Her gaze left his face long enough to glance down. She clutched one of the shooting-star flowers and scanned the article, her eyes widened as she glanced up, still wary.
Empowered suddenly, Duke leaned over the counter and took her face between his hands. He kissed her and kept on kissing her until Luke smacked his leg and demanded to know what was going on.
Duke pulled back only far enough to stare lovingly into Angie’s glazed eyes. “Well, Lucas, I hope your mother will allow me to help her finish up this batch of jam, and then she’ll say yes to the four of us...her, you, me and Zorro...eloping.”
Angie gasped.
Luke screwed up his face. “What’s ’loping m-m-mean?”
Duke started to answer, but Angie pressed the sweet-smelling flower over his lips. “Eloping means Dylan is asking me...uh, asking us to marry him.”
“Hot diggity dog!” Luke fist pumped the air. “I told Bobby and T-Tommy that’s what I prayed for at Sunday school. They said it’d never happen. Can I call them, Mom, can I?”
The adults smiled at his excited response.
Duke suggested he hold off a minute. He circled around the counter and took both of Angie’s hands in one of his. “This is jumbled and I haven’t properly said I love you, but I do. I want us to be a real family, Angie, but you have to want it, too. The last thing I’d ever do is guilt you into marrying me.”
“We do w-wanna be a family,” Luke yelled, tugging on both of them.
Angie turned shy. “I admit I fell hard for you, Dylan. Last night I hardly slept a wink for feeling awful about things I’d said to you on the phone. I planned to come see you today and apologize. I realized I care too much about you to be so selfish as to demand you give up bull riding, a sport you love, for me.”
Duke kissed her again. Releasing her slowly, he said softly, “It’s done and I’m happy with my decision. Very, very happy.”
“So, can we ’lope r-right now?” Luke asked anxiously.
His mother murmured, “Is it even possible on such short notice? Oh, but we should marry in our church. And, Dylan, don’t you want to wait and invite your family? There’s your dad, your brother, Miss Sarah and oodles of cousins.”
“Not if you’re okay with it just being us. Some of them will be disappointed, but they’ll get over it.” At Angie’s nod, he added, “I don’t want to wait and plan something bigger. The kicker is, I can’t leave town to take you on a honeymoon. There’s been another robbery. They have to be solved. Since I’m not going to any more rodeos I’ll have more time to spend trying to locate Midnight and return him to Thunder Ranch.”
“We’re okay with ’loping today, aren’t we, Mom?” Luke insisted.
Angie nodded again, although she touched a hand to her hair and shed her apron almost dazedly. Gathering the flowers, she put them in an empty jam jar.
Duke dug out his cell phone. “May I have your phone book?”
She handed it over and he called the county courthouse to ask a few pertinent questions. Once he covered the mouthpiece. “At our ages, Angie, they’ll waive the waiting period if you can prove you’ve had the measles vaccine.”
“I have a certificate in my personal papers. But why only measles?”
Duke rubbed his jaw and tried to speak low enough to keep Luke from hearing. “The clerk said it’s in case you get pregnant on our wedding night.”
“Oh.” Angie blushed and handed her cell phone to her son. “Luke, the Marshalls’ number is programmed in. Go ahead...call your friends.”
The next call Duke made was to the minister at their church who said he could accommodate them at two o’clock. That allowed time for Duke to buy the license, and change out of his uniform shirt into a new white one he had to buy along with new jeans to go with his Sunday boots.
Angie washed her hair. She found an almost forgotten blue dress in the back of her closet. “Does this look crappy with boots?” she asked when Duke returned.
“You’d look beautiful in feed sacks,” he assured her even though Luke, who’d tried but couldn’t tame his cowlick, made a wry face as he hustled the adults out to Duke’s pickup.
* * *
ON THE DOT OF TWO, LUKE and Zorro witnessed Angie and Duke’s vows, along with the minister’s wife and daughter who were formal witnesses.
They didn’t linger at the church once the service ended.
Driving back to Angie’s ranch, she clutched their signed wedding license and her small bouquet of wildflowers, and smiled as she rubbed her thumb over a too-big, temporary ring Duke had put on her finger.
He noticed and was plainly perturbed at himself. “Angie, I’m sorry I didn’t think of something as important as buying you rings. That high school class ring of mine is old and battered. I don’t even remember how long ago I hooked it on with my pickup keys.”
“I’m not sorry about one thing,” she said, leaning her head on his shoulder. “I knew you were a man I could love when you brought me the laughing horse logo to help sell my horse cookies. I felt myself falling for you before, though, when we walked out to my horse pasture and you accepted Luke for himself.
Duke swung into a highway pull-out, set the brake and kissed his new wife thoroughly, lingering over the process to bunch his hands in her long, silky hair.
* * *
IN THE BACKSEAT, LUKE looped his arms around Zorro. With no sign of a stutter, he told the big dog solemnly, “I can’t wait to start second grade, ’cause everybody at school will see I’ve got a mom and a dad. And a great dog,” he added diplomatically.
* * * * *
The HARTS OF THE RODEO miniseries continues next month with Shelley Galloway’s book,
AUSTIN: SECOND CHANCE COWBOY!
Keep reading for an excerpt of Bet on a Cowboy by Julie Benson!
ANGIE BARRINGTON’S HORSE TREATS
1 cup uncooked oats
1 cup flour
1 cup shredded carrots, or apples, or raisins, or crushed peppermints for variety
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
¼ cup molasses
Mix all ingredients together. Form mixture into small balls and place on a greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350° F for 15 minutes or until golden-brown.
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Chapter One
“He’s married. I’m beginning to think this season is
cursed.” Maggie Sullivan stared at the wedding picture of Rory McAlister, Devlin Designs’ cowboy model, on the Twin Creeks Ranch website. Tall, dark-haired and built like only a real cowboy could be, he’d have been perfect. Now here she was, two weeks from the start of taping for her reality show, Finding Mrs. Right, and they were short one key component—a bachelor.
Samantha, Maggie’s assistant director, turned from her computer monitor. “Who’s married?”
“Rory McAlister. The man we hoped would be this season’s bachelor.”
“Isn’t it Kate’s job to check into that?”
“She’s got the flu, and since we have to sign a new bachelor ASAP, I get to play casting director.” Maggie frowned. What luck. She’d also get to deliver the bad news about Rory to her boss. Right now having the flu sounded pretty good.
When their quarterback bachelor unretired in midseason, the powers that be had decided to capitalize on the current popularity of cowboys, and hoped to sign Devlin Designs’ gorgeous new model as the next bachelor. The man was featured in every popular fashion magazine, and his rugged good looks were a hot conversation topic among women around office watercoolers all over the country. Maggie had been sent to research the idea, which led her to the unfortunate news of his marriage.
Unfortunate for her, that is, not for Rory.
“What’re we going to do now that our prime candidate is off the market?”
“I’m working on plan B even as we speak.” However, all she’d come up with was an actor dressed up as a cowboy, but they needed authenticity. There was something about real cowboys. No one could define it exactly, but everyone knew when it was missing.
Think. She fingered the sterling-silver frame holding the last picture of her and her mother together. What would her mom think of her only daughter, an upstate New York farm girl, working on a reality show in L.A.?
I know it’s not what you would’ve wished for me, Mom, but the job will get me what I want out of life.
“How about a rodeo cowboy?” Samantha asked as she rolled her desk chair across Maggie’s pristinely organized office to join her at her computer.
“The National Finals are two months away. Anyone with a name is gearing up for that.” Maggie rubbed the back of her neck, trying to loosen the tension knot.
When she scrolled further down the ranch’s web page, a picture of the wedding party appeared. Beside Maggie, Samantha sighed and pointed at the screen. “Look at the best man. He’s too good for words.”
Slightly taller than Rory, the man had charisma that leaped off the screen. The tux fit him to perfection, emphasizing his broad shoulders. The sun highlighted the golden tones in his hair.
“He’s definitely what great dreams are made of.” Maggie scanned the copy beside the picture. Hope eternal burst through her. “He’s Rory’s brother, Griffin. Could that be more perfect? We can still capitalize on Rory’s popularity if his brother is our bachelor.” She could see the trailer now: Rory McAlister is off the marriage market, but don’t worry. He has a brother. Tune in every week to Finding Mrs. Right, and meet Griffin McAlister!
She frowned as another thought occurred to her. “How could a man this gorgeous be available?”
Samantha clicked her ruby-red fingernail against the monitor. “Look at the wedding photos. Each one shows him dancing or cuddling with a different woman. No way is that guy in a serious relationship.”
“I have to be sure.”
“Then call him and ask.”
Why not, since plan B stunk and plan C failed to materialize? Maggie clicked on the Contact Us page. “What do I have to lose?”
“Exactly. We can’t be any worse off than we are now.”
“Why don’t I find that comforting?” Maggie took a minute to compose her thoughts and study the Twin Creeks website, discovering the ranch offered horseback riding tours and other tourist activities. She’d lead with what a great opportunity being on the show was, emphasizing how the publicity would bring more visitors to the ranch and increase business. Then she’d tell Griffin how wonderful the bachelorettes were.
With the conversation and her pitch mapped out, she located the ranch’s phone number, picked up her iPhone and dialed. “Cross your fingers.”
Samantha crossed her fingers and held up her hands. Then she crossed her legs. “Extra insurance never hurts.”
A smooth feminine voice answered, throwing Maggie off stride. Calm down. Just because a woman answers the phone doesn’t mean Griffin’s married. She could be Rory’s pretty little wife, or a family member. Barreling forward, Maggie explained she had business to discuss with Griffin, and asked to speak with him. A minute later, she had his cell phone number. Then as an afterthought, she blurted out, “I know this is an odd question, but is Griffin married or engaged?”
Soft laughter floated over the phone lines. “Believe it or not, that’s not an unusual question, and no, he’s not married, or even dating anyone seriously.”
Maggie ended the call. “He’s available.”
“That’s good news,” Samantha said.
She punched in Griffin’s cell number. When he answered, his low sexy voice rippled through her. His voice was as good as his looks.
“Hello, Griffin. I’m Maggie Sullivan, the director on the reality show Finding Mrs. Right. We’re looking for a bachelor this season—”
“I’m not interested.”
“Being on the show would be great publicity—”
“I’ve got horses to see to.” Then he hung up.
Maggie stared at her phone. Their conversation had gone much better in her head.
“He hung up on me.” She sat there, unsure of how to proceed. “He wouldn’t even let me make the pitch.”
“Call him back.”
“What makes you think the second time will go any better than the first?”
“Divine intervention?” Samantha said, as she pointed upward.
“I think the Lord might be a little busy.” But knowing she couldn’t give up, Maggie called again. This time when Griffin answered, she blurted out, “Don’t hang up. Give me a chance to outline my—”
Click.
Maggie clutched her phone so hard her fingers tingled. “Maybe we don’t want Griffin McAlister on the show. He definitely needs to work on his social skills—he hung up on me again.”
“They say the third time’s the charm,” Samantha said encouragingly.
“The best indication for future behavior is past behavior, and I’m sensing a pattern here.”
“Then email him.”
Maggie shook her head. “He’ll just delete the message without reading it. I need to see Griffin in person. It’ll be harder to dismiss me if I’m standing in front of him.” She tapped her neatly manicured nail against her desk. “I need to develop the right approach, because he won’t give me much time. I have to hook him immediately.”
Samantha grinned and pointed to a photo of Griffin surrounded by women. “I know exactly what will work. Start with showing him the bachelorettes’ photos. That’ll get his attention.”
“Are you sure?” Maggie still believed leading with the publicity for the ranch was best, but what she knew about men could be written on a matchbook cover. Samantha, on the other hand, could write a three-book series and have material left over.
“After seeing him with all those women? Absolutely.”
But before Maggie decided, her cell phone belted out “Defying Gravity.” Glancing at the t
ouch screen revealed the number of the fertility clinic she’d contacted. Once the years started zooming by and her eggs grew older, with no marital prospects on the horizon, Maggie had realized she had two choices—never have children or be a single parent.
After tossing out a quick “I’ve got to take this call” to Samantha, she answered her phone. As she jotted down notes regarding the cost of the various procedures she would undergo for in vitro fertilization, she kept her responses vague and to a minimum.
Whichever way she went, adoption or having a child with a sperm donor, achieving her dream wouldn’t be cheap.
“Is everything okay?” Samantha asked when Maggie ended her call.
“It was the dentist reminding me about my appointment.” She paused.
Samantha tilted her head and looked as though she might probe further. “I’m glad there’s nothing wrong. You seem concerned.”
She should tell Samantha something plausible. The woman was the biggest gossip on the show, and if she didn’t know the reasons for someone’s actions, she speculated instead, and the theory spread through the office like a cold in a preschool. “I need a filling replaced. I was a little surprised at how much it’s going to cost.”
Having dampened Samantha’s insatiable curiosity, Maggie continued. “Now back to business. I’ve got to convince Griffin to do the show. We don’t have time to start the search process over.”
“You really think if you see him in person you can change his mind?”
“It’s worth a shot.” Maggie picked up her phone and dialed. “I need to book a flight to Denver.”
* * *
HER SPEECH ALL PLANNED and memorized, the manila folder containing the bachelorettes’ photos on the passenger seat of the rental car, Maggie pulled into the Twin Creeks parking lot in Estes Park, Colorado. As far as she was concerned, NASA was right: failure was not an option.
Harts Of The Rodeo 3 - Duke - Deputy Cowboy Page 20