by Lynn Cahoon
She should turn down the sponsorship. Tear this contract up. Break all ties to Hunter Martin, his family, his business, and Kati.
She laid the contract on the table. She wasn’t going to turn it down. This one contract would pay for the expenses for the rest of the rodeos this year. And by the end of the five years, she’d have enough money saved up on her commission to pay her mother’s medical expenses herself, especially if she sold the house.
And bottom line, it wasn’t fair to the bull riders to turn the contract down. James could deal with any promotional contact the riders would be required of in order to fulfill the contract. James had a head for this kind of thing. And he wouldn’t want to tear off Hunter’s clothes and throw him down on the bed every time they met.
Or at least she hoped not.
A knock on the door broke up her mini pity party. She stood and looked down at the tank top and yoga pants she wore. Good enough for a door to door salesman, she decided.
When she opened the door, Jesse Sullivan stood there with a bottle of wine in one hand and a bag of Chinese food in the other. A twelve pack of beer sat on the porch next to him.
“Happy annulment.” Jesse pushed past her into the living room. “Grab the beer, would ya?”
Barb wiped tearstains off her face. She grabbed the carton and closed the door. “Jesse, why are you here?”
“Lizzie can’t be here so she made me come and stand in as your BFF tonight. I’m to listen and nod, and not say anything stupid. Or try to kiss you, even though in that get up you’re making that part of the bargain kind of easy. Did you even brush your hair today?”
“Leave me alone.” Barb messed with her hair, pulling her hair tighter, then resetting the clip. “I don’t need anyone here babysitting me.”
“Now, Lizzie said you’d fight me, so I am supposed to put this into the DVD player.” He pulled out a worn copy of Sleepless in Seattle, her and Lizzie’s go-to movie.
Barb slipped back onto the couch. “Okay, you can stay. Give me a box of fried rice.”
Jesse handed her a box with a pair of chopsticks. Then he started the movie. As he grabbed a box of broccoli and beef, he held up the contract. “You got the sponsorship?”
“Divorce present from my ex.” Barb tried to smile.
“You don’t have to accept this, you know.” Jesse thumbed through the pages. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s a huge contract. But we’ll be fine without it. I’m sure the other guys will feel the same.”
“Don’t bet on it. Besides, if Hunter’s stupid enough to sponsor all of you guys, I’m not standing in his way. James can handle the touchy feely part of the agreement.”
Jesse sat the contract down and took a bite of his food. Without looking at her, he said, “Barb, you don’t have to be the successful manager all the time. You can just be Barb.”
And that was where Jesse was wrong. She had to be a successful career woman. Frankly, that was all she had left. “Shut up and watch the movie.”
Jesse smiled and leaned back. “Yes, ma’am.”
• • •
Hunter turned down the street to Lorraine’s house. According to the GPS in his truck, he should be close.
“Is this the way to the ice cream shop?” Kati leaned forward in her seat, glancing out the windows. “It looks like just houses.”
“Hold on, I wanted to check something.” Hunter didn’t want to get the kid’s hopes up. Barb might not be home, or worse. He slowed down when the voice announced he’d reached his destination. “Worse” was right. A blue Silverado sat in the driveway next to Barb’s rental. A truck with a My Other Car is a Braham Bull bumper sticker. He’d seen that truck before, as Jesse and Barb had pulled away from the reception. Jesse Sullivan was consoling the woman that used to be Hunter’s wife. The woman Hunter had let get away.
Pain filled his heart as he sped the truck up and drove away from the car.
Kati’s voice came from the back. “That was Barb’s house. Why didn’t we stop?”
Hunter pressed his lips together. “She has company. We’ll visit her another time.”
There was no answer from the back seat but when he looked in the rearview mirror, Kati was watching him. “She’ll come back, Uncle Hunter. She loves us.”
Chapter 18
Barb’s head pounded. She’d finished off both bottles of wine last night. She was pretty sure Jesse had put her to bed last night, but she couldn’t remember much after the third time she’d begged him to start the movie over.
Now she sat in the waiting area by the gate where in less than an hour their plane would be taking off. And as usual, Jesse wasn’t here. He’d left a note on top of the contract saying he’d switched up their flight to the later, five P.M. departure and that he’d see her at the airport.
Barb had been here for thirty minutes. No Jesse. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Hangovers were punishment for trying to forget. Now, all she could think about was the pain in her head and not her heart. She felt a tug on her jeans and opened her eyes.
A five-year-old girl with hair the same color as Kati’s stared at her.
“You shouldn’t sleep at the airport,” the little girl reprimanded Barb.
“I wasn’t sleeping.” Barb sat up straighter in her chair.
“Your eyes were closed.”
Laughing, she nodded, ignoring the throb in her head as she did. “Yes, but that doesn’t mean I was sleeping. Besides, why can’t I sleep?”
“Because someone will take your purse and then you’ll have no money.” The little girl nodded seriously. “I can’t watch out for you long. We’re going to Disneyland.”
Barb smiled. The kid wanted to take care of her. Soft heart. Barb hoped she kept it. “So you’re taking Minnie to see Mickey?” She pointed to the stuffed animal in the girl’s arms.
“She’s already there. This is a stuffed animal.” The little girl looked at Barb like she was slow. “Do you have a little girl?”
Barb’s heart took over the pain in her body. “No, I don’t.”
The child nodded. “You should soon, now that you’re married. Babies come after people get married. It’s a law.”
“How do you know I’m married?”
“Jilly? Come over here and stop bothering that lady,” a woman called from the other side of the hallway. The waiting area for the California bound plane, Barb guessed.
The little girl started to skip away, then turned and answered Barb’s question. “Because you have a ring, silly.”
Barb looked down at her offending hand. With all the confusion and anger and pain, she’d forgotten she still wore the placer ring Hunter had given her that night in Vegas. A fake ring as a symbol of a fake marriage. She pulled at the ring, but it didn’t want to budge. She dug in her purse and found some hand lotion. Dabbing it on her finger, she removed the ring with a little effort and sat staring at it. The fake diamond still sparkled.
“Thought I’d find you here,” a male voice broke up her thoughts.
“You should have been here an hour ago. You just like toying with me, right?” Barb looked up and instead of Jesse, found Hunter standing in front of her. “What are you doing here?”
Instead of answering her question, he plucked the ring out of her hand. “I realized I forgot something.”
“You told me it was my consolation prize. You told me to keep it,” Barb growled.
“No, I didn’t mean that. I meant I forgot to switch it out when I asked you to stay. When I asked you to be my real wife. When I told you I loved you.” Hunter went down on one knee.
“You didn’t say all that. You said Kati loved me.” Barb’s heart raced and she felt dizzy. This couldn’t be happening, not here. Barb glanced around the crowd watching them. What was he thinking?
“I may have forgotten to say a few things. But I’m here now.” Hunter took her left hand and slipped a different ring on her finger. “I told you if this had been a real wedding you’d get my mother’s ring. I just fo
rgot to replace the ring in time.”
“So you’re saying you want a real marriage? What about the annulment papers I signed yesterday?” Barb stared at the ring, not wanting to look at Hunter. Everything she’d ever wanted, the romance, the warm, loved feeling, pressed against her brain. Hunter had replaced the placer ring with a real one. The fake was gone.
“Kati and I made you flowers last night. We were going to take you to ice cream, but you had company.” He pulled a bouquet of paper flowers from behind his back. “The girl can be creative when she wants to be.”
“Jesse was standing in for Lizzie.” Barb smiled, fingering the paper flowers. Even sprinkled in glitter, she could see the legal words in bits and pieces. They’d cut up the annulment papers. She was still married. “We watched Sleepless in Seattle until his eyes bled.”
“He told me this morning when he stopped by the house and informed me I was an idiot. Then he gave me your flight number.” Hunter squeezed her hand and for the first time seemed to see the crowd standing around them. “I’m getting a little self-conscious down here. Are you going to forgive me? Do you want to make this marriage work?”
Barb looked over Hunter’s shoulder at the little girl with her parents. A life she wanted but never thought she could have. Until today. All she had to do was say yes, and that would be her and Hunter and Kati. A family. Jilly saw her looking and waved, smiling.
Barb smiled back and turned her gaze back to Hunter.
All she had to say was yes. And so she did.
Chapter 19
The great thing about year-long school was Kati had vacation time when Barb wasn’t traveling all over the western side of the United States. And so, in early October, Barb found herself at the same airport terminal gate that Jilly and her family had been the day Hunter had come to rescue her.
She watched Hunter and Kati coming up the hallway. They’d stopped in one of the little shops to stock up on plane activities. Kati arrived first and tossed a blue dog collar with the word “Boise” written out in rhinestones on Barb’s lap.
“Did Bella need a new collar?” Barb let the stones sparkle in the sunlight coming in through the large windows.
“Barb, you don’t have to wait until you need something. Bella will love this.” Kati took the collar from Barb and sat heavily in the seat next to her. “I guess I can’t get her one from Disneyland too now.”
“We’ll see.” Barb brushed Kati’s blonde hair out of her eyes and back around her ear. She’d finally started to put on a little weight after three months, and her legs looked tanned and toned from all the soccer she’d been playing the last month.
“I told her not to buy the collar, but she started to cry.” Hunter sat next to Barb and tossed a bag of candy on her lap.
“You’re wrapped. That’s all I’m going to say.” Barb jiggled the bag. “Thanks for these. I can’t fly without my Skittles.”
Hunter leaned in and kissed her. “I’m totally head over heels in love with both of you. So call me wrapped, I don’t care.”
Barb softened the kiss and ran her hand through his hair. She didn’t care, either.
“Yech. Guys, people can see you,” Kati whispered loudly, and a chuckle came from the other passengers sitting across from their seats.
“We’re embarrassing the child,” Barb whispered to Hunter, her face leaning on his.
“She’ll get over it. I’m sure we’ll get payback soon.” Hunter kissed her on the forehead and leaned back in his chair.
Barb knew he was right. Now, she wasn’t sitting in an airport waiting for her life to start, she was waiting for the next surprise, and the one after that. And enjoying every moment of having a family. A family of her very own.
About the Author
Lynn Cahoon spent the first part of her life, living in what’s lovingly called the Treasure Valley around the Boise, Idaho area, the setting for The Bull Rider’s Manager. Now, she calls a small historic town on the Mississippi River where she lives with her husband, home. She writes stories with heroes to fall in love with and heroines who always know exactly what they want and need, until they don’t. You can connect with Lynn at her website — www.lynncahoon.wordpress.com or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/LynnCahoonAuthor).
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