Heart of a Cowgirl

by Lacy Williams

  What would happen when he was gone? He wouldn't be nearby to watch over them. What if his mom got depressed again? Started using again? Who would be there for the twins?

  Melody would.

  He knew she'd call him in the city if he needed to come home.

  But he ached, thinking about being two and a half hours from her instead of only a few minutes away.

  "You're scaring the guests." Melody joined him. She'd been in her element for the last hour, greeting the guests with Claire and Chase.

  His sisters cleaned up nice. They were beaming, wafting from group to group like grown up butterflies or something.

  That was Melody's doing, not his.

  "About half of them need to be scared." He nodded toward a crowd of boys. "Scared is good."

  A commotion near the wide open barn doors had several of the teens' heads turning in that direction. Chase, who was standing a couple of yards away with three other girls, gasped audibly.

  Three boys stood in the open doorway, looking uncomfortable and out of place.

  Whispers traveled through the groups of kids. No one made a move to greet them, as if everyone was frozen, watching.

  Melody whispered something to herself.

  "What?" he asked.

  "It's him. Jeremy."

  He shrugged, palms raised.

  "Jeremy." She huffed a sigh at him. "The guy Chase has been crushing on."

  Suddenly, it registered. Jeremy Warren. Ezra's son.

  "He's not a freshman," Weston muttered.

  "No. He isn't."

  The sophomore was in the middle of two other young men friends who must've been there for support. As Weston watched, he straightened his shoulders and strode into the barn.

  Right through the clusters of freshmen and straight up to Weston.

  "Jeremy Warren."

  Weston shook the kid's hand. He had to give him props. The kid met his eyes, unflinching, and had a firm handshake.

  "I hope it's okay that I crashed the party." Now there was red creeping up his neck from the collar of his plaid button-up. "I really wanted to invite Chase to the Valentine's dance, but my dad..." He glanced to the side, where Chase had moved two steps away from her friends, obviously listening in, even over the loud music blaring.

  "My buddies and I are boycotting the school dance," Jeremy said, loud enough that Chase could hear too.

  "Does your dad know you're here?" Weston asked.

  Jeremy nodded, unsmiling. "He wasn't too happy about it, but I had to make a stand." Another covert—or not so much—glance at Chase.

  What could Weston say, if the kid was brave enough to stand up to his own dad to come and hang out with Chase?

  "And just for the record, I don't agree with the way my dad's been treating you, either."

  It was all Weston could do to nod. His throat had gone suspiciously tight.

  Melody squeezed Weston's arm. "Have fun at the party, Jeremy."

  Weston nodded to the kid. Before he'd even turned away, Chase was there, asking shyly, "Do you want to dance?"

  They joined the four or five kids who were—awkwardly—dancing in the middle of the floor. Jeremy's buddies mingled.

  Weston saw Chase shoot a wide-eyed glance at Claire, who returned a double thumbs up when Jeremy wasn't looking.

  Chase had gotten her happy ending.

  And he had to appreciate the kid's guts in coming tonight, standing up to his father.

  Had Weston been wrong all this time? Could people really forget and move on?

  Was he reading too much into Ezra's actions?

  He didn't know.

  What he did know was that now that Karly was home, he didn't have a place to sleep. It would be a late drive home to his empty apartment in Oklahoma City.

  Melody settled one arm around his waist and he slid his arm around her shoulder. Holding her for maybe the last time.

  He didn't want to say goodbye.

  But he didn't have a choice.

  10

  A week later, Melody unlocked the front door of the store for Anna and Lila. An unusual early-morning fog hid most of Main Street from view.

  "Your hair," Anna gasped.

  Melody tucked a strand of straight, brown hair behind her ear self-consciously as her friends trouped inside the store. This was all her. Her normal color and the boring straight locks she'd been born with.

  Lila was behind Anna on the stoop of Melody's store, but she was the one to push inside. "What did you do to yourself? Is this some sign of depression?"

  After Anna joined them, Melody locked the door and took the cup of coffee from Anna's fingers.

  "Remember when you started wearing your hair down?" Melody asked Lila.

  The other woman's eyes widened. She'd stopped wearing her hair in tight French braids and buns when she'd fallen for Ben and admitted that she didn't have to try so hard to control everything in her life.

  "You fell for Weston," Anna said.

  Melody couldn't say it aloud. It hurt too much, now that he was gone.

  "Come on back," she said instead. "The last alterations to your dress are finished, and you'll want to see it on."

  She set her coffee on the front counter, safely away from the dressing rooms, and began unzipping the large white garment bag she'd hung on the tall rack late last night.

  "One week to go," Lila said. "Any thoughts of backing out?"

  "None," said Anna as she fingered one lacy fold of the dress. "I'm happier than I have been in a long time."

  Melody was glad for her friend. Anna had grieved her first husband and had worked hard to provide for her children. She deserved someone like Kelly to pamper her and love her back.

  But it was very hard not to be jealous.

  Instead, she shored up her courage and said, "I wanted to tell you...if you want to change back to the peach dress—the one with the sweetheart neckline—I'm okay with that."

  Both Lila and Anna turned, almost in sync, and stared at her. She couldn't blame them and suppressed the blush that wanted to rise.

  This morning, she'd faced her mirrored reflection as she'd been dressing and stared down the scar. She couldn't help remembering Weston's words, that her scar was a badge of courage. She missed him so much.

  Was she the woman who'd braved heels to take dancing lessons? The woman who would run a marathon later in the spring?

  Or was she a coward, hiding behind fear and crew necks?

  She'd donned a sweater with a square-cut neckline that she'd never dared wear before. And she hadn't tried to disguise it with jewelry or a scarf.

  "Mel," Anna breathed. She dropped the fabric of the gown and threw her arms around Melody. Lila joined in the embrace, putting her arms around both of them.

  Melody couldn't stop her eyes from filling with tears. She sniffed, valiantly attempting to stem the flow, but it was no use.

  "Oh, honey," Lila comforted her, patting her back.

  Anna let go of Melody, fished through her purse, and retrieved some tissues. She pressed them into Melody's hand. "Have you heard from him?"

  Melody shook her head. "I told him..." Her voice wavered, and she had to take a breath before she could finish. "I told him a clean break was better. I thought it would be easier not to try and keep things going long distance."

  "Well, that was dumb." But Lila patted her shoulder.

  Melody wiped at her tears with the tissues. "I know. I should've told him I would take anything—long distance, sell the store and move to OKC..."

  Anna snorted. "You can't sell your shop. You love it too much."

  She did. But she also loved Weston.

  "Why don't you just call him?" Anna asked gently. Anna had come around after Melody revealed what she could about Weston's past without invading his privacy.

  She'd thought about calling him. But even though she was learning to be brave, it was still scary. She dabbed at the tears that were finally drying up. "Maybe I will."

  She tossed the used tiss
ues. "Today isn't about me. We've got to get you in that dress and make sure it fits."

  She accepted one more hug from each of her friends. She couldn't let Weston's absence ruin Anna's day. The wedding would be here in a week, and then she could decide what to do.

  * * *

  "This seat taken?"

  Melody startled at the familiar, warm voice behind her.

  She twisted in her seat at the head table to find Weston standing there.

  "Hey." He cracked his trademark half smile, and she pushed back the chair, stood, and threw herself into his arms.

  He caught her and buried his nose in the crown of her updo.

  "What are you doing here?" Her words were muffled in his chest, the soft linen of his shirt and tie. His jacket enveloped her bare arms as she hugged him around the waist.

  She took back the question. It didn't matter what he was doing there, just that he was.

  "Can I steal you away for a minute?"

  She glanced around the half-empty multi-purpose room of the church. The bride and groom hadn't finished their pictures, and wedding guests were still meandering in.

  Lila looked from where she and Ben were embracing, half-hidden by a potted plant caddy-corner from the door. She made a shooing motion with one hand, urging Melody to disappear with Weston.

  Melody didn't need to be told twice.

  He took her hand and led her out of the large room, down the hall, and into an empty adult classroom.

  He pulled her into his arms before the door had even clicked closed and greeted her with a searing kiss. His hands were in her hair—thank goodness they'd taken all the bridesmaid pictures earlier—and the mass tumbled out of its pins and down around her shoulders.

  "I missed you," he said when he finally broke the kiss.

  "I can tell." She couldn't stop smiling.

  "What's this?" he asked, running one hand through her straight brown hair. "No color?"

  She bit her lip and shook her head slightly. "This is...the real me."

  His finger traced her collarbone, where the sweetheart neckline of the bridesmaid dress did nothing to hide her scar. "And this?"

  "Still the real me." She ran her hands across his shoulders, reassuring herself that he was really here. "And I registered for the Memorial marathon." The annual Oklahoma City event was always in late April and that gave her about six weeks to finish her training.

  "I'll drive down and cheer you across the finish line," he said, brushing a kiss across her cheek.

  He believed she could do it. The knowledge warmed her from the inside.

  And then his words registered.

  "Drive down?" Suddenly, her heart was beating in her throat.

  "Yeah. It'll mean getting up early, but I can deal."

  "Drive down from where?" She leaned away when he tried to distract her with another kiss.

  "I sold my condo," he said. "I'm relocating."

  She waited, holding her breath.

  "Here." He seemed to wait, a small note of uncertainty in the depths of his eyes.

  "Thank goodness." She closed her eyes against the relieved tears that threatened to overwhelm her. One slipped out, and he brushed it away with his thumb.

  "So that's a happy tear?" he whispered.

  She nodded, eyes still closed. "Now I don't have to sell my shop."

  He laughed.

  He replaced his thumb with his lips and then slowly moved the kiss from her cheek down to her lips.

  She gave him a proper welcome home until they were both breathless.

  He pressed her close to his chest. She clung to his waist, holding him tightly.

  "Have you told the twins?"

  "I called them on my way up here, but I had to see you first."

  "I bet they're excited."

  He chuckled. "Seemed like it. They probably just want me to chaperone some more parties for them."

  "Oh, it's only starting with them," she teased. "Soon, they'll be dating."

  He groaned. "I don't want to think about that right now."

  He rested his forehead against hers. "I only want to think about us."

  She liked the sound of that.

  "I was wondering if there was something else we could mark off your list. Something big."

  Her heart thudded against her ribs. She licked her lips. "Like what?"

  One of his hands let go of her waist, and he reached into his pocket. He raised a small black velvet-covered box into her line of sight, and suddenly she couldn't breathe.

  "Something big," he repeated. "Melody, I want our life to be an adventure together. Will you marry me?"

  "Yes. Yes, yes!"

  His eyes sparkled with unshed tears, and she was gratified that she wasn't the only one overflowing with emotion.

  "You haven't even seen the ring yet," he said with a chuckle.

  "It doesn't matter what it looks like. It's the man attached to the ring I'm interested in."

  But that didn't stop her from gasping over the huge emerald-cut diamond that sparkled under the overhead lights.

  Noise from the door interrupted their interlude, and suddenly Chase and Claire were barging in. "Lila told us you snuck off somewhere."

  "We found you!"

  The girls oohed and aahed over the ring and embraced the both of them, and then Lila and Ben were crowding inside, and Kelly and Anna in her glamorous wedding dress.

  And Melody beamed up at Weston all the while.

  Her prince charming had come back for her.

  And their happy ending was just right.

  * * *

  <<<<>>>>

  Dear Reader

  Thanks for reading the Heart of Oklahoma series. Turn the page for an excerpt from the next book...

  * * *

  Connect with me online:

  lacywilliamsbooks

  www.lacywilliams.net

  lacy@lacywilliams.net

  3 Days with a Cowboy sneak peek

  Effect: Red dust rose in clouds over the entrance to his property.

  Cause: Someone was coming up the drive.

  Jake Sutton straightened from beneath the hood of the farm truck that was as old as he was and pulled off his gloves, stuffing the dusty leather into his back pocket.

  He knocked back his Stetson with one knuckle as he watched the compact hybrid rattle over the rutted red dirt drive. Bright October sunlight glared off the windshield. A car like that was not made for the farm track.

  Who in the world was that?

  He'd lived in Redbud Trails his whole life, minus the ten years he'd spent at university. Been back for the last five. There were five hundred eighty-three families in Redbud Trails, and he didn't know a single one with a hybrid car. It wasn't practical on the bumpy farm roads around here.

  The drive ran alongside the house and gave easy access to both the front and back doors. The red car stopped in the shade of the two-story farmhouse toward the back—the driver must have seen Jake by the barn. He walked over to say hello, because his mom had preached good manners throughout his entire childhood. The engine shut off.

  When the driver stepped out, Jake felt like he'd had his breath knocked out of him.

  Stevie Flower.

  Her raven black hair was cut in a trendy chin-length style and her eyes—eyes he knew to be a shade of near-transparent blue—were hidden behind sunglasses that he supposed were stylish but were so big they dwarfed her elfin features.

  The probability of a visit from Stevie Flower was so close to zero it was immeasurable.

  And yet here she was.

  Shouldn't she be in Nashville, recording a new album or planning a tour or something?

  "Hey," he said when the silence—and her stare—unnerved him.

  "Hi, Jake."

  She remembered his name?

  Her nose wrinkled, and one corner of her mouth ticked slightly upward. "It hasn't been that long since high school."

  Not long enough.

  Had he spoken his first thought
aloud? He couldn't control the shock that was tying up his tongue and causing the back of his neck to itch. At least the morning breeze cut beneath the brim of his Stetson and cooled him off a bit.

  Stevie was a country music artist, one of the hottest new voices getting airtime, though he knew she'd gone to Nashville over a decade ago to try and make a career for herself.

  He took in her trendy clothes, those stylish sunglasses. The car. Her presence still didn't compute. "How'd you find me out here?"

  He'd bought this place five years ago, but when he'd been a kid, his family had lived in town.

  Her face turned slightly to one side ,and the muscles in her cheek bunched and released. He was no good at reading facial expressions. Was she embarrassed? Chagrined about what she was about to say? "I might've done a little bit of Facebook stalking."

  He felt his mouth unhinge. Each inhale and exhale puffed through his open lips. But he couldn't manage to close it. Stevie had been looking him up? Why?

  "I didn't know you'd be here today though," she said.

  "Fall break." The long weekend away from his job as a physics professor was supposed to be relaxing. But while his colleagues would be working on making the next big breakthrough in their fields, he would be catching up on the farm work that had been piling up over these past weeks.

  More awkward silence, this time so quiet that he could hear the far off leaves of the peach orchard rattling in the breeze. Then Stevie's lips twisted, and her chin lifted as she turned her face toward the barn.

  He pushed away the starstruck thoughts and really looked at the woman.

  And he finally registered the fine lines around her mouth and the tense set of her shoulders. She hadn't taken off her sunglasses—was she hiding behind them?

  He took a step toward her. "Are you in trouble?"

  * * *

  Buy now

  Also by Lacy Williams

  Triple H Brides series (contemporary romance)

  Kissing Kelsey

  Courting Carrie

  Stealing Sarah