Sassy Blonde: USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

by Stacey Kennedy

  Hayes followed her gaze and nodded. “Agreed. Come on, let’s cross the road.” He headed toward the curb, and with her arm linked with his, she followed. Once they crossed safely, he continued, “You’ve successfully finished the festivals, regardless of the obstacles. You pierced a certain guy’s heart with one of your arrows. You also helped that guy realize he needed to go back to his law enforcement roots.”

  “I sure did,” she replied.

  Hayes smiled gently down at her. “What comes next for Maisie Carter?”

  She’d wondered that herself over and over again for the past week. “Good question. I haven’t exactly figured that out yet.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “But the brewery? You’re done with that?”

  She laughed dryly. “It would be stupid of me not to get out when I can. I mean, really, it’s amazing that it all turned out okay, but my heart isn’t in working there. Everyone knows that. I’ve actually made something happen there and gave Clara what she needed for this next step. I don’t want to push my luck.” But she’d leave her inheritance in the brewery for now. Pops wanted that, and she wanted her sisters to succeed. Just because she didn’t want to work full-time at the brewery didn’t mean she couldn’t help out and still support it. The business belonged to the Carter sisters. That would never change, no matter what.

  The sides of Hayes’s mouth curved a little. He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and gestured to a little shop set in between a tea shop and an ice cream parlor. The shop was empty now, but before it had been a cute chocolate shop that made incredible candied apples. “I bet your dreams lie here, though.”

  She stared at the antique black door and the white-and-black striped awning overhead. “Here?” she repeated.

  Warmth and emotion filled his eyes, making her belly flip-flop. “I bought this shop for you.”

  “You…what?” She gasped. Blinked. And blinked again. “How? I mean, why? Wait…what?”

  He laughed loudly and laced his fingers with hers, holding tight. “When Laurel passed away, I was given her insurance policy money. I used it to buy the house with the willow tree because I wanted a place for Laurel to rest, a spot just for her at her favorite tree.”

  When Hayes spread Laurel’s ashes, she’d cried in his arms, and he’d cried too. “Okay…?”

  Hayes continued, “I hadn’t used all of the money, though. I didn’t want to spend it on myself. I thought about donating it, but something always stopped me. I finally know why now. It’s because I’m supposed to use the money for this. For you. For your art studio.”

  Tears welled, her voice shaking. “Hayes,” she barely managed. “I can’t let you do that.”

  “I didn’t do anything,” he said, his voice trembling too. “This is Laurel’s last gift to you. She would have wanted this for you. For you to be happy. To make all your dreams come true.”

  Maisie burst into tears, and Hayes had her in his arms a second later, holding her tight.

  A long time after, he eventually said, with a thick voice, “I thought this would make you happy.”

  “I am happy,” she sobbed, leaning away to wipe away her tears. “So happy. I can’t believe you did this for me.” The dreams she once had felt like were right there, so close she could almost reach them. She glanced back at the store, seeing all the possibilities. Art lessons. Paint nights. Selling her art. She could pour all of herself into this place. “I’ll pay you back, I promise.”

  “That’s not necessary.”

  She turned back to him and then nearly fell over.

  Hayes was down on one knee, a black little box in his hand, revealing a stunning flower-shaped diamond ring. “We could draw this out. Do the dating thing. But for years, you’ve carried me through the darkest time of my life. It’s time we make our mark on this world, you and I. Together. Maisie, will you marry me?”

  “Yes,” she gasped. “Of course, Hayes. Yes, I’ll marry you!”

  He slid the ring on her finger. A perfect fit. Sudden applause surrounded them as Hayes gathered her in his arms. His woodsy cologne infused the air when he sealed his mouth across hers and kissed her like no one was watching.

  When she leaned away, she stared into her past, her present, and her future. “Do you think Laurel would be happy for us?” she asked.

  A knowing glint twinkled in his eyes. “Yeah, Maisie, she’d be happy we found each other.”

  Epilogue

  “Hang on!” Maisie yelled from the fence line as the horse bucked like a wild animal with Hayes on its back. This time, he wore a helmet and a protective riding vest that she’d seen bull riders wear. “Oh my God, he’s going to kill himself.”

  Beckett snorted a laugh. “Hell no. He was forced to stay away from the farm because of the last fall. He’ll stick this time, believe me.”

  Maisie could barely look. She peeked through her fingers, scared to death Hayes was going to get thrown off. But then she realized Beckett was right. Hayes leaned back and held the reins tight so the horse couldn’t buck him. The moment the horse realized Hayes wasn’t coming off, the horse stopped and snorted, sounding like a pissed-off man throwing a giant temper tantrum.

  She kept quiet, silently watching Hayes work, and it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever witnessed. The connection between horse and man was there—in every way Hayes moved and the way the horse responded. It wasn’t all easy. The horse reared a few times, bucked in attitude, but Hayes was firm yet understanding. He let the horse make mistakes and rewarded him when he got things right.

  Maisie knew why he needed this. It all suddenly made sense. Hayes understood what it felt like to be broken. Working at the farm gave him a way to fix the brokenness in these horses. On the verge of tears, she forced herself to think of something else. They were happy. They were engaged. No more sadness. They’d done enough of that. This was their time.

  When Hayes finally had the horse walking around the ring slow and easy, the horse covered in sweat, he stopped in the middle of the ring and dismounted. He removed his safety gear, untacked the horse and walked away, the horse watching him like even he didn’t know what in the hell had happened. He had obviously planned to kill the human on his back, and somehow that human’s touch shifted his entire world until trust was formed. Yeah, Maisie got that. Hayes had magical hands.

  “Not a bad start,” said Hayes, opening the gate to join her and Beckett outside the sand ring.

  Maisie snorted. “You make it sound like that was easy.”

  “Last time he got a jump on me and I lost my balance,” Hayes said, clearing his throat. “That won’t happen again.”

  Maisie nudged him with her shoulder. “Or maybe he was just helping by putting you in my path for a road trip.”

  Hayes grinned and dropped his head, until his lips were near hers. “Should I thank him then for wanting to kill me?”

  “No thanks needed, but maybe be a little more understanding.” She pressed her breasts against his warm chest.

  “I’ll take that into consideration.” Then he dropped his mouth and kissed her until they were both breathing deep.

  Beckett heaved a long sigh. “I am here with you, you know.”

  Hayes leaned away, giving Beckett a shit-eating grin, and reached for him. “Come here, bud. I’ll give you a kiss too.”

  Beckett responded with a hard punch to the shoulder, sending the men into laughter.

  Maisie shook her head at them and reached into her pocket as her cell rang. She looked the screen. “Hi, Clara,” she answered.

  “I need you. Come home.”

  Clara never needed anyone or anything, and the tremble in her voice sent a cold blade of ice into Maisie’s gut. “What’s happened?”

  “I can’t explain over the phone. Just come home. Alone.”

  The line went dead. Maisie stared at the phone, a thousand questions swirling in her mind.

  Hayes’s strong hand slid along her back. “Is everything okay?”

  “I don’t know.”
She looked up at him. “I need to go home. Something’s happened. Clara’s upset.”

  Hayes handed Beckett the tack. “I’ll come with you.”

  “No,” Maisie countered, pressing a hand against his strong, damp chest. “She wants me alone. I’ll call you soon. Promise.” She pressed a quick kiss to his lips and ran to her MINI.

  The drive home should have taken twenty minutes. She got there in eleven. Once she reached the house, she threw the car into park and ran up the porch steps into the house. Mason was nowhere in sight, but she found Amelia and Clara sitting around the kitchen table. Three glasses of scotch already there. Uh-oh. Scotch always meant trouble. “What’s happened?” Maisie asked, scared to move.

  Clara finally lifted her head, her skin ashen. “It’s Sullivan.”

  Maisie exchanged a long look with Amelia, who shrugged. Sullivan Keene was Clara’s one true love. They’d had a passionate romance during college. Everyone thought they’d get married. Until he moved to New York City to be a professional baseball player, leaving Clara brokenhearted at home. “What about Sullivan?”

  Clara visibly swallowed. “Today, as you know, I went to the distributor who showed interest in Foxy Diva.”

  “Yes,” Maisie said.

  “Sullivan was there,” Clara barely whispered. “He’s stepped back from baseball for a bit, I guess, and his uncle owns the distribution company. He’s been there helping out.”

  “Okay,” Maisie said, taking a seat across from Clara. “Got it.”

  Clara stared down into her scotch glass, slowly shaking her head. “This is bad. So bad.”

  Maisie exchanged a long look with Amelia, who turned to Clara and said, “You’re going to have to fill in the missing pieces. I’m not really getting why this is bad enough to make you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  Clara reached for her glass of scotch and downed the entire thing in one gulp. She slammed the glass down and wiped her mouth, very unladylike. Very unlike Clara. “His uncle is sending him to check out the brewery.”

  Maisie tried to piece things together. “Which is bad because you’re still hurt, and you don’t want to see him again?”

  “No.” Clara shook her head, adamant. When she looked between the sisters, she took a deep, pained breath and closed her eyes. “It’s not that I don’t want to see him. It’s who I don’t want him to see.”

  Amelia’s eyes widened.

  Maisie now understood. Every suspicion Maisie and Amelia ever had made sense, especially because Mason had a killer arm and seemed to have natural talent at baseball. “Because Sullivan is Mason’s father?”

  Clara stole Maisie’s glass and downed that one too. “Yup, and he’s coming here tomorrow to take a look at the brewery, having no idea that he’s about to meet the kid he never knew about.”

  Maisie parted her lips and shut them, having no words.

  Amelia finally sighed, pushing her glass over to Clara. “Here, you need this one too.”

  Clara reached for the glass as a low voice said from the doorway, “Good thing I brought the big guns.”

  Maisie glanced at Hayes, finding him holding a few bottles of wine and double chocolate ice cream. Her heart melted. She jumped up and met him with a hug. “I think you just got hotter. Thank for you bringing this.”

  He winked. “It’s about time someone else took care of everyone around here.”

  She smiled, and her heart warmed further when Hayes said to Clara, “I heard nothing. I saw nothing. Just drink and worry about it all tomorrow.”

  Clara gave him a small smile and then gestured across from her, to the spot where Pops used to sit, “Well, are you just going to stand there or get drunk with us?”

  Hayes’s gaze locked on Maisie as he took a seat, and Maisie smiled after him. Death had caused them to have terrible, heartbreaking gatherings at this table. Life brought them ecstatic moments here. But as Maisie slid onto Hayes’s lap, and he locked his arm around her, she knew these sweet, happy, middle parts mattered the most.

  * * *

  Don’t miss Stacey Kennedy’s next book in the Three Chicks Brewery series:

  FEISTY RED

  * * *

  From USA Today bestselling author Stacey Kennedy comes a second-chance romance featuring a cowboy hero who needs some serious redeeming, a serious heroine who needs some cowboy lovin’, and a mischievous little boy who needs his parents to find their happily-ever-after.

  She’s prepared for anything… except for the second chance with her cowboy ex she never saw coming.

  * * *

  Clara Carter is the brains behind Three Chicks Brewery. The oldest and most responsible of the Carter sisters, she doesn’t have time for anything but taking care of her son and making sure her family’s top beer, Foxy Diva, gets into bars across North America. Which means getting the brew in front of Colorado’s biggest beer distributor. Unfortunately, that becomes tricky when the man in charge of distribution is none other than Sullivan Kenne, the cowboy who ran out on her seven years ago.

  * * *

  Sullivan’s life has been one wrong move after another. First, he tried to prove himself to his bastard father by signing a contract to play professional baseball, a choice Sullivan still regrets. Then he bailed on Clara, the only woman he’s ever loved. Seeing her again makes Sullivan determined to right his wrongs. Unfortunately, he wasn’t counting on one of those wrongs being a six-year-old son he never knew about.

  * * *

  Reuniting with Clara and meeting his son is a shocking—and amazing—experience. But as much as Sullivan tries to return to his roots and be the stand-up cowboy of Clara’s dreams, the reality is, she’s having trouble trusting him. Luckily, Sullivan knows the way to Clara’s heart, and he’ll prove to her that a second chance with a cowboy is worth the risk.

  * * *

  Don’t miss a new release or sale! Subscribe to Stacey’s Mailing List.

  www.staceykennedy.com/newsletter

  Check out the next book in the Three Chicks Brewery series:

  From USA Today bestselling author Stacey Kennedy comes a second-chance romance featuring a cowboy hero who needs some serious redeeming, a serious heroine who needs some cowboy lovin', and a mischievous little boy who needs his parents to find their happily-ever-after.

  * * *

  She's prepared for anything... except for the second chance with her cowboy ex she never saw coming.

  Clara Carter is the brains behind Three Chicks Brewery. The oldest and most responsible of the Carter sisters, she doesn't have time for anything but taking care of her son and making sure her family's top beer, Foxy Diva, gets into bars across North America. Which means getting the brew in front of Colorado's biggest beer distributor. Unfortunately, that becomes tricky when the man in charge of distribution is none other than Sullivan Kenne, the cowboy who ran out on her seven years ago.

  Sullivan's life has been one wrong move after another. First, he tried to prove himself to his bastard father by signing a contract to play professional baseball, a choice Sullivan still regrets. Then he bailed on Clara, the only woman he's ever loved. Seeing her again makes Sullivan determined to right his wrongs. Unfortunately, he wasn't counting on one of those wrongs being a six-year-old son he never knew about.

  Reuniting with Clara and meeting his son is a shocking--and amazing--experience. But as much as Sullivan tries to return to his roots and be the stand-up cowboy of Clara's dreams, the reality is, she's having trouble trusting him. Luckily, Sullivan knows the way to Clara's heart, and he'll prove to her that a second chance with a cowboy is worth the risk.

  About the Author

  Stacey Kennedy is a USA Today bestselling author who writes contemporary romances full of heat, heart, and happily ever afters. With over 50 titles published, her books have hit Amazon, B&N, and Apple Books bestseller lists.

  Stacey lives with her husband and two children in southwestern Ontario—in a city that’s just as charming as any of the small towns she creates. Most d
ays, you’ll find her enjoying the outdoors with her family or venturing into the forest with her horse, Priya. Stacey’s just as happy curled up indoors, where she writes surrounded by her lazy dogs. She believes that sexy books about hot cowboys or alpha heroes can fix any bad day. But wine and chocolate help too.

  Acknowledgments

  To my husband, my children, family, friends, and bestie, it’s easy to write about love when there is so much love around me. Big thanks to my readers for your friendship and your support; my editor, Lexi, for believing in me and making my stories shine; my agent, Jessica, for always having my back; the kick-ass authors in my sprint group for their endless advice and support. Thank you.

  Want to spend more time in River Rock? Check out the first book in Stacey Kennedy’s Kinky Spurs series:

  DIRTY-TALKING COWBOY

  Prologue

  Come to Kinky Spurs, where cowboys wrangle women’s hearts . . . and rope their bodies!

  Emma Monroe could picture the tagline on the poster now, even the photographs of the half-naked cowboys standing by the fence, and all the other little pieces coming together to pull off a killer campaign.

  Or she could, if she’d been hired as Kinky Spurs’ Executive Creative Director.

  Like a splash of cold water in the face, reality slammed into her as she shoved her hand into the beer cooler, grabbing the dark-brown bottle for the customer waiting at the bar. Her marketing days were long behind her now. With the frigid water dripping off her hand, the noise surrounding her in the bar returned to her. Voices created a hum through the crowd by the bar, while the country music band entertained the crowd on the dance floor with a Little Big Town cover song.