License to Love Series:Trilogy (Contemporary Western Cowboy Romance)

by Rose, Amelia

  She smiled and looked over her shoulder. “I played some when I was younger.”

  Woody stood up and helped Alyssa out of her seat. He had never been able to resist a woman who knew her way around a pool table.

  While he was setting up the balls in the rack she rounded the edge of the table and chalked up her cue. “You do know your way around the table.” He commented as he took the chalk from her, his fingers resting calmly in her palm for a moment before he rounded the table. “Your break,” he told her.

  Alyssa flipped her hair over her shoulder, leaned down over the table, and sank two solids on the break.

  Woody smiled at her, relieved to see her finally beginning to break out of her shell.

  *

  Three games of pool later, they were walking across the parking lot. Alyssa stumbled on the pavement and started to trip when Woody reached out and steadied her with a hand against her shoulders.

  “My car’s still at your shop,” she told him, giggling as he opened the door to the car. He’d pretty much stopped drinking when they’d started playing pool, but she hadn’t. She had been torn between the fact that she really liked spending time with Woody, and the guilt she felt for forgetting about Kyle.

  Now, even though the night was winding down and they were leaving the bar, she found that she didn’t want to let this moment go. It was most likely the beer that was clouding her judgment, but she didn’t want to wake up tomorrow to be the same old Alyssa. Tonight she felt different, tonight she felt alive. She was determined to hold onto that as long as she could.

  “I was just going to take you to the farm,” Woody stated. “Clara said they had a room set up for you to stay in.” He told her as he helped her up into the seat. His arm was warm against her skin, and she felt her flesh light up under his touch as she snuggled down into him.

  When he turned around to help her up into the seat, she found herself looking deep into his eyes. They were dark green in the moonlight, but she could sense that there were secrets there that were as haunted as her own. She suddenly wanted to once again share her life with someone, to experience an embrace that was more than just a memory.

  He put his hand up, cupped her cheek and used his thumb to wipe away a single tear that had slid from the corner of her eye when she wasn’t paying attention.

  “Why are you crying?” He asked as his thumb travelled over her lips, and she sighed as he leaned down to kiss her.

  As soon as his lips touched hers she could feel the electricity flowing through her. A spiral of excitement curled up from the apex of her thighs and spread through her entire body. She slipped her arms around his neck and drew him closer, deepening the kiss.

  Her senses burst into life, and she could suddenly hear everything from the crickets chirping, to the hum of the neon lights overhead. She could smell his cologne and the thick wet air, and she could feel his heartbeat as it thumped steadily under her fingertips when she placed her hand on his chest.

  He leaned into her and she found herself pressed against the car, his body molding into hers. There was something dark and primal she had avoided for years resting in her and she could feel it begging to escape. When his mouth left hers and began a trail of kisses down her jaw and neck it left little flames in each contact area.

  His free hand slid from her shoulder down to her hip, and she gasped when his hand pushed aside her blouse and the sensitive flesh of her abdomen came into contact with his rough fingertips. He planted a kiss on her collarbone and then once again kissed her, deeper this time, more intense than before. She wove her fingers through his hair and pulled him even closer, trying to quench the fire which was beginning to rage inside of her. It had been so long since she’d experienced desire that she was having trouble remembering how to deal with the flames which threatened to now consume her.

  When she pulled up into the kiss a loud crack of thunder and lightning flared across the sky, followed immediately by a downpour of rain. At first she didn’t move, afraid to lose the connection. But the rain was so thick, that he broke off the kiss and ushered her into the car.

  As soon as he closed the door behind her, the guilt and the worry crept in.

  What have you done? She wondered. You barely know this man. But maybe the most nagging one was the voice asking, How could you just forget about Kyle?

  Perhaps it was because that voice had the largest ring of truth to it, but she ducked her head down and stared at her hands, avoiding any further contact with Woody as they drove to the farm in silence.

  Because the truth was that for a moment she had forgotten about Kyle. She’d forgotten about everything except that moment, and as badly as she craved the absence of her guilt and her memories, she feared it, too.

  *

  Alyssa fished out the last of her toiletries and miscellaneous clothing items from the bottom of the bag and dumped them in the drawer. She’d been staying in one of the side apartments at Shad’s farm house for the last three days. Clara had asked her to be around for support during the trial, and since she was a writer, her job could theoretically be done anywhere she had decided to stay for a little bit. Clara had even ridden with her yesterday when they’d driven back to Alyssa’s home in Wichita Falls to pack up a few more supplies and they had gotten a chance to talk about everything that had happened.

  Alyssa hadn’t mentioned anything about Woody, but she was sure that Clara could see the tension between them.

  Since the kiss, things had been strained between her and Woody, but she was still enjoying the time they were spending together. When she was around him she didn’t run her thumb over her indented ring finger or think about Kyle nearly as much. It felt like she had managed to finally shed much of the guilt and emerge from the wall she’d built around herself. Once again, she could breathe.

  Each joke, each laugh, tore holes at the barricade she’d built. The truth was, when Clara had asked her to stay, she felt relieved.

  The door swung open as Clara came in with a bundle of sheets. “Here are some clean sheets.”

  “Thanks. I was just putting up the last of my stuff.” Alyssa said as she took the bundle from Clara.

  “I’m glad you decided to stay.”

  “You’ve said that like a hundred times now.” Clara chuckled.

  “I still mean it, too!” Exclaimed Alyssa. “I don’t know what I would do without you here to help me.”

  Alyssa smiled and nodded, but she knew that Clara was just as concerned with her well-being as she was with the trial. They had sat down and talked for hours the other night about Kyle and the accident and about her life now. Before then they had communicated the stress of what Chuck Sanders had inflicted on her, only then he had just been some nameless entity that shadowed everything in Clara’s life.

  Now Alyssa was thrilled to see that Clara had successfully cast off that shadow and was enjoying her new life here on the farm with Shad.

  “I’m sure you’d be fine. After all, you have the wonderful Shad,” Alyssa winked at her as she walked the sheets over to the bed and carefully set them on top of the comforter so that she would remember to change them out later.

  “I’ll let you get back to your unpacking and writing,” Clara turned to head out, but then abruptly stopped and came back into the room. “Also, Woody is coming by the house for dinner tonight. I just wanted to give you a head’s up.”

  She winked back and left the room.

  Chapter 4

  Woody got to the house a little early to meet up with Shad. His brother had called and asked him to meet him in the barn before dinner. When he got there, he found Shad pacing back and forth between the stalls with constant and steady steps. He must have been doing this for awhile now as most of the horses had come to the front of their stalls and were moving their heads back and forth to his rhythm.

  “Is everything okay?” Woody asked as he walked up to Shad. He’d never seen his big brother in such a state of distress.

  Shad stopped and turned arou
nd quickly. “Sorry, Woody, you startled me.”

  “Well?”

  “Well what?” Shad asked.

  “I don’t know, you’re the one who asked me to meet you here.”

  “Oh, I guess I did, didn’t I?” Shad asked rhetorically as he stared off into the air above Woody’s head. “I just wanted to ask your opinion on something.”

  “Okay, but remember if it’s about the farm or the livestock I have no intention of getting dragged back into the family business.” Woody said, making sure that he kept his distance. Over the years, Shad had tried to get him more involved in the decisions on the farm, but he remained adamant that he wanted nothing to do with this life. He enjoyed working on vehicles and staying away from the headache (and heartache) that farm life brought with it.

  “What?” Shad turned toward him, a look of confusion clouding his features. “Oh, no. Don’t worry. It’s not about that at all.”

  The silence stretched out for a few endless seconds more as Woody waited for Shad to say what was on his mind, but instead his brother just started pacing again.

  “Well then…what is it about?” he finally asked as he positioned his body directly in front of Shad, halting his brother in his tracks.

  “I went to the bank today.”

  “Was there a problem?” Woody asked. The joint accounts for all three of them had been set up for their homes and land by their father before he died. If there was a problem in these accounts that could easily explain his brother’s weirdness.

  “No problem, really. But I took something out of the safety deposit box.” Shad said as he held out a small metal box. Woody recognized it immediately. There were two sets of rings in the safety deposit box, their grandmothers’ wedding set and their parents’ wedding set. The metal box was the set that had originally belonged to their grandparents.

  Woody took the box from his brother and opened it. He hadn’t seen the rings since his father had died five years ago. By today’s standards, the rings were fairly simple. A plain silver band for the man, but the woman’s was silver with a woven knot. It was comprised of thin, intricate bands that overlapped and then met in the center where a small blue diamond connected everything.

  “So you’re going to ask Clara…” Woody let his voice trail off as he stared at the ring.

  “I know we’ve only known each other for a few weeks, but I don’t want to imagine ever being without her again.” Shad said when Woody looked up from the ring. “I’m pretty sure that’s how you know, right? It’s that moment when you try to look into the future and you can no longer imagine it alone. Why would time matter? I’m still going to feel the same way about her whether it’s tomorrow or two years from now.”

  There was a cloud of desperation in his eyes, and Woody realized that he did know what Shad was referring to. The time he’d spent with Alyssa was different. It made the days brighter and the nights tolerable. Even though she hadn’t been alone with him or talked to him since that first night and that first kiss, he still looked forward to their time together.

  “What do you say?” Shad asked.

  “Well, first off, I’m pretty sure I’m not the one you’re asking, so I don’t think it’s that important what I say.” Woody answered, a smile spreading across his face. “Second, I think that if she makes you happy, that’s all the information you need to make a decision.”

  As he finished the last sentence, Shad scooped him up in a giant bear hug and hefted him off the ground.

  “Easy now.” Woody laughed as Shad lowered him back down to the dirt floor. “Don’t waste all of the good excitement on me!”

  Shad laughed along with him as they walked to the house. Woody was glad for his brother, but he knew that the real storm was going to be Melinda. He suspected that Shad knew this too, but was choosing to ignore it. Either way, it was going to be an interesting dinner.

  *

  Alyssa had been surprised to learn that the Brandt family ate dinner together at least once a week. All three of the siblings made the time and effort to get together at the family house and have a traditional dinner. They even had someone who came in and cooked the dinner for them on that special day so that none of them felt as if they had been put out by the dinner. Their father had made this a tradition and, after his passing, it was something that Melinda had insisted on continuing.

  The idea intrigued her because in her own family it was uncommon to even speak to each other at dinner time, let alone actually sit and eat around a table. While she was something of an outsider to the setting, it was comforting to be a part of something larger than her usual meal in front of the television or computer.

  Shad stood up to get the dessert after dinner and as he walked away Alyssa noticed that Woody was watching him with an unusually goofy grin on his face. When Woody looked across the table at Alyssa and gave her the same grin with a large “thumb’s up” sign she knew that something odd was going on, but she didn’t have to wait too long to find out what.

  When Shad came back he was carrying a silver tray with a small silver box centered on it. He carried it to the table and knelt down in front of Clara. She turned and saw him and immediately gasped.

  It’s like something out of a movie. Alyssa thought as she immediately rubbed on her empty ring finger and thought about when Kyle had proposed to her on the beach at Galveston.

  “I know we haven’t known each other that long,” Shad started “but I can’t imagine another day, another minute or another second without you.” He flipped open the top of the box and handed her the ring. “Will you…”

  “Yes!” Clara exclaimed, not even waiting for him to finish proposing.

  Alyssa felt a tear roll down her cheek as she gave Clara a hug. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer. When everyone else stepped forward to congratulate them, she slipped out through the kitchen. The night air was cool against her skin and she took a deep breath that worked its way into her lungs with icy fingers.

  She walked toward the stables, her head slightly tilted to the stars as her eyes clouded over with more tears. They weren’t just tears of sadness anymore. The truth was she was happy for Clara and Shad and their new life together. They had managed to find each other in a world of chaos.

  She was more upset at her inability to let go of the guilt. There was something there with Woody, but part of her was too afraid to risk getting into an emotional relationship with anyone. The idea of ever losing that much of her heart again terrified her.

  There was a thin row of overhead lights that ran the length of the stable, and she walked over to the mare on the third side. The nameplate on the front of the door read Harmony, and Alyssa ran her fingers through the etched wood. From the back of the dark stall a dark chestnut horse with a white stripe that divided her face and ran straight into her pale mane emerged to greet her. She walked over to the stable door and flared her nostrils as if to say Hello. When she got close enough, Harmony used her nose to nudge Alyssa’s shoulder as Alyssa reached up her hand and stroked the side of her face.

  In the past three days, Alyssa and Harmony had bonded. She’d never been around horses before, but there was something about this calm mare’s presence that gave her comfort. The first time she had walked around the yard and noticed the mare she had been intrigued. The horse had immediately come over to her and bowed her head for Alyssa to rub. Shad had remarked that it was unusual for her as she usually didn’t like to be around people much.

  Just to the side of the stall was a metal bucket that Alyssa had put there to hold sugar cubes; she now took out two, rolled them in the palm of her hand, and set them out in front of Harmony. The horse’s smooth lips brushed against the tender flesh on her palms as soon as she held them out.

  “I thought I might find you here,” Woody’s voice startled Alyssa and caused her to jump a little. Harmony immediately stirred in the stable and started pacing.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to startle you. I thought that
surely you would have heard me coming,” Woody told her as he stood in the middle of the wide aisle and waited. Originally he had been moving toward her, but when she’d jumped he had halted in his tracks.

  “No, it’s okay. I just wasn’t paying attention,” she told him as she swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand.

  “Is everything okay?” he asked.

  Alyssa then realized how it must look to him, her friend got engaged and she ran off to cry in private. He probably thought she was lost in self-pity because she didn’t get engaged. “I’m fine,” she told him before turning back to the horse. It would not be good for her to see the pity in his eyes when he looked at her.

  She felt him move alongside her, and when he put his arm around her she let herself lean against him. Not for the first time she willed herself to let go of the guilt from Kyle’s car wreck. In her head she knew that even though he’d left that night because they were fighting it had been a distracted driver that had ultimately killed him. Still she couldn’t convince her heart that it wasn’t her fault.

  The heat from his arm moved through her, comforting her. He stood with her in silence as she offered up another sugar cube to Harmony. After a moment she turned away from the horse’s stall and walked down the center of the stable. Woody fell into step beside her.

  “Look, Alyssa, I’m roaming in the dark here.” Woody finally spat out, breaking the silence as he shuffled from foot to foot.

  Alyssa stopped and looked at him. “I don’t understand.”

  He positioned himself directly in front of her and looked down into her face as he spoke. She noticed how clouded his eyes were and thought of that night when they’d kissed and thought of how much she wanted him to just kiss her now.

  “I think you do.” He said as he picked up her left hand and ran his finger over the indention of her wedding ring.

  She lightly gasped when he did it, but she didn’t pull her hand away.

  “I see you rubbing your finger all the time. I know that this is something that has not been resolved and that whoever he was, you think of him often,” he confided, his thumb still brushing back and forth along her ring line.