Wild Girl: A Cowboy Romance Trilogy (Wild Men Texas Book 3)

by Melissa Belle

  Thank God, the fireworks are starting. Riley and Free are just a few blankets away, and I excuse myself to go join them.

  “Hey, girls.”

  Free pats the blanket for me to sit down.

  “You look hot,” she says. “And I don’t mean because of the weather.”

  I give her a hug. “Thank you, sweetie. Are either of you bringing dates?”

  “We’re each other’s date tonight.” Free puts her arm around Riley. “Two single women.”

  “At least y’all have a date. I’m sitting over there with the two engaged couples, feeling like a loser.”

  “You and Flip could make out on the dance floor after the ceremony,” Riley suggests.

  “Please.”

  Flip is ten years older than me and has never had a girlfriend. According to Dave, he “sort of lost his virginity, once.” I told him I don’t want to know what that means. And while I respect waiting and holding out for the right person, I’m not about to initiate him into the world of sex.

  “Pretty,” Riley says as pink and white light explodes in the sky.

  “I love fireworks,” I say.

  “Speaking of fireworks,” Riley says with a cheeky grin. “How did you and Logan make out in the cell?”

  Free laughs.

  “Nice try,” I say to Riley. “I’m just going to focus on Ginny. On Ginny getting married.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The bridesmaids and groomsmen pile into the first over-sized carriage. I’m relieved when I end up as far away from Logan as possible, but then his mother calls to him as we’re about to pull away that he dropped his phone, so he gets out and back in and ends up right next to me.

  I lean out past him to wave to Ginny and her father in the horse and carriage behind us.

  Logan moves his arm so he can lean against the seat, and his hand accidentally touches my bare back. I clench my jaw and don’t look at him. He pats my back awkwardly where his hand landed and then carefully moves it away. Thank God he’s not my partner—this will probably be the last time I have to be this close to him all night.

  Apparently, God has different plans. By the time we get to The Cowherd, a new couple has formed. Flip and Erma.

  “What are the freaking odds?” I whisper to Riley as she scoops up Mr. Bingley to put him in my office for the evening.

  “Getting better by the minute from the looks of it.”

  Flip offers Logan twenty bucks to switch partners with him for the opening dance. Logan hesitates and looks at me. I roll my eyes and ignore the transaction, which does eventually take place. While we’re still at the back of the chapel, Flip offers Logan another twenty dollars so he can ride alone with Erma on the single horse and carriage rides at the end of the night “so we can make out.”

  Logan takes this offer, too.

  Then, Mama approaches and hands me the Ms. Bennet bonnet for Ginny. I look toward the front of the room as Daddy places the Mr. Darcy cowboy hat on Dave’s head.

  Mama looks with me. “The brown lettering is gorgeous, isn’t it? So masculine.”

  “It’s very nice,” I agree.

  I walk past the wedding party until I reach a pale Ginny standing with her beaming father.

  “Here, honey.” I help her put on the bonnet, and then I tie it loosely underneath her chin.

  She giggles. “This must be my something old.”

  “You’re right! And your something borrowed.”

  “And blue.” She gestures to the blue letters spelling out Ms. Bennet on the front of the bonnet.

  “All good luck.” I give her a kiss on the cheek and step back into line.

  The actual wedding ceremony at The Cowherd Whiskey Chapel goes by without a hitch. During those thirty minutes with no one able to talk to me or touch me, I’m the most relaxed I’ve been in days.

  The cameras zoom in closely on Ginny and Dave as they exchange their vows. The reporters are working overtime as they nearly trip over one another to get the best shot. Jon falls, and his camera flies out of his hands.

  As Skip rescues it, I whisper to him, “Serves you right that Jon missed the shot, you blackmailer.”

  “Remember, your story comes out first thing tomorrow,” he says back. “You’re going to want to read it, Ms. Henwood. You come off like a real heroine.”

  “Shut up, Skip.”

  Then, Reverend Sands pronounces Dave and Ginny husband and wife, and I can’t tell if Ginny’s crying happy tears or something else. I twist my head to get a better look, but the brim of the bonnet keeps her face in shadow, and the moment passes.

  She and Dave walk down the aisle and head into the saloon. Foregoing any formal procession, all guests rush the liquor room. Cameras bump cameras, and people slam into each other as everyone wants to be the first one in the door.

  Logan and I end up reaching the door at the same time, but it’s Daddy who calls out the truth.

  “There will be no miracle tonight,” he says. “Jane Austen’s ghost is still locked up tight.”

  He removes the cowboy hat off Dave’s head, takes the bonnet from Ginny, and returns them to their locked cabinet in the corner. Mr. Bingley calmly watches the commotion from his perch on top of the cabinet, his green eyes assessing us all.

  “Good Lord,” I say to Logan in a low voice. “My parents have hoodwinked the entire town with this Make Your Match contest.”

  “The town wants to be hoodwinked,” he says. “No one’s an innocent here.”

  But just because the cell door didn’t open doesn’t mean everyone’s accepted the cold hard truth. Mrs. Rattles calls out that a couple isn’t truly officially married until their reception is complete. They must have a first dance, after all, and cut the cake. And then, she believes in her heart, her Ginny’s union will unlock that damn cell door.

  “Did you get that, Skip?” Mrs. Rattles turns on him. “Don’t leave yet. You’ll miss a whole lot of story to put into that paper of yours.”

  Her pep talk buoys everyone’s spirits, although on the way out the door, all I hear people saying is how, if Ginny and Dave don’t unlock the door, then Logan and Gigi must be the soul mates.

  I put a smile on my face and try to gracefully enter the reception hall. Nickel’s band is playing Ginny and Dave’s wedding song, but as soon as the father-daughter moment is done and Dave cuts in, I have to dance with Logan. The whole wedding party walks out onto the floor, but I hang back. My throat is tight with emotion.

  I can’t imagine dancing for three minutes in public with Logan.

  Mama’s beaming at me from her table as I get up from my chair. Logan slows down without turning around—I guess he trusts I’m right behind him.

  When I reach the dance floor, Logan turns slightly so we make the barest of eye contact, and he holds out his left hand. I take it in my right, and we walk the last two steps onto the dance floor together.

  The song’s already nearly half over.

  Just a minute and a half left, Mace. You can do it.

  I curse Flip for choosing Erma as I put my left hand on Logan’s right bicep and his free hand circles my waist. I know Gigi must be watching, but Logan pulls me in closer anyway. We move away from the periphery of the floor and further into the circle so that we’re right next to Ginny and Dave, who look like they’re fighting.

  Logan leads me away from that minefield, and we settle into place at the back of the floor. He holds me close, and I let him, and we don’t break away when the song ends. It’s not until everyone begins walking off the floor and they announce upcoming toasts that we both start and pull apart.

  Then Ginny, guitar in hand, steps up on the stage and sings with Nickel. I stare at her, transfixed by how well she fits with him. I can see her eyes shining from way down here.

  When the song ends and Nickel helps her off the stage, she rushes toward me, holding her dress so freely in her hand I’m terrified she’s going to trip on the train and wipe out. Somehow, she makes it over to me, and I catch her just
as she stumbles.

  “Oh, my gosh!” she giggles. “Did you see me?”

  “You sounded amazing!” I hug her. “I didn’t know you planned to perform.”

  “I didn’t! Nickel and I had joked about playing together at my reception. Did you see my mama’s face? She’s very angry with me, and I know Dave won’t like it.”

  I catch the sparkle in her eyes. “It’s not exactly his decision, Gin. Or your mother’s.”

  She looks at me and says in the calmest voice I’ve heard out of her since that stick turned pink—“No, it’s not. Thank you, honey. I’ll see you later.”

  The reception’s nearly over. Before heading for the horse and carriage to take me back to the square, I go to the coat closet to grab my shawl I never remotely needed.

  As I open the door, I hear noises. I push the door open more and find myself looking straight at the shocking sight of Ginny making out with Nickel.

  They stop when they see me, and Ginny tries to straighten out her hair, which had looked so beautiful all evening but now looks all…sullied.

  I run out, slamming the door behind me. Logan’s coming around the corner.

  “What?” he says. “What is it?”

  I lean against the wall for support, thankful he’s the only one seeing my reaction. I try to snap out of my PTSD.

  This isn’t your parents. Ginny and Dave are not your parents.

  “Ginny…” I point toward the closet. “Nickel…”

  Logan walks away from me, pushes open the coat closet lightly, and peeks in. Then, he shuts it and walks back to me. “Welllll…” he says, a frown marring his beautiful face.

  I’m shaking. I just need to get away from everything, and everyone—

  I turn and run outside.

  “Macey!” Logan calls after me. “Hey!”

  I keep running, the tears coming down my cheeks. But he catches me by the grove of oak trees.

  “Hey.”

  He puts his arms around me to force me to stop moving and pulls me into his chest while I weep. I’m nearly as embarrassed as I am sad. About how stupid I was to go along with Ginny when she begged me to tell her Dave was the right man for her.

  “I just shouldn’t have listened to her,” I say into his coat. “I should have fought harder to make her walk away. It’s my fault that she married him. It’s all my fault.”

  “No, it’s not.” Logan kisses my hair. “This marriage isn’t your fault, and neither was your parents’. You have to let them all go. Let them figure it out themselves. You didn’t cause any of this.”

  I wish I could disappear into the ground.

  “I think…” Logan hesitates. “You just have so much love in your heart, Macey. Don’t waste it.”

  Keeping his arm around me, he walks me over to the first empty carriage and helps me up into it. “I’ll meet you in two minutes,” he promises, and I watch him go find Gigi.

  He comes back as the driver’s ready to go, jumping up into the carriage and blocking me from the pre-planned exit camera shots. He leans his head forward at the last minute and puts his arms up in the air so that when the photos are developed, all you see are my legs and the back of my hair.

  We ride in silence the whole way. Because we got into the first carriage we saw, we’re last in line, and being last means riding extra slowly down Main Street.

  Mama texts me as soon as we start moving. “No go here at The Cowherd. We just checked the cell door again.”

  Logan looks at me. “Your mother’s at The Cowherd now, isn’t she? Staring at a locked cell?”

  I nod. “So be prepared for even more attention at your wedding. You may not be able to fit inside the chapel with all the cameras.”

  Logan opens his mouth but then shuts it. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him about to speak twice more and then close his mouth again without a sound.

  When we reach the square, I wave good-bye to him. His gaze stays steadily on me even as Gigi throws her arms around him and buries her face in his neck.

  I look back at him and wave good-bye.

  As I’m walking home alone, I start to hear the ending to my book. I actually hear the heroine’s voice in my head. I follow her thoughts until she and the hero are in front of me.

  And just like that, I know how to finish my novel.

  I know the final chapter, I see every detail and feel every moment between the two of them.

  And I know the heroine deserves the redemption she’s wanted so much.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Ginny texts in the morning and asks me to come by. I don’t say anything about the coat closet, and neither does she. I just jump in the car and drive to her house.

  “I can’t do this.” Tears are coming down her face faster than I’ve ever seen them on anyone.

  “Oh, honey.” I put my arms around her. “I’m so sorry…you tried to tell me a million times, and I should have made you put an end to it.”

  “It has nothing to do with you at all.” Ginny leads me into her house. “I’ve been dealing with this wedding pressure since the day my mother put Dave and me side by side in our cribs. I just don’t love him anymore. Not like that. He and I stayed up all night talking, and most of this morning. We’re going to get an annulment.”

  “Is he okay?”

  Ginny laughs as she grabs a tissue. “He’s so relieved, Macey. I actually feel better about him being a father now than I did when he was my fiancé. He told me he will definitely be there for our baby. And for me. I’m telling you, if the two of us had just talked in more detail about how we felt like, I don’t know, one time since I got pregnant, we would never have gone through with it. Dave felt forced into it also. Our mamas thought they were so smart, setting us up when we were babies and planning out our lives like this, but I guess no one can tell your heart what to feel.”

  I guess not.

  “But you look—refreshed or something.” She tilts her head and looks at me. “What happened? Did you have sex last night?”

  I laugh. “No. I can promise you that I did not have sex last night. But I did finish my novel. A different kind of release.”

  “That’s amazing, Mace. Oh, my gosh, I’m so proud of you!”

  “Thanks,” I say. “Hey, you’re still going to the barbecue for Logan and Gigi tonight, right?”

  “I’ll be there. Promise. I can’t believe they’re getting married so soon.”

  I can’t either. I can’t believe how much it’s going to hurt when their wedding is finally in the books and Logan’s officially off the market.

  I manage to nod at Ginny.

  “So step one was finishing my novel. Step two I need to go do right now.” I give her a hug. “I’ll pick you up at six.”

  I drive to The Cowherd where Ben and George are already busy cleaning up from last night.

  “Gosh, you two started early. I can help, you know.”

  “You’ve got a lot going on.” George pulls his long hair back into a ponytail and raises his eyebrows at me. “The Special Edition of the Darcy Gazette came out this morning.”

  Oh, shoot.

  “I forgot about that. You both read it?”

  They nod, and George hands me a copy of the paper.

  Yep. There I am. Page One.

  “Eldest Daughter of The Cowherd Whiskey Owner Cursed Like Jane Austen’s Ghost: A True Love Story of Darcy Finally Revealed.”

  I skim the story. Skip wasn’t kidding when he said he painted me as a heroine. I’m described as “the feisty but lovely Macey Henwood, who doesn’t pull any punches.

  “She’s a straight shooter, actual Target Champion of Hunt County, who sacrificed college for the sake of her family’s bar and now has to pay the price for cohabitating in such close quarters with the ghost of Jane Austen.

  “Due to a permanent scar she suffered in a mysterious accident, and corroborated by a page in Vivian Elmstock Haskins’s diary (see below), Ms. Henwood’s future is tied to Ms. Austen’s. If the spirit of the Briti
sh romance author is not freed of her spell by this July fourth, Ms. Henwood will forever lose her chance at love with her own Mr. Darcy.”

  “And you might want to call Mama.” Ben picks up a chair. “Just a suggestion.”

  I chase him across the room as he carries the chair back to its proper location. “How mad is she?”

  “On a scale of one to ten? I’d say a thousand.”

  I bang my hand against my forehead. “Crap.”

  “You’re going to be famous. For the next six hours, at least, until Logan and Gigi take over the attention again at their barbecue.”

  “That’s weird because I don’t have any calls…” I look down at my phone. “Oh. Because it’s dead. Well, I just won’t charge it. Let the nosy reporters reach voicemail.”

  “What’s all the cursed stuff about?” Ben takes a seat at the nearest booth.

  I sit across from him and pull at my purse strap awkwardly. “I thought you said you read the story. Everything’s in there.”

  “So Mama found a clue in Vivian’s diary about the eldest daughter being scarred, and that convinced her—”

  “Yep.” I flip my wrist over. “We all know where this came from. But Mama thinks the ghost and I became linked that night. Anyway, I came here to talk to you. So how would you feel if this”—I gesture around the bar with my arm—“was yours?”

  Ben’s mouth twists in confusion.

  “You finish your degree,” I say. “And then you take over The Cowherd. While you’re in school, you can run it in the summers and on vacations, and I’ll watch it for you until then.”

  He grins. “Are you serious?”

  “Of course. If you say yes, I’ll ask Daddy.”

  “I don’t know if he’ll agree. He has his heart set on you taking it over.”