Enchanted by the Rodeo Queen--A Clean Romance

by Melinda Curtis

  “He’s not the sheriff, but...” Adam stared up at Emily. “Did you do something wrong?”

  “No.” If anyone had done something wrong, it’d been Jonah. Emily went to her room, snatched up Jonah’s script and marched outside. “Is this what you want?” She held it out to him, extending her arm as far as it could go.

  Jonah raised his hands slowly, as if she held a gun. “Nope.”

  It sounded like chaos inside the ranch house. Emily bet the boys were running about, gathering their backpacks, pulling on boots, shouting at each other to hurry. They wouldn’t want to miss the show.

  Emily didn’t want to be the show. “Go on.” She shook the script. “Take it. And you can take my name off it, too.”

  “No.” Jonah took a step back. “Didn’t you read it? Didn’t you see your words in there as dialogue?”

  Emily wanted to say no. She wanted to say no, more than anything. “Yes,” she admitted instead. “It’s good, Jonah. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

  A hint of a grin ghosted his lips. “One of the things.”

  “I don’t deserve to have my name on this.” The gravel still held the morning dew. If she dropped his work, the pages at the end would be ruined. She hesitated, held back by fear. And then dropped it. “I don’t want to be associated with you or this.”

  His grin disappeared. “You deserve to have a film credit. I couldn’t have unraveled Letty’s story without you.” He left the pages on the ground. “If it wasn’t for you, I’d have written a script about Merciless Mike Moody. And as you once told me, any hack could write a script about a male bandit.”

  She willed her feet to move back, but she was caught in his gaze and in the words—her words—that he’d handed back to her.

  “I love you, Aunty Em.” Only Jonah would make a declaration with the nickname used by her favorite people in the world. “I love the way you don’t take my guff at face value. I love the way I can be me, unfiltered, and you can be you, unfiltered, when we’re together.”

  Emily’s throat felt tight. She felt that way, too. But she didn’t move. She barely breathed.

  “I love that you’re part of a big family. An integral part.” He gestured toward her nephews coming out the front door. “I’m part of a big family, too. Families can be messy and feelings can sometimes get hurt, but I know it’s important to make amends, to keep family together.”

  His words dredged up the longing she had for love, for family, for him.

  Jonah stepped closer. He looked put together on the outside, but inside he was just as scarred and scared as Deadly in the heavy brush of the woods. “I know it’s important to say I messed up.”

  “Amen,” Franny said from the porch.

  Gertie shushed her.

  Jonah stepped closer still. “I know it’s important to say I’m going to try never to hurt you like that again.”

  Emily wanted to wrap her arms around Jonah and know he loved her as much as she loved him. But there was something that kept her rooted in place. It wasn’t that his apology hadn’t been epic. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe he could love her.

  Her gaze drifted to the ground. To the pages of Letty Moody’s story.

  Jonah followed her gaze. “You see it, don’t you? We’re good together.” One more step and he was in her space, in her life, in her world. “We’re like sweet and sour, honey.” His arms came around her. “Oil and vinegar.” He drew her in close. “Those opposites are important because they complement each other. What would life be like without them?”

  Franny was mumbling and Gertie was shushing her.

  And Emily didn’t care. Her arms came around Jonah’s waist. She breathed in air through lungs that were heavy with grief and happiness, hurt and joy. She was going to forgive him. If she was honest with herself, she’d forgiven him when she read that script last night.

  “I want you to be my wife.” Jonah pressed a kiss to her forehead, so tender it brought tears to Em’s eyes. His arms loosened and he got down on one knee on the gravel. “I want to have a houseful of kids that create a houseful of chaos.”

  Emily’s eggs cheered.

  Emily sniffed as a tear ran down her cheek. “Yes.” She tried to tug him to his feet.

  But Jonah wasn’t done. “And I want you to be my writing partner.”

  Emily held her breath.

  Jonah wasn’t promising to buy her a ranch, but this was something important. Something that was just hers. And his. Something that scared her more than putting on fancy clothes and trying to look like she belonged at the side of a Hollywood Monroe. She opened her mouth to hedge, but Jonah was quick to stand and take her chin in one hand.

  “Don’t be afraid. You can do this, Em. We’ll live in Hollywood during the cold winter months and we’ll come back up here to ranch during the spring and summer. But we’ll sit and banter and write some really incredible stories.”

  “But...” It was too much, too hard. Even if it was important.

  “And someday, you can tell our children about the legend of Letty Moody and all the other stories you brought to life on the page.” He brushed his palm over her cheek. “And you can tell them how I’d be nothing without you. Because it’s true.”

  And then he kissed her. He kissed her and the eggs were cheering and her family was cheering and Emily was consumed with the feeling of being loved.

  And in that moment, as she nestled into Jonah’s arms for what she hoped was forever, she knew one thing.

  Thirty wasn’t old.

  It was just the beginning.

  * * *

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  A Match Made Perfect

  by Anna J. Stewart

  CHAPTER ONE

  “CHIN UP, MANDY.” Sebastian Evans tapped a finger under his own chin as he palmed the softball. “That’s better. Bat up. Just a bit. Even weight on your feet.”

  Beneath her San Francisco Giants baseball cap, his nearly fifteen-year-old daughter wrinkled her freckled nose as she always did before a smile broke out on her face. She wiggled into better position, her eyes shifting down to his hand. “You’re going to curve it,” she called. “Your thumb’s off-center.”

  Cheeky kid. She didn’t miss a thing. Sebastian’s heart swelled with the pride that filled him every day. “Don’t get cocky. Focus.” And because she’d caught him, he adjusted his grip behind his back and sent the ball flying across home plate of the baseball field in Skipper Park.

  She swung, caught the edge of the ball and sent it soaring up, but not far. He found himself racing forward as her laughter caught on the Saturday-morning breeze. She hit first base before he had the ball solidly in his glove.

  “Now, that’s what I call a fake-out.” She bent over, hands planted on her knees, and grinned up at him. “Good enough to make the team, do you think?”

  “Good enough.” He tried to sound casual, but inside he was already calling her a star. Whatever sports ability he possessed, she’d far surpassed it. Basketball, soccer, swimming and now softball. She excelled at them all and seemingly without much effort. Thankfully business at Cat’s Eye Bookstore was good enough for him to hire part-time help and leave him with money to afford all the team and uniform fees that loomed in his future. He’d be glad when Mandy found a favorite sport and settled on it. Personally? He was hoping for softball.

  With the sun cresting in the sky, he called it a morning and waved her over, turning the batt
ing-and-pitching area over to the group of kids nearby.

  It was warm for mid-February, even by Butterfly Harbor, California, standards, and the weather had brought out a fair number of residents of the small coastal town. The frenzy of the holidays had been replaced by the barely restrained eagerness for spring as rain and sunshine battled it out. Couples, families and groups of friends mingled here and there, in the park, down at the Butterfly Diner. Some grabbed spots down on the beach for the promised welcoming, but chilly, gentle tide. Life didn’t get much better than this.

  Butterfly Harbor had been his home from the day he’d been born. The small West Coast town had gotten its name due to being a stop on the monarch butterfly migratory path and was quickly boosting its reputation as a tourist destination. A reputation that soon would be kicked into high gear thanks to the butterfly sanctuary and nature center currently under construction.

  He caught sight of Kyle Knight lounging in the stands as he talked and joked with Butterfly Harbor’s newest probationary firefighter, Jasper O’Neill. Sebastian would have to have been blind not to notice the young man these days, and not just because Kyle and Mandy had developed a friendship in recent months. But their “friendship” did strike an odd, familiar and worrying chord inside Sebastian. A chord that even after fifteen years had the power to send his heart to stuttering.

  He shouldn’t be anxious. The logical part of his brain said that, at least. But Mandy was his little girl. And while she’d be fifteen in several weeks, she would always, much to her horror, be his baby.

  A pang of envy hit him when he glimpsed Deputy Fletcher Bradley and his almost ten-year-old daughter, Charlie, kicking around a soccer ball in the distance. Sebastian was fast running out of those days to spend with his own daughter, who would be off to college soon.

  “Dad. Hey, earth to Dad!” Mandy snapped her fingers in front of his face.

  “What?” Sebastian’s brow furrowed.

  “I said can we stop by the marina to see Uncle Monty’s new boat?”

  He looped an arm around Mandy’s shoulders and, after another longing look at the other father and daughter, steered his daughter toward town. She waved a goodbye to Kyle over her shoulder. “It’s like you’re reading my mind. Lunch at the diner after?” Their tradition after spending time at the marina with Mandy’s honorary uncle.

  “Yes,” Mandy said. “But I have to be at Kendall’s by two to babysit—I mean kid-sit—Phoebe.”

  Sebastian laughed, recalling the horrified expression on little Phoebe MacBride’s face when she’d heard the term babysitter. She was not, she’d declared to her parents, with hands on her tiny hips and big black curls dancing around her round face, a baby. “We’ll get you there, Man, don’t worry.”

  “If I had a scooter, it wouldn’t take you away from the store.”

  “If you had a scooter, I’d need medication. You have a bike.” He pulled her in and kissed the top of her head. “That’ll suffice for now.” Thank goodness state law didn’t allow moped licenses until age sixteen.

  “Aw, man.” But Mandy said it good-naturedly. It wasn’t the first time they’d had this discussion. It wouldn’t be the last.

  They talked about her classes and what else she was occupied with. Just before Christmas she’d taken in a box full of kittens to foster. Now all but one had been adopted, leaving only Zachariah, their permanent senior feline resident, and the mischievous gray fur ball Mandy had named Tribble. Thanks to a recent adoption drive in town, and a ton of new volunteer households, they had been foster-cat-free since Christmas. While the cats acted as a draw for people to come to the bookstore, he was grateful for the reprieve.

  These Saturdays had become sacred to him. Time with his daughter was passing entirely too quickly. It didn’t help that she had a social schedule that rivaled most CEOs. Between school and sports and volunteer hours with various causes, he counted himself lucky to see her for dinner most nights.

  But Saturday mornings? Oh, Saturdays were just for him.

  Mandy tapped the bat along the ground as they walked. Then, as they rounded the corner to the marina entrance, she broke away, racing down the dock to the fleet of boats belonging to WindWalkers and Monty Bettencourt.

  “Well?” Monty slapped the rag he’d been using to wipe down the catamaran against the railing. “How’d you do?”

  “I hit two doubles and a single off him.” Mandy jumped onto the boat beside him and set down her bat. “I would have had a triple, but the sun was in my eyes.”

  “Seems as good an excuse as any.” Monty waved Sebastian on board. “Come down to see your new purchase?”

  “Huh?” Mandy crinkled her eyes in confusion.

  “Your uncle Monty and I are now partners,” Sebastian told her. “Well, sort of. I made an investment. Gives us use of the boats when they aren’t rented out.” Sebastian feigned skepticism. “Unless you disapprove.”

  “Are you kidding?” Mandy squealed and jumped so high that when she landed, the boat jostled. “Whoops! Sorry.” She whipped off her cap and a tumble of blond curls fell loose down her back.

  Something inside Sebastian caught. In that moment, she looked so much like Brooke that he almost couldn’t breathe. The excitement, the enthusiasm, the way her blue eyes sparkled. It was as if a time loop had roped him in and sent him soaring back to the day he’d first seen Mandy’s mother. Brooke hadn’t, Sebastian realized with an uneasy squirm, been much older than Mandy was now. Heck, neither had he.

  “This calls for an official partner celebration,” Monty announced. “Gotta make it quick, though. I’ve got a diving group coming in about an hour.” He disappeared into the galley and returned with three bottles of root beer.

  The trio twisted off the caps in unison, clinked bottles and chugged. The ensuing belches had them all laughing. It was a ritual that the three, or rather four, if you counted Monty’s twin sister, Frankie, had been performing since Mandy could hold her own bottle.

  “Can I explore?” Mandy asked.

  “Of course.” Monty stepped back. “Have at it. You’ve got a few days off of school next week, don’t you?”

  “Yeah. Teacher conferences. Why?”

  Monty shrugged. “I’ve got a couple of diving groups booked. I thought maybe you’d like to tag along, earn some extra cash by helping me out. You could get some dive time in, too. Seeing as you’re an investor now...” He trailed off, looking wide-eyed and innocent when Sebastian glared at him. “You’d be okay with that, right, Dad?” Monty grinned and finished his root beer.

  “Oh, please, Dad?” Mandy said as she spun to face him. “That would be so amazing.”

  “How about you look at your schedule before you commit? Dr. Collins—”

  “It’s Dr. Gordon now, Dad. Jeez!” Mandy rolled her eyes. “You were at her wedding.”

  “Right. Dr. Gordon. She’s come to rely on you.”

  “She also has a new partner and tech assistant, so she doesn’t need me as much at the vet practice. This is a job, Dad!” Mandy reminded him. “Close to it, anyway, and it’s on the water!”

  Sebastian couldn’t argue with that. Mandy had practically been born with flippers on. She was a natural in, around and on the water.

  “How many jobs are actually fun?”she pleaded. “Besides, it’ll look great on my college applications. Diverse activities and interest, plus employment.”

  Sebastian choked on his root beer. “You cannot be thinking about college applications already.”

  That earned him another eye roll.

  “Of course I have. With my college prep classes, my advisor thinks I can apply in a little over a year, at least for extension classes for the marine-biology department. She’s even verifying if I qualify for early graduation.”

  “That’s great, kiddo.” Monty toasted her with his root beer even as he shot a sidelong glance to a silent Sebastian. “Alwa
ys knew you were ten times smarter than this lug.” The elbow in Sebastian’s ribs told him to laugh at the joke and give his approval to Mandy’s fast-track education.

  Sebastian swore he heard a cash register ringing in his head, but he pushed a smile onto his lips. “Right, sorry. I forgot who I was talking to. Of course you’re planning ahead.” And just like that, any similarity to her mother faded. Brooke had been many things, but a planner? Not even close.

  There were days Sebastian asked himself why he’d fallen so hard and so fast for Brooke Ardell, but there was never a day he regretted it. How could he when, despite all her faults, despite all the disappointments and rejection he’d endured, Brooke had given him the greatest gift he could have ever hoped for: his daughter.

  “You seem a bit lost in thought today,” Monty said to Sebastian as Mandy disappeared around the side of the boat. “What’s up?”

  “Nothing. Just for some reason, I keep thinking about Brooke.” He winced, then distracted himself with the label on his bottle.

  “Not surprising.” Monty sat and kicked up his feet. “Mandy looks more like her every day. Must be because Mandy’s birthday’s coming up.”

  “Yeah,” Sebastian said as he looked out into the ocean. “Maybe.”

  But he wasn’t convinced. Whatever had him thinking about Brooke Ardell, it didn’t matter. She’d walked out on both him and Mandy fifteen years ago, and never looked back. She’d moved on.

  Maybe it was time he finally did the same.

  Copyright © 2020 by Anna J. Stewart

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