Hometown Hearts

by Jillian Hart

  Be casual, she told herself. Aloof. Don’t let him guess how you feel. She steeled her spine, rode Wildflower up to the cows and prayed for heaven’s help. The weight of his gaze and the force of his interest fell over her like rain. Every step she took nearer to him was like a stake being driven deeper into her soul. “Cows are smarter than that. If they’ve been fooled once, they won’t believe you until you show them the treats. What are you doing here?”

  “Looking for you.”

  “In the rain?”

  “A little storm isn’t going to stop me.” A gust pummeled him, bringing with it the scent of darkness and loss. The heavens opened up, wet fell like a vengeance but it didn’t touch him. The sight of her filled him with an unbreakable peace. This was the woman he loved. “I came to find you. I owe you an apology.”

  “No apology necessary. Come, Shrek. Here, boy.” She kept her back to him, riding her horse around the cattle like a cowgirl in a Western roundup. “Come on, you troublemakers, I’ll get you grain if you follow me.”

  The bull’s head went up, his gaze brightened and he took off after Cheyenne with a snappy gait. Atop her mare, she rode through the beams, the light casting her in a heavenly glow for one brief perfect moment. Love whispered through him at her incredible beauty that came from so deep. Strong and independent, she rode bareback, just woman and horse, moving in perfect and powerful synchrony. If he hadn’t already loved her, he would have fallen right then.

  “That’s a good boy. Come with me, handsome.” She dismounted at the edge of the road and left her mare standing in the shadows. She disappeared down the embankment, Shrek and his herd following in her wake.

  Rain fell with deafening force and yet he could hear every brush of her boots in the grass and every breath she drew. He splashed across the empty road. His eyes had adjusted to the dark enough to make out Cheyenne’s shadow kneeling in the grass trying to wrestle a post out of a tangle of electric wire. The instant his foot landed on the wet, crumbling slope, she stiffened.

  “You don’t have to bother. Stay on the road. I can handle this.” She might think she sounded breezy, as if she were cool and strong enough to handle anything. She was. But she didn’t have to do it alone.

  “It’s no bother. I want to help.” He skidded down the incline of weeds and grass to land at her side. “I didn’t know anything about the girls’ list. They kept it secret from me.”

  “It was cute. Really. No harm done.” She laid the post against her knee while she untangled the broken wire. The cows moseyed over. Tongues grabbed hold of Cheyenne’s shirt and braid. “I’ve already guessed you had nothing to do with the plan.”

  “I will talk to them.” He sidled up to her and caught hold of the post. The darkness hid the nuances of emotion he longed to read on her beloved face. “You won’t have to worry about their matchmaking again.”

  “Adam, I get it. It’s okay.” She didn’t look up as she wound the broken ends of two wires together with an expert flair. “Let’s forget it and move on.”

  “I can’t.”

  “We were just friends.” She gave the wire a final twist, it held in place as she backed away. “That’s all there ever was between us.”

  “Friends. You keep saying that word, but you are wrong.” He let go of the post. “I never felt friendship for you.”

  “You aren’t listening to me. This hurts too much.” The night could not hide the raw pain in her voice as she hiked up the slippery bank. “This ends right here. We can pretend we tied up our loose ends and move on, okay? We can pretend this never happened. I’m good at denial.”

  “I’m not.” He followed her onto the road and swiped a hand across his forehead to rub away the sluicing wetness. “I can’t let things end like this between us.”

  “I know you’re lonely. You want a full-time mother for your daughters.” Thunder rumbled from a distance and the rain fell harder as if in response. Drops pummeled to the earth and ran down her face like tears. She caught hold of Wildflower’s lead. “I know what happened. The girls and I clicked, so you looked at me and thought, why not? They needed a mother, and you and I get along. From your perspective, I must look pretty safe. I get that.”

  “Safe?” He could have been a mountain, solitary in the rain. Remote granite without a single speck of emotion at all. “That makes me sounds like a terrible man. Is that what you think of me?”

  “You didn’t mean it maliciously. I know that about you.” She was tearing apart. Nothing had hurt so much, not one thing. “I don’t want to be someone you settle for or anyone settles for. I don’t want to mean so little.”

  She wanted to harden her heart against him, but she loved him still. The bond between his soul and hers remained; maybe it had been there all along, the reason why she could sense the deepest layers of his emotions and why she could see the sorrow gathering within him. Could he feel her shattered heart? “This is hurting me, and I need it to stop.”

  “I do, too.” He closed the distance between them, towering above her as dark as the storm. He caught a rivulet of rain trailing down her cheek, his skin warm, his touch comforting. “I should have said this when I first realized how I felt. I spent a lot of precious time afraid to open up. I didn’t realize I was hurting you or that it would drive us apart. I’m not just passing time with you. I’m not settling.”

  “You are doing this for your girls.” She had to stay firm. She could not believe in what did not exist. She had to be strong and protect her heart.

  “I am doing this for you. I am standing in the rain in the wee hours of the morning with mud on my shoes and cow spittle on my shirt because I couldn’t even try to sleep thinking about how you were hurting. I am responsible for that and I am so, so sorry.” Iron rang in his words, solid and believable, an unquestionable truth. “You should know you are not a safe woman. Not to me. You are the most inconvenient, unsafe, dangerous female I have ever come across.”

  “Me? You are making that up.”

  “I’m not that imaginative.” Couldn’t she see what she meant to him? How incredible she was? Didn’t she have the slightest idea what she’d done to him? “You’ve turned my world upside down and me inside out. You make it difficult to breathe, impossible to think and my common sense flew out the window the moment I laid eyes on you. My life, my girls, me, it’s all changed. It is never going to be the same. You did that.”

  “No, it was God, it was you, it was Wyoming.”

  “It was you.” Tenderness filled him, heavenly, infinite tenderness. It was her that mattered, bright, beautiful amazing Cheyenne. “Losing you is like the sun going out forever, the worst darkness I can endure.”

  He had failed to be what she needed. He would never do that again. He would endure anything to take her pain away, so he bared his soul.

  “I fell in love with you the moment you climbed out of your green pickup and saved my car from Shrek.” He watched her expression change from denial to disbelief. “I didn’t want to. I fought it, I ignored it, I refused to act on it, but that doesn’t change the truth.”

  “You don’t love me.” Back to denial, she shook her head, as if she knew his heart better than he did.

  “I loved you then. I love you more now. I will love you even more tomorrow. You still don’t believe me, do you?”

  “I can’t.” Why was he doing this to her? Saying everything she wanted to hear, the words that mattered most. She’d given up on love. She was no princess, just an ordinary girl. Men did not fall at her feet and promise to devote themselves to her forever. She had learned her lesson. She was not going to believe again.

  “You are the light in my world. I am forever devoted to you. I don’t want to live without you. Thank God He brought you into my life.” He lowered onto one knee, on the desolate country road in the middle of a puddle. In the faint glow of the headlights, he looked like a knight of old with his invincible shoulders and stalwart heart. “Marry me, Cheyenne. Say yes, and I vow I will spend each and every day of
our lives showing you the depth of my devotion and love for you.”

  “You’re proposing?”

  “Be my wife because we are a perfect match. Because you are my sweetheart, the missing half of my soul. You are the most special woman I have ever known and I want to give you the fairy tale.”

  “The fairy tale?” Oh, he made her want to believe.

  “You know the stories. The beautiful princess, the prince, the romance, the wedding. The happily ever after.” He gazed up at her with his entire soul revealed. What she read there made her throat ache. Tears burned behind her eyes. He gathered her hands in his with care. The solid, soothing contact hooked her spirit and captured her soul. His baritone rang richly with the immeasurable love in his heart. “Happy doesn’t sound good enough for you, but joyfully ever after doesn’t sound quite right.”

  “Blissfully ever after.”

  “That’s right.” He stood, rising to his towering height, holding her hands. Promises of forever shone in his eyes as dark as the night as he slanted his mouth over hers. His kiss was flawless, everything a kiss should be. Proof that his love for her was real. The purity of his tenderness whispered in her soul and she could see forever. Her dreams returned, brighter than before. She saw images of a spring wedding with family and friends, Jenny as a bridesmaid and Julianna as a flower girl. Flashes of their life together riding horses, going on picnics, watching the birds in the backyard. There would be a baby one day and the dog she’d always been meaning to get to complete their happy family, their blissful life. She believed. She finally believed. The power of his honest feelings convinced her.

  “Yes, I will marry you,” she whispered against his kiss. “I love you, Adam.”

  “Not as much as I love you.”

  The rain ceased, the winds stilled and Shrek mooed scoldingly.

  “I won’t forget to get your grain,” she told the bull. She and Adam laughed together as moonlight broke through the clouds to shine on them like heaven’s grace.

  Epilogue

  “Cady, don’t leave us.”

  Cady froze midstep in the echoing church foyer. The ceremony had gone off without a hitch, Sierra and Tucker were officially married and no one looked prettier in her traveling clothes than Sierra. Luminous with joy, she fussed with her diamond necklace, a beautiful family heirloom Frank had given her. Cady glanced around at the faces of the Granger girls, alarmed at the idea of her leaving them alone. “I love that I’m wanted here, but this is clearly a sister moment. I don’t want to intrude.”

  “Impossible.” Cheyenne marched over in a light blue bridesmaid’s dress and took her firmly by the hand. “You have to stay, but it might be a teary moment. Brace yourself.”

  “It’s totally getting sappy,” Addy warned with a wink as she held out a slim gold chain. “Sierra, you are officially one of us now, so you get what I’m going to start calling a Granger girls bracelet, thank you to Cady for the term. We celebrate every good change in our lives with a charm. See, there’s one for Rori joining our family, one for Autumn’s wedding. Now there is one for yours.”

  “Oh, it’s beautiful.” Sierra fingered the gold charm in the shape of a little family. “Our wedding date is engraved on the back.”

  “It’s an important date,” Rori explained.

  “The day you became our sister.” Autumn held out her arms. “Group hug.”

  “I told you,” Addy whispered as her arm settled around Cady’s shoulders. “Sappy.”

  “Sappy, but nice.” She was touched the girls would include her. So thoughtful. She loved them so much. The group hug was cheerful and sweet and over too soon. The girls broke into chatter over last-minute things—Cheyenne had agreed to take care of Owen’s dog, Puddles, Addy would pick up Sierra’s mail and Autumn would keep an eye on the construction crew renovating Tucker’s house.

  Not wanting to intrude, she opened the church door and peeked out. A crowd had gathered on the front lawn, friends, family and neighbors chatting and laughing. She adored being a part of this small-town community and there were so many people she wanted to spend time talking with. Martha Wisener caught her eye and waved. She waved back and kept scanning the crowd. It was her heart she followed, which took her straight to Frank.

  She was hardly aware of tapping down the steps. When his gaze met hers across the church’s crowded front lawn, it was like being touched by grace.

  She felt young, timeless, full of hope. The power of love made her see nothing and no one save for him. He tipped his Stetson respectfully, his gaze never leaving hers. He might be talking with the mayor and Chip Baker, but she felt his attention rivet to her like a charge. Something incredible bound them together, beyond words or measure.

  I love this man way too much, she thought, weaving through the crowd as Frank, so dashing in his tux, broke away from his friends. Every step he took toward her stole the oxygen from the atmosphere. She felt light-headed and a little dizzy, overwhelmed with emotion.

  “How are the girls?” He took her hand in his and her dizziness vanished. Her soul stilled when he gazed into her eyes.

  “Fine. Sierra is about ready to throw the bouquet.”

  “I’ve been waiting for this moment a long time.” His hand settled lightly on the small of her back, guiding her toward the church.

  “Because you never thought Tucker would settle down?”

  “I worried about that boy, but he’s turned out just fine. He and Sierra will be good together.” He pulled her gently along. Was it her imagination or was he trembling just a bit? That was not like him at all.

  “Are you holding up, all right?” she asked, concerned. Frank was close to all his children, so having yet another child get married must be affecting.

  “Sure, I’m fine. Just stand right about here front and center.” He nudged her a few inches over so they were staring at the front steps. “Here they come.”

  Impossible not to hear his affection and pride. She looked up as Sierra and Tucker filed out of the doorway, ready to leave for their flight. Owen clung to his new father’s hand, excited about their trip to Hawaii. They stood together, the happiest family in existence. Cheers went up from the hometown crowd and Sierra’s new bracelet sparkled as she gripped her bouquet.

  “Are you ready, single ladies?” she called out, and the crowd answered with more shouts and cheers.

  “I have a good feeling about this bouquet.” She waved the flowers high, as if to give heaven a good look. “Rori caught the bouquet at our good friend Terri’s wedding. Autumn caught the bouquet at Rori’s wedding. I caught the bouquet at Autumn’s wedding and you can all see how well that worked out for me. Are you seeing a trend here?”

  “Throw it to me!” Ivy Tipple called out. “I wouldn’t mind being married next.”

  “Or me!” joked Arlene Miller, making the audience laugh.

  Cady laughed, too. Everyone was happy on this glorious day.

  “I predict whoever catches this bouquet will follow in my footsteps soon.” Sierra turned a few inches to face the crowd.

  To face her. It looked like the girl was going to throw right down the center. She imagined all the single ladies in town crowding over to try to be the next bride. Instead of throwing long, Sierra gave her flowers a small toss, the bundle of white and pink roses sailed through the air and directly into Cady’s hands.

  “Way to go, Cady!” Martha Wisener hooted from the sidelines.

  Shock washed over her. Oohs and aahs rose from the bystanders as Frank leaned in close.

  “Good catch,” he said in a low baritone filled with promise.

  “It just tumbled into my hands. I didn’t try to catch it.” She blushed, befuddled. “Sierra threw it straight to me.”

  “That’s because I asked her to.” Frank’s kiss brushed her cheek. “There seems to be something tied to the ribbon. Let’s see what it is.”

  He was right. Something glittered there in a flash of gold, a sparkle of white and a glimmer of flawless green. She watch
ed as he untied an exquisite, expensive and stunning emerald ring from the bouquet’s blue ribbon.

  Tears slipped into her eyes, blurring the world into smudges as Frank bent down on one knee. Her heart stopped. Her knees buckled. Happiness spilled over as tears ran down her cheeks. She realized the Granger family had gathered in a loving circle. Rori hand in hand with Justin. Autumn with her head resting on Ford’s shoulder. Cheyenne and Addy arm in arm. Tucker, Sierra and Owen on the steps. Frank took her left hand in his. Such strong but gentle hands.

  “Cady Leigh Winslow, will you be my wife?” His question rang with the kind of love a woman dreamed about all her life. He was her everything, her greatest wish come true.

  “Yes, Frank. I would love to marry you.”

  Cheers rang out from the crowd but it was the reaction of the people in the circle surrounding her that mattered most as Frank slipped the ring on her finger. Autumn and Sierra rushed up to hug her, Rori cried, Cheyenne kissed her cheek and Addy cheered. Justin and Tucker shook her hand.

  She was going to be Frank’s wife. Heavenly joy washed over her as he folded her tenderly in his powerful arms. She leaned her cheek against his wide, dependable chest, home at last.

  Cheyenne swiped the tears from her eyes, gave Sierra a hug and wished her safe travels. Tucker looked happy as he escorted his wife and son down the walkway as rose petals rained down upon them.

  “Did Frank think up that proposal all by himself?” Adam asked as he took her hand. How wonderful it felt as his fingers twined through hers, a perfect fit.

  “He did, although he told us what he was going to do. My dad is a romantic at heart. Who knew?” She went up on tiptoe to peer through the crowd. Dad kept Cady close, his arm was around her waist, and the happiest grin in the world shone on his face. “He really loves Cady. What they have is the real thing. True love. A fairy-tale ending.”

  “So do we.”

  “Yes, we do.” She believed, she truly did. She was living the story. Her handsome prince looked incredible in a tux with the wind tousling his dark hair. His smile moved through her like joy, and the link of their hearts reached all the way to their souls.