to run her thumb against the back of the gold band, didn’t hurt to get used to the foreign feel of it circling her finger.

  She glanced up at Bo only to find him staring at the ring, too, an unreadable expression on his face.

  Then, as if he wanted to hide what he was thinking, he grinned.

  “I’m all set,” he said, taking her by the hand. “Are you ready for this?”

  No welching once she came out from under these pines and into that rally.

  In her tummy, her baby gave a healthy kick, as if goading Holly.

  Baby.

  This was all about what her child would need.

  “Ready,” Holly said.

  And they walked out into the open together.

  Chapter Four

  The crowd at the rally had loved the first part of Bo’s speech, and their cheers were just coalescing into a chant—“Bo! Bo! Bo!”—when his campaign manager subtly tapped her watch from the sidelines, near a barricade of pickup trucks that his volunteers had used to haul their equipment to the resort.

  Based on Rose’s gesture, it was nearly time to go into the main lodge to meet a reporter for coffee and an interview, during which Bo intended to give out more details about his and Holly’s engagement and pregnancy. It would be a “tell-all” exclusive Bo hoped would cover most of their bases.

  But before he even got to that, he needed to lay the groundwork for those explanations to his supporters. Rose knew all about his intentions, and she’d planned today’s strategy like a four-star general.

  Bo held up his hands, asking for quiet, and the chanting faded. Then he wrapped it up.

  “I’ve talked about change a lot during this campaign, and I imagine you can recite most of what I’ve said based on repetition,” he said into his microphone.

  The crowd laughed. One man even shouted, “We’ll still listen, Bo!”

  More laughter. Applause.

  Bo grinned, then got a little more serious. “I’ve presented plans for drawing in new customers from out of town for our small businesses. I’ve practically chatted a mile-long streak about improving our infrastructure and education.” He paused, looking into as many faces as he could—seeing the hope in their eyes, the trust they were putting into him.

  He clutched the microphone, vowing not to let any of them down.

  “We can go so many places together, because this town has been successful in the past. Gold wasn’t the only reason Thunder Canyon found itself in the flush—we were on top because of our people.”

  A few cheers. The beginning of more applause, which grew moment by moment as Bo raised his voice over it. “The citizens are the town’s best natural resource, and we can raise Thunder Canyon back to its former greatness if we mine what’s within ourselves. It’ll take work—I won’t fool you about that—and it’ll take everyone working together, but we can prosper again, folks. We can do it.”

  As the crowd erupted into a full-fledged cheer, he lowered the mic, his gaze seeking out the one face that inspired him the most.

  Near his campaign manager, Holly was raptly watching Bo, her hands clasped against her chest, as if she’d stopped applauding so she could hear him better. Somehow, her approval infused him with more optimism.

  So did the sight of that diamond ring, flashing from her finger.

  Right now, everything seemed just as it should be, and caught up in the moment, Bo crooked his finger to her, asking her to join him.

  Her lips parted, and she didn’t move.

  Had she changed her mind?

  Panic struck Bo as all his dreams tumbled by: getting Thunder Canyon on its feet again. Bringing back those days of sunshine and hope he’d felt back when he’d been just a kid, before his introduction to the darkness life could bring, when his uncle had been murdered.

  But Bo could do something about all of that now, even if years had gone by and he was getting a late start. He could make a difference, clean up the world one little space at a time, and his marriage to Holly would pave the way for that.

  His supporters had quieted, waiting for his next sentence, but Bo just looked at Holly.

  Come on, he thought. Help me out here.

  She touched her stomach, as if reminding herself of what their marriage would provide.

  Then, as his heart pounded, she made her way to him.

  He could see his campaign manager clapping; Rose was in on the ruse, so she was encouraging Holly. Then the older woman winked at him, clearly relieved that things were rolling along.

  As Holly came closer, Bo bounded over to meet her, taking her hand in his, escorting her to the limelight.

  He squeezed her hand, speaking into the mic again.

  “I’ve talked about change, all right. And I’m going to show you that I’m not just all talk.”

  When he put his arm around Holly, she seemed cautious at first, until he rubbed her shoulder, acting the part of the loving fiancé. As she leaned into his side, Bo flashed a captivated smile down at her.

  Holly returned it, and the crowd roared.

  They liked her—liked them.

  He waited until they’d calmed down before he went on.

  “Several months ago,” he said, “I found a woman who changed me in a lot of ways. And as you bachelors out there know, change doesn’t come easy.”

  A few hoots from Thunder Canyon’s single-and-loving-it contingent.

  “But,” Bo added, “it’s a perfectly welcome matter when you fall for a woman as amazing as Holly Pritchett.”

  The response was deafening, and Bo had to shout over them. “S
he finally allowed me to announce our wedding!”

  With that, a flood of flashbulbs enveloped them, and they posed for pictures, waving at the audience. Rose turned on the stereo speakers, filling the atmosphere with a lively Charlie Daniels fiddle tune that made the supporters clap in time while most of them turned to each other, already asking questions, trying to work out the whats-whos-and-whys of his stunning announcement. He and Holly kept waving as they left the stage, from where Bo had planned to make their way to the resort, which wasn’t more than two hundred feet away.

  He held on to Holly as the people surrounded them, offering congratulations, asking about the engagement.

  “You’ll read all about it come tomorrow morning’s edition of the paper!” Bo said.

  Everyone kept a respectful distance, just as Bo knew the good people of Thunder Canyon would, but he started feeling real protective of Holly, anyway. He gathered her closer until they got into the main lodge, which boasted a huge open lobby, with voices echoing from the ceiling three stories up. A freestanding fireplace, leather sofas and a life-size elk sculpture dominated the area, but before Bo got to any of it, three hardy, blond men caught up to him and his fiancée.

  Holly’s older brothers.

  The two eldest, Hollis and Nick, resembled their little sister the most, except that they had a whole lot more testosterone and blue-eyed fervor.

  “You gone crackers?” Hollis asked, guiding Holly away from Bo as if she’d been kidnapped by him. “All three of us got voice mails from you late last night, and we’ve been trying to get ahold of you this morning.”

  “I meant to talk to you boys at length, but as you can see, things have been a little busy for me.”

  “Dad filled us in,” Hollis continued, “but he couldn’t explain what’s gotten into you.”

  Holly extricated herself from her oldest brother.

  Good God—she hadn’t talked to the Pritchett boys one on one before this? No wonder they were steamed.

  But Bo could guess why she’d decided to leave late-night messages; judging from her brothers’ responses now, they would’ve gone ballistic, and she’d wanted to put it off, jumping headfirst into this ruse without anyone to stop her.