by Ellie Hall
All of that churned in his mind and left him feeling empty and irritable but longing for things to be the way they were or at least better than broken.
Genesis fidgeted and clicked her hoof on the floor of the stall.
Dallen let out a long breath. “You always pick up on my bad moods, huh, girl?” He spent most of his time at the ranch and had found talking with the horses strengthened their bond and also provided him with a form of therapy even if it was a little unusual.
She nickered.
“I’ll stop thinking about her. My mother, not Kayla,” he clarified.
The truth was, he couldn’t get Kayla out of his mind. He replayed the phone conversation when she’d called inquiring about the horse, then their meeting in the café. The music in there was loud and he couldn’t hear the nuances in her voice, but after their conversation at Ridley Manor, he was surprised he didn’t make the connection sooner.
Offering to be her date to make it up to her after being a jerk made some kind of backward sense.
He chuckled. “No, actually it doesn’t make any sense.” He scratched Genesis’s cheek. “Nope, no sense at all. I started yesterday going to see the lawyer about the will and ended it with a date to a wedding.” He sighed. “And finding out my own brother is getting married.” He shook his head. How had it all gone so wrong?
He loaded Genesis into the trailer. She flicked her mane. “Fine, if you must know, I’m nervous. Weddings and marriage hold a lot of weight in my family. Well, what’s left of it. You know that. Now, I should probably stop talking to you so Kayla doesn’t think I’m nuts. Then again, she plays games where eating a piece of bread covered in cheese has the power to save the world from a meteor.” He chuckled again and got in the truck.
He arrived at the venue early enough to avoid the mob of cars that were sure to clog the parking lot. He brought Genesis an apple and made her promise to behave then raced across the street to a tux shop. The door was locked but the lights were on. If he was going to be Kayla’s date he needed to be prepared and look the part. He hated the idea of her mother and sister embarrassing her.
He knocked on the door and a bald man with a measuring tape around his neck poked his head out. “I’m sorry, Sir. We don’t open for another hour.”
He stepped back. “Can you eyeball my measurements and deliver a penguin suit to Ridley Manor in an hour? I’ll pay extra for your trouble.”
The man tilted his head, sighed, and opened the door, allowing him to enter.
In no time, Dallen was back at the venue, dressed in a dark-gray tuxedo that may as well have been custom tailored to his size. The shop owner said he rarely had men as large as him so it was his lucky day to have plenty of suits in stock to choose from.
Dallen checked on Genesis, smoothed the tie with diagonal gray stripes, and went inside to find Kayla and finalize details for Genesis’s ride.
He scanned the room, which slowly filled in with guests. A distinguished man with a trim mustache talked with a man dressed in a tuxedo who must’ve been the father of the bride and the groom respectively. Kayla’s mother and her cousin were probably helping Chloe get ready.
Then his eyes landed on Kayla who snapped a few photos. Her hair was half up and half down, cascading over her shoulders. She wore a dusty rose floor-length gown that swept her curves.
His heart stuttered as she floated past, taking photographs of the guests and trying to blend in. But to him, she stood out and was easily the most beautiful girl there.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She turned and sure enough, she wasn’t wearing her glasses. Her hazel eyes met his but she didn’t smile.
However, he did. He couldn’t help it. Even if that meteor she’d mentioned was flying at the earth he wouldn’t have been able to hold back his grin. He crossed the room to meet her.
“You clean up good,” she said.
He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, unsure whether to tell her she looked adorable, cute, pretty, or beautiful.
She raised an eyebrow then blinked a few times. “Thanks for coming,” she said.
“I told you I would.”
“Listen, I don’t need your pity or—”
“Pity?”
“Yeah, Harmonie pressured you after my mother and sister—”
“Listen, I know how family can be. Mothers in particular.”
She stepped back as though that wasn’t what she expected to hear. “All the same, it was embarrassing enough and thinking about you—”
“You were thinking about me?” he interrupted. He’d withdrawn from the dating world but his old flirtatious charm, a signature among the Hawkins men, came back full force as if she drew it out of him.
She tugged on the strap of her camera, flustered. “You didn’t let me finish. Thinking about you agreeing to this because you felt bad for me is almost worse than—”
“Than your sister and mother being total—” He stopped himself from being disrespectful, but he did not like the way they’d treated Kayla.
“Yeah, well, I’m used to it.” She seemed defeated, deflated then launched into details about the horse as if to avoid the discomfort of the conversation.
The strains of a three-piece ensemble came from the garden, indicating it was time for the ceremony to begin.
It went off without a hitch, including Chloe’s grand entrance on the horse. Genesis was perfectly behaved and Dallen was certain that she enjoyed the pageantry and being admired as much as the bride did.
But through it all he couldn’t keep his gaze from drifting to Kayla as she bounced from aisle to sidelines to behind the groom, trying to camouflage as she captured the big moments on film. It was too bad she wasn’t lined up with the rest of the wedding party but it became a sort of game for Dallen, trying to keep track of where she was during the ceremony. There was something unique about her, something that drew him to her, something that made her stand out when clearly, she wanted to blend in.
Afterward, he got Genesis settled into the trailer and promised her a long ride in the country the next day. “We won’t go back to the barn until after sunset, girl, but I’ll make it up to you,” he said, before returning to the reception.
Once again, Dallen surveyed the room for Kayla. She stood opposite a reedy guy with a receding hairline. She stepped back and he leaned closer. She angled her camera then her shoulder toward him to create a sort of buffer but he crept closer and kept talking.
Dallen strode across the room, realizing it was either an unrequited crush or Kayla’s mother didn’t call that Livermore guy off after finding out Kayla had a plus one. Without thinking, he gripped her shoulder and like before, electricity, as powerful as the energy in the air before a storm, pulsed between their skin.
She blinked a few times as though surprised to see him. “Um, Dallen this is Vincent. He was just telling me about the importance of bundled insurance plans.” She cleared her throat and edged away.
Dallen extended his hand. “Fascinating. I’m Kayla’s date.”
The guy stepped back, realizing Kayla wasn’t available and gestured to Kayla. “Oh, your mom said—”
“Misunderstanding,” Kayla said. “Chloe is over there. I’m sure she’d love to know you made it today. Now that she and Bryan will move in together, they’ll probably need some insurance.”
She turned to Dallen. “And get me out of here.” She led him past the table settings and through a side door. Taking a deep breath of air, she said, “Is it almost over?”
“Our date or the wedding?”
“Are we on a date?” She blinked funny again like there was something in those big, beautiful eyes of hers.
“Oh, uh.” The word date had slipped out. “A fake date. I don’t date, actually.” Dallen composed himself, having been temporarily swept up in her presence.
“As a rule, you don’t date?” she asked.
“Right.” He’d seen his parents’ relationship dissolve right before his eyes. He’d dated a
few girls years back, including Stephanie, but she confirmed that he was better off avoiding love because it would only lead to loss.
“In that case, thanks for breaking your rule to be my fake date and rescuing me from Vincent.” Her tone was flat. “But I don’t need your help. I could’ve handled that just fine.”
“Like you handle your mother and sister?” he shot back. It wasn’t that he wanted to argue with her but she’d let them walk all over her. Although, maybe having a fake date made her feel equally as bad.
She faltered, stepping back again. “Excuse me?” Then there was a squelching noise and she moaned. “No, no, no.” She staggered, lifting the hem of her skirt. He thought she might crumble right there on the ground. He reached his arms out but she waved him away. Drawing a deep breath, she straightened and started to storm off.
“Kayla, wait. I’m sorry. That was my fault. I—” He had cleaned up the other piles of manure but apparently had missed one in the garden.
She rounded on him. “You what? Want to rescue me from that too? I’m fine, Dallen. You don’t know me, but I’m fine, okay?”
He felt terrible and tried to help as she leaned against the catering van and wiped her shoe in the grass before shoving past him then returned to the reception. “I have work to do.”
Officially his work there was done, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave. He cleaned up the pile and returned to the reception. Maybe Kayla was fine but she didn’t seem it and it didn’t seem right to leave her like that.
In the enormous dining room at the venue, everyone settled into their seating arrangements for the toasts. Dallen spotted an empty chair next to Kayla and swept across the room before landing in it.
She was quiet while the best man toasted the groom. Then when the maid of honor gave her sentimental speech, Kayla leaned over and said, “You don’t have to stick around. I should be taking pictures, but the lighting in here is terrible.”
However, he didn’t move. After what he witnessed the day before he didn’t want Chloe or Kayla’s mother to have the satisfaction of seeing her alone.
Everyone stood for the father-daughter dance and Kayla excused herself to take a few pictures.
Her mother stood on the other side of a portly man who clapped heartily at the end of the song. “Can’t believe she’s all grown up.”
Dallen nodded politely.
The man inclined his head and looked at Dallen longer than was comfortable. “Dallen Hawkins, is that you?” the man asked.
Again, he nodded, but didn’t recognize the man.
“Bart Potash.” He patted his ample belly. “I met your father when he was adding the south addition onto the resort grounds. At the time I worked in waste management. Then I climbed the corporate ladder—ended up engineering commercial plans with Robert.” He gestured to the father of the bride.
Dallen offered a friendly smile.
“Gosh, I remember you and your brothers running around the construction site. You must’ve been, what six, seven? You’ve grown into a strapping young man.” His eyes traveled upward to meet Dallen’s eyes. “Tall too. Then again, so was your father. Mountain men.”
Kayla’s mother had gravitated closer. He’d hoped he was far enough outside the Hawk Ridge Hollow circle to go unrecognized. He’d learned that certain types of people sniffed out money and with her talk of marrying off Kayla, likely she was likely one of them.
“How do you know the Cartwrights?” Bart asked.
“I’m here with—” As they chatted, he’d lost track of Kayla, but other than that moment his gaze had hardly left her. It was as though he was magnetized to her.
Then she was beside him, gripping her camera. “There you are. I’m here with Kayla,” he answered.
She managed a thin smile.
Bart's eyes widened and then crinkled at the corners. “You two must be next. I bet you can’t wait for Dallen here to get a ring on your finger,” he said to her.
Kayla blinked a few times as though trying to focus her vision.
“A Hawkins? My, I didn’t realize that,” her mother said, edging into the conversation with obvious interest.
“We haven’t figured anything like that out.” Kayla’s smile was strained.
“Something you succeed at. But don’t you think your life would be better if you hitched your cart to the right horse?” her mother asked. “The fact of the matter is you’re not married and—”
“Yes, mother. I’m quite aware. You remind me every time we see each other or talk on the phone. So at least three times a day.”
“Well, you should do something about that.”
“Like change my phone number,” she muttered. Then more loudly she added, “It’s not like a wrinkle in my dress which I can iron out or manure I can just wipe away.” She tossed a perturbed look at Dallen. “I can’t help that I’m single. I’m taking photographs of my sister’s wedding. I’m well aware I’m the single person among a crowd of married people. Now, I should probably get back to capturing this wonderful day.”
“What do you mean you’re single? What about Dallen?” Her mother’s eyebrows stitched together.
“How’s your brother?” Bart cut in as though sensing the situation was getting uncomfortable. “Where is Charles anyway?”
For a second, Dallen thought the old man was doddering and had forgotten he had multiple brothers or that his father, Charles, had died.
“Chuck? My brother?” Kayla’s face brightened.
“He somehow weasels his way out of all these things.” Kayla’s mother huffed.
“He did not weasel, Mom. He’s on active duty.”
“All the same, at least he could’ve come back for his sister’s wedding. It’s the principal of the matter. It’s about respect.”
“He’s serving our country. We should be thankful he’s out there risking his life.” Kayla puffed up with irritation.
Dallen knew a guy from college named Chuck who was now in the military but he didn’t want to ask her about it right then and draw attention to the fact that they hardly knew each other.
While he was lost in thought the conversation had continued and Harmonie and Chloe had joined them.
“Yeah, but you know when you tie the knot, he’ll be there,” Harmonie said.
“Because you’re his favorite sister.” Chloe rolled her eyes. “But you probably won’t get married for a long, long time. Kayla’s going to be an old cat lady before she finds love.” Chloe snickered.
Harmonie shook her head. “She’s allergic to cats.”
Chloe eyed Dallen and he shuffled closer to Kayla. His family had enough problems, how’d he step into such a mess? Yet, he felt protective and defensive of her.
“So, when are you two getting married? I can see if the event coordinator has any available dates.” Kayla’s mother’s insistent voice floated to him over the music.
“Irene, no need to pressure them,” Bart said. “They’re still young.”
He had to focus on what Irene—Mrs. Cartwright—had said. Was she suggesting they get married? He smoothed his tie. To him, marriage was for life. Like a red-tailed hawk, he intended to enter into union with a mate and they’d live happily ever after. Well, he knew there'd be ups and downs, bumps in the road and all that, but he wouldn’t just up and leave when things got rocky as his mother had done—or, more accurately, when she’d found someone younger and more famous than his father. While Charles Hawkins enjoyed the finer things in life, with all the responsibility of running a billion-dollar corporation, he preferred his privacy and not parading his wealth around. His mother wanted the spotlight. Even so, his father fought for their relationship but Judith Hawkins had already cast her sights on shinier things, leaving her boys and husband behind.
Nevertheless, his father insisted he and his brothers marry if they wanted to receive the Hawkins legacy: leadership roles and control over the corporation and the inheritance. But his father’s provision about marriage was confusing because in th
e end he was left, alone, abandoned, and without his wife.
Dallen wanted love as a real, true, enduring thing. However, it was easier to just avoid it altogether.
Kayla’s eyes widened. Then she said, “A wedding? That’s moving a little fast, Mom. Dallen, is just, um, my date.”
“Better than being single.” Chloe smiled and flipped her hair.
Kayla blinked a few times. Although he assumed it was because of the contacts he also thought maybe she needed a minute alone to collect herself.
“Why don’t you take those out and go put your glasses on,” he suggested.
The corner of her lip lifted with a hint of gratitude and she all but fled.
“Pardon me, Mrs. Cartwright, could I have a word?” Dallen asked, gesturing they step aside. “I don’t know you very well, but what you were saying about respect—it’s one of my most important values but I’m not so sure you’re offering the level of respect your daughter deserves.”
“Chloe?”
“No, Kayla.” He lifted to his full height. “I suggest you think about the way you speak to her.” He knew he was appealing to her desire to have her daughter marry a wealthy man, which was likely all she saw when she’d learned he was a Hawkins. But he couldn’t help it. Kayla was bright and sweet and deserved better than the way they treated her.
He turned on his heel and went outside to the horse trailer. Things had gotten very complicated. Even though her mother’s suggestion they get married was absurd, he was friends with Kayla’s brother Chuck in college and wasn’t sure if that was a line he could cross even if he wanted to get married.
It was time for him to leave.
Chapter 5
Kayla
The entire conversation between Bart, Kayla’s mother, Chloe, Dallen, and herself had gone from mildly uncomfortable to leave-the-contacts-in-forever painful. She’d rather have stabbed her eyes out. Okay, dramatic, but as she pushed her glasses up her nose after taking those blasted things out, she needed a breath of fresh air.
Unfortunately, when she stepped outside, it smelled like horse manure, reminding her of when she’d stepped in it, which was rather fitting considering how terrible the last couple of days had been. She was used to her mother and sister getting under her skin but a long time ago she had given up on sticking up for herself. She just had to endure it.