To Love And Honor A Cowboy (Cowboy Nuptials Book 2)

by Charlene Bright

  “Wait … oh my God! What’s your name?”

  His look of devastation nearly broke her heart especially since the next words out of his mouth were, “I’m Reed McMurtry, and I really am a damned fool.”

  *****

  The silence in the pickup was suffocating as Reed drove Kadence into town to pick up her car. She had no idea what to say. There was no way that she could make this better. Her fresh start was a steaming, stinking pile of cow dung. If she had half a brain, she’d get in her car and drive as far as the gas in the tank would take her. Unfortunately, that probably wouldn’t be a mile out of town.

  As they drove into the dirt parking lot outside Lena’s Roadhouse she finally chanced a glance at Reed. He still looked crushed, embarrassed, and maybe even slightly humiliated. She couldn’t believe that she didn’t remember him. He really hadn’t changed that much. He had the same curly blond hair and those eyes were unmistakable. The freckles he used to have across his nose were gone, and he’d definitely added a lot of bulk in the past twelve years or so.… Maybe it was some kind of protective mechanism that she hadn’t remembered him. Maybe she’d blocked him out of her memory, trying not to remember what a horrible person she was back then. Fat chance.

  He parked the truck but didn’t shut off the ignition and didn’t look at her as he said, “You do have a place to stay, right?”

  She forced a smile. “I have lots of choices. I just haven’t decided yet. I’ll contact you in a day or two.”

  He nodded, and with a heavy heart she let herself out of the truck then went to her car and unlocked the door. When she pulled it open, a bag of her things fell out. The little Japanese car was packed from floor to roof with what was left of her possessions. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that Reed was still sitting there, watching her. With a sigh, she bent down to pick up the bag, and that was when her whole world went black.

  She woke up some time later in a hospital bed with an IV in her arm. She was disoriented at first but when she saw Reed asleep in the chair next to the bed, it all came flooding back. She closed her eyes and then pulled them back open. Shit! She didn’t have insurance or any money. Hospital bills were a big part of what had gotten her in the mess she was in to begin with. She sat up and started undoing the tape on her arm.

  “What are you doing?” She looked up into Reed’s bloodshot eyes. He looked disoriented himself, with stubble covering his jaw.

  How long have I been out? “I’m fine,” she told him. “I want to go home.”

  “Home?” He sat up straighter. “Where is that exactly, Kadence?”

  “It doesn’t matter; I just need to get out of here.” She kept clawing at the tape until he reached over and covered it with one hand while moving hers with the other. “What are you doing? Let go of me.”

  “No. Not until you tell me why you’re living out of your car and you were so dehydrated and malnourished that it’s taken three bags of IV fluids to bring you around.”

  “That’s none of your business.”

  “It is my business; you’re my wife.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You know it’s not a legal marriage? Right?”

  “Yeah, I know. But, it’s nice to think my high school fantasy came true. I married Kadence Wright.”

  “Reed, that was a long time ago, and we’re not in high school anymore. I barely remember you, and so many things have happened, and so much time has passed. I need to be clear-headed now.” She felt tears spring into her eyes. She really didn’t want to let him see her cry, but it was too late. They were flowing down her cheeks. She’d missed her interview. Not that she was going to get the job once Celia McMurtry figured out she’d married her son in a bar. Jesus, what a mess!

  “I’ll take care of the hospital bill.” His need to be kind even though she had never given him any reason to be only made her cry that much harder. She was sobbing uncontrollably, and he let go of her hands and put one on her back. He looked uncomfortable as he rubbed her back but he didn’t say a word; he let her get it out of her system. It was a good fifteen minutes later before she finally couldn’t cry any longer. “You can stay with me until you find a place. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

  “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why are you being so nice? I’m a terrible person. Don’t you remember what I did to you in high school?”

  His eyes were sad. “I remember. You should rest. They want you to stay here tonight.” He turned and picked up his jacket off the chair he’d been sleeping in, and she realized he was getting ready to leave.

  “Reed, please take me out of here. Please. I hate hospitals. Please don’t leave me here.”

  “You only have to stay until morning, just until you’re stronger. You passed out, Kadence. The doctor said your potassium levels were so low and your sodium so high that you could have had a heart attack.”

  “Then don’t leave me, please.”

  She could see in his eyes that he didn’t want to stay. She didn’t blame him. He probably wanted to be as far away from her as he could get. She was surprised when he sat back down in the chair. “I won’t leave. Get some rest now.” He reached over and took hold of her hand. “Lay back there and rest.”

  “Thank you.” He nodded and settled back into the chair. He didn’t let go of her hand, and it was less than a minute before sleep was pulling her back under. When she woke up hours later, the room was pitch black except for a sliver of light coming in underneath the door and the glow from Reed’s phone. He was still holding her hand, and she could see the shadow of his handsome face in the soft light coming from the phone he had pressed to his ear.

  “We’re still at the hospital, Luke. Can’t Mick help you?” She remembered Luke McMurtry well. He was in her class in school, and she’d had a crush on him for the longest time. She hadn’t realized he was Reed’s brother though until it was too late. Reed didn’t look anything like Luke, and for the longest time, she hadn’t even known his last name. All she did know was that he was a goofy-looking kid, two years younger than she was, and crushing on her hard. Instead of being flattered, she had used it to manipulate and ultimately humiliate him. It made her sick to her stomach to even think about it. If she were in his place, she wouldn’t have ever spoken to her again. Why did he want to marry her?

  She closed her eyes again so he wouldn’t know she was awake. She didn’t know what to say to him. She obviously owed him an apology, but she had to first work out in her head what she was going to say.

  He was still talking to his brother. She was glad she couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation when she heard him say, “I’m not going to talk about that with you. Ma will be okay. I’ll talk to her when I get home. Just tell her I’m fine … we’re fine, and I’ll talk to her soon.… Luke, please, I heard all you had to say on the subject last night. I don’t want to hear it all again this morning.… Okay, I will. I’ll talk to you soon.” The room went silent again, and she peeked beneath her eyelids to see what he was doing. He still had the phone in his hand and was just sitting there, staring at her.

  She slowly opened her eyes. “Does your brother know I’m back in town and that we supposedly got married?”

  “Yeah.”

  “He’s not happy, I imagine.”

  “That’s okay. It’s not for him to be happy about.”

  She laughed simply to keep from crying again. “I’m sorry, Reed.”

  “It’s okay; I really don’t care what he thinks.”

  “No, not about Luke, about everything. I’m so sorry.” The tears were filling her eyes again, but she was fighting them back.

  That was until his embrace went soft, and he gripped her hand and said, “All is forgiven, now get some more rest.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  “You should get some more rest,” Reed was saying for probably the tenth time that day. He’d brought Kadence back to his cabin after she was discharged from the hospital. He really wanted to know why she was in the
condition she was in, but he didn’t want to press her. He may have asked before he married her, but that Jim Beam was some powerful stuff.

  She smiled at him. “I’m fine, really.”

  “Okay, then you should eat. I’ll go up to the main house and see what Ma made for breakfast. She always has leftovers.”

  “No, please, I’m sure the last thing you need right now is to have to explain me to your mother.”

  “Ma knows how I feel about you,” he said. “I’ll be right back.” He walked the mile and a half to the main house slowly. He talked a good game, but he really wasn’t looking forward to facing his family this morning. Besides the fact that he’d missed two days of work and Luke was pissed, he’d gotten married in a bar to a woman he’d been in love with since he was fourteen and whom no one in his family could stand. His mother knew how he felt, but she thought he was a fool for feeling that way.

  He took in a deep breath and pushed through the oversized entry door. The new girl his mother hired to work the front counter was at the desk signing paperwork, and there was a young family in the lobby watching television. He smiled at them and made his way to the dining room. There were a few guests still lingering over breakfast. He was relieved not to see either of his brothers. He strolled into the kitchen and found his mother and his brother’s wife Stephanie sitting at the island having coffee. They fell silent as soon as they saw him. “Good morning.”

  Stephanie smiled at him; his mother didn’t. “Good morning, Reed.”

  “Stephanie, it’s good to see you. Ma, is there any breakfast left?” Celia McMurtry got up and started filling a plate with things out of pots and pans on the stove. “Um … Ma, can I get it to go, please?”

  That was what did it for her. She slammed down the plate and turned to look at her middle son. “You got make-believe married in a drunken stupor?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “To Kadence Wright?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “In a bar?”

  “Yes—”

  “I know, ‘yes, ma’am.’ Haven’t you got anything else to say for yourself?”

  “Not really, ma’am.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “I expect this kind of drunken behavior from your brother, but not from you.”

  “Gee thanks, Ma, you know how to make a guy feel loved.” Luke was standing framed in the back door. It looked like Reed wasn’t going to get lucky this morning.

  “Oh hush, Luke.” Celia dismissed her oldest son by turning her back on him completely. “What were you thinking, Charles Reed McMurtry?”

  Stephanie was staring into her coffee cup. Luke had folded his arms and leaned into the door jam, enjoying the show.

  “I guess I was drunk, Ma.”

  “You boys and that whiskey. Why do you need whiskey? All it does is pickle your brain and make you do crazy things just like it always did your father. I suppose Judge Moffat was drunk as well?”

  “I reckon so.”

  “Of course he was. What about Kadence; was she drunk too?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Luke was laughing. “You thought you were in Vegas, little brother?”

  “Luke McMurtry, don’t you have some work to do?” Celia didn’t even look in his direction.

  Darkness crossed Luke’s face. “I reckon I do since I seem to be the only one around here that ever works. Stephanie, where is my little brother?”

  “He had a doctor’s appointment this morning.”

  “Beautiful. If anyone needs me, I’ll be out on the back forty riding the fence line. Hopefully Mick can handle the guest rides on his own.”

  “I’ll be along to help Mick,” Reed said. “I just want to get Kadence some breakfast.”

  Celia slammed another plate. “You brought that girl back here to my ranch?”

  “She didn’t have anywhere else to go, Ma. She’s sick. I’m not gonna turn her out on the street.”

  “She wasn’t too sick to get drunk and snag her a fake husband a couple of nights ago, was she? Lord, Reed, what have you gotten yourself into?”

  He walked over and started putting food into one of the Styrofoam containers Celia kept for guests who didn’t make it up for mealtime. “I’ll figure it out, Ma.”

  “You’ve been obsessed with that girl since you were a kid. She was no good then and I’d reckon she’s no good now. But you can’t see that, can you, Reed? Maybe those pretty eyes of yours are what colors the world so rosy. Not everyone is worth keeping, Reed. You’re going to try to keep her, aren’t you?”

  He turned and looked at his mother. Closing the lid on the container, he said, “Yes, ma’am, I am.” He could feel three pairs of eyes on his back as he walked out. He was twenty-eight years old. It was about time they all realized that while he appreciated their input, he didn’t necessarily need it.

  *****

  Reed and Mick were unsaddling the horses after the second guest ride of the day when Reed heard Stephanie call his name. He turned toward her, and she smiled as she made her way across the corral. Reed liked Stephanie a lot. As far as he was concerned, she’d saved his brother’s life.

  After Brad’s accident, the doctors said he’d never walk again. Before Stephanie came back to the ranch, the depression was taking over his life. The first miracle was when he stood from his wheelchair on their wedding day to say “I do.” After that, he seemed to get stronger each day. He wasn’t back to 100% yet, but in the eight months since they’d been together he’d learned how to walk again and had even begun to ride his horse and do as much around the ranch as he could. Stephanie was by his side encouraging him every step of the way. Luke didn’t give her the credit she deserved, but Reed and their mother saw how Brad drew his strength from his wife. That’s what Reed wanted, a woman who loved him like that.

  “You have a second?”

  “Yeah, of course, what’s up?”

  “I thought maybe you’d like to bring Kadence over for dinner tonight. Brad and I would love to have you.” Brad had been building a house for Stephanie before his accident. Afterward, his brothers and some of their friends had finished it. They lived on the ranch in a nice three-bedroom house, and Stephanie was an awesome cook. He just wasn’t sure how Kadence would receive the idea.

  “Um, thanks, Stephanie. You know I always love your cooking. I’m just not sure if Kadence will be up to it.”

  “Ask her and tell her that Brad and I aren’t going to judge. Lord knows you’ll get enough of that from Luke.”

  He smiled. “We all get enough of that from Luke.”

  She laughed. “True story. Dinner is at six; don’t be late.”

  When he got back to the cabin he found Kadence scrubbing the bathroom floor. It wasn’t that dirty. He usually had one of the girls who cleaned the cabins come by and clean once a week. “Whatcha doing?”

  “Cleaning.”

  “Was it dirty?”

  “Obviously, that’s why I’m cleaning.”

  “Okay … my sister-in-law invited us for dinner. I thought it might be nice for you to meet her.”

  “Are you crazy?”

  “I never thought I was, but you keep asking me that, so I’m beginning to wonder.”

  “Look at me. I’m in a t-shirt that’s two sizes too big. And the string on these sweat pants won’t even go tight enough to hold them up.”

  “I could see if Ma has something you can borrow.”

  “No! No. I do not want to wear your mother’s clothes. I want my clothes and my car and my own things.” She was in tears again. Reed had never seen a girl cry so much.

  “Okay, we can go to town and get your car. We have time to do that and still have dinner.”

  “I don’t want to meet your sister-in-law! You have to get the idea that you and I are going to live happily ever after out of your head. We aren’t really married, remember!”

  “I remember.”

  She was sitting on the floor with tears flowing down her cheeks glaring at him. His
t-shirt came down to her knees, and the crotch of his sweatpants hung that low as well. He knew that he shouldn’t find her so appealing in her current state, but in fourteen years he’d honestly never seen her in a state where he didn’t find her appealing. Honestly, most of that time the only place he saw her was in his dreams, but still.…

  “Come on. Let’s go get your car so you have your things. I’ll let Stephanie know we can’t make it for dinner.” As he was walking away, he heard her call out his name. He turned around and saw the look in her cynical green eyes had softened.

  “I’m sorry.”

  He nodded. “I know.” They didn’t speak again on the ride into town. He sent Stephanie a text message telling her they weren’t going to make it. He got three back trying to change his mind. He wasn’t going to push it with Kadence though. She was obviously fragile for whatever reason, and he was afraid of breaking her.

  When they got to the Roadhouse he handed her the keys he’d taken out of the car door the night before, after she passed out. She glanced at the star on her keychain. The little photo she kept there had slipped down and wasn’t visible any longer. She used her thumb to pull it back up and when the face appeared she smiled in spite of her current situation. As she was stepping out of the truck he asked, “Are you coming back to the ranch?”

  She nodded. “I don’t have anywhere else to go. I’ll do my best not to be such a bitch until I find a place and get out of your hair. I’m sorry, Reed.”

  “You’re not a bitch.”

  She laughed. “Man, I really don’t think I want to be around the day you’ve finally stuffed as much as you can stuff and you explode.”

  He smiled. “I doubt it will be that bad. You might wanna check with Lena while we’re here if you’re serious about getting a job. Annalisa’s been picking up her lunch shifts since her last waitress went on maternity leave. I’m not sure if you remember much about Annalisa or not, but she’d much rather be at the library than in a bar.”

  Kadence smiled and looked down at herself. “I remember Annalisa well … poor thing. I don’t imagine Lena would be too impressed with me considering I got drunk and married in her bar two nights ago and today I’m wearing my new ‘husband’s’ clothes.”