A Cowboy's Fake Fiancée

by Savannah McCarthy

  “You know, I’m happy for you,” Stacey slurred, wrapping her arm around Heather. She was only out tonight because her boyfriend, Austin, was out of town visiting family.

  “Hey, I’m happy for you too!” Lola jumped in. Even though the youngest waitress had been nursing non-alcoholic Shirley Temples all night long, she was still taking it upon herself to match the sloppy energy of a tipsy Stacey.

  “How are you guys getting home?” Heather asked, a little tipsy herself.

  “We’re not going home tonight!” Lola hollered.

  Stacey laughed. “We’re staying at Austin’s place on the ranch. I want to be able to sleep in as long as possible tomorrow morning, and the commute to ‘The Horseshoe’ from there is like all of 5 minutes.”

  “Sleeping in!” Lola hollered out again.

  “You’re invited,” Stacey offered.

  “Oh, slumber party!” Lola exclaimed.

  Heather quickly shook her head. Maybe on another night she would have indulged, but she felt like she needed some time alone before news of Nash and her’s engagement broke tomorrow. The past month had felt like an entire lifetime in and of itself. The whirlwind was finally starting to become a little more manageable and Heather wanted a moment to just take a deep breath by herself. It didn’t hurt that it was a beautiful night for a lonely walk.

  The three girls said their goodbyes and Heather lingered on the moment. It felt like an appropriate end to their working relationship. She’d never forget her time as their manager and she looked forward to all that their blossoming friendship would spring. Heather truly felt close to her newest friends, even more so than she had to her friends in Boulder, and she felt a warm glow pulse inside of her at the thought that not only was she worthy of Nash’s affection, but also of Stacey and Lola’s friendship. She felt like she had grown immeasurably since her first foray into Chacho’s with them, and she was sure that tonight was just the beginning of a new phase of their friendship.

  They gave each other long hugs before finally going their separate ways.

  The night chirped around Heather as she contently strolled towards the roundabout where there would be a line-up of taxi cabs. The streets of the ranch’s entertainment district were no longer empty at night. Both ranch employees and visitors alike straggled occasionally by Heather as she neared the end of the strip.

  Most passersby were too absorbed in their own good times to pay Heather much mind, but the occasional group of girls recognized her and either showered her in high-fives or with salacious giggles. Heather could only smile. She was getting used to the attention; it wasn’t all that bad.

  “Mrs. Hoover!?” she suddenly heard a drunken voice slur, just as she was about to turn off the final corner on the entertainment strip.

  Heather turned to see an oddly familiar woman stumbling towards her. It only took her a second to match the face: it was Nash’s secretary—the same one who had told her to go up to his office back when she had first been called up to see him, and the same one who had directed her to the stables when she’d been looking for Nash after she’d decided to accept his offer.

  The young woman was stunning, Heather noted. She had her long blonde hair down and a tight yet flowing summer dress on; she looked more like a supermodel than a boring old secretary.

  “... Or should I say, the future Mrs. Winthrow!” she stumbled.

  Heather went to catch her. “I don’t think we’ve ever formally introduced ourselves,” she smiled. “I’m Heather.”

  Heather reached out her hand in greeting.

  “I’m Amanda,” the secretary said, stumbling forward again and forgoing the handshake for a hug.

  Heather didn’t mind. She patted the drunk woman on the back and helped to hold her up. “It’s nice to meet you Amanda. I guess you know where this whole thing with me and Nash is going, huh?” she chuckled.

  “Oh, you don’t know the half of what I know!” Amanda exclaimed, twirling out of their hug.

  Heather couldn’t help but be entertained; she didn’t feel like anything could go wrong right now. Nash and her had finally had a date that didn’t end in disaster, and Amanda, though gorgeous, didn’t seem particularly threatening. “And what do you know that I don’t?” she smirked.

  Amanda looked around the nearly empty street like a spy making sure the coast was clear, then she pointed at her ring finger. “I’m going to be Mrs. Winthrow too!” she whispered.

  Heather raised her eyebrow. “How so?” She wrapped her arm around Amanda and started leading her towards the roundabout where the cabs would be. The girl clearly needed to get home.

  “I’m you’re backup,” Amanda whispered again. “Nash and I have been practicing our love in secret. Shh!”

  Heather’s heart stirred a little. What did that mean? “You and Nash have what?” she asked. Concern was slowly bubbling up inside of her—she tried to fight it back. Sure, she hadn’t been told that there would be a backup woman, but it made sense that there was.

  “Ah, they haven’t told you,” Amanda slurred, shaking her head back and forth in big exaggerations.

  “Told me what?” Heather hesitated to ask. She could feel her gut clenching. The tide of the night felt like it was suddenly turning.

  Amanda checked to make sure the coast was clear again. “Mr. Ford told me that Nash was worried about your performance. He said you might not be as right for the role as they’d first thought. ‘We have to do something drastic, and quick,’ he said. ‘We’re losing control of the ship!’.”

  Heather listened with furrowed brows. This wasn’t completely surprising. Nash and her had had their troubles from day one, and the past two weeks had put their whole venture into question, but now they were back on the right path...

  Heather’s heart suddenly ached as she dared to consider that Nash’s confession earlier in the night might have all been an act. Maybe the engagement wasn’t the drastic step that was going to right the ship, she thought to herself; maybe Nash knew that the only way that he was going to control Heather was by letting her think that her feelings were matched by him.

  Heather began to panic as doubt slowly invaded her very being. Had that wonderful dinner at the barn just been a ploy to straighten her out, to control her? It had almost seemed too good to be true, and now she feared that it might have been a complete manipulation.

  Nash knew that Heather cared for him, but did he actually love her back? Just minutes ago, she had been so sure of it, but now her head was swimming and mighty waves of inner turmoil were threatening to wash her out to sea.

  “How were they going to regain control of the ship?” she managed to ask Amber, as they stumbled through a side path towards the taxi cabs.

  Amanda didn’t respond. She was clearly starting to zone out. Heather shook her a little and the drunk secretary came to. “What?” she asked Heather, like she had just woken up from a dream.

  “How were Nash and Frenchie going to regain control of the ship?” she asked again. “You said they were worried that they wouldn’t be able to reign me in?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Amanda waved her off. “I was there. I said they should just give you what you want and leave me out of it. Mr. Ford seemed to like that idea, but he still made me keep practicing. I wouldn’t have minded being Mr. Winthrow’s real fiancée, but being his fake fiancée is so stressful, right?”

  They should just give you what you want...

  Heather knew that that didn’t mean an engagement ring. Nash had known full well that Heather hadn’t wanted to quit The Horseshoe. After their kiss in Denver, Heather had only wanted one thing: for Nash to love her just as much as he made her realize she loved him.

  Heather’s heart sank through the floor. She was now convinced that their dinner earlier in the night had been entirely a ruse. She’d been tricked into falling in line. She wasn’t starting a new, real relationship with Nash, he was just adding another layer of deceit to their partnership, but this time, it wasn’t the public who he was
misleading, it was her.

  Heather felt like throwing up, but Amanda beat her to it.

  Heather put her hurting heart on ice and forced herself to focus on getting Amanda home safe and sound. The young secretary hadn’t done anything wrong; she was just as much a pawn as Heather was. The two of them made their way to the front line of taxis at the ranch’s inner roundabout and shared a ride back into Eden Prairie. Heather saw Amanda home and then payed the driver when they pulled up outside of her mother’s place.

  Up to that point, Heather had been able to hold off the storm of emotions riling up inside of her for Amanda’s sake, but the moment she closed her front door behind her, the floodgates broke. Heather collapsed in her mother’s hallway and began to cry.

  She felt so foolish; so naïve.

  Nash had tricked her just like he was tricking everyone else. It had taken her this long to finally figure it out, but now she finally saw the truth: Nash had never just been a good guy who people saw in the wrong light; it was just the opposite, in fact—people had seen him all too clearly. Nash Winthrow was a manipulative villain through and through, and Heather wasn’t going to let him control her life anymore.

  Chapter 23

  Nash

  Something was wrong.

  News of Nash’s engagement to Heather had hit the newsstands with resounding success. All across the country, people were enamoured by their story. Frenchie had had the brilliant idea to tease that their upcoming wedding could happen at any one of the ranch’s many country wide locations, and, as a result, business all across the franchise had taken a large upswing. It was exactly what they’d needed, but Nash felt no relief.

  He hadn’t talked to Heather in three days now.

  After the intensity of their barn dinner, and Heather’s request to go have one last night with her friends afterwards, Nash had decided that it would be healthiest to give his fake fiancée some space.

  The whole whirlwind engagement had been hard on him, and he couldn’t imagine how much more difficult it had been for her. She’d essentially been managing two jobs; all while being thrust into the spotlight for the first time in her life.

  He’d wanted to give her some time to breathe, but now all he wanted was to speak to her.

  There’d been zero connection between the two since they parted ways after dinner three days ago and Nash could only blame himself. He’d figured that she’d call him when she was ready, but, apparently, she still wasn’t.

  Was Heather having second thoughts? A cold sweat formed on his forehead whenever he considered what she might be going through.

  It was almost noon, and he’d already called her cellphone countless times. He’d sent her emails and texts and even dug up her home number. He’d finally decided to call the landline when all else had failed.

  It rung and rung until, finally, on what seemed like the 100th ring, someone picked up.

  “Hello?” came an unfamiliar voice. Nash furrowed his brow, before realizing who it must be.

  “Mrs. Hoover?” he asked.

  “Yes, who is this?” the older woman responded.

  “This is Nash Winthrow, I’ve been seeing your daughter. I don’t believe we’ve formally met yet, but I’d very much like to.”

  Nash heard a harrumph on the other end of the line. “About time, don’t you think?” scolded Heather’s mom. “You didn’t even think to call and ask permission for my daughter’s hand in marriage?”

  Nash paused. He’d thought he remembered Heather telling him that her mother was coming around on him, but she didn’t sound all too friendly right now. “I assure you, I was only thinking of Heather’s happiness when I asked,” he finally said.

  Mrs. Hoover huffed again. “Well, then why do you still have her working?”

  Nash hadn’t been expecting to hear that. “... Heather’s at The Horseshoe?” he asked quietly.

  “Of course,” continued Mrs. Hoover. “You’ve got enough money to give her some time off, don’t you? Why’s my baby still working herself to the bone when the reason she’s so busy in the first place is because everybody’s coming to your ranch!?”

  Nash wasn’t particularly ready to defend himself against Mrs. Hoover’s onslaught. He just let her continue.

  “And where’s the ring already?” the older lady added. “I must have asked her a thousand times!”

  Heather had given Nash the opulent ring to hold onto before she’d gone out to spend one final night with her friends from work—what had happened after he’d seen her off?

  Nash patted his pocket. The ring was tucked away in his jeans; precious cargo that needed to be protected at all costs.

  At least he knew where Heather was now, but it didn’t bode well for him.

  Why was she back at work? They were engaged and in love, and, though only one of those things required her to quit her job, a million dollars was on the line if she didn’t.

  Nash let Mrs. Hoover ramble on for a little longer before negotiating a quick separation. He eventually hung up with more questions than answers.

  “I’m heading over to The Horseshoe,” Nash told Frenchie, as he passed by his agent in the hallway on the 25th floor.

  “Why?” Frenchie replied. “We already have everything under control. I’ve talked to Caroline and some of our own managers will be over just after lunch to help out. Do we need more waitresses or something? I can talk to Amanda...”

  “Heather’s there,” Nash interrupted.

  “She’s still working?” Frenchie responded, scrunching up his nose like a bad smell had just hit his nostrils. “Why?”

  “That’s what I’m going to find out,” Nash pressed the ground floor button inside the elevator and nodded goodbye to his friend as the doors closed between them.

  This is NOT good. That’s a major breach of contract, Frenchie texted him.

  I’ll handle it, Nash texted back as he hit the lobby floor of his office building.

  At least take the truck, it’s busy out there today, Frenchie replied.

  He was right. Nash peered out of the ground floor windows and saw that the ranch was crawling with visitors. His stomach rumbled with nervousness. The plan was going so well, what had gone wrong with Heather?

  He turned back towards the elevators and opened the door to the stairwell. He rushed down the steps until he was at the underground garage where he’d parked his truck, then he peeled out into the warm summer day.

  He had to keep his windows up out of fear that he’d be spotted. It was like everything was suddenly reverting to before he’d met Heather. He knew he’d probably get mostly good reactions from the wandering crowds at the ranch, but he didn’t need any distractions right now. His whole plan was in the balance and he had no idea as to what had gone wrong. All he knew was that Heather was breaching contract, and if she didn’t listen to what he had to say when he got to The Horseshoe, then all that they had been working towards would crumble.

  Even their newly confessed love for each other was at risk. How could Nash ever forgive her for being so cavalier towards his business, especially if it resulted in the downfall of all his family had built up? The ranch was busy right now, but it was no secret that if Heather and him didn’t go through with their engagement, Nash would be right back in the public’s seat of villainy—it might even be worse this time around. Who was he to break a sweet, small-town girl’s heart?

  Nash pulled into The Horseshoe’s parking lot. Before he got out of his truck, he made sure to grab something important from the back seat. For the first time in weeks, Nash felt the need to don his beige Stetson, in order to hide his face from onlookers. He didn’t have the time or the patience for anyone but Heather right now, and he had a bad feeling about what he was about to walk into.

  His nerves only tightened as he approached the restaurant and noticed a crowd lined up out front. The place was so busy that people were waiting to get in. Nash could see waitresses running around inside, desperately trying to appease the large swaths of
customers that filled up the establishment. He spotted Caroline rushing about, as well as two younger waitresses. He didn’t see Heather though, or, at least, he didn’t see her until he was nearly at the front door. Then, all of a sudden, there she was. Hair up in a bun, dusty apron on, bags under her eyes; the complete opposite picture of how he remembered her from their last meeting just a few days ago. She looked more stressed and exhausted than ever. Nash’s heart sunk. Their engagement was supposed to be the start of an easier life for her; their confessions at the barn we’re supposed to ease her mind.

  What was she doing?

  “Hey, is that...?” Nash heard someone shout out from the line by the front door. The last thing he wanted to deal with was a bunch of fans. He lowered his Stetson down around his eyes and quickly turned heel. He knew there was a private entrance around back that he could get into. He didn’t know how he was going to get a hold of Heather though. The idea of having a confrontation in front of all those people sent a shiver down his spine. He was going to have to deal with this whole mess with surgical precision.

  Nash flung open the back door and nodded to the cooks in the kitchen. They were too busy to even acknowledge his presence though, and he stormed unnoticed towards the back office where he knew Heather spent most of her time during less busy hours. If all else failed, then he could just wait for her there.

  He made a sharp turn around a corner and immediately ran right into a bustling waitress. Half-empty plates went flying into the air and then crashed on the hard-tiled ground, shattering into countless pieces.

  “Oh no...” mumbled a familiar voice.

  It was Caroline.

  “I’m so sorry,” Nash offered, bending down to help pick up the carnage he’d just caused.

  “What are you doing back here?” Caroline asked. She grabbed a nearby plastic bag and they began cleaning up as quickly as they could manage