Dating the Cowboy

by Ann B. Harrison

  “What do you think, Mrs. Bingley?”

  She stared up at the chandelier hanging over the corner, shooting sparks of light over the ceiling. “It’s, well, it’s fancy for a dating place. But will it work?”

  “That’s what we’re hoping.”

  “Hmm, for the life of me, Crease, I don’t know why you’d want to open a dating service in Marietta. Isn’t it a bit quiet for that kind of business? Surely a bigger town would give you more customers.”

  He nodded in agreement. “Can you keep a secret, Mrs. Bingley?”

  Her eyes widened as she stared at him. “I know what you’re thinking, Crease Hansen. I hear what people say and maybe it’s well deserved, but here’s the thing—you tell me it’s a secret and it won’t get past these lips.” She put a hand on his arm. “If you need to talk to someone, I’m right here.”

  Crease sighed. “I’m a fraud. Plain and simple.”

  “What are you saying? For the life of me, I don’t understand.”

  Crease ran a hand around the back of his neck before he spoke again, all of his insecurities rushing forward. “All the time I was in college I played a part. Oh, I liked learning well enough, don’t get me wrong, and I did well with my studies. But I wasn’t what everyone wanted. I was the country boy who didn’t know what to say most of the time, who always got his words mixed up and didn’t seem like the cool kid. It’s not a wonder Alice turned me down when I asked her out.”

  Carol sniffed. “Nothing wrong with rural folk. Backbone of the country. Anyone can tell you that.” She patted him on the arm. “Why, even our past president is country born and living back on the ranch again. I don’t see anyone complaining that he never fit in.”

  “Bit of a difference, but I get what you mean and I agree one hundred percent. Regardless, I still didn’t fit in. Never felt like I was part of the crowd.” He’d expected it to take a while to make friends and settle in, but he wasn’t prepared for the loneliness he faced. He’d almost come running back home in the beginning. If it weren’t for his sense of pride and the money he’d laid out, he would’ve thrown it all away. His brothers would never have forgiven him and Crease would’ve regretted it. Instead, he’d knuckled down and studied people.

  “So, why did you go away then? Why not stay and work in Marietta like your brothers?”

  He’d asked himself that question on many lonely nights and always came up with the same answer. “Because I thought I owed it to Grandpa to be the best I could be after all he’d done for us boys. When Jethro paid me out for my share of the ranch, I figured I should use the money to do some good. To change my lifestyle, get out of the rut I was in. All I knew was roughhousing with my brothers, getting into trouble. Jethro made me see that there was another way. I just had to be prepared to grab that chance and stick with it.”

  “He’s done good too. So has Nate. Both those boys turned around for the better and I’m glad to see it.”

  “And it got me to thinking too, only I never had much of an opportunity to do anything until the buyout. I’ve always followed my brothers in whatever they did, but I wasn’t sure about ranching. Not sure it was where my future lay. I decided it was time to find my own feet, so off I went.”

  “I sense a but in there, Crease.” She put a soothing hand on his arm, giving him a motherly connection that calmed him.

  “I played a part and everyone believed it, even Alice. By the time we graduated, I was the guy everyone wanted to be with, to take advice from. They forgot who I was and fell for who I became. But it wasn’t me. Not the real me.”

  “And so you came home. That’s not such a bad thing, is it?”

  He glanced over at Alice, who stood on the sidewalk scrolling through her cell phone, then put a hand on Mrs. Bingley’s arm and led her to the settee. When they were both sitting, he clasped his hands on his knees and met her gaze.

  “Alice wanted to go to Seattle because she figured the business will do better there, but I insisted on Marietta even knowing she was right and I was wrong. I know it was selfish, but I couldn’t see myself in a big city. I don’t fit in, no matter how much I try. I was afraid I’d fail there, that the new me would eventually return to my old ways and I’d let her down.”

  Understanding shone in her eyes. “So you’re going to have to work hard to prove to Alice that Marietta is as good as anywhere? What will you do if it doesn’t turn out like you hope? Worse yet, what if she finds out, Crease?”

  “That I’m a fake? I have no idea.”

  Chapter Two

  The following evening, Crease stood at the door welcoming his family. He’d already made contact the night before and they’d caught up on what the business was all about. Listening to the call, Alice had kept her fingers crossed. It seemed as though they were more confused about it than Mrs. Bingley. She was sure Crease would turn them around to his way of thinking once they got to see him in action.

  “Alice, I’d like you to meet my brothers, Jethro and Nate and their lovely wives, Sadie and Joy. Everyone, this is Alice.”

  Sadie and Joy shared a glance, eyebrows raised in unison, and Alice’s heart kicked up a notch. She didn’t want to have to sell herself to anyone, least of all Crease’s family, but like him, she was prepared to do what it took for the sake of the business. Being at this party was enough to give her the jitters. There was something to be said for being a nerdy girl and hiding behind her computer screen—her preferred place. Alice consoled herself with the fact that this was a one-time event and things would go back to the way she liked them tomorrow.

  Sadie was the first to speak. “Lovely to meet you, Alice.”

  She slipped her hand through Alice’s arm and moved her away from the men toward the back of the room where a barman served champagne and beer. People milled about, chatting and sharing secretive glances as they read the flyers Alice had placed around earlier. More than a few glances were sent in their direction, making her feel anxious about the evening’s results. They’d worked out a projected number of signups. Now all they had to do was wait and see if she was right.

  “Tell us all about yourself.” Joy picked up two glasses of champagne and handed one each to Sadie and Alice, then took one for herself. “This has all come as a big surprise. I had no idea Crease was going into business, certainly not the dating game.”

  “Hasn’t Crease told you anything about me?” Surely he had. They’d been friends for years, and even though she hadn’t been in Marietta before, she knew more about his family than most of her other friends. He’d been to her family home during the holidays and knew her parents. Alice expected his family to at least know the basics about her. She glanced his way, hoping he’d come and save her from what looked like a potential grilling from his sisters-in-law. He could’ve warned her to expect this kind of reception so she could prepare herself.

  Sadie smiled. “Oh, yes, he certainly has. But I want to hear about you from you. Men can be rather, shall we say, elusive when it comes to talking about the women in their lives. And I want to know more about why you’ve gone into business together. I don’t understand at all.” She took a sip of her champagne, closed her eyes and sighed. “This is perfect after a shocking day in court.”

  Alice jumped on the opportunity to steer the conversation away from herself. This felt more like an inquisition and she wasn’t ready for it. Crease hadn’t warned her about his sisters-in-law’s nosy dispositions. Sadie might be used to interrogating people in the courtroom, but Alice wanted to avoid it.

  He’d talked about his brothers, but very little information was forthcoming about the wives except the basics—how they met, what they did, the usual minor details that told her little relevant information. But Alice had done her own checking. She wanted to be ahead of the game since Crease wasn’t that forthcoming. “Yes, you’re the lawyer. Crease is very proud of your track record. He said you’re a tiger in the courtroom.”

  “That’s lovely, but Crease is the sweetest person I know. He wouldn’t s
ay a bad word about anyone. That doesn’t tell me anything about you though. Come on, fill us in. No need to be shy around us.” She stopped the waiter as he walked past with a tray of party food.

  Sadie took a couple of tuna rolls and popped them in her mouth.

  “When he called last night and said he was starting a dating business, I have to say I was shocked.” Joy glanced over at her husband and when he looked her way she blew him a kiss before giving her attention back to the conversation. “Business degree and he wants to deal with Marietta’s singles issues? I don’t quite understand. I honestly thought he’d come home and take up ranching like his brothers.” She shrugged as if she, too, couldn’t understand the new Crease. “Never would’ve thought he was the kind to meddle in people’s love lives. Cows maybe, but people?”

  It wasn’t her place to tell his family the idea of being a rancher was the last thing he wanted to indulge. In one of their late night bare-it-all conversations, he’d admitted it held no appeal now he’d seen another side of life. But she wasn’t going to be the one to tell them that.

  “You’re not the only one. A lady commented exactly the same thing yesterday. I know he still loves being a cowboy, but making people happy seems to be his thing. At least that’s how I see it. You ladies know him better than I do though.”

  Why did she feel like a bug on a pin in front of these two women? All her confidence had flown out the window as soon as they dragged her away. This was ridiculous. Alice might be nerdy, but she would hardly call herself a wimp. It seemed Crease’s relatives brought out a feeling in her she hadn’t noticed before. Unsure of herself? That was disconcerting to say the least.

  “That’s a side of him we haven’t seen. Tell us more.” Sadie tilted her head. “Sounds to me like we hardly know Crease at all. At least, not the Crease you know.”

  “I’m sure that’s not right. You’re family.” That got her a raised eyebrow from the lawyer.

  She wasn’t getting out of this one. Crease had obviously changed a lot since he’d left home. She pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose and chose her words, determined not to go over as pathetic.

  “Right. Where to start? We met in college, as you know. We both got into some of the same groups and we clicked. Liked the same things, started hanging out a fair bit, and the last year and a half we’ve shared a house with another couple of friends.”

  Joy and Sadie shared a smile and her stomach flipped. These women were quick to assume. Better sort that out fast before they got the wrong idea.

  “Not like that kind of friends. Good friends who dated other people. At least I did. Crease seemed to spend most of his time setting other people up.”

  Joy stared at her, glanced over at Crease, and gave a grunt of disbelief. “Crease set up dates? Now I’ve heard it all. Really?”

  She tried to hide her smile but failed. Was it possible they didn’t really know the real Crease at all? “Okay, don’t say anything, but he tried to date me and it didn’t go well. I wasn’t in the market for a boyfriend then and I’m still not really interested.” Alice ignored the raised eyebrows and forged ahead. “He never really had trouble dating other girls once he found his feet but noticed a lot of his friends did. He tried to help them and one thing led to another.”

  “Sorry, what led from one thing to another?” Sadie put her glass down and crossed her arms, giving Alice such an intent stare that she took a couple of steps back, feeling a bit like a field mouse dodging a swooping eagle. No wonder she did well in court. Her stare was a perfect mix of don’t mess with me and I can see right through you.

  “Um, well, he started coaching the guys, you know, giving them tips on how to treat women, and it kind of snowballed from there.” She’d been as shocked as everyone how well it had all worked. Even now, Alice still couldn’t believe he knew so much about what women wanted—no dirty socks on the bathroom floor, dirty dishes left in the sink, or expectations that she’d do the cooking and cleaning because she was a woman. What a bonus for her. He really made the best type of housemate.

  “Crease coaching guys about women? Where the heck did that come from? He never even dated when he lived here as far as I know.” Joy turned to look at the brother-in-law that she obviously didn’t know as well as she thought she did. “All he did was get into trouble from what Nate said. But then, Nate wasn’t exactly a good role model either.”

  “But look at him now.” They shared a warm smile before Sadie turned back to Alice. “I don’t get it,” Sadie said. “Where on earth did he get these people skills? The young Crease I knew had an ability to get into bar fights with his brothers. I’d hardly call that people skills. This is blowing me away.”

  Alice smiled, remembering how awkward he was when he first asked her for a date. He’d stumbled over his words and blushed charmingly as he tried to woo her, daisies from the front gardens on campus in his hands and a smile most girls would melt at, but she wasn’t interested in dating anyone. Her focus had been her degree, and not much had changed since then. That refusal hadn’t dampened his spirit because he asked her again and again, each time becoming more articulate, but still she’d refused him. For some unknown reason, she couldn’t commit to him in that way.

  Come to think of it, he hadn’t asked her lately. Would her answer be any different if he did?

  “I guess it’s because he messed up to begin with in college. He started studying people and reading up to so he could understand what made people act the way they did.” He’d been so cute back then, the way he threw himself into finding out what made people tick. She’d felt drawn to him from the get-go. But not in the way he’d hoped. Over time they’d come to an understanding, and now they were best buddies and business partners with a bond that, hopefully, being in business wouldn’t shake. “Look at him now, charming everyone he talks to. That is not the guy I met five years ago. Not surprising that what you see isn’t familiar to you all.”

  Sadie shook her head and pinched the skin between her eyes, and Alice grinned.

  “Okay, I don’t quite have that all compartmentalized in my brain, but tell me, Alice, where do you fit in if Crease has all the people skills?” Sadie exchanged her empty glass for a full one as the waiter circled the room.

  This was the part she was happy to talk about. “Oh, that’s easy. I’m a data nerd. Nothing like spreadsheets and numbers to get me all excited.” She closed her eyes and indulged her inner geek for a moment before continuing.

  The blank stares of her new acquaintances brought her up short. Not everyone loved numbers like she did. But then, they probably didn’t understand them like she did.

  “Sorry. I tend to get carried away when figures are mentioned. My bad.” She pushed her glasses up again and tried to focus on the conversation. “I’ve put in my application to work for Zapper—you know, that huge wholesale company that’s in every country, every state bar none. The one that’s changed the retail landscape. Biggest data mining company in the world.” Even talking about the company gave her a thrill like no other.

  Sadie and Joy stared blankly at each other before Sadie spoke again. “Why are you here if you’re only planning on going away? Is this a short-term business deal you have with Crease? Does he even know that you’re going to bail on him?” The lawyer pinned her with a cool stare, clearly ready to go to battle for her brother-in-law and protect his assets.

  “No. No, nothing like that. The deal was that we get the business up and running and then I become more of a silent partner working in the background. Because Crease is the people person, he doesn’t need me onsite, per se, once things are running smoothly. I can do the work anywhere so long as I have my computer with me.”

  She smiled, but they stared at her as if she was talking a foreign language. Alice tried again. “It’s how we planned it right from the beginning, honestly. Crease will back me up on this—just ask him. I’m the introvert kind of person who would rather be in the background and away from the public, so doing my part o
f the job remotely works for both of us.”

  A carefully made-up older lady tapped Alice on the shoulder, giving her a chance to breathe.

  “Excuse me, dear, but here on your signup sheet it says you want all of my social media details. Why is that? What if I don’t want to be friends with you on Facebook?”

  “Excuse me, ladies.” Alice took her arm and walked her to a quieter corner of the room. “Let me explain how I collect the data I need to find your perfect match.”

  *

  “So this”—Jethro indicated the people milling about the room, his expression confused—“this is what you went to business school for?”

  A sense of pride filled Crease’s gut. The shop had turned out better than he expected, and with the final touches he and Alice added this morning, it was perfect. He glanced at his graduation certificate hanging over his desk, proud he’d managed to last the time it took to achieve. “Yep. Isn’t it amazing? Can’t wait to get started. I didn’t think so many people would be here tonight.” He did a slow turn to look at the crowd milling around in the office and adjoining training room. It was a good idea of Alice’s to play romantic movies for background noise and ambience. “Pretty sure just about everyone I invited is here. Isn’t it amazing?”

  His brothers stared at him, blank expressions on their faces.

  “Sorry I didn’t give you guys any warning about what we wanted to do, but we decided it would be good to hit the town with a bang rather than let everyone know what we were planning months before we opened. Kind of like a wham, bam, here I am. I think it worked. I never thought there’d be so much excitement tonight.” He lifted his hand as the man he’d had a lot of dealings with over the years walked in the door. “Mr. Sheehan, thanks for coming.”