Hearts and Spurs

by Linda Broday

  Too bad he couldn’t get his hands on some of the chocolate candy hearts his aunt and Mandy were making. Everything that came out of the candy store was tastefully done, so he had no reason to think their new idea wouldn’t succeed.

  He thought back to his conversation earlier in the day with Aunt Emma and Mandy. He’d been a real son of a gun for making it sound as if they didn’t sell their candy in his store, they’d fail. He thought they might take it as a joke, but when the raw egg, or what was left of it after it was filtered through the backdoor screen, sprayed the back of his head, he knew he’d better stay as far away from them as a mama cow during the wild cow milking competition at the rodeo.

  Chuckling to himself, Clay sauntered over to the cash register. A soft knock came from the front door. Looking up, he saw Mandy Love standing outside.

  Rushing across the room, he unlocked the door and welcomed her.

  He glanced at the two decorated boxes she held and helped remove her coat. “What in the world are you doing out at this hour?”

  “Your aunt and I worked very late getting ready for tomorrow. She asked me to drop one of these boxes off to you on my way home.” She handed him the box decorated with lots of paper lace and hearts in red and white.

  He couldn’t help but notice that the other box was rather plain, almost like someone had thought it up at the last minute. After their earlier confrontation, he certainly wasn’t about to ask Mandy who it belonged to.

  To get his mind from wandering around and always ending back up on Mandy, he changed the subject. “Thank you. Trey and I both appreciate you watching after Aunt Emma. It’s a relief to know she has you in her life as a business partner and friend. Would you like something to drink? Tea, maybe?” Clay set his box next to the cash register.

  “No, thank you. I’m really tired, so think I should head home and get some rest. Morning will come before I know it. Regardless of the time I get to the candy store, your aunt always has several dozen fried pies made,” she said with a weary smile. “I bet you had a busy day, too.”

  “I sure was glad I had extra help. We sold a lot of things people needed to get ready for tomorrow night’s shindig.” Dang it, every time her gaze met his, his heart turned over again and again. He quickly changed the subject again. “Thank you for bringing this box by. May I walk you home?”

  “Thanks, Clay, but I’ve got another delivery to make and I noticed the lights were on, so it’d be better if I dropped it off tonight instead of tomorrow. The wind has settled down and it’s a beautiful night.”

  Likely, Mandy was dropping the box off to a man, which made him a little bit jealous. He didn’t know why, since he’d sworn off women. “Let me help you with your coat.”

  Once she was comfortable, he handed her the second box, and without giving it any thought, he kissed her on the cheek. He quickly pulled away and said, “Be careful.”

  Clay stood outside the mercantile and watched as she began her trek toward her other stop, which appeared to be on the far end of Greene Street in the opposite direction of her house.

  He jammed his hands in his pockets, leaned against the door frame, and watched as she entered his brother’s livery.

  Something strange was going on...very strange. And, it might well begin with his own brother.

  ****

  Trey Hemphill felt the cool evening breeze come through the door of his shop before he saw Amanda Love. What a surprise—and a wonderful way to end a grueling day. As a matter of fact, he’d started it out with her and Aunt Emma, and couldn’t imagine anything more perfect than ending it with Amanda.

  He set his iron aside and removed his black gloves. “What a pleasant surprise.”

  “I hope it isn’t too late to come by, but I have something for you.” She shoved a rather plain white box tied with red ribbon his way.

  “Let me help you with your coat,” he said as he accepted the box.

  “Thank you, but I won’t be staying long.”

  The flush on her pale cheek was like the glow of sunset on snow. Small, honey-colored curls had escaped from beneath her bonnet and feathered across her forehead. Trey couldn’t help but wonder if she had any idea how sensual she was.

  “Can I change your mind by offering you some coffee?” Trey asked, trying to take his mind off one of the most attractive women he’d ever known.

  “As much as I’d like to, I really must decline,” Amanda said. “Your aunt worked me like a rented mule today.” Her beautiful, irresistible smile set his heart to racing.

  “That’s why I’m so surprised to see you here. You both worked hard. Every time I was near the candy shop, you two were making or baking something that I knew I had to come back and buy once the festivities are over tomorrow.”

  “As a matter of fact, that’s why I’ve stopped by. When you delivered the molds, I promised that I’d bring you some of the candy I made using them, along with a few chocolate covered cherries,” Amanda said.

  Trey didn’t want to act too surprised, but asked, “How did they turn out?”

  “Try them for yourself and tell me.” Another easy, enchanting smile touched her lips.

  Long, delicate fingers untied the bow and removed the lid, making way for Trey to pick up a heart.

  “Thanks. They look perfect.” He took a bite and closed his eyes, savoring the delicious flavor of the chocolate and sweetness of the marshmallow mixture inside. “This is the best tasting candy I believe I’ve ever eaten.” He licked his fingers and picked up a second heart. “Share?” He lifted his hand to her lips and let her take the first bite, but when he pulled away, a string of the creamy center settled across her lip and ran down a tad onto her chin.

  “Let me get that...” Without giving it another thought he leaned into her and kissed her, tasting the sweetness on her lip. Raising his mouth from hers, he gazed into her eyes, not sure whether he should thank her for the kiss or ask for another one.

  To his surprise, Amanda buried her face in his neck and breathed a kiss. She pulled her head up, her gaze locking with his. “I’ll share a chocolate heart with you any day, Trey.”

  “And a kiss with you, Amanda.”

  CHAPTER 6

  In the typical fashion, by the time Mandy got to the store the day of the dance, the shop was lit up and locked up like a jail cell. No doubt, Emma had been working for hours, and Mandy could barely see the sun peeking over the horizon. With little sleep from the night before, Mandy needed more fresh air, so she walked to the back and opened the screen door.

  “And you warn me about making sure I’m safely locked up,” she said to Emma, who jumped when Mandy entered.

  “After all these years, you should know that I keep my eyes and ears open at all times. I think I’m half Texas Ranger.” Emma laughed. “How are things this morning?”

  “So, you want an egg thrown at you, too?” Mandy removed her coat and hung it up.

  “Nope. I remember only too well, seeing Clay take off grinning like a possum eatin’ a yellow jacket.” Emma turned out the last pan of hearts onto the worktable.

  “What did you make this morning? I can see they aren’t custard.” Mandy pulled her apron over her head.

  “Well, I decided we had enough of about everything for the last-minute customers, so I thought some apple pies would be good. I chopped up some of the canned apples and made top and bottom crusts then baked them in your candy molds.” She flipped over one heart-shaped pie after another. “The first batch was so good that I decided to make another one.”

  “I’m eager to taste one.” Mandy washed her hands and dried them. “By the way, I delivered your package to Clay.”

  “Good. That’s one less that I have to worry about. Do you know that we sold out of your special heart candy?”

  “No. I presume that’s a subtle hint that I need to get my backside in gear and make more.” Mandy laughed.

  “Could be. Oh, by the way, Jenny came by my place last night after we closed and asked if she could hav
e the day off to get ready for the dance.” Emma cut one of the apple hearts in half and pushed it over to Mandy. “Now, to see what you think.”

  Mandy savored the treat. From the look on Emma’s face, she was thoroughly pleased with herself.

  After finishing her half of the pie, Mandy said, “That was delicious. I hope you are taking a big platter of them to tonight’s dance.” She wiped her hands on her apron. “And I hope you told Jenny to take time off. She’s worked hard the last couple of days and we can handle the front.”

  “I did, but I talked my sister into helping out.”

  “This year’s Valentine’s Dance has really turned out to be something I don’t believe Caprock has ever experienced.” Mandy began measuring sugar into a pot. “I thought your sister was going to the dance.”

  “She is. All the single women are getting ready for tonight, so that only leaves wives, widows, and spinsters for late arrivals.”

  Mandy laughed and shook her head. “I think I lost count on the cups of sugar I put in with that comment.” She poured the sugar in a bowl to begin recounting the cups. “Well, you fall in the widow category and your sister has a husband, so that makes me the spinster.”

  “No,” Emma replied thoughtfully. “I think tonight’s gonna be more like a fairy tale.”

  Mandy finished putting sugar in the pot. “I sure wish I could have talked to Jenny today to see who asked her to write my invitation, but I guess that won’t be possible. Not until tonight.”

  “Remember the rules. All of the boxes will be put on the table and the men will select theirs and the announcer will tell everybody who his dance partner is.”

  Mandy stirred cream and butter into the sugar. “So, if my invitation is a ploy to embarrass me, I won’t know until there are no boxes left, and I’m standing there like a fool.”

  “If you want to be a negative nanny goat, I guess you could look at it that way, but on the other hand, there’ll be a lot of men there who will be wearing a heart on their sleeve to let everybody know they’re unattached and an available dance partner. Have you paid any attention to some of the cowboys who come to town on payday?”

  “To be honest with you, since I’ve been here I probably haven’t taken a second look at more than one or two men.”

  Emma washed her hands. “Well, there’s been more than a couple who have had their heads turned by you.”

  For the next three hours, Mandy, Emma and her sister worked like they were trying to tie down a bobcat with a piece of string and it was about as hot in the kitchen to wither a fence post.

  They were too busy to talk, but Mandy wasn’t too busy to think about both of Emma’s nephews and their kisses the night before. She’d never been kissed twice in the same night, and certainly not by two different men. As much as she’d like to believe her suitor could be Trey or Clay Hemphill, she found that impossible. Completely a fairy tale, as Emma had said.

  Out of nowhere, Emma asked, “What are you going to wear tonight?”

  “I have a new calico dress.”

  “That’ll never do,” Emma said.

  “It’s new and pink-printed.”

  “Nope.” Emma turned to face Mandy. “Won’t do. Get yourself out of here. I’ll clean up. Bathe and do your hair up fancy then come back to my little place when you’re finished. We’re about the same size and I have the perfect dress for you. Shoes, too. Get back as soon as you can, you hear?”

  There was no bargaining with Emma, and Mandy knew it. She been taught to respect her elders and she was frankly tired of being seen as a tall woman with a nice smile. She wanted something more.

  “Okay, I’ll do it just because it’s you, Emma; but understand, if it were anybody else the answer would be no. No fancy dress.”

  “It’s pink and very pretty,” Emma said.

  “One question before I leave. Who do the boxes belong to that have been sitting on the counter out front all day?”

  “I forgot, but remember some of them are for the announcer, three for the band, a couple of men who will get to town too late to pick up their boxes here, so we told them we’d bring them with us. I think Jenny might be going to take them, so I can tend to you, our little Cinderella.” Emma shot Mandy a smile that made her wonder what in the heck she was up to.

  “Whether you’re my elder or not, I promise you, if I look like Cinderella I’m not going.”

  “Don’t make me be the mean old step-mother, Amanda.”

  A couple of hours later, Mandy stood in front of her mirror in her bedroom pushing and weaving in ivory-colored hair combs to keep her somewhat-curly hair swept up tightly on the top of her head, hoping it would satisfy Emma.

  Mandy stepped into the best shoes she owned and put on her Sunday-go-to-meeting coat over the pink paisley print dress. This is a bad idea...a very bad idea.

  What would make her step out of character and agree to such foolishness? It was bad enough that she’d agreed to go to the dance, but to have Emma dress her up was probably the dumbest thing Mandy had ever done in her life. No doubt, this was going to have a bad outcome.

  Mandy met Emma as agreed. It didn’t take long until Mandy broke all of her promises she’d made to herself. By the time Emma added a small, shiny tiara with light pink stones, Mandy felt like she truly was Cinderella, going to the prince’s ball.

  When they entered the ball room of the new Caprock Hotel, dancing had already commenced, but that didn’t stop half of the town’s folk from stopping and turning to look at Mandy and Emma. Mandy stepped behind Emma, feeling certain they were looking at Emma because she truly looked beautiful in her ivory dress that was fit for a princess.

  The music stopped and the announcer took over. “Now that we have half of the boxes matched with the gentlemen’s dates for the dance, it’s time to finish the second half.”

  For the first time since coming to Caprock, Texas, Mandy noticed a number of good-looking cowboys. Could one of them be the one who was playing the prank on her? She didn’t see any man who seemed to give her extra attention, but did notice how many women seemed to be whispering amongst themselves.

  “Gentlemen, as we did in the first half, when I select your box and call your name, you can come forward and let everyone know who you bought a box of candy for. Then take the dance floor. When we’re finished, the band will start another set,” said the announcer.

  Several dozen names were called, but still, nobody matched Emma, Jenny, or Mandy.

  Emma’s brother-in-law’s name was announced, and of course, he called his wife’s name.

  One step at a time, Mandy was finding herself backing out of the room.

  Suddenly, she heard the banker call out Emma’s name. There were two boxes, but for the life of her, with all the men there she hadn’t seen Clay or Trey Hemphill. Maybe neither of them decided to attend.

  “We have two boxes left,” the announcer said.

  Two tall, lanky cowboys stepped in front of Mandy and laughed out loud drowning out the announcer. She couldn’t see who the gentleman was, but she heard Jenny’s name being called.

  That left one box and a lot of dancers without a box of their own.

  She heard Jenny squeal and say, “Why—”

  A big laugh from the cowboys once again drowned out the full name, but Mandy heard the last, “—Hemphill, I figured it was you all along.”

  Mandy wanted to run instead of slowly backing out of the room. There couldn’t be any boxes left, and whoever the jokester was, they had succeeded at making her look like a fool.

  Without warning, the announcer called out, “Clay Hemphill get yourself up here and tell everybody who you invited to the dance.”

  The cowboys blocking Mandy parted, and she got a good look at the dance floor, where Trey and Jenny stood arm in arm waiting for the final box to be retrieved.

  She looked at the announcer and saw Clay. Although he always dressed nicely, he looked exceptionally good tonight. But she was certain he wasn’t the one who sent out the i
nvitation.

  Clay stepped in front of the last box and looked straight at Mandy. “Mandy Love, will you be my dance partner for tonight?”

  Mandy walked to the front and accepted the decorated box offered her by Clay. She couldn’t help but smile at him when she saw it packed full of pastries and recognized the heart-shaped apple pies his aunt had made earlier in the day.

  She wanted so badly to kiss him, but in a voice only they could hear she said, “So you’re my Prince Charming for the evening?”

  Clay smiled down at her. “If you’ll be my Cinderella,” he whispered.

  The couple took to the dance floor just as the band began to play a waltz. “Did Emma put you up to this?” she whispered in his ear.

  “Both of my aunts, Jenny, and my brother,” he whispered back.

  “Trey?”

  “That’s the only brother I have. I was born about five minutes after him, so everyone decided that since I was the youngest, I should be treated as the baby boy. Being the older brother, Trey always let me have whatever I wanted whether he wanted it first or not.”

  As the music finished and Clay and Mandy headed for their table, he said, “I was so afraid you’d figure out who sent the invitation because I always call you Mandy and Trey calls you Amanda. Traits of an older brother, I guess.”

  Mandy squeezed his hand. This had been the best Valentine’s Day she’d ever had. “I’m glad you’re the youngest.”

  About the Author

  I’m a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author and native Texan, who lives in the Texas Panhandle with my husband of forty-five years, Bob. With plans to write a cookbook, I took my first creative writing class in 2001. One of my favorite parts of being an author is teaching the craft and mentoring beginner writers. I enjoy sharing my love for the new frontier, the Civil War, quilting, and antiques; and still believe in the Code of the Old West.