One Year to Forever (Halos & Horns

by Lori Leger

  She fanned her face, knowing she had to let it go. Besides, she had someone of her own. She smiled as her date approached the table. Bo McAllister was intelligent, sweet, sexy, funny, and handsome. She knew he was a hard worker with good values, as well as a great family—all good things.

  So why—why didn’t the sight of him turn her insides to melted butter? Why didn’t she get that same urge to rip his shirt from that muscular torso? The man was remarkably built—and it did absolutely nothing for her. It defied all logic.

  He sat across from her and picked up a menu. “Have you decided what you’re hungry for?”

  Not you, obviously. Stop it, Niki. He’s a great guy. She sent him a too-bright smile. “I’m leaning toward the grilled shrimp. How about you?”

  “That sounds good, actually. I’m not all that hungry.” He adjusted his collar, did a little fidgeting before clearing his throat.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Uh huh, I’m fine.” He grabbed his glass of water and took a gulp. He cleared his throat one more time as he tapped his fingers nervously on the table. “I—uh—I think we should talk. That is, I mean—I have something to ask you.”

  Niki’s glass froze half the distance to her lips. What? No, no, no—not this. Not now. Not ever, with him.

  He paused to pull his buzzing phone from an inside pocket of his jacket, pushed a button and set it on the table.

  Her stomach flipped as Bo stole a glance toward the floor. What the hell was he about to do? She stiffened as he slipped out of his chair—nearly screamed as he got down on one knee.

  “Stop!” The word burst from her mouth much, much louder than she intended before she could stop herself.

  Bo looked up, his face a mask of confusion. “What’s wrong?”

  “Just don’t. Don’t do whatever it is you’re about to do,” she hissed, casting self-conscious glances around the dining room.

  He reached for something under the table then straightened. “I dropped my card when I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I’d forgotten to put it back in my wallet.” His platinum card landed on the table with a light slap. Bo took his time replacing the card in his wallet and slipped it into the back pocket of his jeans. He leaned forward in his chair, releasing a long, low sigh. “For the record, I’d have to date a woman longer than four months before I proposed. But, I guess that answers my question.”

  Heat infused her face, burned her ears. She raised her hands to her cheeks, totally mortified at her misjudgment. “Oh Bo. I am so sorry. It’s … I don’t …” She let the comment die, clueless as how to dig herself out of the embarrassing situation she’d caused. “What question was that, exactly?”

  “Do you see the two of us having any kind of future together?”

  Her heart pounded in her chest as she struggled for an answer that wouldn’t hurt his feelings.

  “It’s not there, is it?” He leaned back in his chair and used his finger to point back and forth between them. “I mean between the two of us. There should be more than this, right?”

  She released the breath she’d been holding and bit her lower lip. Finally, she nodded. “I’ve never been in a serious relationship before, Bo, but in my honest opinion—yes. I think there should be more.” She raised one hand, palm up, and indicated the man before her. “I mean, look at you. You’re the perfect guy.” She gave her head a slow shake. “I have no idea why you don’t do it for me.”

  “I like you a lot, Niki. You’re fun as hell to be around—when you’re not making a spectacle of yourself in a public restaurant, I mean.”

  His wink drew a snort of laughter from her. “I’m sorry.”

  He waved off the apology. “It’s okay. Honestly, we can’t force ourselves to feel something that’s not there. Either of us.”

  She nodded. “So, what do we do now?”

  He picked up his menu. “We order, because I’m starving.”

  “Okay, but I can pay for my own meal.”

  He seemed appalled at the suggestion. “Absolutely not. I can buy a friend lunch when I want to. We are still friends, aren’t we?”

  Niki smiled at the man before her, once again wishing she could feel something more for him. “You’re a good man, Bo. There’s someone for you out there. And now, you’re free to look.”

  “Yeah—about that.” He made a face and sucked in a breath through his teeth. “I’ve kind of been talking to someone. We’re friends but, I’m fairly certain we’d both like it to be more. I wanted to be the one to tell you.”

  “Oh. Well, I appreciate you telling me.”

  “Thing is, there’s a little history between you two. Please don’t take this out on her.”

  She stared him down. “Who?” His further reluctance to mention a name gave her the clue she needed. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. Can’t that woman find a guy I haven’t dated?”

  He shrugged. “Aubrey and I ran into each other at the mall theater the other day. I mean, literally. We were both waiting to see that action flick you didn’t want to see with me. I walked right into her and destroyed her bag of popcorn. I thought it was only fair to share my bucket with her.”

  Niki frowned. “Of course you did.”

  Bo issued a low chuckle. “We got to talking. It turns out we have lots of the same interests, and well …”

  “She does it for you. I get it, Bo.”

  “Yeah. She kinda does.” He rubbed his chin and got a faraway look in his eyes. “I mean, she really does.”

  Niki waved her hands in front of his face. “Uh, excuse me, but I’m still right here, you know.”

  “Sorry, but it’s the truth. Honestly? I figured you’d be thrilled. Now, Tex is free.” She opened her mouth to protest, but he raised his hand to stop her. “I know you’re carrying a torch for the guy. And—” He ducked his head and nodded. “I’m thinking maybe you should give it another shot.”

  “But, Bo, he—”

  “The guy was a Marine for twenty years, Niki.”

  “That doesn’t excuse him from bad behavior.”

  “Were the two of you dating exclusively?”

  She rolled one corner of the cloth napkin between her fingers. “No.”

  He lifted his hands. “Can you tell me you’ve never had a moment of bad judgment? Done something you regretted?”

  Niki squeezed her eyes shut, remembering several instances of ‘bad judgment’ with Tex. Hell, if she was being honest with herself, her entire life from the age of sixteen years on had reeked of bad judgment calls. She’d tacked on several more in recent years. Would she take them back, or at least change the circumstances if she could? Sure she would. Like it or not, Meagan had hit that nail right on the head a few months ago. She had acted “irresponsibly slutty” with Tex, and did blame him for not taking her seriously. Something else she said pricked at her memory—something about not being high on his list of fairytale princess material.

  She opened her eyes, caught Bo staring at her and wearing a big grin.

  “I’ve done lots of things I regret.”

  “Well, there you go. Give the guy another chance.”

  “I’ll think about it.” She picked up her menu again. “But just for giving me grief, I’m ordering the most expensive item on here. I hope you have plenty of room on that platinum card of yours.”

  He nodded. “Get after it, Niki.”

  It turned out that ‘thinking about it’ and actually getting the nerve to approach Tex again were two different animals. Especially since Bo’s good advice coincided with cramming for final exams in her accounting classes at the university.

  An entire month had passed before Niki swallowed her pride enough to consider reaching out to Tex. It took another week to go through with it. Regardless, here she was, her stomach queasy with butterflies, listening to the phone ring. Finally, the voice she’d heard in her dreams answered, his voice strained with concern.”

  “Nicole? Is something wrong?”

  She placed her hand on her
thudding chest, absolutely certain he could hear it. “No. Why would you ask that?”

  “Thank God. I figured if you were calling, someone must have died.”

  At least he’d kept her number in his phone.

  “So, what’s going on?”

  “I—uh—wanted to see how you’re doing, and see if …” She placed her hand over her stomach. This eating crow thing wasn’t for sissies. “To see if you wanted to go to a movie or something. Not a chick flick, either. Maybe that new sci-fi action movie that’s out?” Several silent moments passed. “Tex?”

  “Are you asking me out on a date, Nicole?”

  She cringed at the sound of teasing in his voice, as if this wasn’t humiliating enough. “We-ell, I guess I am.”

  “Oh man, I can’t believe this. Your timing is so fuc—I mean—extremely bad.”

  “Look, it’s no big deal. I thought maybe we could hang out, but if you’re seeing someone else—”

  “It’s not that,” he cut in quickly. “I’m on a ranch in Blanco.”

  “Where is Blanco?”

  “South central Texas. About fifty miles north of San Antonio.”

  “Oh. When will you be back on this end?” His pause made her curiosity turn to concern.

  “I won’t be. Not anytime soon, anyway.”

  A chill ran through her at his words. She dropped heavily to the bed to keep her knees from buckling under her. “You moved. For good?”

  “I’m here learning the ropes to a small cattle ranch, and trying to get a loan to buy the place.”

  “I hadn’t—” Her voice caught and she had to dig deep to continue. “I hadn’t heard that.” Had Meagan known about this? If so, why the hell hadn’t she told her? “That’s great, Tex.” She attempted to sound sincere. “Does it look promising?”

  “Yep. He’s agreed to sell me seventy-five head of his breeding stock. He’s in his mid-seventies and says it’s been good to him, but he’s getting too old for all the stress and labor of ranching. Even small ranches, like this one, are hard work.”

  “I’m sure they are.”

  Yet another silence filled the airwaves, this one heavier than ever—laden with regret and emotional turmoil. Too damn late. She’d waited too long to call him. One more bad decision she’d have to live with for the rest of her life. Niki rested her forehead in one hand and fought back tears. She considered putting herself out of this misery by ending the call. If he bothered to call back, she could say they’d been disconnected. If not—well that’d be a sure sign from him that he didn’t want to be bothered with her anymore, wouldn’t it? She lifted her head to stare at her phone, placed her thumb on the end call button, and hesitated a moment.

  “Nicole, are you there?”

  Niki took a deep breath, raised the phone to her ear again. “Yes.” The single word was all she could manage.

  “I’m kind of at a loss, here.”

  “Uh, yeah. Me too, Tex.”

  “I don’t know what to say, hon.”

  She took a deep breath and released it slowly. “You have a good life, Tex. If you’re ever on this end for a visit, give me a call, okay? Maybe we can have a cup of coffee or something. See ya, around.”

  “Nicole?”

  She blinked back tears just long enough to find the disconnect button and hit it. Discarding the phone on the bed beside her, she turned on her side. There, in her room, curled up into a fetal position, she took advantage of the rare opportunity to cry herself to sleep.

  Tex stared at the phone. Talk about your moments of shock and awe. The very last person he’d expected to hear from was Nicole Reeves, and sure as hell not to ask him on a date. She’d forgiven him, but why?

  He glanced over at the miles of fence line he still had to check for gaps and fence posts going bad. More importantly, why the hell call now? Now—that he was ass deep in responsibility and commitment to a completely different way of life in a completely different state? If she’d called earlier, before he’d found this place. Dammit all, he couldn’t walk away from this now. This was what he’d worked so hard for—saved his pay—made good investments. He wanted this—his own ranch—his own brand hanging above the ornamental gate at the entrance to his property. Not a necessity for these modern times, but it was the one thing he’d always wanted to see.

  He checked the next post, shook it with all his strength and found it to be sound, the wire good and tight, and went on to the next.

  He deserved this, didn’t he? Twenty years as a Marine, sacrificing his time, his safety, making choices he knew were necessary, following commands that some would consider hard-hearted, though any soldier would deem necessary to bring his own men home, alive or otherwise. Screw anyone who judged the U.S. Military unjustly and found them guilty. Let ‘em walk a mile in his boots—for any one of the dozen or so deployments he’d lasted through.

  The last couple of years had been considerably pacified, compared to the deployments in the first seventeen years. Man, the shit he’d seen during some of those earlier years. Afghanistan had been the worst for him, personally. The way those hadji bastards used their children and women. Horror stories came to mind—stories he’d tried to erase. Don’t think about it—put it away. Maybe one day he’d share his stories, but not today.

  People here had no idea what some of those assholes were like.

  He shook another post, found it sturdy enough, but the wire slack. He set to work on making it tighter.

  American women had no idea how bad it was for the female population over there. Afghanistan was bad, but Somalia—oh God, Somalia. That place had a special place of horror in his mind. He’d never forget coming across the young Somali girl of sixteen, near death and freshly disfigured by the hands of her own father, all because she’d been raped by three men from a neighboring village. Her tears, as she’d described how her father had accused her of adultery, had been difficult to watch. Her words, difficult to hear as their translator repeated the story to him. He’d never forget his ice cold fury at coming face to face with the father. The man had charged into the hut where their medic had been treating his daughter, shouted out his indignation at their interference by attempting to help her.

  Tex tacked the wire into place, checking its tension and gave his head a mental shake. He’d killed men before that incident, during missions and skirmishes. He couldn’t say he enjoyed it, but knew it was necessary to survive out there.

  But that particular man—if you could call him a man—he could have killed easily, without the slightest pause to his conscience. He’d lost control of himself as the father’s hateful speech had been translated. He’d literally picked him up by his neck, pinned him against the wall of the hut, stopped only by the girl’s plea to spare him. She’d insisted that her mother and siblings would starve to death if her father died. Even through her pain and suffering, she’d been the better person. Letting that one man live, weighed heavier on his conscience than any of the men whose lives he’d taken.

  That bastard hadn’t deserved to share the same air space as that poor girl. How could a father treat his daughter so cruelly? How could anyone who calls himself a man treat a woman in such a way? That asshole, and so many others like him, wanted their women two ways: ignorant and afraid. Resentment and deep seated hatred for all things American and its evil western ways ran high within those with twisted minds. Not everyone believed as that man did, of course, but too damn many of them did.

  It got him to thinking about Nicole, and how difficult it must have been for her to make that call, especially considering the pole dancer incident. He pulled a blue bandana from the pocket of his jeans and stopped to wipe his brow. Why had he stood her up the way he had? No, they hadn’t actually had a date planned, but he’d said he would call and he hadn’t. He’d played the game, enjoyed the spoils, and hadn’t taken her seriously. Why? Had he become so desensitized by the things he’d witnessed the last twenty years, he couldn’t see how badly he’d hurt her feelings?

  T
ex stuffed the cloth back in his pocket, and walked to the next post. Another shake proved the post was solid enough, but again, the wire tension needed some adjustments. With a good grip on the pliers, he attacked the wire, and found himself thinking of Nicole again.

  “Shit!” He threw down the pliers with a long series of Marine-worthy curses, and removed his glove to examine his pinched finger, the future site of a nasty blood blister, no doubt. “Suck it up, asshole. That’s what you get for thinking about a woman when there’s work to be done.”

  Pulling on the glove, he got back to work, determined to put her out of his mind and tend to the duties at hand.

  That worked for about ten minutes.

  Until it didn’t.

  CHAPTER 12

  Easter Surprise

  Angie Broussard’s voice called out to anyone within earshot. “Somebody get the door, please—I’ve got my hands full here.”

  “I got it, mom.” Haley sprinted down the hall in her socks, sliding to a stop in front of the door. She pulled it open, and squealed at the enormous, beautifully wrapped Easter basket being held out to her. “Is that for me?”

  Shurl Antoine nodded, her big, white-toothed grin standing out from her smooth cocoa complexion. “Girl, you know it is. I wish I had a man somewhere, anywhere in this world, who was crazy enough about me to send me stuff like this.” She handed over the basket and pointed at the huge chocolate bunnies wrapped inside. “Mm, mm, mm—girl, I’d be big as a house, and that’s a fact.”

  “Since when does the flower shop deliver baskets of candy?”

  Shurl began explaining the situation with a flourish of hands. “My friend, Ms. Ginger’s daughter came in and got that place all technologically updated. She’s got a website and everything, now. You can go online and order darn near whatever you want. We’ll buy it, wrap it up nice and pretty, and deliver it. That’s about all I do over there. I love it.”

  Haley gasped at the treasure trove of goodies. “Oh man. Look at all that chocolate and—oh yeah, it’s from Benjamin, all right. My baby knows I love my Skittles and sunflower seeds.”