(3 Book Romance Bundle) "Escape to Vegas" & "Love, Forgiveness & Horseshoes" & "The Cowboy's Love"

by Julie Allen & Kelly Young

  ***

  I clipped on my gold hoop earrings and looked at myself in the mirror. I had chosen a dress that cut just below knee so that my scar wasn't visible. It was one of those flowy dresses that little girls played dress up in. It was a dark plum color made out of a soft material.

  I smiled and took one spin just for the heck of it as I heard the doorbell ring. I crossed my fingers hoping my mother would answer it instead of my father. My father might have slammed it in Adam's face or worse. Hopefully, he would at least leave his shot gun out of it.

  I smoothed down my dress and my hair one more time before heading out to the living room where I found the door hanging open but Adam still standing outside. My father was cursing under his breath in the kitchen, and my mother was patting his back trying to calm him down. "Dad, why didn't you let him inside?" I scolded. The rain had stuck around and was starting to come down again in the darkening sky.

  "Because there are no Walkers allowed in this house. It's bad enough he's on my property." I looked to my mother for support, but she just shrugged. She couldn't really take sides in the matter. I understood it. So, I went out the door, and turned around to close it, looking in for one more second hoping to get some term of endearment. I got nothing, so I shut the door and took Adam's hand, letting him lead me out to his pick-up. It was a bright shiny red color and looked like it was probably made within the last five years.

  He helped me up into the cabin and shut the door behind me. "You look nice," I told him as he got in and started the truck. He had on a button down and black vest with some black pants. His hair was slicked back and tightened into a ponytail he had tucked inside his collar.

  "You look pretty good yourself," he said with a wink as we took off down the bumpy road. I watched out the window as we passed family owned farms and corporate owned ones on our way out of town. When I saw that we were entering Big Timber, I found myself getting even more curious as to what we might be doing on this date.

  Big Timber was the county seat, and even though it had less than 2,000 residents still, it was much more interesting than Melville. Part of that was because a lot of famous people came from there like Thomas McGuane and Tom Brokaw, but another was that it had this historic downtown area that looked like it was straight out of the 1800s where there were festivals and events all the time. Right in the middle was the Historic Grand Hotel.

  Imagine my surprise when that is exactly where Adam pulled up and parked the car. The Victorian hotel had been turned into a more modern bed and breakfast, but inside there was also a saloon and an amazing dinner menu. "Is this seriously where you're taking me?" I asked in surprise.

  "Why, do you not like it? We can go somewhere else," Adam offered nervously." I laughed and gave him a kiss on the cheek, practically bouncing in my seat to get out. I had only been inside one time when I was younger. We'd had breakfast after staying the night for a distant cousin's wedding.

  "I love it, Adam!" I exclaimed, jumping out of the car. Adam smiled in relief and hooked his arm in mine as he led me inside. I expected him to take me into the saloon, but instead, he walked up to the attendant and gave his last name. He'd made dinner reservations. I couldn't believe it. Adam did not at all strike me as the type to take a girl to a fancy dinner, especially on the first date, but it was amazing. It looked like a scene out of a movie as we were led to a seat with twinkly lights above and given menus by a man wearing a suit. Right in the middle of the table was a bouquet of fresh roses; yellow ones.

  "Oh my gosh, Adam. These are beautiful! I love it, but I think you overdid it on me," I told him, looking around.

  "No way, I wanted the best for you. This was as close as I could get." He pointed around him, and a laughed before picking up the flowers and smelling them.

  “That was a cheesy line if I ever heard one,” I said with a smile. “It’s a good thing I like cheesy.” We both laughed as the waiter came up to take our order. To be honest, I hadn’t even looked much at the menu. But I took that as a sign it was a good date. “Just a few more minutes, please,” I told the waiter. So, he nodded and disappeared.

  I began to scan over the menu and found that there wasn't a whole lot I didn't want. So, I figured eenie meenie miny mo would be enough for me when it came time to order. But I was chomping at the bit to ask Adam more about our families. "So, I know you said before that my father sued you guys over the well. But I guess I want to know more. When I warned my father you were coming to pick me up for a date, he flipped. He tried to forbid me from going out with you. I just wonder why he could be so angry over all of this."

  Adam sighed and looked up at me with stress showing on his brow. "The livestock on both our ranches need an easy source of water. We use it for our personal water, as well as for the animals. But it also means that we're often bringing horses or cattle over towards your land and vice versa. That's why your father had that fence put up, to deter the cattle from going past the well. About a year ago we had a cow wonder over there while my father was getting water. She grazed over there and upset one of the horses; a newer one. My father got hurt trying to get them off of each other, and the horse ended up hurt as well. The cow wasn't in great shape either. But your father was furious. He thinks that my father is trying to steal land and mess up his horses, and my father thinks yours has trained his horses to kill or something. And they're both hell bent of having that extra piece of land to themselves. It's a bunch of misunderstandings mixed with an old feud." Adam shook his head as I hung on every word.

  "I had no idea that happened. Nobody told me," I confessed as the waiter came back again. We had already been there at least 20 minutes and hadn't ordered yet. So, I asked for some wine, and my finger landed on a black and bleu bison burger. It actually sounded pretty good.

  I tugged at my dress a little, making sure it didn't ride up. I was feeling pretty nervous about my scars showing if I happened to need to get up or use the restroom. "You know, you don't have to worry about that," Adam said, nodding down towards my legs. I turned red for a moment, partially regretting having told him about that.

  "I just get really self-conscious about it. That's why I never came back even after college. It just really makes me feel gross, I guess. I keep expecting the kids we went to school with to find me and start calling me names again. I know it's silly, but it was a real problem; still is." I looked down at the table for a moment.

  "Well, if they do I'll get rid of them quick, but I don't see that happening. You know, it's too bad I didn't know about it in grade school, I would've decked a couple of kids for you. In fact," he began with a chuckle before the waiter showed up and set our orders down in front of us. It was an awkward second as we were interrupted by steaming plates.

  "It's weird to admit this now, but I had a crush on you for such a long time. Whenever we had combined assemblies or field days I would always watch you with your long hair. I remember when we had our eighth grade dance how I wanted so badly to ask you to dance, but you had come with some other guy. And even at junior prom I was just head over heels for you." I saw him turn a little red at his confession and began to feel a little guilty and embarrassed.

  I didn't remember ever knowing him in school. I remembered hearing about Casey Walker a few times; which must have been his older brother. The only reason I knew about him was because he was a big bully that eventually went on to be the star quarter back when I was a freshman. I tried so many times in my head to place Adam, but I just couldn't.

  "Well, I'm flattered, but tell me, why didn't you ever approach me? Don't tell me it was because I was too popular or something because I so wasn't," I said with a chuckle.

  "No, it was my brother; my whole family really. But Casey always insisted that I stay away from you; that I forget about you. I was so scared of my big brother back then, I did anything he said. He's not so much bigger than me now. In fact, we are starting a little online business together shipping farm fresh eggs and things like that. We get along pretty w
ell, most of the time anyway."

  "Yeah, I know what you mean." I thought about working with my brothers and couldn't imagine it. "My brothers are pretty obnoxious." That made Adam laugh a little. "But they are pretty good guys when you're in a bind."

  The conversation went on like that for hours until it was after 9:30 and we had to leave. We couldn’t believe time had gone by so fast. As he left me at the fence to walk up to my parent’s house, I leaned in and gave him a peck on his cheek. But as I went to walk away, he pulled me back in and kissed me on the lips, letting his tongue dance just inside my mouth for a moment. As I pulled back he grinned slyly at me. “See, this is why I didn’t walk you to the door. Your father never would have allowed me to do that.” I nodded, feeling a little lightheaded before looking up at the stars for a moment.

  “Aren’t they beautiful?” I asked. “You can’t see as many from the city.”

  “I’d imagine,” Adam responded. “Hey, do you want to meet my family?” I looked back down, giving him a shocked expression. If things didn’t go well with mine, I wasn’t sure how well it would go with his. “I know it sounds crazy, but like I said, I don’t want to hide this. I really like you.” He reached out and grabbed my hands. “Come to dinner Sunday. It’s a family tradition; even my brother will be there.”

  Without overthinking it, I just nodded. I liked him way too much to say no, and anything I could do to stop the hostility between our families was worth it.