Elizabeth blew her nose. She’d used half a box of tissues and her reddened eyelids must look puffy. She should have been dancing for joy at the very thought of being her own person for a while rather than everyone’s stay-at-home mom 24/7—but her initial euphoria when her ex-husband had offered to spend his summer with their kids had faded. Instead, she felt disconnected and a bit panicky.
A knock at her door predictably set her heart racing. Elizabeth, who’d been brought up on the belief that, above all, appearances mattered—Thanks, Mom—wasn’t ready to see anyone this morning. Maybe she wouldn’t answer. Today, in spite of her normally sunny outlook, she wanted to wallow in heartache—at least until tomorrow—before she finally went on with her life. The one she’d never wanted. The one that didn’t include Harry and their family being together. The divorce had been finalized a month ago, and she’d certainly observed that day with what she could only call mad desperation—she’d done a very foolish thing. But Harry was out of her life, as much as he ever would be as the father of their children, and it was Elizabeth who, from now on, would do most of the heavy lifting while raising them.
The knock sounded again, and her mouth went dry. For months a rap at the door had meant another prying person in the guise of concern, even a nosy reporter from the local paper. Harry had been the town mayor, and his infidelity had put her in the spotlight right along with him. You’d think people would have had enough by now of prying into her life, tearing apart the last shreds of her privacy, but in Barren, Kansas, there were those who still talked. Elizabeth was torn between her desire to hide and a need for human company in this house that now echoed with silence, and solitude nearly won.
Elizabeth hated attention. She knew there were those in town who’d always called her Ms. Perfect and hoped to see her get her comeuppance. Although she’d been Harry’s victim in all this, they blamed her. She couldn’t think how to repair her former standing in the community as Elizabeth Barnes, “first lady”—how to get her legs under her again, so to speak. Goodness, she sounded like Dallas Maguire, the rodeo guy who’d moved in next door last January, renting the former Whittaker house while he recovered from serious injuries.
Fortunately for her, he’d been easy to avoid—especially after her divorce became final. Dallas had spent a lot of his time since then doing rehab, until he’d disappeared a few weeks ago. She’d finally stopped looking out her kitchen window, wondering where he’d gone. All for the best, she’d thought.
Elizabeth heard a third knock at the door, reminding her that—thanks again to her mother—she had manners. “Coming,” she finally said, then opened the door. To her surprise, hands in his back pockets, Dallas stood on the porch assessing a pot of red geraniums, and after a quick glance at the back of his head, his dark hair, she looked away. Even in jeans and a faded T-shirt, he was an amazing sight, but since that day with him in May, she’d tried not to notice. “Dallas, I’m not in good shape today. Maybe you could come back later.” Or not at all.
Dallas turned toward her. His electric-blue gaze drifted over her, probably seeing the remnants of her tears—seeing too much—and Elizabeth fought an urge to swipe them away. He was the gregarious type who’d probably never met a stranger, and the day her divorce was finalized he’d certainly pried Elizabeth out of her shell, the one she wanted to pull around her now like a cloak. An awkwardness nagged at her, an awareness of him that she couldn’t afford to indulge again.
Dallas edged his broad-shouldered way into the house. He took only a few steps, but she could see he’d suffered a setback.
“You’re limping again. What happened?”
The last time she’d seen him, he’d been doing so well with his recovery from that bad spill on the circuit.
He shrugged. “Tried a rodeo in Houston. Just to see if I could ride. The bull disagreed. Hurt myself again—nothing too bad, but my hip’s unhappy this morning. Had to spend more time than I’d planned away from here.”
“In a hospital?” Not long ago, he’d spent considerable time in one.
“Nah, resting a bit.” She doubted that was the full story. “Then I paid my folks a quick visit. Sorry I haven’t been around.” His gaze strayed from hers. “You mad at me? I mean, because—”
The memory of that day in May was suddenly front and center again. “Dallas, I never did anything like that in my life. I never will again.”
“Make love?” His mouth tilted in a smile before he sobered. “I want you to know, I didn’t intend for anything to happen that day.”
“Yes, but we both know how that turned out.”
“I came over to see if you were all right, that’s all.”
“I’m fine.” She could feel her cheeks heat. She couldn’t look at him either. The memory of that afternoon, in broad daylight while her children were in school...the warmth of Dallas’s touch, at first on her shoulder to comfort when he’d come from next door, seemed very real again. But then she’d collapsed in tears—never prone to crying, she’d done more than her share this year—and found herself wrapped in Dallas’s arms. And he’d kissed her...
“Dallas, I barely know you. I’m still mortified that I let things get so out of control. I acted like a...woman hoping to be rescued, but I’m not that person.” She managed a weak laugh. “My mother saw to it that I know how to behave in every situation.” She shook her head. “I still can’t believe I did that—”
“We did that,” he corrected her. “If you want me to be sorry, then I am. But let’s leave that for now. You’re divorced. You can start fresh, go on with your life and make whatever you want of it. Try something just for you.”
“Like what?”
With the beginnings of another smile, he shrugged again. “I don’t know. Take a trip, a cruise. Sign up for some course you’ve always wanted to take. Talk to a friend—meaning me.” But even considering their onetime mistake together, she and Dallas weren’t friends; they were neighbors, that was all, and temporary at that. He didn’t seem to agree. “Let’s have dinner tonight. My way of apologizing. I’ll make reservations at the Bon Appetit. What time?”
“Food doesn’t appeal to me. Go home,” she said with a half smile of her own. “I’m in hiding. I may stay here all summer.”
“Uh-uh.” Dallas leaned in the doorway. “Not buying that, and—wow—” He glanced around the living room. Not a thing out of place. No toys scattered across the carpet, no children’s books or games or art projects on view. Elizabeth’s spirits sank even lower.
“I know,” she said. “It’s never looked this good.” She’d spent the last half hour tidying up. And mopping tears.
“I saw them all leave.” He slanted her a look. “You really okay?”
“No,” she admitted, which seemed obvious. Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “And that’s the same question you asked me in May.” Which had started something she’d never be able to forget or overlook. The town gossips would have a field day with that. If they ever knew. “I’m overreacting, aren’t I?”
“Yes, ma’am. Come for dinner with me,” he said. “We’ll have fun.”
Her pulse jumped. “And most of Barren will somehow find out.” As if the cheating mayor’s ex-wife was also having an affair, destroying the rest of her reputation and endangering her children’s welfare.
Dallas tilted his head to study her. “You aren’t really going to stay in this house all summer while your kids are away, are you? You’ll give people what they’re looking for.”
“And what would that be?”
“A chance to gloat.”
“Why shouldn’t they? Everything became so public Harry might as well have put up a billboard.” She bit her lip. “Some would say I deserved that.”
“You didn’t, and you’re well out of that mess.” Dallas sounded as if he knew all about that too. Just as he’d seemed to understand her pain the afternoon they’d...spent together. He
’d been so understanding—way too understanding, as it turned out.
“Dallas, do I need to remind you? One of my dearest friends is now raising Harry’s daughter, the one he sired out of wedlock.” She nearly choked on the old-fashioned word, but Elizabeth had been raised in a world with definite social rules to be observed, and those lessons were deeply ingrained. What else could she call it? “In such a short time, tell me, how am I supposed to put that behind me? His child—Emmie—and my Seth see each other at school. They’re practically the same age, which means—” She broke off, not wanting to think of that timing. “As you said, what a mess. Harry may be on his way to Colorado with our children, but I’m still here. Dealing with the fallout. The last thing I need is fresh scandal.”
“And you think you’d create scandal just by having dinner with me?” Dallas glanced away, then turned and retraced his steps to the front door. His tone held an unfamiliar edge. “Your loss.” He obviously had his pride, and Elizabeth had wounded it when he’d only been trying to apologize. He was on the porch and down the stairs before she could take back her hasty words. He wasn’t to blame because, in a moment of weakness, she’d let down her guard or because her life had fallen apart. And she didn’t know how to start over. All she did know for sure was that she had to safeguard her kids. They were her sole priority now.
Alone in the house again, she sank onto the sofa. Pillows plumped. Not a jelly smear in sight on the oatmeal-colored upholstery her mother had picked out. This wasn’t Dallas’s fault.
Neither was the other mess she’d made that did include him.
She was no better than Harry, really.
Copyright © 2020 by Leigh Riker
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ISBN-13: 9781488068157
Her Surprise Engagement
Copyright © 2020 by Cari Lynn Webb
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Her Surprise Engagement Page 24
