There was nothing she wanted more in that moment than to be done with all the hard conversations. Actually, what she wanted even more was to run away from her life. How could she go back to peddling the dream of wedded bliss when hers had been snatched away in the most awful way possible?
Knowing that breaking the news wasn’t going to get any easier if she waited longer, she dug her phone out of her purse and turned it on. The screen revealed she had a dozen missed calls. She listened to one from Katrina asking if she needed anything, but the ten calls from Michael she deleted without listening to them. Nothing he could say could make her forgive him for breaking her heart and making a complete fool out of her. The other call was from Chloe, her best friend since they’d roomed together in college, the woman who was supposed to be her matron of honor.
“Hey, Lin. Just calling to finalize some details.” In the midst of the call, Chloe suddenly laughed. She sounded as if she’d pulled the phone away from her mouth when she said, “Cut it out.” Next came a distinctively male chuckle, no doubt Chloe’s new husband, Wyatt. Linnea’s heart squeezed at the sound of her friend so happy and in love, even if she was scolding her husband. “Sorry about that,” Chloe continued. “Call me when you get a chance.”
Linnea deleted the message as if it would erase the sounds of marital bliss, as well. She was happy that Chloe had found a good man to love and be loved by, truly she was. At least she hoped Wyatt was everything he claimed to be, not like Michael and his web of lies.
She shook her head, not wanting to let what had happened turn her into someone who was suspicious of every man in the world. After all, she knew deep down there were lots of good guys like her father, like Chloe’s dad.
She scrolled to her parents’ number, but she couldn’t make herself hit the Call button. Her mother had been just as excited about the wedding as Linnea, if not more so. The news that Michael wasn’t who he’d seemed to be would break her mother’s heart, too.
Deciding to wait awhile longer to make that call, she instead forced herself to dial Chloe’s number. Better to test out her ability to share the news on her best friend instead of risking turning into a blubbering mess on the phone with her mother. Her mom would no doubt rush right over to wrap her baby in her arms when Linnea just wanted to be left alone. The last thing she wanted was to look into anyone else’s eyes and see the pity she’d detected in Katrina’s.
Her fingers shook as she hit Chloe’s number, and she bit her bottom lip to keep from crying again.
“Hey,” Chloe answered. “I was beginning to think you were ignoring me.”
Despite her best efforts, a tear broke free and ran down Linnea’s cheek. “No, I... It’s just been a bad day.” She sniffed against a fresh rush of tears.
“Lin, what’s wrong?”
“The wedding’s off,” she said, her voice shaking.
“Off? What happened?” The sound of a closing door came through the phone.
“Michael is...” She stopped to swallow against the large lump clogging her throat as if she’d swallowed a lemon whole. “He’s already married.”
She struggled to share everything that had happened that morning with Chloe. By the time she was finished, hot, salty tears were streaming down her face again, burning trails in her skin like lava flows.
“Lin, I don’t know what to say. ‘I’m sorry’ is not enough.”
Linnea swiped at another tear. “I feel so hollow inside, and I have no idea how I’m going to go back to work and pretend I’m happy. Nobody will buy a wedding gown from someone who is wearing a broken heart on her sleeve.”
“Come here.”
“What?”
“There’s a free bedroom at the ranch now since I moved out, and Dad, Garrett and Owen are away from the house most of the day. No one will bother you there. You won’t have to smile and pretend.”
This was why she loved Chloe so much. She understood her, often better than her own family did. “Thanks for the offer, but I’ve got so much to take care of here. Things to cancel, a business to run.”
“That’s why they make phones and computers and business partners.”
As much as she wanted to run away, she couldn’t. She had responsibilities, and she didn’t want Michael to know how badly he’d hurt her. She had to be strong, no matter how much it hurt.
Banging on the front door startled her.
“Linnea, let me explain,” Michael shouted through the door.
“Thanks for listening, Chloe, but I need to make some more calls.”
“It’s a standing invitation. You are welcome here anytime, for however long you need.”
Fresh tears popped into Linnea’s eyes, these because despite everything she was lucky to have the absolute best friend in the world.
Michael knocked again. “I’m not leaving until you talk to me.”
The last thing she wanted to do was look into his deceitful eyes and listen to more lies fall from his lips. So she ignored him and went up to her bedroom. For a long time, she feared he was going to live up to his promise that he wouldn’t leave until he talked to her. But after a little more than an hour, she watched as he drove away.
Chloe’s words echoed in her head as she made her way down to the kitchen and looked in her fridge for something to eat. But as she stood staring at the contents of her refrigerator, nothing looked appealing. Even though her body was hungry, she couldn’t imagine anything tasting good. So she closed the door and leaned back against it.
She wandered from room to room as if she might find peace and a release from the pain in one of them. When she found herself in her bedroom again, she sank onto the side of the bed and realized she couldn’t put off telling her family the news any longer. She didn’t want to risk her mom or one of her sisters stopping by the store and finding out something was wrong from Katrina.
After forcing herself to take several slow, deep breaths, she hit the number for her parents’ house.
“Hey, sweetie,” her mom answered. “I was just about to call you and see if you wanted to have lunch with Heather and me. We’re going shopping for the baby afterward, if you think you could pry yourself away from work for a while.”
Linnea’s lip trembled again at the idea of being around that much happiness when her world was falling apart. Not only had her older sister, Heather, been married to a great guy for two years, but they were expecting their first baby around Thanksgiving. A mere three months separated Linnea from becoming an aunt for the first time, but today the thought only made her want to cry. She’d dreamed of having a bundle of joy to call her own, as well, but now...
“I’m sorry, Mom. I’m not up for lunch today.”
“What’s wrong? I can hear something’s wrong in your voice.”
Linnea wanted to believe that the telling of what had happened would be easier the second time through, but she was wrong. It was so much worse.
“Oh, honey. I’ll be right over.”
“No, I’m fine.”
“You don’t have to pretend to be brave. You’re my daughter, and I intend to be there for you.”
Desperation filled Linnea to overflowing. She loved her mom dearly, was thankful she had caring parents who were always there for their children when they needed them. But for some reason, her mom had never grasped that when Linnea said she wanted to be alone, she actually meant it.
“I won’t be here. I’m going to visit Chloe for a few days.” She hadn’t meant to take Chloe up on her offer, but the words had flown out of her mouth before she’d even thought about them. But now that she’d committed, it felt right. She could give herself a few days to get over the shock, to make all the necessary calls to cancel her fantasy wedding, to prepare herself for going back to the work of encouraging customers to buy in to the dream of forever.
“Honey, are you sure?”
“Positive.” And she realized it was true.
When she finally promised her mother that she’d call if she needed her for anythin
g, anything at all, and agreed to let her mother make some of the necessary cancellation calls, Linnea tossed a few items of clothing and toiletries in a bag, grabbed her laptop and hurried for her car. She didn’t think she breathed until she drove out of her neighborhood and away from the chance that either her mother or Michael might show up at her front door.
She pointed her car toward Blue Falls, the small town in the Hill Country that Chloe called home. It might not be Linnea’s home, but right now the familiar was the last thing she needed. If she had only one wish, it would be that Blue Falls held some magical way of making her forget Michael Benson and the giant hole he’d left where her heart should be.
Chapter Two
“Come on back to my place,” Tiffany Clark whispered into Owen Brody’s ear as she clung to him like a barnacle. “You know you want to.”
Part of him was tempted by her curvy figure and her warm lips nibbling on his ear. Plenty of times he would have taken her up on it. But tonight he was just dog tired after a day of working on the ranch with his brother and dad and then a couple of hours devoted to training the horse he hoped would make a good roping horse. And then he’d gotten the bright idea to come into town for a couple of beers and to scope out the female landscape at the dance hall. Halfway into his first beer, he wished he’d stayed home and gone to bed.
Now, if that wasn’t a sad statement about his life. It wasn’t as if he was an old codger, but for some reason his normal routine of working hard followed by playing hard just wasn’t doing it for him tonight.
He gently pushed Tiffany away from him. “Not tonight, Tiff. I’d be falling in my plate if I had a plate.”
His rebuff earned him a pout from Tiffany, and for a moment he reconsidered passing on the pleasure she was offering. But he had the oddest feeling that his being tired wasn’t the only reason he wasn’t dragging Tiffany and her tasty curves to the nearest bed. Hell, the nearest horizontal surface. But damned if he knew why she didn’t look quite as appealing as she once had.
Owen slipped off the bar stool where he was sitting and tossed a couple of bills on the bar.
“Calling it a night so soon?” asked James Turner, who was tending bar tonight.
“Yeah, just hit the wall.”
James shot him a crooked grin. “I think hell just froze over.”
“Be careful or I’ll take my tip back.”
James just laughed and moved to fill another drink order.
Owen stepped out of Tiffany’s reach before she could attach herself to him again and made for the door. He stifled a yawn as he headed out the door and across the parking lot to his truck. A stiff breeze sent a paper cup tumbling across the parking lot, and thunder rumbled in the distance, promising some good sleeping weather.
As he drove toward home, a few sprinkles of rain began to fall. Just as he passed Crider Road, he noticed emergency flashers blinking on a car up ahead. As he got closer, he spotted a small silver car pulled halfway off the road. A woman wearing a skirt and high heels stood beside the car and then proceeded to kick the flat rear tire. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the image she made even though she was obviously upset.
He pulled in behind her and parked, leaving his headlights on to illuminate her and the car as he slipped out of the truck.
“I don’t think that’s going to help,” he said as he approached her.
When she looked toward him, he hesitated for a moment as recognition hit. “Linnea? What are you doing out here?”
She took a step back as she shaded her eyes against the bright light. He realized she must have figured out she wasn’t in the safest position, broken down alone on the side of a rural road at night.
“It’s Owen Brody. Are you headed to the ranch?”
She seemed to deflate more than relax. “That was the plan, but my tire had a different idea.” She sounded even more drained than he felt.
He walked the rest of the distance to the rear of her car. “Don’t worry. I’ll get this changed for you.”
“Thank you.” Her voice sounded so small that he met her eyes and saw a sadness there that he’d never seen before in his sister’s best friend.
“You okay?”
“Been a rough day.”
He wasn’t a “share your feelings” sort of guy, but for some reason he wanted to ask her what was wrong. Instead, he asked her to pop the car’s trunk so he could get the spare before the approaching storm reached them.
She moved to comply and had to catch herself against the side of the car when she twisted her ankle off the edge of the pavement. The curse that came from her shocked Owen, it being so at odds with the classy lady he’d always known her to be.
“Did you hurt yourself?”
“I’m fine.”
She sounded anything but fine, but he wasn’t going to push. He knew better than to wave the proverbial red flag in front of a woman already in a foul mood.
When the trunk latch disengaged, he opened the lid and found the spare tire, one of those little donut deals. “Hate to tell you this, but your spare is as flat as a pancake, too.”
“Of course it is.” Linnea bit her lip and lifted her gaze to the darkened sky just as the raindrops picked up their pace.
He closed the trunk. “Come on. I’ll give you a ride to Chloe’s. We’ll get your tires fixed in the morning.”
“I...I was actually going to your house.”
He looked at her, growing more confused by the moment.
“I’m sorry,” she said as she shook her head. “I should have called her back. She offered me the extra room for a few days, but I see she didn’t tell you all about it. If you could give me a ride into town, I’ll get a room at the inn.”
When had his house become his sister’s bed-and-breakfast? Although he had to admit Linnea was a lot nicer to look at than the last guest they’d had. Not that Wyatt wasn’t a decent-enough-looking guy, but he was a guy. They already had enough testosterone and stinky socks around without adding more.
“Don’t be silly,” he said. “Come on before you get soaked.”
Linnea hesitated before opening the back door and grabbing a couple of bags and her purse. As she started toward him, he saw her wince when she put weight on her twisted ankle. He’d never liked seeing a woman in pain, so he stepped up beside her and wrapped his arm around her waist, taking some of her weight.
She stiffened for a moment before allowing her muscles to relax a little. “Thanks.”
“No thanks necessary. Rescuing damsels in distress, it’s what I do.”
He expected a laugh, a smile, something. But when she offered none of those, he realized this was not the same Linnea who’d been texting Chloe pictures of wedding stuff for months. Someone who was as happy as Linnea supposedly was about her upcoming marriage didn’t look as if someone had run over her dog and then laughed about it. But it wasn’t his business. Female drama was Chloe’s department.
As the rain picked up its pace, he ushered her toward the driver’s-side door of his truck. “It’ll be easier for you to get in over here. Can’t have you toppling into the ditch.”
She made an attempt to smile at him this time, but damned if it didn’t look shaky and as if she might dissolve into tears at any moment. Oh, hell. He so didn’t do tears. He had to get to the ranch and hand her off to his sister. As she slid across the truck to the passenger side, he sent a quick text to Chloe to get her butt over to his house because he’d just picked up her best friend on the side of the road.
By the time they reached the house, the rain was coming down in slanting sheets. He parked but didn’t get out of the truck. Part of him wanted to curse that he hadn’t taken Tiffany up on her offer. A woman who had a night of naughtiness on her mind—that he could deal with. Sitting in a truck with a woman who looked on the verge of tears as the heavens unloaded on them? Not so much.
His phone buzzed with a text from his sister. “Chloe says she’ll be here as soon as the rain lets up.”
“She
doesn’t have to get out in this.” Linnea shook her head. “I should have just stayed at home.”
Yeah, something was definitely wrong in happily-ever-after land. Knowing he was going to kick himself for asking, he did anyway. “What’s wrong?”
He thought she wasn’t going to answer at first, but then she took a shaky breath. “I’m not getting married after all.”
Oh, hell, why had he opened his big mouth?
Linnea shifted her gaze out the window, through the stream of water running down the other side of the glass. “Turns out I was engaged to someone who was already married.”
He cursed, couldn’t help it. He searched for the appropriate thing to say, but came up empty save for a weak “Sorry.”
“Me, too.”
Part of him was curious, but he wasn’t digging himself deeper into this emotional hole. Instead, he hopped out into the rain that had slackened a fraction and hurried around to her side of the truck. He opened the door and helped her out and hurried with her to the porch. He made sure she was safely up the steps before he ran back to the truck for her bags.
When he reached the porch, he found her standing there waiting for him, her arms wrapped around her wet body, her hair dripping. Despite the fact that it was early September in Texas, he had the strongest urge to wrap her in a blanket to make sure she didn’t catch a chill.
Reminding himself that Linnea was a grown woman and perfectly capable of taking care of herself, flat tires notwithstanding, he opened the door and motioned for her to precede him inside.
It wasn’t until he followed her that he realized he should have gone first. Luckily, his dad and Garrett were kicked back watching TV, but one of them could just as easily have been strolling through the living room in his underwear. He didn’t think Linnea needed to be assaulted with that image, even if she hadn’t just had the worst day ever.
“Linnea?” Wayne Brody got to his feet. Before he could say anything else, Owen shook his head a little where Linnea couldn’t see him. He saw acknowledgment in his dad’s eyes before his dad crossed the living room and gave Linnea a hug. “It’s good to see you.”
Her Cowboy Groom (Blue Falls, Texas Book 5) Page 2
