The Butterfly Bride

by Lacy Williams

  Contents

  Other Titles from Serenade Books

  Title

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Epilogue

  Dear Reader

  Other Titles from Serenade Books

  Copyright

  Other Titles from Serenade Books

  Taste of Texas Series

  The Art of Falling (Book 1) by Julie Jarnagin

  Kiss the Cowboy (Book 2) by Julie Jarnagin

  The Wedding Barn (Book 3) by Julie Jarnagin

  Cowgirl in the Kitchen (Book 4) by Julie Jarnagin

  Heart of the City Series

  Reclaiming Brynn (Book 1) by Susan Crawford

  Saving Justice (Book 2) by Susan Crawford

  Redeeming Cade (Book 3) by Susan Crawford

  Pies, Books & Jesus Series

  Firefly Summer (Book 1) by Kathleen Y'Barbo

  Autumn Skye (Book 2) by Kathleen Y'Barbo

  Seaside Romance Series

  Special Delivery (Book 1) by Gayle Roper

  Seaside Gifts (Book 2) by Gayle Roper

  Lone Star Brides Series

  The Bluebonnet Bride (Book 1) by Pamela Tracy

  The Bull Rider's Bride (Book 2) by Vickie McDonough

  The Butterfly Bride (Book 3) by Lacy Williams

  Journeys of the Heart Series

  The Gentleman's Quest (Book 1) by Camille Elliot

  The Road Home (Book 2) by Winnie Griggs

  The Trail Boss's Bride (Book 3) by Erica Vetsch

  Single Titles

  Secondhand Cowboy by Lacy Williams

  A Matter of Trust by Winnie Griggs

  Love's a Stage by Rene Gutteridge & Cheryl McKay

  O Little Town of Bethany by Rene Gutteridge & Cheryl McKay

  Rhinestone Cowgirl by Denice Christensen

  The Chef Next Door by Lenora Worth

  Anthologies

  Journeys of the Heart: An Anthology by Camille Elliot, Winnie Griggs, and Erica Vetsch

  The Boy Next Door: An Anthology by Lenora Worth, Susan Crawford, Gayle Roper, Kathleen Y'Barbo, Rene Gutteridge & Cheryl McKay

  Second Chances: An Anthology by Julie Jarnagin, Susan Crawford, Rene Gutteridge & Cheryl McKay

  The Cowboy Collection by Julie Jarnagin, Lacy Williams, Kathleen Y'Barbo

  Stay up-to-date with the latest releases from Serenade Books by joining our email New Release list.

  The Butterfly Bride

  By Lacy Williams

  Chapter One

  Thirteen days until he could get out of here.

  Luke Starr leaned against the railing of the corral. It was adjacent to the barn and not far enough away from the house for his comfort, but it was perfect to soak up the late September morning sun. It'd been an unseasonably warm summer—still felt like summer even though the season had officially rolled over to autumn.

  Two horses pranced along the opposite curve of the corral, shaking out their manes and probably wishing they were running free. The scent of baking grass was a throwback to his childhood.

  This land had been in his family for four generations. Had seen its heyday as a pecan farm before his grandpa'd died.

  But the beauty was lost on him. He stared unseeing, his entire body coiled tight with tension.

  Thirteen more days.

  There was a reason he hadn't been back since age sixteen. Everyone knew about what had happened. Somehow, Gramma had kept him out of jail. But even the desiccated pecan trees rustling in the distance seemed to whisper involuntary manslaughter.

  He wasn't going to make it thirteen more minutes, much less two more weeks.

  He never should have come home, but his brothers—twins and rodeo stars, the both of them—had made Gramma's situation sound desperate. Instead, she was as spry as she'd been at sixty and almost recovered from the broken ankle she'd sustained in a fall.

  Gramma had a physical therapist that visited every other day—Lindsey, now his brother's wife—and women from church had loaded up their freezer with casseroles.

  Luke seriously doubted she needed him at all.

  And now that his brother Dusty had decided to stay on next door at the Langs', there was no need to rush with fixing up the place.

  His brothers had married in a double wedding the day he'd arrived home. Daniel and Amy. Dusty and Lindsey. It just made sense that the twins had decided to honeymoon at the same time. And had wrangled him here to take care of the place and Gramma.

  All of it just made Luke itch worse to get gone. He wasn't needed here, not really. It wasn't like the place was going to fall down around Gramma's ears if his brothers were gone for a couple of weeks. And they could've hired someone local to care for Dusty's bulls.

  At least on the circuit, Luke could keep the memories at bay. As a bullfighter—aka rodeo clown—he worked every weekend he could schedule. The adrenaline rush of being in the arena and facing off with a two-thousand-pound animal was like nothing he'd ever experienced. The crash that would come later, after the arena lights had gone down, was the best sleep he ever got.

  On weeknights, he worked on getting himself an education. It was a strategy that worked for him. Cram his schedule so full he didn't have time to think.

  But being here…being forced to slow down…meant he couldn't escape the memories. The guilt.

  Gramma had told him to expect company this morning. He was hoping for a distraction from his thoughts, from everything.

  And here the distraction came. The sound of a big truck drew his gaze from the frolicking horses to the turn-off from the county road.

  What?

  A yellow school bus bobbled its way down the rutted drive toward Gramma's.

  "You've got to be kidding," he muttered beneath his breath.

  He stomped toward the drive to meet the bus. Maybe he could tell the driver to turn around and go back where they'd come from.

  Kids didn't belong here, and they sure didn't belong around him.

  #

  Jessica Sadler waited until the group of excited, rowdy second and third graders had dashed off before she followed her charge down the aisle and off the school bus.

  The fresh air outside was welcome after the smelly gym-socks aroma that permeated the bus. The A/C wasn't quite strong enough to keep up with the sultry Indian summer temperatures, and she was afraid that now, she smelled like gym socks, too.

  The student in her charge, Josh, didn't shout or run like the other kids. He stood stoically and silently beside her and stared at the expanse of sky and land.

  She wanted to take a moment and soak it all in. Being a city girl transplanted to Pecan, Texas, she always meant to get out and experience what the small town and surrounding areas had to offer—like learning to horseback ride—but somehow she never did.

  And right now wasn't the time.

  "Are you ready to see some butterflies, Josh?" She didn't expect an answer and didn't receive one. Looking down at Josh, she saw his eyes focused on the horizon, or maybe on the horses in the corral near the barn.

  She squeezed his hand and set off to follow the other children. A blond-haired cowboy spoke with Dot, the second-grade teacher, while Ella, the third-grade teacher, attempted to wrangle two classes full of children toward the open field beyond the barn. Jess knew the ranch belonged to Shirley Starr and that her grandsons had recently come home to help out with the place. But which grandson was this?

  Dot shook her head and moved away from the cowboy as Jessica and Josh clomped through the grass. She intended to pass by the cowboy, but as
she and Josh drew even with him, the cowboy turned to face her. When she met his intense blue eyes, she felt a sudden paralysis, as if she was a butterfly caught in a net.

  Her steps stuttered.

  "Hey. Hey!" Was he talking to her?

  She slowed to a stop, Josh beside her.

  "I'm Luke."

  Luke. It was a good, manly name. It fit him, somehow.

  "Jess Sadler."

  He nodded.

  "Look, Miss Sadler." He took off his Stetson, showing hair rumpled from the heat. His other hand swept through the messy strands. "I know my Gramma okayed this, but it isn't a good idea. Y'all need to pack up and head back to town."

  Dot glanced over her shoulder with a frown, and Jessica realized he must've suggested the same thing to the senior teacher.

  "Um." Words caught in her throat.

  She'd been a victim of intense shyness ever since grade school. She'd overcome it a great deal in interacting with her peers, her boss, and her students' parents.

  But handsome men made it worse.

  Her face heated at her own awkwardness.

  His focus shifted to Josh and back to her.

  "Um…Dot is the lead teacher." She pushed words that felt like boulders past dry lips. "I'm just special ed."

  He shook his head. "There's a lot of places a kid could get hurt out here. Especially with only three teachers." His glance slid to the kids who were now spreading out over the field. Some of the boys waved butterfly nets like swords.

  His reaction seemed a little overblown.

  "They're just tagging butterflies."

  Her words didn't seem to comfort him at all. His frown deepened.

  And Josh walked off, distracted by something.

  She followed him, because he was her job. But she couldn't resist sending a last glance over her shoulder at the handsome—unhappy—cowboy.

  She jogged two steps to catch up to the eight-year-old. "Josh, do you want to use the net?"

  She wiggled the long-handled cane with its lightweight mesh net, hoping to catch his interest. He glanced at the net and away again.

  "Let's see if we can find a good place to set up, okay?"

  Josh didn't respond. But then, he never did.

  They followed the other fast-moving children out into a field of tall, sweet-smelling summer grasses. Orange and black Monarch butterflies flitted all around, and many of the kids chased them with nets raised.

  "Do you remember when we learned about migration in science class?" she asked Josh. "The butterflies fly south to Mexico every year."

  She showed him the tiny circular labels she held. "Once we catch a butterfly, we'll have to be very gentle and affix one of these stickers to its wing. Then when it arrives in Mexico, someone there will read the label and know that the butterfly came from right here, in Pecan."

  Josh looked off in the distance, his head turned back to the horses.

  "Josh. Josh?" She was used to his distraction, used to having to get his attention several hundred times a day. "Can you help me look for butterflies?"

  He glanced at her from the side of his eyes and obediently began walking forward.

  She couldn't help but be aware of the cowboy following the group at a distance.

  #

  Luke had sweated through his T-shirt by the time the teachers began herding kids onto the bus an hour after they'd arrived. Thank God no one had gotten hurt or wandered off.

  No one had wandered off.

  No one had gotten hurt.

  Jess Sadler, the pretty young teacher, stood by the corral with what must have been her special ed student.

  He was sure he'd never had a teacher like her. With her dark hair tugged into a ponytail and intelligent hazel eyes… Yeah, maybe it was good he'd never had to sit in a classroom with someone as attractive as she was. He'd never have paid attention at all.

  The little boy was an enigma. He didn't run around like the other kids. Didn't shout. He seemed drawn to the horses in the corral. Luke could hear the teacher trying to cajole him to get on the bus.

  Luke didn't get the butterfly business. The kids had mostly run around, not catching much of anything. And this year's Monarch crop seemed particularly heavy, with butterflies flying everywhere. The kids were just wild.

  Even now, an orange-and-black beauty flew up and landed on the teacher's hair. She laughed, the sound a peal of joy. "Look, Josh!"

  But the boy didn't look.

  She'd said she was a special ed teacher. She must have the patience of Job, dealing with difficult kids all day. He could admire someone like that.

  For one moment, as he stood near the porch waiting to see off the bus, their eyes met across the yard.

  That laugh…

  He really wanted to go over and ask her out. It had been a long time since he'd been so interested after a first meeting.

  But he didn't deserve someone like Jess Sadler. Not even a little bit.

  He looked away, his eyes drawn to the dark line of trees, barely visible in the distance. The grove, where his entire life had changed course.

  No, he didn't deserve to even breathe the same air as Miss Sadler.

  Chapter Two

  Later that evening, Jess couldn't stop thinking about the enigmatic cowboy. She sat in Shirley Starr's living room, sipping lemonade across from the older woman. Luke was nowhere in sight. Maybe he'd gone out, though his truck had been parked outside. How hard was it for him to be here, in the home he'd left years ago?

  Lord knew, if she had memories like that hanging over her head, she'd want out.

  But she couldn't quite reconcile a guy who'd ditch his grandma for the evening with the man who'd followed a group of second and third graders around for a good two hours, making sure they didn't get into anything dangerous.

  She wasn't a cat, but curiosity had slayed Jess earlier in the afternoon after Josh's mom had picked him up at the elementary school. It had only taken one offhanded question in the teacher's lounge while a few teachers had been collecting their purses to find out the whole story. They'd been too happy to oblige.

  Apparently, when Luke had been a junior in high school, he and his friends had been cutting up, playing around in his pickup in one of the farm fields. They'd been turning donuts, and some of the kids had been sitting in the pickup bed.

  One boy—Luke's best friend—had been flung free of the truck and broken his neck. He'd died instantly.

  How did you get over something like that? Was Luke over it?

  She shook herself out of the lingering thoughts. She'd come tonight on a mission, one she intended to achieve.

  "You want to do therapy with some of my grandson's horses?" Shirley asked.

  Jess set her glass on the coffee table in front of her knees. Shirley sat in a recliner just across the table. The homey living room reminded her of summers spent with her own grandparents. Knickknacks covered every available space. She'd always had to watch her sister Mary closely to make sure nothing got broken.

  "Not exactly. I've done some research online and therapy horses are specially trained. I don't expect Josh to ride, but if he could just interact with the horses up close…" She took a deep breath, remembering Josh's stare from earlier today. His interest.

  "If you could've seen him today… His focus. That doesn't happen often. Josh's parents are very involved, but different therapies can be expensive and aren't usually covered by medical insurance. If I can show them that he responds to one of your horses, it could inspire them to apply for some grants where they could get him involved with a real equine therapy program."

  She forced herself to stop. Shirley was hiding a smile behind her lemonade glass, and Jess could only hope she hadn't ruined everything by going on and on.

  "You know, it's good for my old heart to see a young person as passionate about her job as you are. Seems like this is above and beyond what most parents might expect for their kids in the public school system."

  Warmth infused Jess's face. She was p
assionate. And she wasn't ashamed of it.

  "I'll talk to my grandson, but it might be better to wait until Dusty returns from his honeymoon."

  Disappointment surged, and Jess bit her lip.

  "Unless Luke is willing to help," Shirley said.

  Something shuffled near the kitchen doorway. "Help with what?"

  Jess turned her head to find a tall, dusty cowboy filling the portal, leaning one broad shoulder negligently against the jamb.

  And she became instantly tongue-tied.

  "Miss Sadler thinks being around the horses would be good for her special ed student," Shirley said when the silence stretched too long.

  Luke started to shake his head, and she found her voice, hoping to stop him from saying no.

  "Josh deserves more than I can give him in the classroom."

  Luke's gaze snagged on her. Once again the intensity of his blue eyes pinned her in place.

  "It's a bad idea," he finally said.

  #

  It's a bad idea.

  Luke barely refrained from snorting as he wheeled and went into the kitchen.

  Bad? It was a horrible, awful idea.

  He'd come in from the barn to the soft cadence of female voices and gone to find out who it was.

  The moment Jess had turned those hazel eyes on him, he'd felt the same punch of attraction as when he'd met her earlier in the day.

  He'd overheard enough of their conversation to understand what they wanted him to do.

  And it was an outrageously bad idea.

  But he was going to do it anyway.

  Because seeing Jess again had lifted the cloud of darkness that hovered above him all day. It was physical, a nausea that twisted his stomach every time he glanced toward the far-off pecan grove. He hadn't been out there since the day Sean had died.