To Marry a Texas Cowboy

by Julie Benson

  For him.

  Why won’t that stupid little voice shut up?

  “I met Zane before Cassie and Ty’s wedding. He and Cooper were my first guests as manager of the Bluebonnet Inn. He’s been friends with Ty, AJ, and Cooper since their freshman year in the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M.”

  “Why do you think he’s different with me?”

  “Maybe he’s not charming with you because you’ve don’t let him con you. He’s used to women falling at his feet.”

  “There’s no worry of that happening with me.”

  “I think there’s more to him if you can get past his Hugh Heffner façade,” Grace said. “The only reason I say that is despite his joking that I should dump AJ for him, when we were having trouble, Zane told me not to give up on AJ.”

  Zane? The slick, superficial playboy, bane of her current existence, who she had to warn to keep his marriage views to himself? That Zane? “I have trouble seeing him encouraging anyone to stay in a relationship.”

  “He’d do anything for Ty, AJ, or Coop, and look at what he’s doing for Ginny. Not many grandsons would juggle two jobs to help their grandmother, and if it weren’t for Zane, I don’t know if AJ and I would be getting married.”

  Okay, so maybe he had a side she hadn’t seen. One of a reasonable, pleasant human being. It didn’t matter. He wasn’t needed in the office, and she certainly didn’t want him here.

  Instead of gaining insight to Zane and the reason for his behavior after talking to Grace, McKenna found herself more confused. Despite that, she’d pushed her luck as far as she dared in her discovery mission. Shoving aside her urge to dig further, McKenna pulled the top sample book off the stack, opened it, and angled it toward Grace. “Speaking of weddings, we should get to planning yours.”

  “After the party the other night, I have concerns about our budget. Is there any way we can keep the costs down without looking…” Grace’s voice trailed off.

  “Cheap and like you’re on a tight budget?”

  Grace nodded. “With AJ being chief of police we have to be careful we don’t slight someone. That means we’re inviting most of the town.”

  “I understand. That’s definitely an added pressure and financial burden. You could skip pew and chair decorations. Serving beer and wine at the reception cost less than a full bar. Another cost-saving measure is eliminating favors. Most people won’t notice those small changes or if they do, they won’t care, but they can make a sizeable budgetary impact. You can start there, and if needed, we can look at other areas to cut costs.”

  “I like your style and your thinking. How is it we haven’t become friends?”

  McKenna swallowed her sigh. Why did Grace have to ask that question? When McKenna started in this business, she expected to form friendships with numerous brides and attendants. Then one day, her boss, Darby shared an experience from early in her career when she became friends with a bride. Between a controlling mother and a demanding mother of the groom, the bride fell apart on the wedding day. Darby gave the bride hugs and pep talks when she could but primarily focused on ensuring the wedding came off flawlessly. Afterward, the bride wrote a nasty review online saying Darby hadn’t been there for her emotionally on her wedding day.

  McKenna had taken the advice, making a rule to never blur the lines between client and friendship. In a big city like Houston, not becoming friendly with clients, their friends, or family members hadn’t been a problem. Instead, she socialized with other wedding planners. But in a small town, her rule left her a social hermit.

  Instead of sharing the story with Grace, she said, “I haven’t had time to socialize. When I first moved here, I was busy settling in and getting up to speed at work. Then Ginny needed surgery.”

  “It’s time to fix that. Next Thursday the band we’re thinking of hiring for the reception will be at the Horseshoe. You should join us.”

  McKenna bit her lip at the unexpected response. Most people nodded or said they understood when she tossed out her explanation. “That’s kind of you to ask, but I don’t go out on weeknights. It’s too hard to get up in the morning.” And on weekends she had rehearsal dinners and weddings to coordinate.

  “I need you there,” Grace pleaded. “I want a recorded playlist for the reception, but AJ’s insisting on a band. I need your opinion and help negotiating the contract if we hire them. I don’t know what the going rate is for bands, but I assume you do?”

  McKenna nodded. “That’s part of what you pay us for, to stay current on costs so you don’t get overcharged.”

  “See, that’s why I need you there.”

  “I’d be happy to negotiate the band’s contract, but all I need is their contact information once you decide who you want.”

  “You’ve been living here, what? Three months?” McKenna nodded, and Grace continued. “It’s time for you to build a life outside of work. It’s not healthy to be so isolated. Trust me. I tried, and it was a disaster.”

  Making friends? Maybe down the road. When she’d achieved more of her goals, but now she needed to focus her energy on impressing Ginny. “While meeting you at the Horseshoe sounds wonderful, with Ginny out I’m taking on a larger workload.”

  “When Cassie offered me the job, I said I’d help her out for a while, but that was it.”

  McKenna nodded, despite her uncertainty where Grace was heading with her comment. Couldn’t they move off this topic? Her hands on her lap twitched. “Do you have anything in mind for invitations?”

  “First, I want to share something I learned when I moved to Wishing. People have a level of friendly for tourists and visitors, and another for folks who live here. To get the best deals from contractors and suppliers, people needed to see me as a local. They needed to feel they knew me to trust me. That’s not easy for us city girls. For you, it could mean people won’t hire you.”

  “Thankfully, that shouldn’t be a problem since this is Ginny’s company,” McKenna said, dismissing Grace’s advice.

  “But Ginny’s not here. You are, and you’re the one people have to trust.”

  McKenna paused. Would Ginny’s absence make a difference? Was Grace right? Could being viewed as an outsider affect people’s decisions to hire Lucky Stars Weddings?

  The message McKenna found this morning on voicemail replayed in her mind. Jenna Adams postponed her appointment to discuss final wedding costs, saying she wanted to talk with Tamara at Cedar Grove Ranch in Tyler first. What if Jenna’s decision had something to do with McKenna and a reluctance to trust her?

  Maybe she should get out more. Make an effort to get to know people. After all, if her career went according to plan, Wishing would be her home.

  “All right. I’ll meet you at the Horseshoe next Thursday,” McKenna said, reasoning attending would help her achieve her career goals. If people were nervous about Ginny’s absence, being seen with the chief of police’s fiancée would help reassure them. She’d also be supporting another local business. More comfortable with her decision, she relaxed. “Now that you’ve convinced me to abandon my hermit ways, let’s select your wedding invitations.”

  Back in her element, she relaxed. This was how her days could be if Zane stayed out of the office and left her in control of clients and events. Apprehension twisted her stomach. Why did she have this bad feeling his steering clear wasn’t as simple as it sounded?

  *

  “How’s the first week gone in the wedding planning biz?” Ty asked when Zane arrived at the Bar 7, a six pack of Shiner in his hand to join his buddies watching the Texas A&M football season opener Saturday.

  “It’s different,” Zane said as he followed his friend through the house. He couldn’t bring himself to tell Ty the week had been the longest of his life and working with McKenna would be the end of him. That he suspected her to be an alien sent from a hostile planet to drive him completely mad.

  When they reached what Ty now called the media room, AJ and Coop had already staked out spots. With blackout curt
ains, leather theatre seats, and a sixty-five-inch TV, the room was great for watching movies and sports.

  Zane grabbed a beer, dumped the rest in the small fridge behind the bar, and sank into an empty recliner to Coop’s left. After a long drink, he said, “Just to get it out of the way, I want to settle our dance bet. As much as it hurts to admit, I lost.” Zane placed his beer in the cup holder, pulled out his wallet, and withdrew the bills he’d gotten from the ATM earlier.

  His friends stared at him as if he’d said he’d applied to the University of Texas to get a master’s degree in interior design.

  “McKenna shot you down, even after she was off the clock?” Coop asked.

  Zane nodded and started parceling out payments. “Yup.”

  He’d sworn he saw a yes in her eyes, but then she’d looked straight at him and turned him down. I never date or have anything to do on a personal level with a man who’s more attractive than I am.

  In their first week working together, Zane learned McKenna possessed a rule regarding every topic and situation known to mankind. Despite numerous ones she’d spouted since, her first was still the dumbest thing he’d ever heard.

  “I took the bet, thinking my odds were at best a fifty-fifty shot,” Ty said, shaking his head in disbelief. “With anyone but you, Zane, the odds would’ve been eighty-twenty, our favor.”

  “I’m relieved to know the woman planning my wedding has taste,” AJ quipped with a stupid grin plastered on his face.

  “Very funny,” Zane said as he threw the ten at AJ. The bill hit him in the face.

  “What’s up? You’ve never been a sore loser.”

  He’d never met a woman like McKenna before. Obstinate. Opinionated. Outspoken. But with a singing voice that haunted a man’s dreams. At least his anyway.

  When Zane handed Coop his ten, his best friend shook his head. “I’m not one to start a doomsday theory, but if I was, I’d say you losing is a sign of the apocalypse.

  “I can’t believe you admitted the woman turned you down,” Coop continued.

  “Don’t go spreading it around. I wouldn’t want my reputation tarnished with other single women.”

  “You could’ve pulled a fast one, and we wouldn’t have known since there weren’t witnesses,” AJ said.

  Zane froze and stared AJ down. “Tell me you’re just shooting off your mouth. Tell me you don’t think I’d lie to y’all. Because if you think that, damn, AJ, that hurts.”

  “Sorry, man. I was giving you shit. We know you’d never pull that, especially after what your father did.”

  Zane stumbled back to his seat. The pregame commentary from Ty’s top-notch sound system buzzed in his ears. His hand twitched picking up his beer, before he took a long drink. At least his buddies didn’t think he was like his father.

  “We know you wouldn’t lie, Zane. We don’t do that to each other,” Coop added, and Ty nodded.

  “I know,” Zane said, wanting to move on.

  He needed survival advice. For his buddies to do that, he had to confide in them. At least some. “It’s been rough. Working with McKenna is a nightmare. She’s the most infuriating, stick-in-the-mud, all-work-no-fun woman I’ve ever met. She’s unbelievably straitlaced, serious, and I suspect her sense of humor was surgically removed.”

  AJ rubbed his knuckles across his jawline. “She laughed at my jokes and made a couple herself when Grace and I met with her about the party.”

  “Maybe it was pity laughter,” Cooper tossed out, his face serious.

  “Great. She saves the sour attitude for me. I feel special.” Zane’s right eyelid twitched.

  “Never thought I’d hear myself say this, Zane, but it sucks to be you,” AJ said.

  “Right now, you got that right, but I don’t need you griping with me. I need suggestions to improve the situation.”

  Ty shook his head. “Who’d have thought Zane would come to us for advice on women?”

  “My grandpa Floyd used to say that kicking won’t get a body anywhere unless he’s a mule.”

  Zane stared at Cooper, unable to believe those words had come from his friend. Intelligent in ways Zane couldn’t fathom, his best friend had never been one to spout platitudes. “What the hell does that mean?”

  “You can complain, stay all stirred up, and keep being muleheaded stubborn, or you can change your attitude. Have you tried being nice?”

  “Of course, I did and anything else I could think of,” Zane said, frustration and irritation filling his voice. “Whatever I do makes it worse. When I joke with her, she gets mad and says I don’t take the wedding industry seriously. When I compliment her, she thinks I’m condescending or a smart ass. She has a rule about everything and spouts them endlessly. The woman makes an icicle seem warm.”

  “I guess he’s decided to stick with complaining,” Ty said to no one in particular.

  “Not funny, Ty. I’m creating a picture here. If you don’t understand what’s going on, how can you help?” Zane’s right eye twitched faster. He reached to still it. “She’s been mad enough to kick a dog since I told her Ginny put me in charge.”

  “And you’re the dog,” AJ finished for him.

  Zane nodded.

  “Can’t say I blame her. It’s got to be tough thinking she’d be taking over and then have you waltz in,” Ty said.

  “I’m getting tired of everyone questioning my ability to run this company.”

  “Sorry, pal. Didn’t mean to hit a nerve. We know you can, but weddings are a whole new scary world.”

  Zane smiled at his friends and rubbed the back of his neck. “From the time Ginny told me she needed surgery, I said she couldn’t leave McKenna in charge, but she was so danged stubborn. If she’d agreed sooner, she could’ve broken the news to McKenna. It would’ve gone better coming from her.”

  “Everyone wants to shoot the messenger,” Coop said.

  “At least tell me I was right. That I couldn’t let my grandmother trust her business to someone she’s known three months.”

  “Of Course you couldn’t,” Ty said.

  “That’s how people lose a company and their savings,” AJ said, and Cooper nodded in agreement.

  “Your grandmother’s a smart businesswoman. I’m surprised she’d do something that risky,” Cooper added.

  “But what do I do about McKenna?”

  His friends stared at him as if he’d asked them to build a rocket and take him to Mars.

  “After seeing how hiring Cheyenne and Cassie went for me and Ty, all I’ve got is a warning. You’re definitely in trouble,” Cooper said.

  Chapter Five

  As McKenna ate her lunch of chicken salad and fruit at her desk the following week, she reflected on the disastrous morning. Instead of her and Zane settling into a routine, the chaos had grown out of control. Since word of his filling in for Ginny spread through Wishing, every unattached woman found a way to tag along with a bride hoping to catch Zane’s eye.

  If he wasn’t in, the women pelted McKenna with questions. Where was he? When would he be back? Could she call him to ask so they could catch up? When she informed them she didn’t know his whereabouts, his schedule, or his cell number, they whined. They pouted. They moped. They made her life miserable.

  But this morning Zane sat working on the accounts when Cora Little arrived for a tasting. Instead of bringing her groom, four bridesmaids accompanied her. Upon spotting Zane, the women erupted into giggles and squeals as they raced to Ginny’s office. When one bridesmaid tripped, a petite woman of ninety pounds soaking wet, the others almost trampled her to reach Zane. McKenna stared in horror at her first bridesmaid stampede. After two futile attempts to corral the bridesmaid gaggle, she gave up. She and Cora completed the tasting and finalized the menu alone.

  Clearly, she needed to develop a strategy to deal with the outrageous single women they now found themselves dealing with, but could she do that on her own? Probably not, which meant she’d need Zane’s input. After all, she could only do so muc
h if he didn’t back her and discourage the women. She checked the time and realized that task would need to wait until after her meeting with Mayor Timmons’s daughter Susannah and her maid of honor. Maybe she could talk to him after that appointment and before she met Grace and the police chief at the Horseshoe.

  Normally, McKenna wasn’t involved in selecting bridesmaids’ dresses, but Susannah wanted dresses from New York designers, but insisted she lacked time for a New York trip with her eight bridesmaids.

  After much discussion, McKenna suggested she order one of each potential dress. Now that the garments arrived, Susannah and Campbell would select one. Then McKenna, who’d contacted the other bridesmaids for sizes, would order dresses, because of course, Susannah had to return to Dallas and her job as an advertising exec. And, as the bride informed McKenna, wasn’t seeing to tasks she lacked time for why they’d hired Lucky Stars?

  Big city or small town, the rich lived a different life than common folk.

  To make the afternoon special and memorable, McKenna ordered finger sandwiches and petits fours from JoAnn’s Café to be served on Ginny’s delicate Irish bone china. In addition, she prepared sweet tea. Simple, but a nice touch.

  After plating the food, McKenna arranged the serving pieces on the coffee table in the bride’s dressing room. Then she returned to the main office to wait. Arriving fashionably late, as expected, Susannah blew in complaining about her long to-do list and how everything had taken longer than planned. Dressed in slim tan slacks, a lightweight sweater, and cute tan ankle boots, her perfectly highlighted blonde hair flowing around her shoulders in waves, she looked nothing like a woman who’d been running errands.

  When Susannah paused for air and noticed McKenna’s face, she recoiled in horror. “Oh goodness, how can you go out with those injuries? I’d have to stay home until it faded.”

  “I appreciate your concern.” When the other woman smiled and nodded, McKenna had to bite her lip to keep from chuckling over the fact Susannah failed to realize she hadn’t offered concern. She motioned to the wingchairs near Ginny’s office. Once settled, McKenna said, “I’m here because if I wasn’t, we’d have to reschedule.”