“I think he’s been staying here.” She shook her head. “I thought he was locked up for drinking.”
“I’ll have to look into that, ma’am.” He took her contact information down and the names of everyone present.
That was it. She was going to sell her home in Idaho Springs. Except for visiting Lucy and John, she never wanted to come back to town ever again.
“Anyone want a house real cheap? Like free?”
“Is anyone else wide awake?” asked Lucy. “Do we want to stay here after that?”
Maya thought she would cry.
“Oh, don’t be upset.” Lucy attempted to calm her. “I thought since we got all beautiful and our guys are down in Blackwood at the saloon, we could crash their party.”
Maya’s phone rang. It was Kevin.
“Hold on, guys.”
She walked into the guest bath.
“Hi, baby,” she said.
“I’m coming up there.”
“They caught him, and we’re fine. We have a surprise for you.”
“I’m coming up there.” He talked to her with his no-nonsense police officer voice.
“Kevin Hoisington, no you’re not. I promise you. Please trust me.” She got him to agree.
It took a few minutes for the women to get ready. She packed up the food in a couple of the coolers and was going to instruct the cleaning crew to help themselves to the rest. They put on extra makeup and looked great when they caravanned back to Blackwood.
The filed into the saloon like they were the dancing girls invited to Kevin’s bachelor party. They captured the attention of the entire bar, which was open to the public. Kevin and the guys were at the pool table, his eyes immediately fixed on Maya as she led the line of women over to them.
“Hi.” She leaned in and kissed him.
“Hi, baby.” The tension eased from his face.
“Two pool tables, huh?”
“Damon bought another table just for the occasion.”
“That was nice of you, Damon.”
She walked over and gave him a big hug, then noticed her cousin Patrick.
“Hey, Patty.” She hugged him next. “Better be careful going to a bachelor party. You could be next.”
Patrick grinned. Maya thought he looked just like Caleb when he smiled.
“I know. Damon and I are the only confirmed bachelors left, I think.”
“Yeah.” Damon shook his head. “I’m not so confirmed.”
“What’s this?” Kevin asked. “Do my ears deceive me?”
“I’m thinking about someone.” He looked between the two of them. “I see what you two have. I want that.”
“Anyone I know?” Kevin looked around the bar, searching out Damon’s love interest.
“No, I haven’t met her yet.” Damon’s eyes scoured the bar like he was scoping out the options. “I’ll let you know when I do. If only Maya had a sister.”
“She does,” said Patrick. “My cousin Jennifer is Maya’s sister. She’s right over there.”
Damon followed their line of sight and found Jennifer talking to Togi. He waggled his eyebrows.
Maya and Kevin laughed.
“Do you have change for the jukebox?” She asked Kevin.
“I do.” Damon hurried behind the counter and pulled out four quarters for each of the women who came to the saloon with Maya. He went over to the table they’d chosen. Lucy Blackwood came over to the men’s corner.
“I’m just checking out the new table,” she said eagerly.
“Hey,” John said to Lucy. “Did you know Kevin played football?”
Kevin rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“Yeah,” she said half-heartedly. “I knew that. You and I left town about the same time."
“How come I’m the last person to know anything?” asked John.
Maya put on a slow song.
“Here.” Kevin handed his cue to Lucy. “Play my game for me so I can finally win.”
He and Maya moved together to the dance floor.
“I’m so glad you’re okay.” He wrapped his arms around her and tugged her close to his chest. “I’m going to mess that guy up.” Kevin was so level headed but there was no mistaking how upset he was about the events of the evening.
“He’s behind bars, and we’re here together. I’m so sorry for bringing all of this into our lives.”
She thought twice about telling him that Tim Johnson had probably been coming and going at her place the entire time.
Kevin started to say something, but she put her fingers to his lips.
“This is the first time you and I have danced together, and I want to remember it for the rest of my life.”
He held her close for the entire song.
She didn’t tell him it was a song she and her late husband had danced to often. She held onto him, pressed her forehead to his shoulder and felt how healing and powerful love could be.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Kevin
Kevin and Maya picked the middle of June for their wedding date. It was only a few weeks away. Despite all the business of putting a wedding together, he still checked up on the people of the town, especially the ones who needed him the most.
The biggest headache of the wedding—which was no big headache after all—was the fact that Maya had been looking for a wedding dress. She couldn’t find her mother’s dress so she ordered something online. She had just finished placing the order when she joined Kevin for their regular check-ins on her new favorite person, Mrs. Jensen.
Maya had arranged, with the old woman’s permission, to make repairs to her home. She’d replaced all the appliances and put in a new kitchen floor. They installed a new roof and replaced the windows. The repairs were done in small stages so it wouldn’t disturb Mrs. Jensen too much.
The remodeling gave Mrs. Jensen something to do. She and Maya visited and talked paint colors, floor samples, and appliance reliability. Maya seemed to love spending time with her. He constantly told her how proud he was for the selfless way she gave her time, talents, and money to others.
They stopped by often but today it was to check in and share lunch. Mrs. Jensen had been getting forgetful lately and they made sure she ate regularly. They also let her know they were getting married and that they were in the middle of planning the wedding.
“Well, now,” said Mrs. Jensen. “That’s fine.”
“We were hoping you’d come,” he said. “Would you like that?”
“I’d be pleased.” Her face lit up. “I have something for you. I don’t know if you can use it or not.” Today seemed to be one of Mrs. Jensen’s clearer days. It broke Kevin’s heart that the woman he’d been looking after for years was slipping away.
“What’s that, Mrs. Jensen?” asked Kevin.
“I have a wedding dress,” she said. “It belonged to my grandmother. I’ve taken good care of it all these years. I was hoping I would have a daughter one day to give it to, but the only babies I ever took care of were someone else’s. If you don’t have one already, Maya, you’re welcome to use it.”
They were stunned and both sat at the table with their jaws dropped. Kevin could not imagine what shape the dress might be in, but they had to indulge the woman.
“We could look, Mrs. Jensen.”
“Well, then.” She was up and moving down the hallway to her bedroom.
“Is there something I could help you with?” asked Kevin.
“Yes, dear.” Mrs. Jensen moved well for a person her age but she was frail. Kevin followed her down the hall with Maya close behind. He dropped to his knees to reach under the bed where she said the dress was. He pulled out a beautifully made wooden box with a sliding lid on it and carried it to the living room and rested it on the coffee table so Mrs. Jensen could do the honors.
Maya’s face transformed when Mrs. Jensen showed her the dress.
“Good?” asked Kevin.
“May I?” Maya’s hands trembled.
“Yes,”
said Mrs. Jensen.
Maya pinched the garment carefully and held it up to her. The dress was a billowy, ivory-laced garment. Her eyes darted back and forth from him to the dress.
“What?”
“When I got the idea for an Old West wedding, this was the dress I had in mind.” She held it under her chin.
“It’s short.” He looked down to where the dress ended at her shins.
“I would just add to it, but I think the rest of it will fit. Mrs. Jensen, it’s beautiful, and it’s in superb condition.”
The old woman had a strange look on her face. She got up and walked over to the table against the wall. She pulled out a drawer and removed an ancient picture from it.
“This is me in the dress.”
Something about seeing the young-looking Mrs. Jensen on her wedding day made him choke up. He looked to Maya, who had tears in her eyes too.
“My word, Mrs. Jensen,” remarked Kevin. “You must have made your husband swoon.”
“He loved me to the end.” She looked at Maya. “I want you to have the dress. We can try it on and whatever mending needs to be made I could do it.”
“I don’t know what to say.” Maya swiped at the tears tickling her cheeks.
“Say you’ll take it.”
Maya hugged her. “I will, Mrs. Jensen. I’ll cherish it.”
He did the lunch dishes as Maya tried on the dress just to see if it would fit. He had to promise to stay in the kitchen so he wouldn’t see her in case it was a keeper. When he heard her squeal, he knew the dress was the dress.
Maya rushed around the corner from the living room to the kitchen.
“I’m going to stay here for a while.” Her face was bright and beaming. “We'll work on the dress.”
“Okay.” He washed the last dish then kissed her forehead. “I have to patrol. Just give me a call when you want me to come back to get you.”
He kissed her softly and thanked Mrs. Jensen. Before he toured the town, he went back to the station. He monitored the status of Tim Johnson regularly. That asshole had surprised his soon-to-be wife and him too many times.
He knew Tim had an impending court appearance for what had become a stalking charge on top of breaking and entering. As that date approached, Tim’s lawyer contacted Kevin repeatedly, trying to make a deal. If Maya dropped the charges, they would drop the suit.
Most of the emails went unanswered, but now that they were about to be married, he wanted to put the matter out of their lives so they would never have to deal with Tim Johnson again. He picked up the phone and called the lawyer.
“This is Kevin Hoisington. I have your emails and I’m turning them over to the state attorney. I’m no lawyer, but I’m thinking they would be considered extortion. My case has nothing to do with Maya’s. You’re a smart man and you know better than to make these demands. Do whatever you want.” He added coolly, “Miss Blackwood has a restraining order against your client, and he was in her house. Consider the threats he made against her life. His presence would be considered a threat to her well being, do you understand me?”
“Are you threatening my client, officer?” asked the lawyer.
“You’re proposing deals that make no sense, so I’m clarifying a few things so you won’t be confused. I will appear in court for your civil suit if it doesn’t get dropped, but if your client shows up anywhere near Miss Blackwood again, it will be considered a stand-your-ground situation. I say let the chips fall where they may.”
He toured Blackwood after his call. He would be off in a week to put the wedding together with the help of some of his in-laws to be.
He got a text from Maya, telling him she was ready to be picked up from Mrs. Jensen’s. He had never seen a more beautiful light in a person’s face when he met her at the door.
“I wanted a dress that had meaning.” Her voice tightened with emotion. “I can’t tell you what that woman means to me.”
He touched her hand.
“I wouldn’t have met her if you hadn’t been such a good example by helping others. She is one of the most important people in my life. I can’t tell you how much I love you.”
“I don’t think I could tell you either,” he said, choked with emotion. “But I will make sure you know, every day for the rest of our lives.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Maya
It was strange being in John’s house after she had basically moved into Kevin’s, which she thought of as theirs. Coming and going to the cabin felt exactly like it did when she came and went from a hotel. It was a beautiful venue but it was never her home.
Her life had come full circle. She had loved and lost and loved and won. There was nothing standing in the way of her happiness, including Tim Johnson who would be serving many years in prison for extortion and breaking and entering and a laundry list of other infractions. His record made it nearly impossible to file a credible suit against Kevin. They were free of him.
She’d known good men, bad men, and the best of men. The latter was where her future husband sat firmly along with her brother and cousins.
The guys had done such a wonderful job arranging the wedding venue. They built a simple trellis for Kevin and her to stand under and say their vows. With the weather expected to be spectacular, the chairs were set up out back in tidy rows for loved ones. She reviewed everything before she went upstairs to her former bedroom. Togi and Franny and some of the other women from town would be over soon to help her dress.
She heard an odd clip-clop which she knew was the unmistakable sound of horse hooves. She went to the nearest window to see what could make the sound. There, coming down the private road, was Clem and a man driving a horse-drawn carriage.
She thought for a moment she was imagining things. But no, she focused, and that was indeed what she was seeing.
The driver pulled the horse up to the far end of the cultivated portion of the lot. John’s property stretched hundreds of acres but only the most immediate section was landscaped with a conventional lawn. The driver stayed with the carriage as Clem came into the house.
He made his way up the stairs and into her room. “Like it?”
“Is that for us?” she asked.
“Yep. Better get ready.”
Soon enough, all the special women in her life were helping her put on the dress she always imagined she’d wear when she married the man of her dreams. The plan was that the guys would make sure that Kevin was distracted while she descended the stairs and met the carriage in the garage.
When all the guests had arrived and all the cars were parked and could no longer spook the horse, the driver pulled the carriage into the garage. Maya in her beautiful vintage wedding gown met her brother, who looked so handsome in his black coat and ribbon tie.
“I’ll try not to cry.” She tapped a lace handkerchief to her eyes.
“Me too.” Clem thumbed his eyes.
They climbed into the carriage, whose only purpose was to whip around the landscaped lot and make a grand entrance to the wedding altar. The carriage stopped several feet behind the trellis and Clem helped her to the grass. He offered her his arm and together, they walked around the seated guests and up between them to the front of the aisle.
The guests stood while the bride walked behind her sister. It was a good thing that Clem lent her his arm because her eyes were blurred with tears. When they reached the altar, her brother took her hand and gave it to Kevin. He stared into her eyes with such love and devotion.
As Maya looked at the people surrounding her, she realized she’d come full circle. She’d arrived in her namesake town a stranger. She’d sold it off like it had no value. As she glanced at her guests, she realized that the value in the town was never in the structures, but in the people.
While it wasn’t a done deal, in her heart she knew they’d get the town back somehow and when they did, everything would be different.
Her eyes went to Clem, who looked longingly at his estranged wife. She hoped that the
y would find a piece of heaven of their own.
She turned to Kevin, who looked dapper dressed in black and white. He was a cross between lawman with his silver sheriff’s star stuck to his jacket and outlaw with his devilishly handsome looks.
“You look beautiful, baby.” He held both of her hands and looked to the minister as if to say move it along. He’d told her again and again that he’d been waiting his entire life for her.
“I love you,” she whispered. For a brief second, she closed her eyes and thanked Brad for being a good man. She would always love him, but she wondered if he was all part of a bigger plan to get her to Kevin.
The officiant began. He spoke of love and promises and forevers. When he finished, Maya kissed her husband and knew her life had just begun.
Are you interested in finding out more about Kaitlin and Clem? What about the fate of Blackwood? It all wraps up in No Regrets.
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No Regrets Sneak Peek
Clem
The sweeping custom log home looking out on a field of aging wildflowers felt so empty. Even the majestic backdrop of the Colorado Rockies offered no serenity and it drove Clem Blackwood crazy to be there alone.
While his sister Maya had fallen in love, married, and moved out, his marriage to his childhood sweetheart, Kaitlin, was on a downward spiral headed for the end. Clem had a lot to think about, too much time to think about it, and a great big beautiful empty house to think about it in.
Imagine That: A Small Town Big Love Novel Page 17