by Meg Maxwell
“Dad, do you hear yourself?” Autry had asked. “And stop referring to Marissa as a country mouse. I won’t stand for you insulting her.”
“Ah, so the country mouse has a name,” his father had said with a snort. “Marissa. She must be stacked.”
Autry had hung up on Walker Jones the Second. The first time he’d ever done that.
Now, five minutes before Autry had to be at Rust Creek Falls Park for The Great Roundup Kids Competition, his father had called back, demanding to get his way—which was for Autry to fly home immediately.
Wasn’t happening.
“Dad, you have an opportunity here to fix your relationship with Walker and Hudson,” Autry said. “Why can’t that be more important to you than business?”
“Our family and our business are synonymous,” his father said. “That you don’t understand that is mind-boggling.”
Oh, Dad, Autry thought. Please don’t be the lost cause I’m thinking you are. Please give me hope that we can salvage this family.
“Will you be on the plane home?” his father asked, his voice cracking. “I can’t lose you, Autry. I just can’t.”
For the first time in maybe...ever, Autry heard anguish in his dad’s voice, and it caught him off guard, to the point that he had to sit down for a second.
His head was spinning. Flashing in and out of his mind were images—his father, his mother, his four brothers at various ages. Karinna and Lulu and the nursery in his condo that he’d had someone come pack up and take to a charity. The offices at Jones Holdings, Inc. in Tulsa. The view outside his window at Maverick Manor. The faces of the three Fuller girls, Kaylee, Kiera and Abby. And their beautiful mother, Marissa, who was no country mouse. Not that there was anything wrong with a country mouse.
He saw himself saying goodbye to them, the little girls wrapped around his legs. “But you’re like our daddy now,” they said in unison. “Abby said so.”
You’re our daddy now. You’re our daddy now...
The words echoed in his head until Autry could barely breathe.
“Autry, are you there? Can I count on you to come home today?” his father asked.
Autry didn’t answer. But he didn’t move, either, and he was now late for meeting Marissa and the girls.
You’re our daddy now. This is what having a dad is like. I remember. It’s just like this.
Just like this. Just like this...
Autry leaned back on the chair and stared out the window, unable to think, unable to move.
* * *
Abby woke up at the crack of dawn on Saturday, so excited she was practically hyperventilating, and Marissa planned on getting everyone over to Rust Creek Falls Park on the early side. But of course, Kaylee pressed an Oat Yummy in her ear, which Marissa had to carefully extract so as not to crumble it, and then Kiera stubbed her toe and sobbed for a full three minutes, and Abby, practicing walking backward while holding an egg in a cowboy hat, dropped said egg and burst into tears and had to be consoled that she wouldn’t come in in last place.
Then Ralph couldn’t find his lucky socks, the ones with the Montana State University mascot, and Roberta was searching for the new tube of sunscreen she’d bought yesterday. Marissa soothed the little ones, found the socks and the sunscreen, drank two cups of strong coffee, got a decent breakfast in everyone, and finally, the Fuller-Rafferty crew was out the door and on the way to the park to meet Autry.
Autry, whose morning was nothing like Marissa’s.
Autry, who didn’t have to worry about crumbling Oat Yummies in small ears or getting a houseful of people out on time.
Autry, who was like a vacation in himself.
Take me away, she sang to herself with a smile, his gorgeous face floating into her mind.
As they turned the corner, they joined a crowd headed toward the park. Huge signs and banners were strung up at the entrance and the park was packed. She and Autry had made plans to meet at eight forty-five in front of the check-in table. She looked around but didn’t see him. She glanced at her watch—eight forty-four. At least she wasn’t late. But Autry wasn’t here yet?
When her watch ticked to eight forty-five and she saw no sign of him, she stood on tiptoe and craned her neck. She saw his brothers and their wives with their extended family entering the park, but no Autry.
Eight forty-six. Eight forty-seven.
The competition began at nine sharp and Autry wasn’t even here to check in.
“Mom, where’s Autry?” Abby asked, looking all around.
“I’m sure he’s here and just saying hi to his brothers,” she said.
But she kept her eyes glued on the park entrance and he wasn’t racing in.
Her stomach twisted. Had he changed his mind? Had the reality of what he’d overheard Abby saying to his sisters about how “this is what having a dad is like” scared him off? Was partnering with Abby in a dad-like team too much for him?
It better not be, she thought, anger burning in her gut. If he disappointed her child...
Autry might not have made any commitment to Marissa, but he sure as hell had made one to Abby, and there would be serious heck to pay if he let Abby down. Marissa had no idea what, but she’d let Autry Jones have it—an earful of her ire, at the least.
Eight fifty. Eight fifty-two.
Where are you? she thought, glancing around.
Abby had gone from excitedly standing on tiptoe and looking for Autry to biting her lip with an expression of sadness and worry.
“Abby, I thought you were in the competition,” one of those not-so-nice girls said as she smoothed her own pinned-on entry number. She held her dad’s hand, but he was busy talking to another dad behind him.
“I...I am,” Abby said. “I’m just waiting for him.”
“She’s not in the competition,” the other girl whispered. “Her father’s dead.”
“She asked someone to be her dad for the day,” the first girl whispered back. “Oh my God, that is so sad. I’m so sorry, Abby.”
Both girls made fake sad faces at Abby.
“I’m sure both of you have somewhere to be,” Marissa snapped, and the girls tugged their dads’ hands and walked away.
“I guess he’s not coming,” Abby said, tears filling her dark eyes. Her head dropped and Marissa’s heart tightened.
“Not coming?” said a familiar, deep voice. “I never break a promise, Abby. Never.”
Relief flooded Marissa to the point she almost fell over. Autry stood before them, slightly out of breath as though he’d run here from Maverick Manor. Or the airport.
“Autry!” Abby squealed, her face lighting up. He picked her up and swung her around, somehow managing not to bump her into the people around them.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said, glancing at Marissa. “Tough call that was hard to untangle from. But I checked us in, so let’s head over to the entrants’ area.” He handed Abby her number to pin on her shirt.
“Yay!” Abby said. “Wish us luck!”
The Fuller-Rafferty clan hugged Abby and assured her she’d do great.
Marissa was so exhausted from the emotional tailspin she’d just been through that she could barely speak. Luckily, her mother, always at the ready, handed her a foam cup of coffee from the urns the Jones family had set up for the event, along with juices and treats.
“I never break a promise,” Autry whispered to Marissa, squeezing her hand. And then he was gone, running with Abby to the entrants’ line.
But you will break a heart. Mine.
* * *
Abby did not drop her egg in the three-legged backward egg-in-the-Stetson competition—cowboy hats donated compliments of the Jones brothers. Luckily, that was the first event, and though they came in fifth place—which was saying something considering that
twenty-two teams were participating—Abby was thrilled and pumped for the rest of the challenges. They came in first in the lasso competition, beating out a mean girl and her dad.
By the end of the three-hour event, Autry and Abby had a third-place ribbon, which they both proudly pinned to their T-shirts, and the entire family went to Buffalo Bart’s Wings To Go to celebrate. Autry had arranged for Buffalo Bart to set up a wings, beer and soda buffet in the backyard for the family and whoever Abby and the Fuller-Raffertys wanted to invite. When Melissa’s dad tried to pay, Autry mentioned he’d already taken care of the bill. Ralph tried to cover the tip, but Autry insisted he’d taken care of that, too. Her father seemed quite pleased.
“He’s making up for almost being late,” Roberta whispered to Marissa.
“Oh, Mom, have a wing. And try the tangy barbecue sauce.”
Roberta raised an eyebrow but went off to the wings buffet and filled her plate.
Marissa glanced over at Abby, who was standing with her friend Janie and trying to talk and eat a wing at the same time. Her daughter looked so breathlessly happy that Marissa’s heart pinged in her chest.
Autry was talking to his brothers and their wives by the beer taps, and though he was smiling, she could tell something was bothering him. Perhaps the reason he’d been late? She hadn’t had a chance to talk to him one-on-one since he’d arrived at the park, and the yard was so crowded she wouldn’t have a chance here, either.
He caught her eye and raised his glass to her, and she raised her soda in return. But behind his smile she definitely saw conflict and something else she couldn’t put her finger on.
Maybe she’d just have to sneak over to Maverick Manor tonight and find out what it was.
* * *
As soon as he could escape the festivities, Autry was gone, back to his hotel room. He had one more week in Rust Creek Falls, and instead of enjoying some time with Marissa, he felt like someone was stabbing him in the chest with a hot poker. Constantly. His father’s plea had his gut all twisted. Abby’s faith in him had his gut all twisted.
Marissa’s acceptance of him had his gut all twisted, too.
Someone knocked on the door, and Autry almost didn’t open it. It could be Alexandra again. Or his father. Marissa. The Fuller girls. Any number of people pulling him in opposite directions.
But it was his brother Walker. He was holding a folder.
“Need your signature on these for the preliminary Thorpe Corp. meetings in Paris,” Walker said. “Dad’s signed, I’ve signed, then you, and you’re all set.”
Autry took the folder, his heart so heavy he wouldn’t be surprised if he broke a hole in the floor and crashed to the ground.
“Something wrong?” Walker asked.
“The water. The punch. Whatever it is. It got me.”
Walker looked at him as though he had four heads, then realization dawned. “Marissa got you, you mean.”
“Love got me. But how? I’m immune.”
Walker laughed. “I thought I was, too. Then I met Lindsay.”
“I’m going to Paris,” Autry said. “I want to go.”
“So figure out how to have both,” Walker said.
“How? How can I fly around the world every few weeks and have a relationship? A relationship with a single mother whose kids would have expectations?” Autry shook his head. “Ridiculous. I’m not cut out for fatherhood.”
He knew what happened when you thought you were, when you let your heart lead you. You got kicked in the head. Kicked to the curb.
“Autry, let me give you some advice from someone who’s been there, done that. Someone who was raised by the same parents you were.”
Autry looked at his brother. “I’ll take it.”
“You can try to lie to yourself, but the truth always outs. That’s just the way it is. So first, work on accepting the truth. Then let that truth decide what you do.”
“What am I lying to myself about?” he asked. “I just admitted to you that I have feelings for Marissa. That her kids matter to me.”
“You have feelings. Her kids matter. You like chocolate ice cream. It’s a nice day outside. Autry—I’m talking about truth, not spin.”
“What do you want me to say? That I love Marissa?”
“If you do. Like I said, you can try to lie to yourself, but the truth always outs. Let the truth boss you around, Autry. Not Dad. Not what happened in the past. And not how you think you should feel.”
Autry flipped through the papers. He’d read them carefully over the past couple of days and had just been waiting for the chairman’s and CEO’s signatures before he signed them. He brought the stack over to the desk and signed on the dotted lines. He was going to Paris; that was never in question or doubt.
He handed the folder back to Walker.
“You’ll figure it out, brother,” Walker said. “I did.”
How? How would he possibly figure it out? He did have strong feelings for Marissa. Her kids did matter to him. He even adored her parents. But his job meant a lot to him, too, and he loved traveling the world, negotiating and wheeling and dealing.
Somehow, grilling steaks in a small-town backyard, playing charades, teaching Kaylee and Kiera how to play soccer, making pigs in a blanket, watching reality TV with a family and practicing for The Great Roundup Kids Competition had shown him he enjoyed that, too. More than he ever thought possible.
So fine—the truth would out. It was outing right here and now. But how could the worlds coexist?
Chapter Eleven
“You certainly snagged the most eligible bachelor in Rust Creek Falls,” Helen Ganley said with a scowl as she marched up to Marissa at the reception desk in the sheriff’s station. Helen lived in Anne’s neighborhood and was the one who complained incessantly about dog walkers allowing their “mutts to pee on the edge of my property!”
Marissa felt her cheeks burn. Naturally, her boss was in his office and had likely heard every embarrassing word. Sheriff Christensen’s two new deputies, a rookie guy and the very experienced Daniella Patterson, glanced up, the rookie wiggling his eyebrows and Daniella giving Marissa a thumbs-up.
God. Did everyone know her business? Yes. They did. Because this was a small town and she herself had paraded her business all over Rust Creek Falls.
“If you are talking about Autry Jones,” Marissa said in a louder voice than usual, “we are just friends.”
“Sure you are, hon,” Helen said. “I want to file another complaint about the lady who lets her dog pee on my lawn.”
“The very edge of your lawn?” Marissa asked. “Technically, that strip is public property, Helen.”
“It’s still my lawn,” the woman said. “It’s very bad for the grass! It dies!”
“Well, I personally have spoken to the lady in question and she has promised not to let her dog lift its leg on your property ever again.”
“Good!” Helen snapped. “Finally.”
“Helen, maybe it’s time you adopted a puppy,” Marissa said. “I heard the animal shelter just rescued a mother dog and her month-old pups from the woods.”
Helen’s face fell. “I don’t think I’ll ever be ready for another dog.” Marissa knew that Helen’s beloved miniature black poodle, Chumley, had died after sixteen years together, and the woman had gotten grumpier and grumpier ever since. But underneath that brittle exterior was a softy who needed something to dote on.
“I clock out at five,” Marissa said, glancing at her watch. It was four fifty. “Let’s walk over and just see them. I hear they’re really cute. Black-and-white.”
“Black-and-white?” Helen said, her face lifting a bit. “I suppose we could take a look.”
A half hour later, Helen had signed on to foster all four pups and the mother dog, with the intention of adopting
the mom and one puppy when they were ready. Marissa had a feeling that Helen would not be complaining about anything or anyone anymore.
After a day’s work and a trip to the Rust Creek Falls Animal Shelter, all Marissa wanted to do was go home and soak in a bathtub. But it was her turn to cook, and Kiera wanted to practice her reading, and Kaylee wanted to learn to count to a hundred by tens. Wasn’t that what older sisters were for? She’d put Abby on that. Except Abby wanted to redecorate her room, and Marissa had promised she’d help move the desk and bed and dresser around so that her father wouldn’t throw out his back.
But when Marissa arrived home, Autry had not only rearranged Abby’s bedroom and had Kaylee already working on up to fifty in the counting by tens, but was sitting on the sofa with Kiera, patiently listening to her sound out a tough word, her little finger on the page, her tongue out in concentration. “Peh-oh-pel?”
“Pee-pul,” Autry said. “That’s a toughie. Some words can’t really be sounded out. You just have to learn them by sight.”
“Like house,” Kaylee said. “I learned that one.”
“High five!” Autry said, hand up.
Kaylee beamed and high-fived him.
“Sorry I’m late,” Marissa said. “I had an errand to run.”
“Actually, it’s good you’re late, because dinner is just about ready. Two more minutes.”
He cooks. He teaches kids to read. He teaches kids to count. He rearranges furniture.
He kisses...like he means it.
“I’ll come help,” she said, and Autry followed her into the kitchen. “I didn’t know you were coming over tonight.”
“I only have a week left. I want to spend as much time with you as I can.”
“As friends.”
He held her gaze. “As friends.”
“Thanks for everything in there,” she said, gesturing toward the other room. “I was swamped at work today, then I helped Helen Ganley turn her long-time frown upside down. And I thought I had a couple heavy hours of mom duty ahead of me. But then you were here.”
