Winning the Cowboy

by Emma St Clair

  But when she stepped inside the house, seeing Elton hugging Pax and Cilla both, she had to take a moment to collect herself so that she wouldn’t totally fall apart. She managed to rush into the hallway, leaning over with her head almost between her knees, trying to steady her ragged breathing.

  It was stupid, getting so upset that she didn’t get to walk with Elton, to touch him, to smell his familiar cologne. After the scorching looks he had been giving her during the ceremony, she had started to hope. But she couldn’t help but wonder and worry about why he had essentially ignored her for the last month.

  Maybe him not talking to her for a month didn’t mean he hated her. Maybe he had just been busy. Maybe he forgave her. Maybe he had feelings for her. Maybe—

  A strong hand gripped her arm and Elton practically shoved her into the master bedroom. “What are you—”

  He slammed the door behind them, closed the distance between them, and then fused his mouth to hers.

  Adele had thought about what it would be like to kiss Elton. She had imagined this moment many times, wondering if it would live up to the hype or be as disappointing as the brief kiss she’d shared with his brother.

  But this kiss was completely different than Easton’s brief kiss. It was completely Elton. Consuming. Passionate. It held nothing back. His mouth moved against hers with the confidence and fervor that she saw in other areas of his life. Like his voice, his kiss spoke volumes. Loudly.

  Adele lost herself in the meshing of their lips, the meeting of their breath, the firmness of his mouth. He led, and she followed.

  Until he pulled away so suddenly that Adele couldn’t help but gasp.

  He didn’t go far, pulling back enough that she could see the huge grin on his face. She hadn’t even realized that he was holding her in his arms, his big hands spread over her lower back while hers were trapped between them.

  That grin got to her. He looked so … pleased with himself. She had been an emotional wreck for a month, and especially today. While he had gone from ignoring her to dragging her away and kissing her. Now he looked proud of himself. Smug, even.

  Before she could overthink it, Adele flattened her hands against his chest and used all her weight to shove him. She had planned to apologize, but in Elton fashion, he had spun everything around. Her emotions were a confusing mix of joy, hope, and familiar irritation with this man.

  Laughing, Elton stumbled until his back was against the door. “There she is,” he said. “There’s my fiery girl.”

  Adele narrowed her gaze and stepped into his space, which only made his smile grow wider, more knowing. “You do not get to avoid me for a whole month and then drag me into a bedroom and kiss me!”

  “I don’t?” His tone was teasing, his eyes sparkling with laughter. “I did text you back.”

  “Yeah. Like twice. And it was totally not you. It was like texting a telemarketer or something.” When he laughed, Adele stepped even closer. “Last night you barely talked to me. Now you’re kissing me and looking all pleased with yourself. And I was going to apologize to you today!”

  Her emotions formed a confusing tangle. She had whiplash, going from worried and concerned over Elton to having her hope ignited and her whole body inflamed from his kiss.

  The past month had been torture. She had worried and stewed and wept. And there Elton was, handsome and smiling and kissing her like he hadn’t been avoiding her the night before. And the weeks before that.

  “You can’t … toy with me, Elton.” Her voice trembled, overwhelmed with the messy threads of her emotions.

  His arms went around her before a single tear could fall. “Hey,” he crooned, his lips close to her ear. “I’m sorry, doll. I’m not trying to toy with you. Maybe I should have started with words. But I have thought about kissing you since the moment I laid eyes on you today. It’s amazing that I held back this long, honestly. In fact, this month, I thought of little else but you.”

  “Really?” Adele wound her arms around his waist, clinging to him, as though she could hold not only the man, but the words he said.

  “Really.”

  She nuzzled deeper into his neck. “I thought you were angry with me. After everything I did. And said.”

  Elton pulled away just enough to put a finger under her chin, lifting gently until she met his gaze. She sucked in a breath at the adoration in his eyes.

  “I’m sorry if you thought I was angry. I wasn’t. Hurt, maybe. But that’s not why I pulled away.”

  “Then, why?”

  “This last month was terrible being apart from you. But I also wanted to make sure that when I saw you again, when I did this”—he traced a finger slowly down her cheek, causing tingles in body parts she didn’t know existed— “you would be getting the man you deserved.”

  “You didn’t need to change for me, Elton. I’m sorry if I made you feel that way.”

  He shook his head. “You didn’t. But I needed to change some things in my life. To do some things. For me. To be the man I needed and wanted to be for you.”

  “What does that mean, exactly? What have you been doing?”

  Elton rested his forehead against hers. “Grieving. Finally, properly. Losing my parents isn’t something I’ll ever get over, but I hadn’t realized how much anger I had, how many things I bottled up and let fester. I did a lot of praying, and I got some counseling.”

  “You did?” Adele couldn’t picture this.

  “Not officially with a psychiatrist or whatever. With Nathan, the pastor of your church. He’s had some training in pastoral counseling, I guess they call it.”

  “How do you know Nathan?”

  A smile tugged at his lips. “I may have followed you that morning you took Easton to church.”

  Adele’s cheeks burned. Did that mean he actually saw the kiss?

  Elton pressed a finger to her lips, then moved it to trace her jaw. “Don’t worry. I know about the kiss. And it’s fine. That’s another thing I did this month, working through things with Easton.”

  “Oh.” Adele cleared her throat, knowing her cheeks were still red. “And things are okay between you?”

  “More than okay.”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay.” Elton laughed. “I also got a job.”

  Adele didn’t know how many more surprises it would take to knock her off her feet. “Where?”

  “Pax finally fired that woman running the Wheels Up charity.”

  “Anita?” Adele had met her only a few times but had been less than impressed. Cilla worked at the charity for wheelchair users and had very little good to say about the woman.

  “Yep. He got me to look over the finances and I found some discrepancies. Big ones. Wasn’t hard to trace them to her. I’m helping while they look for a replacement, and I’ll stay on as their CPA.”

  “Wow. I feel like I’ve missed so much.” Adele felt proud of Elton, happy for the positive things in his life. She’d wanted that for him. It also strangely made her feel left out, not even knowing what he had been doing. She didn’t want to miss anything more. “You replanted your Mama’s rose bushes.”

  Elton’s eyes softened. “I did. Shouldn’t have let them die in the first place. But now they’re back to stay, right where they belong.” His fingertip traced over her cheek again. “Adele. I may be presumptuous to hope, but I think this is right where you belong. With me. If you’ll have me, that is.”

  The words sent a shiver through her. He licked his lips, looking nervous. Adele had never seen this expression on him. It didn’t suit him. At all.

  “Maybe this is too sudden,” he started to say, but Adele interrupted him.

  “Not sudden. Inevitable. You were right in front of me. I just couldn’t see it until you weren’t. I’ve missed you so much.”

  His eyes twinkled. “I’ve missed you too. So, how about it? Will you, Adele? Will you have me?”

  She didn’t miss the way his questions sounded so much like the wedding liturgy. Maybe he wasn’t
saying forever—yet—but she didn’t intend to give him another choice. She had known Elton for a lot of her life. The last month had convinced her that she wanted him in the rest of her life. Fully. Completely.

  “Yes,” Adele said. “I do.”

  Elton didn’t miss her word choice either, and a brilliant grin moved over his face. The teasing, overconfident smile that made her heart flutter and also made her want to kiss it away. And so, leaning in, she did.

  Chapter Twenty

  Elton

  There had been a lot of heart-stopping moments in Elton’s life. But watching Adele walk down the aisle hours before had been the best moment he could remember. Until the one a bit later when he kissed her, and she didn’t slap him. Then again when she said “I do” after he asked her to be his.

  Now was another such moment, with Adele in his arms as they slow danced in the barn alone. Pax and Cilla had gone. So had the rest of the guests. The music had stopped long ago, but he didn’t care. Humming the notes to a slow song in her ear, Elton tightened his hands around her waist.

  She sighed, melting into him even further.

  Elton wanted to toss her over his shoulder, hearing the squeak and protests he knew would come, and drag her over the threshold of his house.

  But this was not his wedding. That day would come. He hoped, anyway. The ring, the ring his mother had chosen that Cilla had finally outright confessed was Adele’s dream ring, was in his pocket.

  Not for tonight. He knew it was too soon. He wanted to enjoy dating Adele. Preferably, without an ankle monitor. He wanted to take her out, to open car doors for her, maybe even make out in the backseat like they were teenagers.

  “What are you smiling about?” Adele asked, her voice muffled against his chest.

  “Oh, just thinking about our first date.”

  “Mm. That sounds nice. But this right here is good too. Does this not count?”

  Elton scoffed. “No. You were supposed to be my brother’s date. This most certainly does not count.”

  Adele pulled away and Elton’s breath caught, as it so often did, over her beauty.

  “Does that upset you? That I … had feelings for Easton?”

  “Do you have feelings for him right now?”

  “No.”

  “Then no. I also kind of like that you slapped him. I can always hold that over him.”

  Adele grimaced. “I feel bad. And awkward. Will this be awkward?”

  Easton had steered clear of the two of them all night. But not because he was mad. One of the things they had talked about over the last month, mostly on horseback, was that kiss. Easton admitted that it was a mistake. He said that he didn’t have the kind of feelings for Adele that Elton did. Adele was the kind of woman he wanted, the one who checked all the boxes for him.

  “She reminds me of Mama,” Easton had said.

  “She does.” Elton couldn’t agree more.

  “And that’s the kind of woman I want to settle down with. If I ever settle down.” Easton had said this last part with a sharper tone to his voice that Elton hadn’t recognized. But Elton had been so relieved that he forgot to ask about it.

  Elton was still worried about his brother, though not because of Adele. Since he had moved to Cilla and Pax’s farm as the caretaker, he’d become even more distant. More withdrawn.

  Since Elton couldn’t leave the farm for another few weeks, he couldn’t even track Easton down and force him to talk. He suspected that his brother needed to do a little of the same soul-searching Elton had done this past month, coming to grips finally with their parents’ death. And whatever else Easton brooded over.

  “Easton is totally supportive. I don’t think it will be awkward. At least, not for long. This will just be a funny story we tell our kids.”

  Adele’s brows shot up, but Elton could see the hint of a smile on her lips.

  “Don’t get ahead of yourself there, mister.”

  “Am I?” He didn’t think so but asking that question made his heart beat wildly against his chest.

  Adele bit her lip, holding back a smile. “Nope.”

  “Good. It’s settled, then. We’ll have ten kids and I’ll keep you barefoot in the kitchen for the next five years.”

  Adele giggled. He could listen to that sound all day, every day for the rest of his life.

  “I think your math is off.”

  “Nope.” He gave her a kiss, making her giggle even more. “Remember? Twins run in our family.”

  Her giggles turned into out-and-out laughter. Elton kissed her again, sloppily since she was still laughing. But he didn’t mind. He would kiss her happy and sad and laughing and even when she was yelling at him, which he suspected—and hoped—she would still continue to do.

  Movement in the dark outside the barn door caught his attention, and Elton grabbed her hand, pulling her along with him.

  “Where are we going in such a hurry?”

  She stumbled a little and Elton scooped her up in his arms as she squealed. He grinned at the sound. “Look.”

  Elton angled her toward the door, where fat snowflakes fell. There was already a tiny blanket of white on the ground and the hood of his new black pickup.

  “Snow! I’ve only seen it once before!” Her arms tightened around his neck. “I can’t believe it.”

  Katy, Texas, rarely saw snow. Maybe twice that Elton could remember. It would probably turn seventy degrees tomorrow and melt before the sun came up, but still. It was magical.

  Adele stuck her tongue out, catching a few flakes. Grinning, he did the same.

  “Think there’s enough to have a snowball fight?” he asked.

  “Only one way to find out!” Adele wiggled in his arms until he set her down.

  “Ready … set …”

  Before he could yell Go, she was off, hitching her long dress up to run. Within moments they were both freezing and wet from trying and failing to make snowballs with the dusting of powder on the ground.

  “I’m c-c-cold!” Adele said, circling her arms around herself.

  “I know a few ways to fix that,” Elton said, waggling his eyebrows.

  Then he did what he had been thinking of just a little while ago. He hoisted Adele over his shoulder and carried her over the threshold of the house.

  Tonight, it was just practice. And they would just share hot chocolate and kisses by the fireplace.

  But touching the ring in his pocket as he set Adele down in the kitchen, soon it would be for the rest of their lives.

  Epilogue

  Easton

  Easton couldn’t stop himself from watching Elton and Adele dancing in the barn. All the wedding guests had gone. Easton stood in the darkness, far enough from the light that they wouldn’t see him if they walked outside. That’s how his life felt—Easton was always just outside the warm light. Invisible. Alone.

  His brother held Adele close as they swayed to music only they could hear. Snow softly brushed Easton’s shoulders.

  Was it good or bad luck to have snow on your wedding day? Not that the answer to his question mattered. If he was being totally honest, Easton had come to believe that marriages were doomed from the moment they started.

  A laugh drew his attention back to the barn, as Elton and Adele walked out into the snow.

  Easton sank deeper into the shadows. If they caught him watching, they might get the wrong idea. He didn’t feel hurt or sad watching his brother with Adele. He only felt stupid for thinking—however briefly—that something could possibly exist between them.

  If Easton could take back that church morning with Adele, he would. The way he slung and arm around her soft shoulders. The way he misread her signals and bent in for a kiss. The slap of his palm had been a needed reminder.

  He was a fool. Not just for listening to Elton’s encouragement that morning to pursue Adele. Easton was a fool for even considering that he could fall for someone. That love really existed and could stand the test of time, never ending.

  Love
always ended. Even when two people looked at each other the way Pax and Cilla did, the way Elton and Adele looked at one another now, even then, it had an expiration date.

  Sometimes it was unrequited, a one-way love, over without ever fully beginning. Sometimes love ended like a slow exhale as people grew apart moment by moment. Sometimes it ended with an event, a realization. A crash.

  Sometimes, Easton knew, love ended when the truth shone like a lamp, exposing all the shadows.

  He had written a poem with those words. Love being like a shadow, fleeting and lost in the truth’s light. His words were probably trite and cheesy. No one else would ever read them. Not one living person knew that he wrote poetry. Only his mama knew. He could imagine Elton’s laughter at the thought of it. Easton, the cowboy poet.

  Still, Easton’s poem echoed in his mind, the truth of his words. Love ends. That’s all poems were, really, someone’s truth put into words on a page.

  The truth was that Easton didn’t begrudge his brother for being with Adele, though he wouldn’t want to be there when that love ended. Easton hadn’t really loved Adele, or even fallen for her. He had simply, in a moment of weakness, allowed himself to wonder what if.

  What if Adele’s fire and light was enough to eclipse his own darkness?

  What if Easton was completely wrong about love?

  What if happy ever afters could exist?

  Laughter drew him from his thoughts, and Easton watched his brother and Adele attempt a snowball fight with the light dusting of powder on the ground. Maybe he didn’t believe in love, but Easton couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

  His ribs ached as he stood in the darkness, noticing the way the snow fell in Adele’s dark dress and Elton’s suit, disappearing almost instantly. There, and then gone. Easton pressed a hand to his ribs, as though that would soothe the throb and burn.

  When he was young, he felt his growing pains the same way. Along his shins and up through his knees. Elton never did, sleeping straight through them. But they would wake Easton every time.