Finding His Heart (Cottonwood Ranch Book 4)

by Jaclyn Hardy

  She took a few notes and sat down to draw out a few dresses.

  What about tonight?

  The message flashed across what she was doing, then disappeared. Mandy smiled and answered back.

  Think you can get away?

  Eric will cover for me. There’s a concert tonight and I could grab an extra ticket if you’re interested.

  What kind of concert?

  Mandy tapped her phone waiting for an answer. Chances were it was country, her least favorite.

  What else is there at an FFA show? I know it’s probably not your favorite. If you don’t like it, we can always sneak out.

  Sounds good. Should I just meet you there?

  Mandy would have to continue her design ideas later. She needed to go faster if she was going to get done in time for the concert.

  No, let’s go to dinner. I’ve been craving lasagna. Meet at Tony’s?

  Sure. What time?

  We have one more competition tonight. So, let’s say in an hour and a half?

  Wow, Mandy really needed to hurry, then. She sent back a message saying she’d be there and then moved quicker through the museum. There were a few more pieces that triggered ideas. She stopped long enough to make a quick note, then moved on to the next one. By the time she got through the rest of the exhibits, she only had about twenty minutes to get to the restaurant. Walking wasn’t an option.

  Mandy texted the cab driver and fleshed out some of her ideas on her phone while she waited for him to show, and they made it to Tony’s with a couple of minutes to spare. She handed cash to the driver with a tip for being so quick, then climbed out.

  Thomas stood at the entrance with his hands in his pockets. He wore a cowboy hat and flannel shirt that sent her heart racing. Freddy never had this effect on her. Thomas hadn’t either, now that she thought about it. And yet, she kept wanting to spend more time with him.

  She straightened her hair and checked her makeup before meeting him at the door. “Hey. You look ready to party.”

  “Yeah, we were able to ditch the uniforms for the concert. You look nice too. Did you do anything fun today?” Thomas opened the door for her and they walked inside.

  “I went to the gardens and a museum. And I worked on the new line of clothing I came up with last night. Oh, and I bought some fabric.” Mandy sat on one of the benches to wait and stretched her legs out in front of her.

  Thomas’s eyebrows shot up. “You bought fabric while on vacation?”

  “Yep. What can I say? When I get a good idea, I have to run with it or I lose it.” Mandy pulled out her phone. “It’s not much, but here’s what I have so far.” She bit her lip while he flipped through the pictures. It was one thing for her boss to look through these, but her stomach twisted in knots while she watched him glance through.

  “You came up with these?”

  Mandy nodded. “Yep. I was up for most of the night working on them.”

  “And you think they’ll sell?”

  Mandy’s face dropped. “You don’t think they will?”

  “What? Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean that at all. They’re amazing. I was just thinking they remind me a lot of what I’d find at the little store back home, so I was surprised that you’d design them for a national market.”

  Mandy stared down at the photos. They belonged in a small store? Maybe she should rethink a few of them, then.

  “Hey, please don’t take what I said wrong. They really are amazing.” Thomas put a hand on hers, sending a shock of pleasure up her arm.

  “Thanks.” Mandy pulled up the email from her boss. “Apparently my boss thinks so too.”

  Thomas took her phone from her and read the message. His eyes lit up. “That’s great.”

  “It is except that I have to leave.” Mandy put her phone away as their names were called to be seated.

  They sat close to where they’d been the last time. The excitement of running into Thomas the last time was dulled slightly by the fact that she’d have to leave the next day. Mandy glanced through the menu, but nothing registered.

  “Are you okay?” Thomas asked.

  “Yeah, sorry. I always hate when vacations have to end, and this one came faster than I’d planned. I’ll survive.” Mandy smiled. “So, what did you guys do today?”

  Thomas tapped his chin. “Well, let’s see. We went through another debate and they moved on to the last round. They placed in a couple of other categories, which is pretty cool. Oh, and we met up with other students from Idaho. That was rather chaotic.”

  “Sounds exciting.” Mandy took a sip of her water and ordered the lasagna. “So, on a scale of one to ten, how out of place am I going to be with what I’m wearing?”

  “You look perfect. Some people will dress up and others will just go in T-shirts and jeans.” Thomas grinned, making Mandy’s heart skip a beat. He needed to stop saying stuff like that. It made it harder for her to leave him.

  Mandy had to stop thinking like that. Tonight was the last evening to spend together and she needed to make the most of it instead of feeling sorry for herself. Tomorrow she’d go back to city life, but for now, she’d enjoy every last second she had with the cowboy in front of her.

  Thomas didn’t want the evening to end. This was the last chance he had to spend with her before she went back to New York City. Who knew when he’d see her again? Dinner was amazing like it had been the last time, and he was glad he’d suggested it.

  Mandy came back from the bathroom where she’d applied bright red lipstick that sent his heart racing. “Ready to go. Sorry it took a bit.”

  “No problem.” He paid for their dinner, then caught the cab that Mandy had set up.

  Students and their leaders poured into the convention center and toward the concert. He kept his hand on the small of her back so they wouldn’t lose each other. The guards scanned their tickets and then he led her to where the rest of the group stood waiting for the concert to start.

  Hannah brightened when she saw Mandy. “Hey, you came.”

  “I wouldn’t miss.” Mandy pulled her into a hug. “Cute skirt.”

  “Thanks. I picked it up earlier today.” Hannah turned so Mandy could see the whole thing.

  Thomas leaned down to Mandy’s ear. “You should show her your designs. She’d love them.”

  Mandy smiled up at him then pulled out her phone to show the girls. He knew by the squeals that he’d been right.

  Eric pushed past them and stood next to Thomas. “You were almost caught, by the way. They wanted pictures of everyone’s group and I had to tell them you were back at the hotel after eating too many hot dogs.”

  “Too many . . . you couldn’t come up with something else?” Thomas shook his head.

  “Hey, don’t disappear and I won’t have to come up with stories.” Eric slugged him in the shoulder. “She looks pretty good, doesn’t she?”

  Thomas raised an eyebrow. “She’s too old for you, man. But yes, she looks amazing. Where’s Mr. Hunter?”

  “I think one of the competitions went long. Some of the guys aren’t here yet.” Eric waved at someone. “Now that you’re back with your date, I’m going to go spend time with mine.”

  He was gone before Thomas could say anything. If it had been any of the other kids, he would have worried. Eric would be back when the concert was over. He turned back to Mandy to find them still talking about the dresses. They really were amazing. How she could design something like that was beyond him. He was having a hard enough time planning a house and here she was designing all these fancy clothes.

  Mandy looked over at him and stepped closer. “These girls have an eye for fashion. If they ever need a job, I know where to find them one.”

  “I figured they’d love it.” Thomas wanted to say more but the lights went off. The concert was about to start. The others went to stand by friends and Thomas moved closer to Mandy. Screams erupted as the music started, and that meant that talking would have to wait until after the concert.

 
Thomas knew this wasn’t Mandy’s favorite music. They’d discussed it often enough during her visit to Idaho. But she still seemed to have fun and jumped along with the rest of the group.

  When a slow song began, some people paired off to dance. Mandy looked up at Thomas and he held a hand out. She took it and stepped into his arms, leaning her head against his chest. He hoped she’d mistake the wild thumping of his heart for the beat of the concert. The way she fit in his arms just felt so right.

  The song ended and the spell broke as she stepped away. He wanted to take her hand, but hesitated. As much as he cared for her, he knew that she would be gone the next day. Like she had after her vacation. Like she had after Laura’s wedding. No matter how right it felt to have her in his arms, he couldn’t give in. He didn’t want to be hurt again.

  When the house lights came on, it was time to make sure he had everyone in his group. Eric came back from where he’d been sitting and judging by the lipstick on his cheek, the concert had gone well for him.

  Thomas counted everyone three times to make sure he had it right. “Off to the buses, guys. Make sure to stick together.”

  They walked out to the bus and once everyone was on, he turned to Mandy. “Thanks for coming tonight.”

  “Of course. Thanks for inviting me.” She tipped her head to the side. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  She frowned. “You’ve just been a little distant since we danced. Did I step on your foot or something?”

  “No. I wanted you to enjoy the concert, so I figured I wouldn’t interrupt you.” It was a half-truth, but it was enough to satisfy her. “Good luck with your designs. And if you end up in Idaho again, look me up. Although your globe spinning will probably take you to Africa or something.”

  Mandy shook her head. “No more globe spinning. It’s not quite as fun without Laura here.”

  “True. Well, I guess I’ll see you sometime.”

  Mandy nodded, then paused. “What if I were to throw her a baby shower? I’d have to fly out there for that.”

  Thomas’s heart lifted a little. “That could be fun. I could help.”

  “I’d love that.” Mandy turned to leave, but stopped. She threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek. “It was good to see you. I’ll be in touch.”

  And just like that, she was gone again. Thomas stared toward the spot where she’d disappeared around the bus.

  “Are you just going to stand there or can we go back to the hotel?” Mr. Hunter stood on the bottom step of the bus with a smirk.

  “Oh, sorry.” Thomas climbed on and stared out the window until they got to the hotel. While the others ran inside to catch a basketball game, Thomas trudged behind them. He knew this was going to happen. Whether it was tonight or three days from now, she was going to leave. And it was better for both of them that she left when she did. Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have let her go.

  Thomas turned on the TV to watch basketball and pulled out his sketchpad. He’d been trying to get his house plans just right, but he couldn’t get the dimensions how he wanted them. He extended a few of the rooms by a few feet and added a fireplace to the living room. The kitchen needed an island, so he expanded that as well.

  When he started picturing Mandy alongside him, he tossed the notebook on the other bed and rolled over. It was a good thing the next day’s competition schedule was so packed. He was going to need all the distractions he could get.

  Thomas stood and cheered loudly as his debate team took first place. All the mini-debates had paid off. He’d drilled them between every break. Now that the day was over, it was time to celebrate. He wound through the crowd to meet up with the group. As soon as they saw him, he was attacked with hugs.

  “We did it!” Hannah beamed. “I can’t believe it.”

  “I can. You guys showed no mercy. How’d you come up with that research at the last second? I thought you were going to be in trouble.” Thomas shook hands with the other leaders and turned back.

  Eric smiled slyly. “It’s this little thing called a phone. They kept talking while I found out the information.”

  Thomas raised an eyebrow. “Is that even legal?”

  “Hey, they gave us time for the rebuttal. That was perfectly okay. I think.” Eric grinned at someone behind Thomas. “Excuse me. I’ll be back.”

  Adam rolled his eyes. “Always leaving for a girl.”

  Hailey elbowed him. “Maybe you should try it. Can we go shopping now? Please?”

  “Yes, let’s head down to the vendor floor. I’ll even let you guys break off into groups if you’d like. As long as you have your phones in case we need to meet up.”

  Hannah let out a whoop. “There’s a pair of boots I’ve been dying to grab. Now I just hope they have some in my size. Come on, Hailey.”

  They left, and Adam looked up at Thomas. “Guess I’m with you?”

  “If you want. Or you can go by yourself.” Thomas checked his watch. “We have a couple of hours until the rodeo. Go. Celebrate.”

  Adam shrugged. “I’ll just stay with you.”

  “Sounds good. Let’s let Eric know where we’re going and then we’ll head down.” Thomas stood on the stage and looked out over the crowd until he spotted Eric in the back kissing a redhead girl. “Well, looks like he’s doing okay.”

  Adam smirked and followed behind Thomas as they left the room. Thomas stopped long enough to tell them where they’d be and then told him to behave and started for the door. Maybe it wasn’t smart to leave an eighteen-year-old alone. He turned back.

  “Just kidding. Why don’t you two come with us?” Thomas shot Eric a ‘you’d-better-not-argue-or-I’ll-make-your-life-miserable’ look until Eric sighed.

  “Hey, Bethany, why don’t we hang out with my friend and our jerk-for-a-leader, Thomas? Doesn’t that sound exciting?”

  Bethany pouted. “I finally got away from mine.”

  Thomas leaned forward. “That’s an even better reason for you to come with us. We don’t bite. Well, I don’t. Adam does sometimes.”

  “Only on Wednesdays—oh wait, it is Wednesday.” Adam grinned, surprising Thomas. Usually he was pretty quiet.

  “Ignore them.” Eric wrapped an arm around her waist and left the room in front of Thomas and Adam, then shot them a glare.

  Thomas laughed and turned to Adam. “Where’d you get that from?”

  “I don’t know. Just figured it was something you would say.” Adam shoved his hands in his pockets. The vendor floor was packed with kids and their leaders. Everyone was pretty much done with competitions for the day, so it was prime shopping time. Thomas let the boys lead the way since he wasn’t really planning to buy anything. Eric and Bethany didn’t really look at anything, but Adam stopped at a few places, picked something up, then muttered and put it back down.

  After three more booths, Thomas couldn’t keep quiet. “Okay, I know this . . . thing you’re doing. Who are you shopping for?”

  Adam turned away, blushing. “No one.”

  “You’ve picked up several scarves, a ring, a couple of figurines, and a, well, a bag of popcorn. They’re not for you. I’ve never seen your mom or sister wear anything like that before. And the blush tells me it’s for someone else.”

  Adam blinked. “How do you do that?”

  Thomas shrugged. “I don’t know. I just pick up on things. Now, tell me about this person, and I can help you find something.”

  “Well, you know her pretty well.”

  Thomas’s first thought went to Mandy. “Uh . . .”

  “No, not her. She is clearly head over heels for you. I meant,” he looked around to make sure no one was around. “I meant Hailey.”

  A lightbulb went off in Thomas’s head. Adam usually found a way to sit by her in any of the competitions. And had helped when she couldn’t find her keys. And when she had a panic attack. But he was always so quiet. This was perfect.

  “Okay, here’s what we do.” Thomas looked around for the right
booth and led him over there. “From what I understand, Hailey likes music, right?”

  “Yeah, she’s amazing at the piano.” Adam looked up at Thomas. “You think she’d want something to do with that?”

  Thomas gestured toward the music boxes. “I think she would go absolutely crazy over something like this.”

  Adam wound a couple of the boxes up, shook his head and moved to the next one. Thomas nodded to himself. The kid was quiet, but he knew what he wanted. None of the songs seemed to work for what he wanted. Thomas picked up a jewelry box with a rose on top of it. He opened it, and it played a lullaby. Adam’s hand froze, and he turned back.

  “That’s the one.”

  “You sure?” Thomas handed it to him. It was extremely fragile, and Thomas wasn’t sure it would survive the trip home, but it was beautiful.

  Adam nodded and inspected the inside and outside. His face fell a little at the price. “Well, maybe not.”

  Thomas checked the price and opened his wallet. “Do it.”

  “What? No. I can’t take your money.” Adam moved to set down the box, but Thomas stopped him.

  “You know she’d love it, right?”

  “Well, yeah, but I can’t have you just give me the money for it.” Adam glared.

  Thomas held out the money. “Who said anything about giving? I have a whole plot of land that needs to be developed and no one to help me.”

  Adam stared at him. “You’d let me work for it?”

  “Well, you need a job, right?” Thomas handed the money and the music box over to the woman in the booth so she could wrap it up.

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  Thomas clapped him on the back. “Perfect. It works for both of us. You can start when we get home.”

  Adam took the wrapped gift and set it gingerly in his bag so Hailey wouldn’t see it. “I have basketball starting up.”

  “Great. You can work when you don’t have practice. Now, about finding the right time to give it to her . . . first, you need to actually talk to her. Beyond assisting her with finding her keys. What else does she like to talk about?”