The Heart Won't Lie

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  By the time each of them had embraced Sarah and stepped back, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Keri dabbed at her tears with her left hand, because her right hand was now clutched in Michael’s left. She had no idea when he’d taken hold of her hand, but he didn’t seem about to let it go.

  She didn’t mind. Holding on to him during this emotional ceremony felt good and right, so long as neither of them attached too much significance to it. And yet, that wasn’t so easy as Sarah and Pete pledged to love and cherish each other.

  Their promises were heartfelt, but Keri reminded herself that Sarah and Pete were rooted in this place and had been for years. They knew exactly what they were doing by creating this union. They were grounded in reality, not banking on some half-baked dream to carry them through.

  Keri tried to keep that in mind, but the ceremony was magic, and some of the fairy dust fell on all of them. Looking at Pete and Sarah, it was hard to refute the power of love, or the belief that, as Michael had said, anything was possible.

  When the vows had been said and the minister invited Pete to kiss the bride, the room erupted in cheers and applause. Keri joined in. She was so glad she’d stayed for this. As the jubilant couple turned and hurried down the aisle, Michael caught Keri’s chin and turned her in his direction.

  “Thank you for sharing this with me,” he murmured right before he kissed her. The kiss was brief, but potent nonetheless.

  She hadn’t expected it, and she looked up at him, a little dazed. “I have to go. Mary Lou needs help in the kitchen.”

  “I know.” He smiled and traced her mouth with the tip of his finger. “But you can come to the reception later, right?”

  “Sarah told us to. She doesn’t want anyone missing the party.”

  “Then save me a dance.” He squeezed her hand and before she could say anything about that, he was gone, swallowed by the crowd following Sarah and Pete out the door to the tents set up for the reception.

  The next two hours flew by, with Mary Lou, Keri and a couple of extra servers hired for the occasion making sure the buffet tables were stocked and the bar well supplied. Keri was dressed for practicality in jeans, a T-shirt and a serviceable apron. Party clothes hadn’t been part of the plan. She hadn’t stayed on at the Last Chance so she could party tonight. She’d stayed so that Sarah could have a fabulous wedding free of worries about her staff.

  But then Watkins appeared with strict instructions from the boss lady. Tyler’s husband, Alex, a former DJ, had taken over the music duties, so Watkins had been commissioned to get Mary Lou out on the dance floor. Rumor had it that Michael was searching for Keri for the same reason.

  She was carrying a kettle of ranch beans when Michael found her. He took it gently from her hands, set it on the nearest sturdy surface, and reached behind her to untie her apron.

  “This is ridiculous,” she protested. “I’m a part of the staff, not a part of the guest list.”

  Michael pulled her apron off and tossed it next to the kettle of beans. “I have my orders from Sarah. If I don’t get you out there for at least one dance, she’ll send all three of her boys to carry you to the dance floor. I doubt you want that.”

  Keri laughed. “No, I don’t. I’m familiar with public embarrassment, and it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

  “Then you’ll come along like a good girl?”

  “I’ll come along, but I can’t promise that I’ll be a good girl.”

  Michael glanced at her over his shoulder as he tugged her toward the wooden platform. “Even better.”

  As it turned out, when they stepped onto the dance floor, Alex had cued up “The Heart Won’t Lie,” sung by Reba McEntire and Vince Gill. With a sense of inevitability, Keri moved into Michael’s arms.

  They danced, snuggled close together as the words about love and loss flowed around them. How easy it would be for her to murmur in his ear and say that she wanted him to move to Wyoming, that she wanted to be with him and that she loved him.

  She resisted. She refused to do or say anything that would influence him in this so-very-important decision. One word from her, and he’d abandon his promise to think it through.

  He rested his cheek against hers, and a few times he turned his head to press his lips to the soft spot beneath her ear. “I could stay like this forever,” he murmured.

  At times like this she felt the same way, but no matter how sweet it sounded, neither of them could stay like this forever. She’d come to realize that he was a romantic. Romantics sometimes talked that way, which wasn’t a problem until they started believing it, too.

  18

  MICHAEL CARRIED THE sweetness of their dance at the reception with him for the rest of the evening. Neither of them made it upstairs until well past midnight, and he knew she had to be exhausted. But it was their final night together, and he had to hold her one last time.

  So he coaxed her into his room, gave her a massage, because this time she was the one who needed it, and made slow, gentle love to her until she came apart in his arms. Then he swallowed her cries so the others staying upstairs wouldn’t hear.

  Perhaps he’d hoped that the combination of the emotional wedding and good sex would change her opinion that he needed to proceed with caution. If so, he didn’t get his wish. Her actions were loving, but she didn’t beg him to move to Wyoming ASAP so they could be together.

  But at least they shared a bed on their last night together. Without knowing for sure how deep her feelings ran, he couldn’t say if that would ever happen again. He might come back in two months and discover that she’d fallen for a real cowboy.

  That kind of thinking could easily drive him crazy, but he couldn’t force her into a commitment she considered premature. Difficult though it would be, he had to leave her here, take care of business in New York and then see if he had anything to come back to.

  She left his room early on Sunday morning. Although he knew that cleanup duties would be massive today, letting her walk out the door was torture. He stopped himself from asking for one more kiss and watched her cross the hall, her robe tied tight in case anyone else was up.

  He’d bet no one was. Last night had been a blowout of a party. God, but he hated to leave. If not for the damned video, he wouldn’t. But filming was scheduled for next week, and he’d come to the Last Chance specifically to prepare for that.

  So he packed, went down for a light breakfast and then headed to the barn so he could say goodbye to Destiny, his main guy, and Finicky, the superstar who’d let him pretend to know what he was doing. Keri must have spotted him going there, because he hadn’t been in the barn talking to Destiny more than five minutes before she showed up.

  “I thought we should say our goodbyes now, when nobody’s around.” She came toward him dressed in her usual outfit of jeans and a scoop-necked T-shirt. This one was the color of her emerald-green eyes.

  “That’s probably a good idea.”

  “Or silly. Most everyone has guessed about us.”

  “Must be the constant grin on my face.” He met her halfway. As he slipped his arms around her waist, he couldn’t banish the thought that he had no guarantees with this woman. He might never hold her this way again.

  She gazed up at him. “Are you growing a mustache?”

  “I am. For the video. You might not want to kiss me and risk razor burn.”

  “Why not admit who you are and forget about the mustache?”

  “Because...” He stared at her in stunned silence. “I have no idea why not,” he said at last. “That’s an excellent question.”

  “You didn’t want anyone to know before because you weren’t a real cowboy, but you’re a good part of the way there. You can pull it off.”

  “I suppose I could. Of course, my family will have a fit if I out myself as a Hartford of the Hudson Vall
ey Hartfords.” As he said that, he realized he no longer cared. He’d been willing to break with family tradition and leave New York, so why not go all the way?

  Yet he hadn’t been prepared to do that until now, and maybe that was a reason, a very good reason, she’d accused him of not thinking things through. If he intended to make Wyoming his home, then he should get rid of all the hang-ups from his past.

  Her green eyes filled with understanding. “It’s not easy to disappoint your family. Trust me, I know this.”

  “I know you do.” And he had more work ahead of him in building an authentic life if he expected to deserve her. He already had some ideas about how he could do that. “Listen, can I send you a copy of the video after it’s finished?”

  “I’d love that. Is Jack driving you to the airport?”

  “Yeah, he insisted.”

  “Then I’ll give Jack my Baltimore address before you leave, so you’ll have it.”

  “Baltimore?” He hoped to hell she hadn’t been playing him like a fish. “Lady, you have me totally confused. Why am I sending the video to Baltimore?”

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to be confusing. I’m planning to talk with Jack in the next day or two and give my notice.”

  “Wow, that’s quick.”

  “I’m impatient to get on with my plans. Bethany and Nash will be home from their honeymoon next week, and I don’t want to risk having her hire somebody else to do the job I’m angling for.”

  He nodded. “Smart thinking.”

  “If all goes as I hope, I’ll be in Baltimore tying up loose ends when your video’s finished. I don’t want you to send it here, because I want to see it right away.”

  “Glad to hear that. I have a feeling all of this will work out exactly the way you want it to.” If only she’d factor him into her plans, he could talk about his goal of moving here. But that might make her freak out again, and they’d reached a kind of détente on that subject.

  “I think it will, too. Mary Lou’s excited that I might only be moving as far as the ranch next door. I was touched that she cared so much.”

  “I’m sure everyone will be rooting for you to get the job with Bethany. I know I am.”

  “Thanks, Michael.” She gazed up at him. “I know you are, too.”

  He sighed and pulled her closer. “I don’t want to say goodbye.”

  “Then don’t.” She reached up and cupped his face in both hands. “Just kiss me, and then I’ll walk out of here. No drama.”

  “Right. No drama.” Leaning down, he closed his eyes and pressed his mouth to hers. His heart jerked in his chest. This could not be the last time he kissed her. It just couldn’t.

  She answered his kiss with tenderness. Then she eased out of his arms and turned. Without another word, she walked out of the barn. Everything that mattered to him went with her.

  * * *

  MICHAEL’S VIDEO ARRIVED shortly after Keri returned to her Baltimore condo, so she was doubly glad she’d asked him to send it there. It came via FedEx, and she nearly destroyed the packaging in her haste to get it out of the box. Then she fumbled with the disc as she attempted to load it into her player. Apparently this separation had made her desperate for the sight of Michael James Hartford, aka Jim Ford.

  By the time she put the disc in the machine and hit Play on her remote, she was hyperventilating and couldn’t even sit down to watch it. She stood right in front of the screen, the remote clutched so tightly in her hand that her fingers grew numb. If she’d thought his presence in her life wasn’t important, she’d been kidding herself.

  The segment started with a book cover that faded to an almost identical scene of rolling hills punctuated by a single tree with a hangman’s noose dangling from it. Michael had recorded the voiceover describing the dramatic scene as it played out in the book.

  Hearing that deep familiar baritone gave her goose bumps. She had the fierce urge to see him in person. She needed to touch him and verify that he still existed in her world.

  The video continued, and Michael came riding over the hill. Her reaction was immediate and visceral. The tug deep within her soul proclaimed that this man was the one she was meant to love.

  To hell with logic. To hell with everything except a primitive need to eliminate whatever distance, emotional or geographical, separated them.

  Then he began to speak, and she became a little shaky. She slowly lowered herself to the floor while she kept her attention focused intently on the screen. He looked into the camera, but he seemed to be gazing directly at her.

  She realized that was the intent, and each viewer would feel as if he spoke directly to them. Well, they could all harbor that delusion, but she knew the truth. He was talking to her, damn it!

  At first she didn’t notice that he’d forsaken the mustache because he looked the way he always had, clean shaven. But the mustache was supposed to be part of his Jim Ford persona, or it had been until now.

  “I have a confession to make,” he said. “Last week I learned to ride a horse and throw a rope. Until then, I’d been a city boy who wrote about things I’d dreamed of but never experienced.”

  Her jaw dropped. In their last conversation, she’d casually asked him why he didn’t reveal who he really was, but she hadn’t expected him to tell everyone he hadn’t been a cowboy before and was just becoming one now. Admitting that took nerve.

  He continued, “Last week opened my eyes to new possibilities and new challenges. I’m relocating to Wyoming so I can live the way I’ve always hoped to. I’ll write under my real name, but I’ll also keep Jim Ford somewhere on the cover of the books until everyone’s adjusted to the change, including me. Oh, and I’m ditching the mustache. It interferes with kissing pretty women. And there’s one in particular I look forward to kissing.”

  He followed that with a smile so full of optimism and joy that it broke her heart. He’d told her of his long-term goals, and she’d had no faith in his ability to make a decision that fast. She’d been privileged to be the first to know, and she’d tried to talk him out of being extremely smart and very brave.

  Fortunately, he’d ignored her advice and was barreling ahead with the courage of his convictions. Perhaps it was time for her to admit that not everyone needed time to think through a major life change. Some people, like Michael, were blessed with imagination and the insight that allowed them to see clearly when the right path opened up before them.

  And she loved him for being so exceptional in that regard. She loved him for many other reasons, too. She just plain loved him, and it was time she told him so.

  * * *

  MICHAEL CURSED WHEN the apartment security guard called on the house phone to say a visitor was in the lobby. He’d been struggling with a scene in his new book and he’d nearly figured it out. Whoever it was could come back later when he wasn’t writing.

  “Tell them I’m not available, Jake,” Michael cut in before Jake could say who the visitor was. It didn’t matter. It could be the Queen of England for all he cared. He had a scene to wrestle with and he was so close to making it work. “Have them come back tomorrow around ten.”

  That’s what a security person in the lobby was there for, to screen anyone wishing to visit the building’s occupants. Michael cherished that about the place and made regular use of the service.

  “All right.”

  A minute later, Jake called again.

  Michael considered not answering. He’d have to discuss this with Jake later and let him know that no meant no. Luther, the previous security person, had been very good at getting rid of unwanted visitors. But Jake had only been on the job a couple of months. Michael would have to answer and get rid of this persistent person himself.

  “The young lady is prepared to wait in the lobby until you see her, Mr. Hartford.”

  “Look, she n
eeds to come back tomorrow, Jake. Please convince her that—”

  “Her name is Keri Fitzpatrick.”

  Michael’s brain stalled. Disbelief was quickly followed by hope, followed by caution. She’d told him she’d be in Baltimore for a month, which was why he’d sent the video there.

  But she’d never said anything about getting together while she was in Baltimore. She could have, but she hadn’t, so he’d resigned himself to not seeing her, even though they would be just a train ride apart for the duration.

  Maybe this was a spur-of-the-moment thing. Maybe she had business in New York and had stopped by for old time’s sake. He shouldn’t expect that this visit would have any special significance.

  “Mr. Hartford? Shall I send her up?”

  “Yes, send her up.”

  Even though he told himself not to get excited about seeing her, his heart pounded wildly as he waited for her to arrive at his door. He took several long slow breaths in an attempt to appear calm. Then the doorbell chimed, and his heart clicked into double time again.

  Still, he did his best to look casual when he opened the door and found her standing there in her little black suit and four-inch heels. “Keri! It’s good to—”

  “I love you.”

  He opened his mouth to respond, but nothing would come out. His brain had turned to mush and the rest of him wasn’t holding up well under the shock, either. He was afraid he was shaking.

  “I love you, Michael,” she said again. “I didn’t want to say it while we were in Wyoming, because I had this stupid idea that I could ruin your life.”

  He wasn’t aware that he’d moved, but suddenly he was holding her and kissing her with wild abandon as emotions he’d kept dammed up for weeks burst free. At last, gasping for breath, he lifted his head to gaze into her sparkling green eyes. “The only way you can ruin my life is by staying out of it. As it happens, I love you, too.” And with that, the shaking stopped, as if when he proclaimed his love, his world had settled into place.