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by Tina Leonard

  “Good,” she said pleasantly.

  His lips twisted of their own accord. “Guess that means no going-away party.” Or kiss, for that matter.

  “I wish you the best of luck. I hope you make it through BUD/S. You’ve worked hard enough to get there.”

  He turned his head at the soft, earnest note to her voice, surprised. “I believe you mean that.”

  “With all my heart.” She opened the door when he stopped at the last crosshatch of road at the town’s edge. “See you around, Ty.”

  “You can’t get out here.” They were a good two miles from the main drag. He didn’t want her to leave, anyway. He’d been enjoying having her in his truck, even though he sensed she had something urgent on her mind.

  “I’ll be fine. Sam followed us.”

  She waved, closed the door, and as she headed to the truck behind his, which was indeed Sam Barr’s vehicle, Ty’s last glimpse of Jade was her sweet fanny as she got on the running board and scooted up into the passenger seat. He blinked, stunned by how fast he’d lost her. Damn Sam for being such a resourceful fellow, Ty thought, recognizing at the same time that Sam had many fine qualities, resourcefulness notwithstanding, or Ty would never have brought him here as an outstanding, trustworthy candidate to be won by the ladies of BC.

  But he didn’t have to be so darn resourceful.

  * * *

  “IT WAS LIKE taking candy from a baby,” Sam observed to his two friends as they perched in the bunkhouse at the Hanging H ranch. Their friend—and project—Justin Morant had married Mackenzie Hawthorne here not so many months ago, making himself the proud father of four little girls. Justin had kept the three amigos—as he called Squint, Sam and Frog—on at the Hanging H, saying he had big plans to expand the spread and operations. They would also need a lot of help when they put the Haunted H into full swing, the renaissance of Bridesmaids Creek’s beloved “haunted” house and amusement place for kiddies and families. This October, they’d be putting the haunted back in the Hanging H, and BC was buzzing with the return of one of their most profitable and renowned projects.

  “Candy from a baby?” Squint said. “Even a baby has better sense than Ty.”

  Frog grinned. “I figure putting you up to following Ty around was a stroke of genius. There you were, the proverbial white knight, when Jade decided she needed a ride away from temptation.”

  Sam sank into the leather sectional sofa in the comfortable bunkhouse, sighing with pleasure. “They say a man doesn’t know what he’s lost until it’s gone. And the only way to capture Ty in his own snare is to make him think the bait is about to be stolen.”

  They all crowed about that, lifting beer bottles to each other in victory.

  “What we need is a real challenge,” Frog said.

  The room went silent.

  “I don’t believe there’s anything more challenging than getting Ty Spurlock to pull his head out of his butt,” Sam offered. “What do you have in mind?”

  “Well, let’s see.” Frog gazed at the ceiling. “The haunted house will start by the end of this month, for nine glorious months of family fun. Then BC kicks off Christmas Wonderland all over town, and Santa Claus takes over right after Thanksgiving. What do you say,” Frog said, warming to his idea, “if we give ourselves a two-week deadline to get Ty and Jade engaged?”

  Squint looked at him doubtfully. “What you’re really aiming for is to get Ty off the dime before he leaves for BUD/S. That’s just not going to happen. You know as well as anyone, since you were by my side in Afghanistan, that a BUD/S candidate is encouraged to take care of any detail that might be a distraction before he gets to training. Along that topic, a candidate is also discouraged from taking on new decisions, such as a wife. I say hold your horses, there, son. BUD/S is serious stuff.”

  “Then why are we doing this? Why are we trying to pull the rug out from under Ty?” Sam shook his head. “It’d be unfair to Jade if we’re all going to wave goodbye to Ty in a couple of weeks, and her heart is broken.”

  “That’s why an engagement is even more important.” Frog nodded wisely. “No questions left unanswered.”

  “There are too many questions,” Squint said direly. “You forget there was a murder here years ago that was never solved. Ty hasn’t forgotten that the lack of an arrest was put down to his father’s bungling of the investigation. He’s not going to pop any questions until his dad’s name is cleared. And the only way to clear it is to reopen the Haunted H, and let everyone see that the past is the past. Whatever happened then no longer matters.”

  They considered that.

  “I guess so,” Sam said. “We’re not being fair to Jade, then. She doesn’t want a man who’s all hung up in his head.”

  “No,” Frog agreed. “She’d be better off with you.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t want to settle down,” Sam declared. “I want to see Ty caught in his own trap!”

  “Then we’ll have to work around the murder angle,” Squint said, “Frog and I’ll focus on Daisy Donovan, since it was her old man who was determined to destroy the Haunted Hanging H and brought this whole house of cards down on Ty. And you try to wrangle Ty to the altar, preferably before he ships out.”

  “Great,” Sam said. “You took the easy assignment, and left me to corral the man who brought us here to find brides for ourselves.”

  “Thought you just said you don’t want a bride,” Squint pointed out.

  “It’s true,” Sam said, downcast. “I just came along for the ride, and to see the two of you suffer. Then you decided to make Ty suffer, and that seemed like even more fun. But it’s not so much fun anymore,” he groused.

  “It’ll be worth it when we see Ty heading up the altar path,” Frog said, exhorting his friends to action. “Shake on it, fellows. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

  * * *

  TY WAS SO annoyed with his friends and a certain sexy redhead that when Daisy Donovan slid up under his arm in the parking lot of the sheriff’s office, all he could do was muster up an unenthusiastic, “Hi, Daze.”

  She gave him a friendly enough squeeze, but where Donovans were concerned, it was like being in a boa constrictor’s grip—you knew it wasn’t going to end well unless you could get away fast.

  The tempestuous brunette bombshell had no inclination to remove herself from his side. “So much man, Ty Spurlock, and somehow, all I ever feel for you is sisterly emotions.”

  “That’s what they tell me. What’s on your mind?”

  She laughed, hot allure practically snapping sparks his way—which meant Daisy wanted something.

  “You.”

  “I’m not available.” His gaze lit on Jade heading into Madame Matchmaker’s comfortable, cheery, pink-fronted shop, and his stomach bottomed out. What could Jade possibly want with Madame Lafleur?

  No doubt it was just a simple visit. Madame Matchmaker and Mssr. Unmatchmaker—Cosette and Phillipe Lafleur—had offices right next to each other, connected internally by an arched door that could be locked for privacy when they had clients. Phillipe and Cosette had been married for fifty years, bickered constantly, loved each other like mad and had recently decided they were going to unmake their own marriage. This decision had BC residents in a twist, not certain whether the matchmaking/unmatchmaking services still had good karma. Cosette kept a book of all the matches she’d put together—and of the “mismatches,” only one was recorded in her book: that of Mackenzie Hawthorne’s marriage to Tommy Fields. Tommy had left Mackenzie for a twenty-year-old, and since Ty had been responsible for bringing Tommy to Cosette’s attention to make the match, he’d felt compelled to bring a replacement to BC for Mackenzie: Justin Morant.

  It was a match made in heaven. But since Ty knew that Cosette’s matches didn’t always go off as planned, he worried about Jade slipping into the pink shop w
ith the scrolled lettering on the window that read Madame Matchmaker Premiere Matchmaking Service. Where Love Comes True.

  He didn’t want love coming true for Jade, at least not with anyone but himself.

  “I really am a rat bastard,” he murmured, and Daisy said, “What?”

  “Nothing.” He looked down at the brunette attached to his arm. “Did you say you needed something, Daisy? I have to be somewhere.”

  “I want you. Remember?” She smiled at him, a veritable temptress with something on her mind.

  Stepped right into that, and now he was almost afraid to ask. “You just said you have sisterly emotions for me. Can you be more specific about this ‘want’?”

  She glanced at the jail, which was buried deep inside the courthouse, just the way Sheriff Dennis liked it. “Going to see the sheriff about something?”

  He’d forgotten all about seeing Sheriff Dennis once he’d spotted Jade. It almost didn’t bear thinking about what pink-haired Cosette and his sassy redheaded darling might be dreaming up between them.

  It certainly didn’t bear thinking that Jade might be chatting with Cosette concerning Sam. Sam, my friend, who I brought here, Ty reminded himself. “Nothing set in stone.”

  “Good. Because I have a problem. And I need your big, strong muscles and wise mind to help me.”

  She beamed up at him, daddy’s little girl, who’d never heard the word no in her life. Ty cleared his throat.

  “What, Daisy?” He couldn’t wait to get away and make an unscheduled visit to Phillipe, see if he could figure out what was going on behind the arched doorway of the two shops. Maybe the door would be open, and he could listen to what Cosette and Jade had up their dainty sleeves.

  “I need a man,” Daisy said. “And you’ll do just fine.”

  Chapter Three

  “What are they doing?” Jade asked, peering through the white slats at the window of Cosette’s private sanctum. She couldn’t see Daisy and Ty; Cosette had a much better vantage point. “If I know Daisy, she’ll be kissing Ty before he even knows it’s happening.”

  “I don’t have a great view.” Cosette strained her femininely plump body a little harder to peer out. “But it looks like Daisy’s plastered all over him. She wants something.”

  Jade backed away from the window, telling herself it didn’t matter. She shouldn’t care. She plopped into a pink velvet antique chair and waited for Cosette to give her a further bulletin.

  “Ah, there goes the kiss,” Cosette said. “I knew Daisy would hit her mark.”

  Jade shot out of her chair, mashing the slats flat in her hurry to see what she really didn’t want to see. But all she saw was Ty striding away from Daisy, who watched him from in front of the small courthouse as he crossed the street. Jade snapped the blinds shut before he could catch her spying.

  “Gotcha!” Cosette laughed delightedly, taking the pink chair opposite as Jade returned to hers.

  Jade stared at her friend. “You mean Ty and Daisy weren’t kissing?”

  Cosette looked coy. “Of course not. That would never happen. But what do you care?”

  “I don’t.” She did. Terribly.

  “My girl, it’s no use protesting. That’s no way to catch a man. It’s very American to be hard to get, and with some men that works. However, Ty’s leaving soon. You don’t have time to set traps.”

  Jade wrinkled her nose. “Let’s talk about why I’ve come to see you.” It would be best to get Cosette off the topic of trapping Ty. She had no idea how badly the man annoyed Jade.

  It annoyed her even more that Cosette could tell that she did care if Ty kissed Daisy, or anyone.

  “You can talk about whatever you like,” Cosette said pleasantly. “In your mind, you’ll still be thinking about Ty.”

  Jade drew a deep breath, telling herself to be patient with her older friend. “I assure you, I’m not thinking of Ty.”

  “Did I hear my name?” Ty appeared in the arched doorway, broad-shouldered and fine, and Jade’s breath caught in spite of her wishing it wouldn’t.

  “Why would we be talking about you?” she asked, giving Cosette the don’t-say-a-word eyeball.

  “Why wouldn’t you be?” He walked in and lounged on the prim white sofa across from their pink tufted chairs, eyed the delicate teacups on the table, ready for tea, and the pink-and-white petits fours invitingly arranged on a silver tray. “I saw you two spies. You’re leading Jade down a bad path, Madame.” He laughed, pleased with himself, a big moose with way too much confidence.

  Jade scowled. “Everybody spies on Daisy.”

  “Of course we were spying on you!” Cosette said. “Jade had just told me how very handsome you looked today.” She smiled hugely. “You don’t mind if we ladies checked you out, do you, Ty?” Cosette rose with a distinctly coquettish air. “If you will both excuse me for a moment, I think I hear Phillipe calling my name. No doubt he’s sniffed the aroma of petits fours and tea all the way from his dusty office. The man adores my petits fours.” She swept out of the room, a vision in pink, white and silver, a lady on a mission.

  Jade turned back to find Ty’s gaze on her, his eyes squinting with internal smirk-itude. “Oh, don’t go getting a big head over Cosette’s comments.”

  “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Do please pour.” He nodded toward the teacups.

  “There was no smoke, no fire. We weren’t looking at you.” Jade leaned over to pour out the tea, then handed him a cup. “You can get your own petit four if you want it.”

  He laughed. “I do, in fact, want to try Phillipe’s favorite treat. What is it about these tiny things you ladies find so irresistible?”

  She hoped to get him off the topic of his handsomeness—which she had said nothing about to Cosette, though she had, in fact, been thinking that he was extraordinarily hunky—and the topic of tiny frosted cakes was as safe as any. “It’s the art involved in a petit four.”

  “So in other words, you really don’t want me to bring up that Cosette gave you away?” He winked, bit into a cake. “Whatever you want, doll.”

  Jade sent him a sour look. “What did Daisy want?”

  “This is good,” Ty said, his tone surprised. “Sugary, sweet, delicate. Couldn’t eat a lot, far too rich for that, but tasty all the same. If you eat too many of these, you’ll have to watch that sexy figure of yours.”

  “Back to Daisy. Quit avoiding the fact that you were conversing with the enemy.”

  “Oh, that.” He put his plate down, picked up his tea and sipped. It looked quite ridiculous, she thought, a big man holding a fragile cup and saucer—and yet, somehow, she wanted so badly to kiss him she didn’t know what to do.

  Which was such a bad thought to have she wished it right out of her brain. “Yes, that. I’m going to bug you until you tell, so get on with it.”

  “Nothing important. And on that note, I should depart—”

  “I’ll ask Daisy myself, and whatever she wanted, she’ll embellish,” Jade warned.

  “She wants me to escort her to the grand opening of the Haunted H,” Ty said, his tone reluctant, his expression even more so.

  Jade blinked. “But why? She and her father got up a petition to keep the Haunted H from starting again. They were violently opposed, and part of the reason we waited was to make sure folks in Bridesmaids Creek supported it.”

  “Daisy says it’ll show everyone that bygones are bygones. She doesn’t want to go by herself, and being escorted by—”

  “By the man who brought the bachelors to Bridesmaids Creek will make her look like the belle of the ball,” Jade interrupted.

  Ty seemed confused. “I don’t think that was what she’s after. Granted, Daisy’s no innocent flower, but she really sounded sincere.”

  Jade raised a brow. “Really, really sincere. Daisy,
sincere.” Surely that wasn’t jealousy in her tone. But then she realized by the reappearance of his smirk that he was thinking the same thing.

  “You know you’re a special girl, Jade,” he began.

  She hopped to her feet. “Ty, you bigheaded oaf, don’t you take that tone with me. I don’t care if you go with Daisy. I just think you’re a traitor. It’s not fair to Mackenzie and Justin, because Daisy’s done everything she can to destroy the Hanging H getting its haunting back. You know that.”

  “Yeah.” Ty sounded momentarily confused again. “You have a point.”

  “And you know what Daisy’s father said about your own father,” Jade stated, warming to her subject, wanting badly for Ty to see for himself that he’d fallen prey to Daisy’s charms, as every man in BC seemed to do eventually. “Robert Donovan said your father bungled the investigation of the murder out at the Hanging H—”

  “Daisy said us going to the opening together would let everyone know that those days were past,” Ty said. “I really thought it was in the Haunted H’s—and Bridesmaids Creek’s—best interests that I escort her. I’m leaving in less than two weeks. What I want more than anything is to leave behind a town with a secure future, with everyone on the same page.”

  He looked distressed. Jade felt sorry for him, so sorry her heart hurt. Maybe she was beating him up because she was jealous. I am jealous, she admitted to herself. But nothing good ever came of associating with Daisy Donovan and her land-grabbing father. “I’ve got to go.”

  “Hang on a sec—” Ty said, but Jade couldn’t stay any longer. She hated all of it—hated that Ty was leaving most of all. What if she never saw him again?

  She hurried out the door and jumped into her truck, vaguely aware that Daisy stood on the pavement outside Madame Matchmaker’s shop, smiling her infamous bad-girl smile.

  * * *

  TY WAS THUNDERSTRUCK, and could not have been more shell-shocked, when Jade left in a hurry. He’d been this close to her—in the same room, and kindly left alone by Madame Matchmaker—and he’d blown it. Big mouth, big feet into big mouth, bad combo.