Rust Creek Falls Cinderella

by Melissa Senate

  Not exactly flowing off the tongue. Their “celeb” name sounded like a prescription medication.

  She smiled, then sighed inwardly as she carried the tray of drinks and treats while Sarah Crawford wheeled her baby stroller over to a table way in the back of Daisy’s Donuts. They were going to talk shop—translation: men—so they needed to be away from pricked-up ears in the small town. Luckily, there were only a handful of people sitting in the shop, mostly teenagers who couldn’t care less about Lily’s love life, so she planned to tell Sarah everything.

  Not that there was much to tell. But she did need advice. And Sarah was not only way more experienced at relationships, she was married to a Crawford.

  Sarah parked the stroller and smiled at her sleeping little Sophia, the seven-month-old beauty so sweet in her pink-and-white-striped pajamas, I Love Daddy in glittery print across the front. The pj’s were a gift from Daddy himself, Xander’s eldest brother, Logan, who loved Sophie as if she were his own flesh and blood. To him, she clearly was. Lily’s faith in everything was always restored whenever she thought about Sarah and Logan’s love story.

  Two days had passed since their second awkward moment involving leaning toward each other, and Xander Crawford hadn’t shown his face in the dining room of Maverick Manor or made arrangements for his pricey cooking lesson. He was clearly avoiding her. Of course, Lily could text him about the lesson, push things a little. But she was not going to chase a man who was making it clear he wasn’t interested.

  Blast. That was the thing. He did seem interested—to a point. And then he backed off. She wasn’t getting just-friend vibes from the guy. Or maybe she just didn’t know enough about men and relationships to understand what was going on here.

  Maybe nothing was going on.

  Please, Lordy, don’t let me be one of those delusional creatures who thinks this and that when there’s no there there!

  Lily took a bite of her lemon-custard donut and sips of the refreshing iced tea, the sugary goodness that was always able to do its own restorative work on her mind and heart. Temporarily for the moment, anyway. As Sarah sipped her iced latte, Lily filled in her friend on all things Xander.

  Sarah picked up her frosted cruller. “Yup, I know that advance-and-retreat well. I went through it with a Crawford brother myself. I’m telling you, Lil, it takes men a while sometimes to see what’s in front of their gorgeous faces.”

  Lily eyed Sarah’s beautiful wedding ring. “I don’t know. I have all kinds of crazy feelings for Xander. All kinds. I think he’s incredibly hot. So sexy. And he’s smart. Funny. Laughs at my jokes. He loves dogs. He’s passionate about his work and helping his family restore the Ambling A. Did I mention he’s so hot I can barely look at him sometimes?”

  “Oh, trust me, I know that well, too. The man is interested, Lily. I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t think it was true. Sounds to me like maybe he didn’t plan on getting involved with someone, though.”

  “But he has a highly skilled wedding planner setting up dates for him—for all the single Crawfords,” Lily pointed out.

  “Ugh, that,” Sarah said with a grimace. “Has Xander gone on any?”

  “I don’t know. I hate the thought of him being fixed up with anyone.” She took a grumpy bite of her donut, even the delicious sugary confection not making her feel better this time around.

  “Well, worry not, my dear. You said he asked you to give him a cooking lesson, right?”

  “Right...” Lily prompted, confused by where her friend was going.

  “You’ll be confined to one room for a few hours, working on a few recipes together—then testing them out. A lot can happen in a few hours.” She nodded sagely and took another bite of her cruller, sliding a glance at baby Sophia, who continued to snooze through Lily’s man troubles.

  Hey, at least she had man troubles. In the past year, she’d had one bad date. That was it.

  Why? Because she was shy around men? Because she was a tomboy?

  She glanced down at her jeans and blah blue T-shirt with Billy’s Bait Shop and an illustration of a worm on a line. Then she looked at Sarah. A new mother. And what was Sarah wearing? A cute sundress and flat metallic sandals. Her friend looked so pretty and pulled together. What was Lily’s excuse for dressing like one of her brothers?

  Oh God. This shirt was her brother’s. Ryan’s.

  You are hopeless, Lily Hunt. This wasn’t her or her style. She’d always wanted to tag along with her older brothers and so she dressed like them to play rough like them, and it had just become her look. Huh. Maybe she needed to go shopping. And beg Sarah to come with her and play stylist.

  And what? Skinny jeans and a tighter, more feminine top would suddenly make Xander Crawford fall for her? Nope. Didn’t work that way. Whatever made Xander so...ambivalent about her had nothing to do with her look. She thought, anyway.

  Why was this so confusing?

  “Lily, if something is between you two,” Sarah added, “it’ll happen. Trust me.”

  Hope bloomed in Lily’s heart. She thought about the way they’d almost kissed in her kitchen two days ago. “You are absolutely right.”

  The thought of something happening between her and Xander—like being in bed with him—almost had her blushing. “I might have to get a little bold.” Same with her cooking. Same with working on her business degree. Same with anything she wanted. She had to put herself out there, climb out on a limb and make stuff happen.

  Sarah grinned. “Indeed you might. Go for it.”

  The next time she saw Xander, she would.

  She needed a new look. She needed new moxie. And she felt it roaring up inside her.

  * * *

  Xander decided that if Viv Dalton was going to set him up on dates, he might as well have some control over whom he was fixed up with. Since he’d arrived in Rust Creek Falls, he’d made excuses every time the woman had approached him. He’d see her coming toward him in town, notebook in hand, one hand in a wave, a determined gleam in her eye, and he’d tap his watch and turn in the opposite direction. Now he’d actually arranged a meeting with Viv and sat across from her in her office, watching her big smile fade with every word he said. Viv was a few years younger than him, tall and slender with blond hair in a fancy twist. Her eyes were narrowed on him as though she couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing.

  He’d been at it for a good five minutes. “She doesn’t need to be very bright,” Xander went on. “Chatty is fine, but let’s keep it to small talk.”

  “Uh, got it,” Viv said, barely able to hide the “you’ve got to be kidding me” expression on her face as she took notes. “So let’s see if I’ve got this straight, Xander.” She peered at her notebook. “You’re looking for a peroxide blonde who knows her way around a curling iron, wears makeup and high heels, and has a ‘great giggle’? Great laugh I’ve heard before. Great giggle is a new one.”

  “Look, my dad wants you to set me and my brothers up on dates that might lead to something serious. So shouldn’t I let you know what I’m looking for in a woman?”

  “But you’re not actually looking for anything, Xander. If I may be so blunt.”

  Touché. “What I’m not looking for is to get serious,” he explained. “I think it’s important that you know that. I don’t want to hurt anyone, disappoint anyone, lead on anyone. I’m looking to have a good time—that’s it. And I know what I like.”

  The way Xander saw it, he could do himself and Andrew Hunt a favor. Anyone Viv set him up with who was too nice or too interesting or actually had him sharing details of his life the way Lily had within ten minutes would find her name and number passed on to Andrew.

  Viv sat back in her chair and clasped her hands in her lap. “I heard that instead of Knox, you ended up going out with Lily Hunt. How’d that go? I’m assuming not well, since Lily is the opposite of everything you described as your pe
rfect woman to not be serious about.”

  Green eyes and freckles and orange rubber shoes came to mind. Tofu. Dachshunds named Dobby and Harry. Suntan lotion and flowery scented hair.

  He wondered what kissing Lily would be like. Passionate, he was sure of that. Lily approached everything with zing. Kissing her would be like having all of her. And if kissing her would knock him out, he could only imagine what seeing her naked would do to him. Where else did she have freckles?

  “Xander?”

  He blinked and realized Viv Dalton was staring at him. Waiting for a response. Oh God. He’d been fantasizing about Lily Hunt. What was happening here exactly?

  He cleared his throat and sat up straight. “Lily is a very nice person.”

  “Ah, nice,” she said with a nod.

  He frowned. “Well, she is nice. She’s great. Smart, full of life, passionate about her job, has big goals and dreams, loves her family, dotes on those little sausage dogs. Did I mention she’s going to give me a cooking lesson?”

  Viv eyed him, scanned her notes and then leaned forward. “Tell you what, Xander. I’ll see who might fit the bill and text you if the right gal comes to mind.”

  “Perfect,” he said, getting up. “No pressure. I like no pressure.”

  “No pressure,” she agreed, standing and shaking his hand. “Good luck with the cooking class.”

  Was it his imagination or was there a slight gleefulness in her tone?

  He wished he’d scheduled that cooking lesson for right now. He wanted to be with Lily, talking to her, looking at her, making a mess in the kitchen with her. But hadn’t he met with Viv specifically to set up dates with his type in order to push Lily from his mind? Yes, he’d done exactly that and now he wanted the opposite.

  All those things he’d said to Viv about Lily were true. So of course he wanted to be around her. He liked her, plain and simple. Maybe the cooking thing was too much. Too...intimate. Yeah, it kind of was. He could put that off for a while until he understood just what he was feeling for Lily Hunt.

  That settled, he decided to go pay her a visit, see if her dogs needed walking since she was so busy with school and her job at the Manor. A friend would absolutely do this.

  * * *

  During the next week, Lily counted five times that Xander Crawford had found a reason to “stop by.” Five times.

  Early in the week, he’d appeared at the back door of the kitchen of the Maverick Manor and offered to take Dobby and Harry for a walk since it was an “incredibly gorgeous summer day” and she was cooped up at work. That sure was thoughtful. His visit had coincided with her fifteen-minute break, so they’d stood outside in the back and chatted about the day’s specials, which included homemade spicy onion rings, and how onions did not make him cry like other people, and how he preferred sautéed onions to raw on his burgers. He’d started to go, then had turned back and said he wouldn’t able to schedule that cooking lesson for at least a week since he was very busy with work “and stuff” at the Ambling A. Disappointment had lodged so heavily in her chest that she’d been surprised she hadn’t tipped over. Then, off he’d gone, her brother Ryan reporting fifteen minutes later that “the tall dude came by and took out the dogs and good thing because I forgot to, sorry.”

  The next day, Xander had texted her a hello and she’d responded with a frazzled emoji and mentioned she was stuck on a school assignment about business expenditures, and a half hour later, there he was, showing her a few pages of the financials from the Ambling A, and two hours later, everything made sense. Up in her bedroom, he’d spent two hours going over economics and finance—that had to mean something. She’d had to force herself to concentrate on the topic and not on the fact that Xander Crawford was sitting on the edge of her bed. She’d done a lot of fantasizing about Xander in that very bed.

  The next afternoon, he’d needed a “woman’s opinion on which tie he should wear to a rancher’s association meeting since he was thinking of running for the board—or maybe not.”

  Sarah had squealed over that one when Lily texted her about it. The man is crazy about you!

  Except he never “leaned” toward her again. Not the next two times he’d dropped in at the Manor—once in the kitchen to rave about the grilled tuna lunch special, or when he’d appeared right before quitting time last night because he thought she might like some company walking home. She certainly did. They’d sat on her porch, watching Dobby and Harry run around the fenced yard. He’d commented on the crescent moon and the Big Dipper, and she’d almost rested her head on his shoulder. That was how natural being with him was. How comfortable she was with him.

  That he liked her wasn’t in question. But he didn’t look at her the way she was sure she looked at him. He looked at her the way she looked at the two male cooks at Maverick Manor. Like friends.

  So...what gives?

  Being buddies with a man who made you fantasize about taking off his shirt and undoing his belt was a first for Lily. She lost her train of thought midsentence when she was around him or he popped into her mind—which was constantly.

  “Lily! I need your help!” came the very loud voice of her brother Andrew from the direction of his bedroom.

  She sighed and put down her Economics 101 textbook. She was focusing more on a tall, dark and hot cowboy than on the difference between classical economics and Keynesian economics, anyway.

  She headed two doors down to Andrew’s room. She coughed as a cloud of men’s body spray greeted her. Waving the air in front of her, Lily said, “Wherever you’re going tonight, you’re gonna need to stand outside for a good twenty minutes to let all that dissipate.”

  Andrew, who was all dressed up—for him, anyway, since he was either in his police academy uniform or a T-shirt and sweats—eyed his reflection in the bureau mirror as he brushed his short hair. He added a dollop of gel. “No way, sis. According to the bottle, I smell like mountain energy.” He took in a deep breath and smiled. “Heidi will love it.”

  “Who’s Heidi?”

  “My date for tonight. We’re going to the Maverick Manor. You working tonight? Please say yes. I need you to do that thing you do with people’s food so that tonight is extra magical.”

  Lily laughed. “I’m not working tonight, sorry. But I’m sure your date will absolutely love you. Where’d you meet her?”

  “I haven’t yet. It’s a blind date. Thanks to Xander. I owe the guy. He set us up.”

  Lily gaped at her middle brother. “Xander? How’d that happen? I didn’t even know you two knew each other.”

  Andrew glanced at her in the mirror, then used his fingers to slightly push up the front of his hair. “We met the other day when he came to the house. I asked him if he’d talk me up to any of his dates that didn’t work out, and he called me a couple days ago and said he’d met a great young woman and thought we might like each other, so he gave her my number and she called. How awesome is that?”

  Yeah, awesome. Xander was going on dates. And passing on the ones who didn’t warrant a second date to her brother. She wondered how many Xander hadn’t passed on.

  “Should I wear black shoes or cowboy boots?” he asked.

  She glanced at his feet. “Either.”

  “Oh, big help!” he said. “Thanks.”

  The thing was, she really didn’t know. She wasn’t exactly a fashionista. And she hadn’t exactly gone on a lot of dates to know what guys wore. Xander had been wearing expensive-looking black shoes on their not-a-date, but his pants were dressier than Andrew’s dark gray chinos. “Go for the shoes,” she suggested.

  He nodded. “I think so, too. The Maverick Manor isn’t exactly the Ace in the Hole.”

  She dropped down on the edge of his bed. “So...what did Xander tell you about Heidi?”

  “Just that she was very nice and he thought I’d like her.”

  “Nice?” she repeat
ed.

  “Nice. That was my one request.”

  Huh. That was a surprise. “I thought guys wanted pretty and hot and fun.”

  “Some guys, I guess. I’d be happy with all that. But what’s the point of hot if she’s a royal PITA?”

  Lily laughed. “Good point.”

  Andrew put on his black shoes, glanced at himself one more time in the mirror, said “Wish me luck” and then raced downstairs before she could say another word.

  She wondered why the date with nice Heidi hadn’t worked out with Xander. Duh, she realized. Because Heidi was nice. And Xander obviously didn’t go for nice. A man like Xander Crawford, who could have any woman in town, would want hot. Maybe nice, too, but hot.

  Exactly what she wasn’t.

  She groaned.

  Whatevs! she screeched at herself. Hot wouldn’t get her her own gourmet café or catering shop, now would it? Hard work would. Brains would.

  She sighed and trudged back to her room. As she flopped onto her bed next to her econ textbook, her heart sank so low she thought she might crash through the bed onto the floor.

  Her phone pinged with a text.

  From Xander.

  She almost didn’t want to read it. How had she gotten his small attentions all week so wrong? She’d really thought there was something brewing between them. But they really and truly were “just friends.”

  She stayed flopped on her back and read the text.

  This might be too short notice, but I’d like to hire you to cook a special dinner for my dad and brothers on Saturday night. We finished repairing a tough line of fence and I’d like to celebrate with a family party. I’m thinking 7:00 p.m. for dinner. We’re all pretty much meat-and-potatoes kind of guys, but I’ll leave the details up to you.

  Saturday night. Two days from now. Hell yeah, she was available. But what was the point? To fall even harder for a man who wasn’t remotely interested?