by Dylann Crush
Nodding, Lacey took his hands. “I figured you’d say that. Fine, the boy it is. And maybe one or two of his sisters?”
“We’ll see.”
“You sure you can’t leave early today?” She wrapped an arm around his waist, snapping his hips to hers.
“I’ve got another lead on that dog-fighting ring. I told Suarez I’d follow up on it this afternoon.”
“Good. But don’t work too late. I’m making brisket for dinner.” She arched a brow as he nuzzled her neck, whispering promises of what he’d do to her later.
Her phone buzzed in her purse, a number she didn’t recognize. “Hold up a sec.” Bodie pulled back as she answered. “Hello?”
“Hi, I saw the article in the Texas Times about your wedding venue. I’m wondering if you have any openings for this fall. I know it’s short notice, but it sounds like exactly what my fiancé and I have in mind.”
Lacey grinned up at Bodie. “Of course. Why don’t you give me your name, phone number, and the date you’re looking at? I’ll need to check the calendar when I get back to the office but I’m pretty sure we can work something out.”
Lacey jotted down the information on a receipt she found in her purse then disconnected.
“We did it.” She held up the piece of paper, a proud grin making her cheeks feel like they were splitting in two.
“You did it, Sweets.” Bodie pulled her in for a hug. “You were the one who had the vision, the drive, and the commitment to make it happen.”
“Jojo’s going to be thrilled. I’ve gotta go. I need to tell her.” As she tucked her phone in her purse, it buzzed again. She glanced to Bodie. “What do I do?”
He laughed. “Answer it.”
“Ido, Texas, providing homegrown happily ever afters. How can I help you?” Lacey’s eyes widened as she listened to yet another bride inquire about booking the space.
While the woman carried on, Lacey ran her gaze over the man in front of her. He was just as responsible for this as she was, probably even more so. If he hadn’t come back and forced her to face her feelings, she’d probably be waiting tables somewhere, afraid to set foot in Ido, Texas, ever again. She jotted down another number and disconnected.
“You were right, Bodie. It’s happening.” She stepped close, wrapping her arms around his waist.
He kissed her, slow and deep. Then pulled away, a grin on his face. “You know what you need to do now, don’t you?”
“What’s that?” If it was up to her, they’d go home, snuggle the new pups for a bit, then crawl into bed and not come up for air for hours.
“It’s time for you to call a press conference.”
“Oh no. The last time I did that, things didn’t go so well.” Her heart leapt into her throat as she thought about the last time she’d faced the town.
“Yeah, but this time you’ve got big news.”
“And what exactly am I supposed to tell them?”
“That’s easy, Sweets. You tell them Ido, Texas, is open for business.”
acknowledgments
It takes a team to bring a book into the world. Huge thanks to everyone at Berkley for believing in this series and helping me bring Ido, Texas, to life. To my editor, Kristine Swartz, thanks for taking a chance on me and for making me look good! And to my agent, Jessica Watterson, I’m so glad we’re in this together. Thanks for always having my back. To the members of Crushin’ It Crew, my reader group, hugs and kisses for your continued support of my writing. Y’all have no idea how much joy it brings me to get to chat with you every day. And to my readers, thank you for reading my books and sharing them with your friends. You’re the reason I get to tell stories and I’m so grateful for your support. To my critique partners and beta readers, especially Christina Hovland, Dawn Luedecke, Renee Ann Miller, and Serena Bell, thanks for catching my mistakes and typos before they made it onto the page. And to my family, especially my hubby and kiddos, thanks for your encouragement, your belief in me, and for sharing my books with your coworkers, friends, and sometimes even your teachers. So much for keeping this writing gig on the down low, huh? ;)
KEEP READING FOR AN EXCERPT FROM
DYLANN CRUSH’S NEXT
TYING THE KNOT IN TEXAS NOVEL . . .
her kind of cowboy
AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK
JANUARY 2021 FROM JOVE!
Zina Baxter kicked the covers off and let her foot drop to the ground. Her toes squished around in something unmistakably dog-related. Something unmistakably foul. She groaned. It had to be dog poop. She thought she’d housebroken the rescue pup she’d brought home from the shelter with her last night, but it looked like they still had a way to go.
Typically the sun would have risen by now but with the slew of thunderstorms that had settled over Ido, Texas, for the past several days, Zina couldn’t make out more than a few hazy outlines in the early light of dawn.
“Dammit, Herbie. I thought we talked about this.”
The pup hopped off the bed, the tags on his collar jangling, and appeared at her side. With a quick swipe of his tongue all of her anger dissipated. It wasn’t his fault he wasn’t housebroken yet. She’d been running the For Pitties’ Sake pit bull rescue for a few years now. Even the most loving pups came with a ton of baggage. The thunder and lightning during last night’s storm probably set him off.
She ran a hand over the back of his head. “It’s okay, bud.” Then she shifted her weight to her heels and waddled to the bathroom to clean off her foot. By the time she’d showered, cleaned up Herbie’s mess, and driven the short distance to the shelter, the sky had lightened a few shades.
Staff would be in later, but she’d taken the morning shift today. That meant it was up to her to get the dogs fed and out for the morning. Herbie trotted alongside her as she unlocked the front door and let herself in to the crumbling building For Pitties’ Sake had called home for the last several years. A puddle of liquid greeted her.
At first she thought one of the dozens of dogs at the rescue had broken out of its kennel and had an accident. But when she flipped on the light and looked toward the ceiling she immediately spotted the source of the leak. Her stomach twisted. Several tiles of the drop-down ceiling sagged. A line of rainwater dripped in a constant plop-plop, splashing onto her feet as she stood in shock.
Herbie plunged through the puddle, licking up the water and taking the opportunity to splash around.
“This isn’t here to play with.” Zina let out a sigh. She’d been working on an idea for a special event to increase awareness about the shelter. Now she’d have to shift all of her energy into raising enough funds to clean up this mess and make repairs. For a moment she wished she’d never taken on this project, had stayed in the military, and never come back to Ido, Texas.
A chorus of barks and yips sounded from the back of the building. The dogs. That’s why she’d taken over. And that’s why she’d stayed. As she made her way toward the back where the kennels were set up, her phone rang.
“Good morning, sunshine.” Her best friend, Lacey, practically sang into the phone.
“What are you so happy about?”
“Gee, who crapped in your cereal this morning?”
“It wasn’t my cereal. It was my bedroom floor and I put my foot in it.”
“Oh, hon. Which lucky male did you take home with you last night?”
“Herbie.”
“And that’s the way he treated you?”
“Hey, I’m used to getting shit on by members of the opposite sex. Just look at my last attempt at a relationship.” She should have known the last guy she tried dating was cheating on her. All the signs were there, she’d just been too busy to notice.
“We still on for lunch?”
“I’ve gotta cancel,” Zina said. “There’s a leak at the shelter and I’ve got to get it patched up before the rain star
ts again.”
“Oh no. Are all of the dogs okay?” Lacey asked.
“Yeah, they seem to be. But I’ve got a few inches of water to sop up.”
“My offer still stands, you know.”
Zina shook her head. “I’m not going to pimp out my pups so you can bring in more crazy brides.” Lacey had been after her to come up with some sort of puppy wedding package. Ever since she’d been elected mayor and revamped the tiny town of Idont, Texas, into Ido, she’d started billing it as the best place in Texas to tie the knot and had come up with all kinds of crackpot ideas.
“Just think about it, you bring over a couple of the dogs to take part in a few weddings and you’ll earn enough to get the roof replaced in no time at all.”
There had to be another way. Zina loved her bestie, they’d had each other’s backs since they were in junior high together, but this latest obsession of Lacey’s had her shaking her head. “I’ll figure something out.”
The muffled barks turned into an earsplitting chorus as she pushed through the door from the front office to the back. “I’ll have to call you later. I’ve got to get the dogs fed.”
“I’ll stop by with lunch around noon. Work for you?”
“Sure.” One less thing to have to think about today. Although, holding Lacey at bay with her crazy ideas might take more effort than trying to figure out what to feed herself for lunch so it might not be an equal trade-off.
“See you in a bit.”
Zina disconnected and slid her phone back into her pocket. As she let the first phase of pups out to the runs in back, she searched for more damage. Besides a few small drips and drops, the back of the building didn’t seem to have any major issues. Thank goodness. She didn’t think she could deal with another crisis.
Lacey might be embracing all things having to do with Ido, but Zina couldn’t seem to get on board the crazy train idea of transforming their tiny town into a mecca for demanding brides. Ever since last spring when they’d had that article in Texas Times, the town had been bursting at the seams with weddings and the headaches that came with them.
Lacey was in hog heaven since her sole role as mayor was to force some breath of life back into the town. But Zina, along with quite a few other longtime residents, weren’t so thrilled with having a slew of outsiders descend on their small corner of Texas every weekend. If anything, the wedding business had caused an increase in the number of pit bulls being abandoned to For Pitties’ Sake. And that was something Zina vowed to fix.
* * *
* * *
“You really need to take care of this.” Lacey stepped over the piles of towels Zina had used to sop up the water that continued to drip from the ceiling.
“I put a call in for someone to come take a look this afternoon.” Zina picked up the wet towels and traded them out for a fresh batch she’d just pulled out of the dryer. At this rate, she wouldn’t be able to keep up. Unless she wanted to move into the shelter and work towel patrol all weekend, she needed to figure out a way to stop the water.
“I got you a taco dinner from Ortega’s. That ought to lift your spirits.” Lacey reached into the brown paper bag she’d brought with her and set the food on the counter.
Zina’s stomach growled. She’d been so busy this morning the thought of breakfast hadn’t even crossed her mind and now it was time for lunch. “Thanks. You’re always looking out for me, aren’t you?”
A grin spread across Lacey’s face. “I sure am. That’s why I think you need to take me up on my offer. It’s easy money.”
Zina shook her head. “No way. Pimping my pups out so you can make a buck off some bossy bride isn’t going to help.”
“I don’t see how you can say that.” Lacey clamped her hands to her hips. Her wedding ring caught the light from the fluorescent overheads and sent sparkles all over the walls.
“I know you think it would be helping, but I don’t know how any of these dogs would react if we dumped them into one of your gussied-up wedding ordeals. With my luck some drunk bridesmaid would get bit and then I’d have liability issues in addition to the leak I’ve got going on now.”
“But you could pick some of the most laid-back dogs. Like Buster.” Lacey pointed to a square dog bed set up in the corner of the office.
A giant pit bull lifted his head at the mention of his name. His tail thumped against the linoleum, once, twice, before he let out a rush of gas.
“You want to clear the ceremony?” Zina asked as the stench of Buster’s explosion wafted through the air. “Because if you’re looking for a way to run off the wedding party, Buster’s your dog.”
Lacey wrinkled her nose then pinched it between her fingers. “Okay, so not Buster. But surely you’ve got another option. How many dogs do you have here right now?”
“Too many.” Zina gathered the brown bag with one hand and waved the other in front of her face, trying to fan away Buster’s stench. “Let’s go sit out front.”
“There have got to be a few sweet ones.” Lacey followed her to the picnic table they’d set up in the shade of a giant live oak.
“I just don’t feel comfortable with the idea.” Zina shook her head before biting into her overflowing tortilla.
Or any of the ideas Lacey had been coming up with lately. Transforming the town into wedding central had been bad enough but Lacey kept trying to up the stakes. Zina had made multiple attempts to try to talk her down but Lacey was hell-bent on putting Ido on the map.
“Fine. I’ll come up with another idea.” Lacey bit into her taco with more force than necessary. The shell cracked dumping half of the contents onto the paper wrapper.
“Careful. Don’t take out your aggression on the taco supreme.” Zina grinned.
“Has anyone ever told you you’re impossible?”
“You know you’re the only person in town who thinks so.”
“No one else knows you as well as I do.” Lacey narrowed her eyes as she took another bite—a gentle bite.
Zina held back a response. Lacey might have a point, but holding her ground was the only thing that had ever worked for her. Until it hadn’t. The one time she’d let someone else talk her into not listening to her gut she’d almost ended up with a hole in her head. Granted, life in Ido was much different than the time she spent on active duty in the Middle East. But still, she couldn’t be too careful, especially not with the crazies who kept dumping pit bulls out there.
As if she could read her mind, Lacey finished a sip of her soda and turned to Zina. “You have any more incidents?”
“Hmm?” Zina tried to pretend she didn’t know exactly what her friend meant.
“Vandalism. Bodie told me he was out at your place earlier this week.”
“Nope. Nothing since then. They pretty much chalked it up to some kids with too much free time on their hands.”
“Well if it happens again call Bodie first. He told me you called the sheriff’s department and it took forever for them to send someone out.”
Zina shrugged. “I don’t want anyone to accuse me of taking special liberties.”
“You’re practically family. That’s not taking special liberties, that’s just what it is.”
Practically family. The thought of Lacey with her blond hair and blue eyes fitting in with Zina’s mix of Mexican, German, and Scottish heritage brought a grin to her face. Her friendship with Lacey was one of the only things holding her here in town. That and the dogs.
She’d been tempted to pick up and leave it all behind more than a time or two over the years. But something held her back. Maybe it was knowing Lacey would be lost without her. Maybe it was knowing she was actually making a difference in the lives of the dogs she was able to save. But if she were being honest with herself. Like, really, truly, gut-wrenchingly honest, she knew the main reason she stayed was that she was too afraid to leave.
“Hey, are you going to be out by the Phillips House anytime today?” Lacey asked.
“I can be. I need to pick up some more towels before I run out. What do you need?”
“I’ve got some linens I picked up from the dry cleaner from last weekend’s wedding that need to be put away. Would you mind dropping them off for me?”
“Sure.” It was the least she could do. Lacey wouldn’t hesitate to do her a favor. All she ever had to do was ask.
about the author
Dylann Crush is the author of All-American Cowboy and Cowboy Christmas Jubilee. A romantic at heart, she loves her heroines spunky and her heroes super sexy. When she's not dreaming up steamy story lines, she can be found sipping a margarita, and searching for the best Tex-Mex food in Minnesota. Although she grew up in Texas, she currently lives in a suburb of Minneapolis/St. Paul with her unflappable husband, three energetic kids, a clumsy Great Dane, a rescue mutt, and a very chill cat. She loves to connect with readers, other authors, and fans of tequila. You can find her at dylanncrush.com.
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