Dearest Cowboys Box Set

by Mia Brown

  He’d told me clearly that he was happy with the two of us just being friends. He probably still saw me as one of the guys. Whatever tension that I felt between us was probably not sexual at all, but rather deep-seated regret. I sighed. I really had made a complete mess out of everything.

  That afternoon, I curled up in front of the TV and put on an old movie. I drank hot cocoa and ate a bowl of popcorn, and the whole thing felt so much like a pity party that I was surprised I didn’t burst into tears. I used to love these nights in by myself. I used to convince myself that being alone was a good thing and that I didn’t need a man to make me happy.

  I wasn’t so sure anymore. But was Houston the man I was after? Or had he just shown me that it was possible for me to feel something for someone? Either way, I felt that a shift had happened in my heart. Something was going to change for me, and I had no idea what it was. I felt both excited, scared, and sad at the same time.

  My old life might have been boring, but it was a lot easier to deal with. I played with the little horse pendant on the end of my necklace and sighed. Perhaps it was better for me to stick to horses just like I had always thought I would. I was not relationship material. Houston clearly didn’t think so. What if nobody else ever looked at me in the way that he had looked at me that night? What if nobody made my heartbeat race like it had when I had been in his arms? I sighed. Who knew that one little wedding could change everything for me. Lara had a way of causing damage to my life even when she wasn’t doing anything at all.

  The movie that I had chosen to watch was getting too serious, so I flipped channels until I found something a bit more lighthearted. Finally, I settled on an old comedy that I had seen countless times. It wasn’t actually that funny, but at least it wasn’t sad. After that, I watched another one. I watched TV until I was too tired to do anything else. Then, I closed my eyes and fell asleep on the sofa.

  Fourteen

  Houston

  Things seemed to have calmed down. I hadn’t heard from my father again, and Cassidy hadn’t come over or called. This could only mean that there was nothing to worry about and that everything was finally going back to normal. I went for a long horse ride, feeling for the first time as if everything was going to be okay. I would go over to my father’s later that day to speak to him, then as soon as everything was cleared up, I would go over to Cassidy’s. I really wanted things to go back to normal between us, too. Perhaps I could even take her out for coffee, or we could go for another horse ride together. We would finally be able to laugh at everything that had happened.

  I spent the day at home and wondered when the best time was to visit my father. Going to see him at work was probably not a good idea, so I figured I would go see him in the evening at home. With an hour so to kill, I decided to make my over to the nearby bar to get a beer. I ordered one and found a corner table. It was still early, so the place wasn’t as busy as it usually was, and I was pleased that I didn’t see too many familiar faces. I wasn’t quite in the mood for chatting with people I barely knew. I probably should’ve asked Joe to join me, but I wasn’t planning on staying that long.

  As if he heard my thoughts, moments later I saw Joe walk in and I waved him over. I hadn’t seen him since before the wedding, and I figured it would be nice to finally have someone to talk to. I signaled for him to get himself a beer, which he did, and then he headed straight over to me. The moment I saw the look on his face I knew something was going on.

  “So, what did I tell you about romance at a wedding?” he said before he even said hello to me.

  “What?” I was surprised. Had Joe found out that Cassidy and I slept together? I hadn’t told anyone. So, the only way would be if she was spreading the news, and I just couldn’t imagine her doing so.

  “What did I tell you…I said that weddings bring out the love in people.”

  “But…how did you know?”

  He stared at me. “So it’s true? I thought you were going to tell me that it wasn’t true at all. I was hoping it was a rumor.”

  I frowned. “You were hoping? Why were you hoping? Cassidy is a beautiful woman,” I said defensively.

  “I never said she wasn’t,” Joe snapped back. It was weird talking to him like this. The two of us didn’t usually snap at each other.

  “So then what’s the problem? Anyway, it was just a one-night stand. We were both pretty drunk. Although I knew exactly what I was doing. I have to admit; I just couldn’t help myself. She was wearing a dress, and she looked nothing like the Cassidy we are used to. Nothing is going on between us now.”

  Joe looked confused. “Nothing is going on? But…I thought you were married?”

  “What?”

  “You’re not married?” he asked.

  I groaned. “Oh God, who told you that?”

  “Your father.”

  “Oh shit. That’s not good.”

  “Wait a second, so you’re telling me that you didn’t get married to Cassidy and that the two of you just had some drunken wedding sex together?”

  I nodded and took another sip of my beer.

  “Oh, thank goodness. I mean, I was just upset that you didn’t say anything to me. I was surprised that I hadn’t been asked to be your best man. That’s all. Oh, sex is fine. Actually…it’s more than fine. Wow, sex with little Cassidy. Who would’ve thought? So, how was it?”

  I waved his question away. Now was not the time to be talking about this. “What did my father say to you?”

  “Oh, he’s apparently been calling around trying to schedule some big wedding reception for you. What’s going on? Why does he think that the two of you are married?”

  I sighed. “Long story.”

  “Tell me,” he said.

  I nodded and filled him in on the whole story, explaining to him how the two of us were just having some fun and trying to mess with Lara. Joe listened with eagerness, and I realized that if it wasn’t about me, I would also find the whole story fascinating. It sounded like the plot from some carefully executed movie and not something from my own life.

  “The whole thing just spiraled out of control, and we have no idea how to get out of it.”

  “Just tell your dad the truth,” Joe said.

  “I tried to. But yeah, I need to go and speak to him. I was waiting for him to calm down. I was actually going to speak to him this evening. I had no idea that he’d been calling around and starting the whole thing. I’m shocked. Oh, this is bad, Joe. This is so bad. I really didn’t want this to spread. Listen, I better get going. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. It’s all been a little chaotic, as you can imagine.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Just go and sort it all out. It will be fine. Before you go though, can I ask you a question?”

  I stood up and finished my drink in one swig. “Sure,” I said as I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

  “How was it?” he asked.

  I chuckled. “Pretty spectacular.”

  Joe sighed. “I knew it.”

  I shook my head and rushed out before Joe wanted more information. Joe was my friend, so it was hard not to talk to him about things like that, but I owed it to Cassidy to have some respect for her too. I didn’t want her to think I was going around talking about her. I jumped in my car and headed straight to my father’s house. I was going to have to clear up this mess once and for all.

  When I arrived, my father seemed pleased to see me, which was at least a welcome change from the way he had addressed me the last time that we were together. He pulled me in for a hug and offered me a beer.

  I shook my head. “Nah, I better not. I already had one with Joe. I just wanted to come by and talk to you about everything.”

  “You caught me at a bad time. I’m heading out to some dinner event,” he said. “But I still have a few minutes to talk. What do you want to talk about? I know I haven’t been in touch, but I was planning on calling you tomorrow. I wanted you to know that everything is on schedule and that you don’t have
to worry about a thing. I know that this is not your scene and that you wouldn’t know where to start, but I have connections. And, for what it’s worth, I actually quite enjoy putting this all together.”

  “Uh, thanks Dad,” I said. I was suddenly rendered speechless. He seemed to be loving everything, and I felt bad that I was about to burst his bubble. I tried to figure out how best to tell him. “But here’s the thing, Dad…we didn’t get married. That was just a rumor.”

  My father laughed. “Nonsense, my boy. Everyone is talking about it. Look, I know you feel bad. You obviously did it on the spur-of-the-moment, and now you feel bad for me. But you’re obviously a lot more romantic than I realized, and it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing. I think it’s great that you ran off to get married without giving a damn about the rest of the world. I was obviously upset about it at first, but the more I think about it, the more I realize what a great thing it is.”

  “You…you do?”

  “Of course. You’re just like your father, you know. I sometimes forget what it’s like to be young and in love. You do things like this! And, you know what, they make for some great stories. I never thought you’d run off and get married ‘Hollywood-style,’ but I’m not completely opposed to it. The only thing that I ask for is that we still do the wedding reception, even if you are already married. It will be for the family and for me. That’s all that I ask.”

  “But…”

  “And,” he continued. He was speaking and getting ready for his event at the same time, so I wasn’t getting much chance to talk. Also, because he was so busy with his tie and not with me, he couldn’t tell how uncomfortable I was about everything. “I like Cassidy a great deal,” he said. “She’s not the girl I pictured you ending up with, but she has far exceeded it. She is a beautiful woman with a kind heart and a good work ethic. She’s not like some of the other girls I see around here. I’m very pleased that you ended up with someone like her. She’s a good woman, and she will keep you grounded. Although, I have a feeling she will also keep you on your toes,” he said, and chuckled.

  I stood there, watching my father talk about my marriage, and I suddenly couldn’t bring myself to tell him. He just seemed too happy about the whole thing, and I hadn’t seen him look this excited in a long time. I couldn’t believe quite how pleased he was about it. He was so happy that I was married to Cassidy that I sometimes even forgot that I wasn’t. I felt swept along by his enthusiasm. Suddenly, instead of telling him that the marriage was fake, I simply asked him if we could delay the wedding reception for a while.

  “Delay it? But why? You’re already married,” he pointed out.

  “Uh, yeah, but we’re still getting used to it. Uh…can you just give us a bit more time? I don’t want the whole thing to feel rushed. I think it will be better if we all just took a breather and give this some more time.” Oh my God, what was I doing? I was going to regret this the moment I walked out.

  My father nodded. “You’re right. I shouldn’t be rushing anything. Like you said, you’re already married, so there’s no point in pushing this too quickly. Okay, well, let’s not wait forever, then. Okay?”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay.” I felt like I had a bit more time to stall, although I still had no idea what I was going to do. Cassidy was going to be so upset when she discovered that I still hadn’t told my father.

  “Okay, now I better get going. I have a busy evening ahead. Come on, boy, let’s head out to the car. Thanks for coming by. I’m very glad we had this chat. We can sit down one of these days and plan everything.”

  We said our goodbyes, and I was just about to get into my car when my father called out to me.

  “One more thing, Houston. I am happy to delay the wedding reception, but I insist that you move in with Cassidy as soon as possible. Or that she moves in with you. Whatever you want, of course. People are going to start talking if you are maintaining separate households. I don’t know why you are both taking so long to do this. I know you’ve chosen a more unconventional route, and that is fine, but I would feel better if you at least lived together.”

  He drove off before I had the chance to say anything. I sat there, open-mouthed, and groaned. Why hadn’t I just been a man about the whole thing and insisted that he listen to the truth? I didn’t want to upset him, but this was going a bit far. I hit the steering wheel with the palm of my hand and groaned. Shit.

  Fifteen

  Cassidy

  “So, when were you going to tell me that you got married?”

  My sister’s voice was so loud on the phone that for a second I had to pull it away from my ear. I was sitting at home, enjoying a nice cup of evening tea, when she’d called. For a second I had hoped it would be Houston, but the more I didn’t hear from him, the better. I figured it meant that everything was going back to normal. But hearing my sister talk about the marriage now had taken me by surprise.

  “Uh…”

  “I saw you the other day. You told me that you slept with him. Since when did you get married? Also, how do you suddenly just get married to someone? Like, how does that actually happen?”

  “Whoa. Calm down,” I said to her.

  “Calm down? I can’t calm down. My sister went and got married without even telling me. How can I keep calm about this? I’m angry. I thought you and I were close.”

  I groaned. “Of course we’re close. You’re my sister, for goodness’ sake. And I’m not married.”

  “Say that again.”

  “I’m not married!” I yelled.

  “Did you even sleep with him?”

  “Of course I did. I told you to your face. Did I tell you that I married him to your face?”

  “Well, no. But…”

  “Then stop believing everything you hear. I would’ve told you.”

  I heard my sister let out a big exhalation. “Okay, that’s good, then. I’m so confused, though. Why did I hear someone say that you were married? What is going on?”

  “Uh, well…that might be my fault.”

  “Uh-oh, this sounds like you have a story to tell me.”

  I laughed. “Oh yeah, I have a story. I…I might have told a little white lie at the wedding.”

  “What do you mean? To who?”

  I sighed. “To Lara.”

  “You told Lara that you were married to Houston?”

  “Look, here’s the thing, sis. Lara came up to me and told me that she couldn’t believe that I had brought a date with me. Especially one as good-looking as Houston. Then she had the audacity to tell Houston that she was shocked that he would choose to be with someone like me.”

  “NO WAY! She didn’t!”

  “Oh, she did,” I said. I felt angry just thinking about it again. “And for some reason, the lie just slipped out my mouth. I was going to correct it, but then Houston went along with it. He was obviously just trying to protect me. Then, before we knew what was happening, she stood up and told the entire crowd about the marriage. Soon, everyone was clapping and congratulating us. And…what could we say after that?”

  “It sounds to me like Lara knew exactly what she was doing,” Nicole said.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Anyway, then it was too late to change it, and we were too drunk to care. And to be honest, it was sort of fun anyway. You know how much I was dreading that wedding, and because of Houston and the big marriage lie it ended up being a lot of fun.”

  “No wonder the two of you slept together. You were pretending to be husband and wife,” Nicole said, and giggled.

  “Well, that’s not the reason, but we were very flirty with each other throughout the night. I suppose that helped us when we were finally alone in the room together.” I groaned. “Oh Nicole, this is all such a mess. What am I going to do?”

  Nicole chuckled. “Oh, I’m sure the whole thing will die down eventually. If the two of you just stop hanging out together for a while then maybe people will think they imagined the whole thing. You can pretend like it
never happened.”

  “Why do you seem so amused by the whole thing?”

  “Because I am,” Nicole said, and laughed again. “I’m sorry, Cass, but it’s hilarious. It’s also nothing like the sort of thing you would normally do, which actually makes it even funnier for me.”

  “You’re not being very supportive,” I pointed out.

  “Oh, come on, of course, I am. You know I love you. I just wish I had been at the wedding to see all of this.”

  “If you were at the wedding this probably wouldn’t have happened. Having only Houston there had me all loopy.”

  “So, what are you going to do? I mean, why aren’t you clearing the air? Why are people still talking about this? I would’ve expected the two of you to have come clean the moment you woke up.”

  “Uh, yeah, I guess looking back we probably should’ve done just that. Instead, we both decided to sneak out without seeing anyone. We had pounding headaches, and I think we were both just so shocked that we had actually slept together.”

  “So you ran away from your problems?” Nicole asked.

  “Yep, pretty much. But, as it turns out, the problems followed us. Look, Nicole, please don’t say anything to anyone. And if anyone asks you, just pretend like you don’t know anything. Houston and I are still trying to figure out how best to escape this mess. His dad is all upset that we didn’t let him know, and now he wants to throw us this big wedding reception. It’s such a mess.”

  “His dad wants to do what?”

  “Throw us a wedding reception. You know, to celebrate the marriage.”

  Nicole laughed. “But there is no marriage.”

  “Well, yeah, but he doesn’t know that,” I said.

  “But why didn’t you tell him?”

  “We did! He wouldn’t listen. He thought we were only just trying to make him feel better about everything. Anyway, Houston said we should just lay low for a bit and he said he’d go and talk to his father once everything had settled. I’m sure he’s already spoken to him now. I bet you everything is all figured out and things can go back to normal.”