by Brynn Paulin
Text copyright ©2018 by the Author.
This work was made possible by a special license through the Kindle Worlds publishing program and has not necessarily been reviewed by Kelly Elliott. All characters, scenes, events, plots and related elements appearing in the original Wanted remain the exclusive copyrighted and/or trademarked property of Kelly Elliott, or their affiliates or licensors.
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Runaway Cowgirl
Wanted Kindle World
By Brynn Paulin
www.brynnpaulin.com
What’s Your Fantasy?
Contents
Contents
Description
Copyright
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Epilogue
About the Author
Books by Brynn Paulin
Description
Runaway Cowgirl
by
Brynn Paulin
Jorie
I was in love with him all my life. I thought we were best friends. I thought he loved me too. The day everything changed between us, I gave myself to him. I thought we’d finally be together. I was his and he was mine. Then I found out it was all a big joke. I meant nothing to him. Never had. That was the day I left Mason and stopped being silly little Jorie. No one would hurt me like that again. If I never set foot in Mason again, it would be a day too soon.
But now my gran is dying and she wants me home. She’s the only one who ever really mattered to me. I can’t let her down.
The question is: Do I confront the boy who crushed me or do I move on and pretend it never happened, that he meant nothing to me?
Tough choice. He’s not hurting me again.
Nash
I know what happened. Jorie heard something she shouldn’t have, but I’m not the jerk she thinks I am. She left, taking my heart with her. I tried, but I could never find her. Never heard another word from her. Apparently, I meant nothing to this girl. For five years, I’ve hurt and let bitterness settle in. I buried myself in saving my family’s dying ranch and forgetting her. Now, things are looking up and I’m finally ready to move on.
But now, Jorie’s back and I’m torn: Do I make things right between us or do I keep moving on, forget our past and the first love who destroyed my heart?
Tough choice. She’s not hurting me again.
Copyright © 2018 by Brynn Paulin
Cover Art by Supernova Indie Publishing Service, LLC
Editing by Liza Green
ISBN:
All rights reserved.
No part of this book maybe reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form without prior written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in book reviews. For permission please email [email protected].
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or incidents, is purely coincidental.
Thank you for your purchase of Runaway Cowgirl. I hope you enjoy the story and will consider leaving a review.
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Prologue
~ Jorie ~
I woke, still expecting to be in Nash’s arms after our night together.
He’d taken my virginity, and I’d taken his. It’d been a long time coming. We’d been friends since we were seven, but our friendship had morphed slowly over the past years. For a long time, we’d each hidden our attraction to one another. That was until a few months ago. I bit my lip and smiled as I thought of that first kiss when we’d confessed our feelings. He’d felt better against me than I’d ever imagined he would. Still, we’d waited to be fully together until last night, my seventeenth birthday.
Stretching, I felt new aches in my body, lingering tenderness that signaled I’d gone from being a girl to being a woman, from being just me to belonging to Nash. Really, I always had been his; now, I always would. Me and Nash forever.
My gran was going to be so pissed I’d stayed out so late tonight. Really, I was surprised she hadn’t blown up my phone by now. She knew I was with Nash, but I was usually home by midnight, even on Friday nights. Glancing at the digital clock on the nightstand, I saw it was almost one.
Slowly, I dragged myself from the bed. This wasn’t Nash’s bedroom. Instead, we’d used the loft room of the equipment barn at his family’s ranch. Looking around, I found my clothes then dressed, intent on finding my best friend. It surprised me that he’d left without waking me. Maybe, he’d gone to get something…? I couldn’t imagine what.
Looking back to normal, I smoothed my hands over my hair then crept from the room and headed down the open steps. I was halfway down, when I heard the voices.
Apparently, Nash’s best guy friends, Max and Dustin, had shown up, and they sounded a little drunk. I leaned over the railing and saw the three of them outside the open barn doors.
“C’mon, man. Your parents are gone; come party,” Dustin slurred. “Missy will be there. You know she wants you. You can finally pop that cherry of yours.”
Max shoved him. “Fucker. Guys don’t have cherries.”
I almost snorted at the absurd conversation, but the Missy aspect opened a hollow ache in my chest. Jealousy clawed at me even though Nash was mine. We’d kept things on the DL, not wanting everyone giving us a hard time, but that didn’t mean we were any less committed. Mostly, it had been me not wanting to go public. I’d asked him to wait until after graduation. In a town as small as ours, the news of our changed relationship status would get back to my gran in seconds. I knew her. She’d curtail my freedom with Nash in a second if she thought things might go too far—like tonight.
“Besides,” Max continued, “he don’t want Missy. He wants Jorie.”
“Shut up, stupid,” Nash muttered.
“What? You know you do. Everyone knows.”
“Who wouldn’t want that sweet little body?” Dustin said, reaching out his hands and lewdly thrusting his hips.
Nash shoved his shoulder. “Cut it out. You know I don’t think about her like that.”
My eyes widened, but I pushed aside the momentary hurt. We’d agreed to keep our relationship a secret. He was just honoring that, right?
“That doesn’t mean I can’t,” Dustin replied.
“Whatever,” Nash said, crossing his arms.
“You don’t care if I go after her?”
Nash shrugged. “Sure. Whatever you want. Jorie and I are just friends. If you want to date her, go ahead and ask her. It’s time people stop thinking of us as a couple even though we aren’t. Friends,” he repeated. “That’s all we’ll ever be.”
He glanced over his shoulder, looking right at me where I stood in the shadows. Apparently, he knew I was there even though the other two didn’t.
My heart plummeted as his words sank in. Friends. Nothing more. Ever.
Tonight meant nothing to him.
Never had; never would.
Chapter One
~ Jorie ~
Returning to Mason had never been in my life plan.
That’s not true. Leaving Mason had never been in my life plan. I
’d wanted to grow up, marry the cowboy of my dreams and be a ranch wife, making little ranch babies and living my happily ever after on our ranch while I helped my husband run the place.
Plans never really worked out. Not for me.
So, I’d left here and made a new plan.
That didn’t work either, ‘cause here I was. Back in Mason, five years after I’d run.
My thumb ran over the base of my ring finger where a promise ring had resided for oh-so-short a time before I’d left it behind, on the nightstand beside the bed where I’d given Nash everything. Promises. Useless promises of forever. I’d departed Mason, but the phantom specter of those empty words still surrounded me. To this day, I felt that ring on my finger, holding part of me back here.
I didn’t want to return to Mason. And I didn’t want anyone but my gran to know I was here. If I could convince her to leave with me, I wouldn’t be here for long. No matter what, I certainly wouldn’t be spending time with that jerk, Nash Davidson, or any of his friends.
Humiliation burned through me again, just thinking of the night I’d left. How his words had slashed at me and sent me running back up to the barn’s loft. How I’d snuck out through the secondary exit and run for my car, parked a quarter mile away in the field, so the Davidson’s hands wouldn’t know I was there and tell Nash’s parents. How I’d gone home, packed and run. Oh, Gran had been hurt and angry when I’d called her hours later, already on my way to Michigan to stay with my aunt and uncle. Though she hadn’t liked it, she’d had everything arranged before I’d arrived in Grand Rapids. I refused to remember all the details. I’d been hurt that night, but I’d hurt her so badly and still carried loads of guilt over it.
Ruthlessly, I shoved away the memories and once again, wished for amnesia. I wanted to forget every detail of my seventeenth birthday. I wanted to forget every detail about my supposed best friend, too.
I’d left here in the dead of night, so coming back in the pitch-black seemed all-too-appropriate.
My phone chimed as I hit the outskirts of town.
“Hey, Ryder,” I answered, glancing at the dash to see it was one AM, which meant it was two there.
“You there?” he asked on a yawn. He’d been checking on me regularly as I’d traveled across the States back to the Texas hill country.
“Almost. I’m on Bluebonnet, so I’ve got about twenty minutes ‘til I get to Gran’s.”
“I’m glad you’re finally there. You should have let me come with you so you weren’t traveling alone.”
“No way. You just started your dream job. You don’t need to screw that up by babysitting me.”
He made a sound that came across as disagreement but didn’t argue the point with me—because I was right. But he was overprotective, so there was no way he’d acknowledge that he agreed with me. When I’d left here and finished my senior year in Michigan, my cousin, Ryder, had stepped right into the big brother role, and he’d excelled at it—even when I’d been in college. No one messed with me, and knowing what had gone down with Nash, though it had taken a long time to get it out of me, he wanted to kick my ex-best friend’s ass from Mason to Michigan and back.
“Text me when you get there,” he demanded. “And give Gran a hug for me. Tell her I’m coming to visit in a couple weeks when we shut down for summer break. Mom and Dad are planning to come out again, too.”
My aunt and uncle had just returned from a visit down here. They’d been the ones to report Gran’s illness. I’d taken off immediately, though “big brother” had tried to dissuade me. Ryder worked for a small family-owned design company that closed every summer for vacation before kids went back to school. He’d wanted me to wait until then, but when I’d heard how sick my grandmother was, there’d been no way I was waiting. For all intents and purposes, she was more my mom than my grandma.
Magnolia Holland raised me after my parents had died in a wreck when I was seven. That’s how I’d ended up in Mason to begin with and how I’d met Nash when I’d walked into second grade, a brand new student in a brand new town.
Ugh, Nash! Why was he always in my head, even five years later?
I had to move on!
“I’ll let you know as soon as I pull in,” I promised Ryder. After saying goodbye, I tossed the phone on the passenger seat and fully focused on navigating the streets I knew like the back of my hand. Mason wasn’t tiny, but it was small enough to feel that way, especially after five years in the second largest city in Michigan. With less than three thousand residents in Mason, I was acquainted many of the businesses and their owners. Rolling through in the dark, I looked around to see who was still here and who was new. It was hard to tell. But I knew so many things could change in five years.
I’d been raised in a modest ranch-style home here in town, but I’d spent a ton of time out at the Davidson’s ranch, so I’d had the best of both worlds. For a time, Nash’s parents had been my second parents, and I’d thought someday, I’d live there on their spread, the Lazy D. ‘Cause…well, I’d thought I loved Nash, and I’d thought he loved me, too.
My snort was loud in the quiet car. Love. Right.
Apparently, I was still kinda angry at him…even five years later. I needed to work on that. Indifference would be better. Still, nostalgia pushed in on the edges of my consciousness as I traveled past my old stomping grounds. Ms. Margie’s where I’d gotten ice cream during hot summers. The park where I’d swung for hours on the swings. The movie theater where I’d gone on my first “secret” date with—
“Ugh, geez! I’m doomed,” I moaned. This would be a long stay if I couldn’t get it together.
Minutes later, I pulled into my gran’s driveway, noting it looked as manicured and perfect as usual. Over the years, I’d spent hours outside doing yardwork on Saturdays. I hoped she wasn’t doing it herself now. Renewed guilt hit me hard when I thought of my sick grandmother pulling weeds from her flowerbeds. The porch light popped on as I turned off my little Kia, and Gran opened the door as I pulled my small suitcase from the backseat. The rest of my things could stay in the car until tomorrow.
“Gran, what’re doing up?” I asked as I climbed the few steps to the covered porch. “It’s almost two in the morning.”
“It’s good to see you, too, Jorie-girl,” she chided, stepping outside in her robe and pulling me into her arms. The warmth I’d missed for so long filled me, and I breathed in her scent of roses and powder. Dropping my bag, I hugged her back, fighting tears. I’d missed her so much. My aunt and uncle were great and loving, but my gran… She was everything. She was as close to a mom as I’d ever have.
“I’m sorry. I love you,” I muttered into her shoulder. “I missed you.”
She pulled back, holding my upper arms and studying me in the porch light. “Well, it’s about time you’re back. You shouldn’t have stayed away so long. Come inside, and we’ll get you settled. I bet you haven’t eaten. I’ll fix ya up something, yeah?”
“Gran, you should be resting. I can get myself something to eat.”
She blew out an annoyed breath, ruffling her perfect platinum bob. “If I can’t take care of my only granddaughter, you might as well put me in the grave now. Now, shush up.”
“Don’t say that!” I exclaimed. “You’re going to be okay. You are, right?”
Her lips pursed, and her brow furrowed. She looked at me, carefully studying my face as if deciding what to tell me. Was her news really that bad? “Sure, girl. I’ll be fine.” Turning away, she headed into the house and led the way toward the kitchen where I’d spent half my life. I grabbed my bag and quickly followed. “Now, how ‘bout a sandwich, potato salad and some of the pickles I put up last week, yeah? I know they’re you’re favorite.”
“Sounds great,” I replied weakly, unsure whether or not I believed her assertion that she’d be fine. It was beyond obvious she was hiding something from me. Looking around me as I followed her, I took note of the changes around me—or lack thereof. The paint was fresh and brig
ht, but little had changed since I’d been away. In the hallway, I saw she’d added photos from my high school and college graduations and remembered how disappointed she’d been when I’d opted to attend school in Michigan rather than go to UT or one of the other nearby universities. A year away just hadn’t been enough for me to show my face back here. Five years might not be enough. That didn’t stop be from vowing I’d put on the confident, happy face of a city girl who’d moved on with her life—moved way beyond from this little hick town and the boys who lived here.
* * * *
~ Nash ~
“Jorie’s back in town.”
I stared at my old friend, Scott Reynolds, not quite comprehending what he was saying.
“Jorie…Holland?” I asked slowly.
“Do you know another one?”
“No.” Unfortunately. I only knew one Jorie, and I wasn’t thrilled to hear she was back, even if the news made my chest a little tight and knotted up my stomach with the anticipation of seeing her after all these years. I wondered how she’d matured, if she’d kept her light brown hair long—God, I hoped she had. I wondered who was in her life now and what she’d been doing and why she was back after all this time.
Not that I cared. Not after she’d cut and run on me and left me destroyed. She hadn’t even given me a chance to talk to her, talk through what was bothering her, what had upset her so much. Of course, I didn’t suppose that mattered to her. If it had, she would have talked to me, called me, answered my emails…something.
“What’s she doing back?” I asked as we walked toward the barn where he had a horse for me to see. I relied on him to find the perfect stock for my vacation ranch. He never let me down.
Scott shrugged. “She’s visiting her grandma. Look… Shit, Nash, I know what went down between you two—at least, what you’ve told me. But take it from someone who knows: talk to her. Listen to her. I almost fucked it all up with Jessie after she ran off to Belize. Don’t do what I did. Get her side of the story and hash it out between you. We’ve all seen y’all growing up and in high school. If anyone was meant to be together, it’s you two.”
