How to Marry a Cowboy (Cowboys & Brides)

by Carolyn Brown

  “Wake up, Mama-Nanny. It’s Sunday and we brought you breakfast in bed because we had such a good time yesterday and we wanted to do something nice for you,” Gabby said.

  Annie Rose grabbed them both and pulled them down into the pillows with her, showering kisses all over their cute little faces. “What a lovely surprise. I feel just like a queen.”

  “Well, Queen Mama-Nanny, if you will sit up, we’ll put this over your lap and you can have breakfast in bed this morning.”

  She’d never get tired of seeing the glimmer in Mason’s green eyes or the crow’s-feet around them when he grinned.

  “Daddy helped us. When we make bacon, it burns, but we stirred the waffle mix all by ourselves and we put the strawberries and whipped cream on the top. Did we get enough strawberries? We got more in the kitchen if you want more,” Lily fretted.

  “They look perfect.” Annie Rose put a forkful in her mouth and rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “You girls didn’t make this. Angels did.”

  “No, Mama-Nanny, we made them. Now taste Daddy’s bacon,” Gabby said.

  She bit off a piece of crispy bacon and chewed. “Wonderful! Is this a dream? If it is, don’t wake me, because I’m sure enjoying it.”

  “It’s not a dream. It’s for honest-to-God real,” Lily declared.

  Annie Rose wiped a hand across her forehead and stole a glance at Mason standing beside the bed. Damn, that man stirred her juices when all he did was look down into her eyes with a smile on his face.

  She turned back to the girls. “I thought for sure I was dreaming. This is the most wonderful thing anyone’s done for me in a long, long time. And would you look at those beautiful roses. Did you order them special?”

  “No.” Gabby giggled. “But we picked them special from our own rosebushes just for you. We’re going to get ready for church now. Daddy says we can wear our new shirts and our belts with our boots. I’m wearing my pink lacy leggings and Lily is wearing her black ones. Will you use your curling iron on our hair and put a flower on one side like RaeLynn wears?” Gabby asked.

  “I sure will, but I’m not rushing with this wonderful breakfast so take your time,” she said.

  Their bare feet slapped against the hard wood floor as they raced to their rooms. Mason sat down on the side of the bed, picked up the fork, cut a piece of waffle, and fed it to her. “No wonder they love you so much. You really are a great mama-nanny.”

  He kissed the tip of her nose and then both eyelids. “I’ve completely fallen in love with you these past two weeks, Annie Rose. I’m wondering if fate brought you to me for a lifetime, instead of the girls for their birthday. Please don’t ever, ever leave us.”

  She started to speak, but words wouldn’t come out past the lump in her throat.

  He laid a finger across her lips. “I don’t want you to say the words right now. First I want you to think about what I said. And if you ever do feel the same way, then tell me, but don’t say anything right now. The moment is perfect, and if you don’t feel the same, I can’t bear to spoil it.”

  “Daddy, Daddy, shut your eyes,” Gabby bellowed from the top of the steps.

  “Why?”

  “We want to surprise you.” Lily’s voice was even louder.

  “Trash!”

  “Why would you say that?” he asked.

  “Trash! Put it in my bathroom under the sink. Hurry!” High color filled her cheeks at what must have been going through his mind when he realized what was right there on the top of the trash can. There they were two grown, consenting adults, having to hide the evidence of a night of wild sex. Not from their parents but from a couple of little girls.

  He’d picked up the can and shoved it under the bed and had barely sat down in the rocking chair close to her bed when Gabby and Lily rushed into the room. They were a cross between rockers and country stars in their outfits, but the smiles on their faces were pure little girl.

  “Open your eyes, Daddy,” Gabby said.

  He pretended to study them, rubbing his chin, cocking his head to the left and then to the right, pursing his lips, and drawing his dark brows down. “What do you think, Annie Rose?”

  “I think they look almost like country music stars,” Annie Rose said.

  “Almost,” Gabby wailed.

  “Well, your hair is a mess of tangles and you don’t have your flowers on one side. When we get that done, then you’ll be guaranteed, bona fide country stars for sure,” she said.

  Mason clicked his fingers. “It’s the flower. That’s what was missing. Ask me again when you get your hair all fixed and then I’ll pass judgment. I really think it’s going to make you look too old, though. What happened to my little girls?”

  “We’re growing up. We are country music stars in the making,” Gabby said.

  Mason grabbed a hairbrush from the nightstand and used it like a microphone. “Move over, RaeLynn and Miranda. The Harper sisters are taking center stage.”

  “Yes, we are,” Lily said. “Now go shave. Mama-Nanny is going to finish eating and then we have to get our hair fixed all up and our flower in it.”

  ***

  Annie Rose chose a white eyelet sundress trimmed in baby blue for church that morning. She’d bought it on her therapy trip, along with pale blue sandals made of soft kid leather and decorated with white pearls. Her hair was pulled to one side in a loose braid that hung over her shoulder.

  Mason sat at the end, Lily and then Annie Rose with Gabby at the other end. He wore creased jeans and a plaid shirt, but she undressed him with her eyes and relived bedroom hours right through the first hymn, the Sunday school report, and until the preacher cleared his throat.

  “This morning it has been laid upon my heart to preach about the value of friendship,” he said in a booming voice.

  That reminded her of Gina Lou, her best friend in South Texas. She and Gina Lou had grown up on adjoining ranches, rode the bus to school together, went to college and got their nursing degrees at the same time, and then worked together at the same hospital. It had been two years since Gina Lou had convinced her that if she didn’t get away from Nicky that he’d kill her in a fit of rage someday.

  “Run away and don’t look back. Don’t even call me, not until the time comes that you know for a certainty that you are really safe,” Gina Lou had said. “That way if he has connections and checks my phone, he won’t find a call from you.”

  Annie Rose was safe now, and as soon as church was over she planned to call Gina Lou. If her cell phone number had changed, surely the hospital would know how to reach her. Then an antsy feeling that someone was staring at her jerked her right back to the church. She glanced over to see Mason’s eyes go from amused to dreamy soft, and Gina Lou took a backseat to her previous visions of Mason’s hard, trim body lying next to hers.

  “And now,” the preacher said, “I’ll ask Everett Bradshaw to give the benediction, but instead of standing at the door, I’ll be in the fellowship hall to greet all y’all. This is our church’s seventy-fifth anniversary and we are having our annual potluck today. Don’t worry if you forgot. I checked the tables, and there’s enough food in there to serve a whole army. Just join us for good visiting, good food, and a good time. Now, Everett, if you’ll say a blessing for the service and the food of which we are about to partake, I would be grateful.”

  “I didn’t bring anything,” Annie Rose whispered.

  Everett’s loud voice sounded across the sanctuary. “Our father in heaven.”

  Mason leaned behind Lily and whispered, “I gave the church half a beef for the party.”

  Evidently Everett was hungry, because his prayer was short and to the point. He thanked God for the church to worship in, for the food, and for the hands that prepared it, amen. And immediately the noise level went from a one on the Richter scale to a ten plus.

  Lily grabbed Gabby by the h
and and raced to the other side of the church, where Doc and his wife were sitting with Kenna, and guessing from the pregnant lady with them, Kenna’s mother.

  “Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but when we get a few minutes alone, I’m damn sure not thinking about things like church parties and Angus picnics.” He grinned.

  “I would have brought something, like a cake or even one of those cheesecakes you keep in the freezer,” she fussed.

  He ran a finger down her bare arm and asked, “Are we fighting? Does that mean makeup sex later?”

  She poked him in the chest. “Next time, tell me when there’s something going on. I hate going to a party empty-handed.”

  “I told you that I brought the meat for the party.”

  She folded her hands across her chest, right under her breasts. “How many people know that bit of news? They’ll all think I’m shirking my duties.”

  “Lovely shelf you made there for some lovely items.”

  His eyes settled on her breasts sitting so pertly on top of her hands, which turned into a blur when she jerked them down and popped them on her hip bones.

  “Dinah will think I didn’t bring anything, won’t she?” Annie Rose asked.

  “Who gives a rat’s ass what she thinks?”

  Annie Rose put a finger over his mouth. “You are in church. If Lily said that, she’d have to wash dishes for a week.”

  He smiled and kissed her forefinger. “The word we aren’t going to discuss has nothing to do with a rat’s posterior.”

  “So, are you two having a lover’s spat?” Greg Adams asked from the end of the pew.

  Annie Rose’s cheeks immediately burned with high color. She’d completely forgotten that they were in a packed church and there were other people around.

  “We know what those are like, so don’t deny it,” his wife, Emily, chimed in.

  “Did y’all ever have one?” Annie Rose asked.

  “Oh, honey, you come on with me to the fellowship hall, and we’ll discuss how many we’ve had. There’s one good thing about a real good fight.”

  “Makeup sex,” Greg said under his breath.

  “You got it, darlin’.” Emily kissed him on the cheek and looped an arm through Annie Rose’s, dragging her away from Mason. “Let me tell you our story. I’m a mail-order bride.”

  ***

  Mason couldn’t remember the last time his world had been so right. “How did you know that Emily was the one?”

  “I didn’t. My heart did. Took me a while, but I finally listened to it. Is Annie Rose the one? Have you told your mama?”

  “Not yet. I want to be sure.”

  “Well, my friend, I got news for you. She’s going to know the minute she sees y’all together.”

  Mason patted Greg on the shoulder. “I’ll tell her before she sees us together.”

  Greg motioned toward the church doors. “Guess you’d best get a speech ready in a hurry then.”

  Sure enough, there was his mother and father, Lorraine and Sam Harper, in the flesh, coming right at him.

  “Surprise!” Sam waved.

  “We decided at the last minute to come home for the church anniversary and see y’all,” Lorraine said when they were closer.

  “Where are my granddaughters?” Sam asked in a deep, booming voice as he hugged Mason.

  “Already in the fellowship hall,” Mason answered.

  Lorraine pushed Sam to one side and tiptoed to hug her tall son. “Seems like a year since we’ve seen them, instead of three months. There’s something different about you.”

  “I wouldn’t know what,” Mason said.

  “I think he’s speechless. You’ve really surprised him,” Greg said.

  Lorraine turned slightly and patted Greg on the shoulder. “Greg Adams. I’m glad to see you. Once I had my baby boy in sight, I couldn’t see anyone else. Is your grandmother here?”

  “Already in the fellowship hall. It’s good to see you, too.”

  “I understand you got married recently. Congratulations!” Lorraine said.

  “Thank you, Miz Lorraine. I can feel Emily willing me to get my butt in there with her.” Greg reached out a hand and shook with Sam. “Good to see you, sir. You’re lookin’ fit.”

  “Lots of sunshine and good food, son. And that business about willing you to come to her… it don’t never end.” Sam smiled. “Well, Son, what are we waiting for? When we talk on the phone, my granddaughters tell me that you have bought them a new mama. There was a big story about finding her in a white dress on the front porch swing. Was Gabby pulling my leg or was she telling the truth?”

  “It’s a long story, Dad,” Mason said as he led the way to the fellowship hall.

  “Is she here?” Lorraine asked.

  “Yes, she is, and the girls love her, Mother,” Mason answered.

  “They seem to. How about you?”

  “That’s another long story,” he said.

  The minute they were in the fellowship hall, Annie Rose left a group of women and joined him. “The girls want to know if they can sit with Kenna and her mama. I told them I’d come ask you. I don’t know what the protocol is at a church function here. Do families sit together at this thing?”

  “Annie Rose, I’d like you to meet my mother, Lorraine, and my dad, Sam,” he said.

  “You are Annie Rose, the new nanny?” Sam asked.

  She extended her hand. “Yes, sir.”

  His handshake was firm and his face an older version of Mason’s. His eyes weren’t as soft or as deep green, but they were kind. “We had a couple of free days, so we decided to surprise Mason and the girls with a visit.”

  “The girls will be so tickled to see y’all. And I’m pleased to meet you, too, ma’am.” She turned and held out her hand to Lorraine.

  “We talk to the girls at least once a week, and they seem to like you better than those damn goats they got for their birthday.” Lorraine did a no-nonsense quick shake and then drop.

  “Lorraine,” Sam scolded.

  “God knows I cuss,” she said. “Let’s go eat. I’m hungry. And, Mason, we will be here for two days. Our flight to London is booked for Tuesday night, so if Annie Rose would like some time off, this would be a great opportunity.”

  “Whatever Annie Rose wants to do is fine with me.” Mason held his arm out, but Annie Rose shook her head.

  Lorraine waved across the room and grabbed Sam by the arm. “Oh, there is Clarice. Come on, darlin’, we’ve got to go talk to her. And I see all the old crowd with her. I can’t wait to hear the newest gossip in the area.”

  “Now we are fighting. That was mean, springing your parents on me like that, and now you are sending me away for two days?” she whispered.

  “Hey, darlin’. I had no idea they were coming until they walked through the church doors, so we can’t fight over that. Not unless you really want an excuse for makeup sex. And what am I supposed to say? That a grown woman who’s worked her ass off can’t have two days to do something she’d like to do?” he said out the side of his mouth.

  “I’m not going anywhere, and there will be no makeup sex with your folks in the house,” she declared.

  Chapter 21

  Annie Rose pushed the swing with her bare foot and drew her knees up, propped her arms on them, and watched the black storm clouds brewing in the southwest. Mason had gone with Sam to tour the ranch and talk about bulls, steers, heifers, and the fall sale. Lorraine was in the girls’ rooms, spending quality time with her granddaughters. Lorraine had taken over the kitchen and the girls, leaving Annie Rose feeling like nothing more than a nanny. She probably should have taken a couple of days off and driven out to West Texas to see her friends at the library.

  Supper had been beef stew and corn bread with ice cream and frozen strawberries for dessert. The girls had been so excited they
barely touched their food, so they’d need a snack before bedtime. She remembered times when Gina Lou had come to her house for a sleepover and her mother had made peanut butter and marshmallow cream sandwiches for a bedtime snack. She’d cut the crust off, quartered the sandwiches, and had served them on her fanciest platter.

  Annie Rose instinctively reached for her cell phone in the hip pocket of her jeans, but she was still wearing the white sundress she’d worn to church that morning. The phone was in her purse, and that was in her bedroom. The swing had come to a stop, so she padded across the porch and into the house.

  Lorraine’s giggles mixed in with the girls’ floated down from upstairs and a streak of jealousy made its way into Annie Rose’s heart. Their grandmother needed time with them, Annie Rose understood that, but she couldn’t help wishing that she’d been invited to join in. Truth was she was totally alone for the first time in two weeks and she hated it. Two years ago, she’d been happy in her solitude after living in tense abuse for so long, but now she loved the noise of a family around her.

  She’d planned on curling up in the recliner in her sitting room, but when she had the phone in her hands, the walls closed in on her, so she stomped her feet down into cowboy boots and headed out the back door. The chairs that Mason had pulled up beside the goat pens were still there, so she claimed one and poked in Gina Lou’s telephone number by memory.

  It rang five times before Gina Lou answered. “Hello, who is this?”

  “Gina Lou, is that you?”

  “Yes, it is, and it’s in the middle of the night. Who is… my God… Annie, is that you?”

  “Yes, only I’m Annie Rose these days. Where are you?”

  “South Africa,” Gina Lou said.

  “What in the hell are you doing in Africa?”

  “I married a doctor and we’re here working for the Doctors Without Borders program,” she said. “Where are you, and the service is horrible here, so if I lose you I can reach you at this number, right? Is it safe?”

  “Nicky is dead.”

  “Then I guess you are safe unless you killed him.”

  “I didn’t. It was a plane crash that got him and his new girlfriend.”