Home on the Ranch: Texas Cowboy, Be Mine

by Trish Milburn

  Why was she stressing so much about what to wear to her exhibit opening anyway? After all, there was no guarantee anyone would even show up. Although with Lauren providing the refreshments, perhaps at least she’d draw a few of her sister-in-law’s fans.

  She sank onto the edge of her bed, which was piled with darn near every piece of clothing from her closet. What she’d told Hunter—that a suit wasn’t necessary, this being Blue Falls—replayed in her head, and yet here she sat completely twisted up in knots about her own outfit. Granted, it was her exhibit, but still.

  A knock at the door drew her attention away from the full-length mirror.

  “Yeah?”

  Her mom poked her head in. “Okay in here?”

  Angel sighed. “Sure, if by ‘okay’ you mean I’m at the stage where I’m considering wearing my oldest jeans and rattiest T-shirt. Really go for the just-came-from-mucking-out-the-stalls look.”

  No one was going to buy a photo based on how well she was dressed anyway, right?

  Her mom opened the door farther and stepped inside. “You’re putting too much pressure on yourself, sweetie. You know people love your photos.”

  Sure, she’d made some positive steps in her career, but it didn’t keep her from expecting it to all just disappear if she made one wrong move.

  “I really don’t know why I’m so nervous.”

  “It’s because you feel as if you’ll be on display, that you as a person are being judged instead of your work.”

  Angel started to argue but stopped herself when she realized her mom might be onto something. Was that why she’d gravitated toward photography—because it pointed people’s attention away from her? By having an exhibit opening, she was inviting their attention back toward her.

  “I think you really missed your calling, Mom. You could have been one heck of a therapist.”

  Her mom laughed. “Honey, all moms are therapists.”

  Angel considered the times she’d listened when Julia had been upset about something, how she’d done her best to help her daughter learn how to deal with her emotions.

  “I don’t know how you did it five times over.”

  “I like a challenge.” Her mom motioned for Angel to stand. “That dress is perfect. All it needs is a little accessorizing.”

  Angel watched as her mom walked over to the dresser and opened the wooden jewelry box Ben had made for Angel last Christmas. When she turned back toward Angel, she was holding a turquoise necklace and earring set Angel had bought herself the first time she’d sold a photo to a national magazine. Even though she had no idea what tribe she’d been born a part of, she’d nevertheless always been attracted to Native American jewelry. She had managed to amass a collection of everything from Navajo turquoise and silver to Cherokee carved-bone pieces to a pewter raven necklace made by a Tlingit artist. She wasn’t sure if it was some sort of search for her heritage or she just liked the designs. Maybe both.

  She accepted the jewelry from her mom and quickly put it on. When she looked in the mirror again, she was happier with what she saw than at any point during her entire crazed afternoon. She made eye contact with her mom’s reflection.

  “Do you ever get tired of being right?”

  Her mom chuckled. “Nope. And don’t be surprised if I remind you that you said that somewhere down the line.”

  Angel wondered if her mom was talking about matchmaking, but then she remembered what Sloane had said about her mom feeling guilty about what had happened with Dave. She opened her mouth to tell her mom there was no need for her to feel that way, but the words wouldn’t come. As if to save her from standing there with her mouth wide-open, Julia appeared in the open doorway.

  “Well, don’t you look beautiful,” Diane said.

  Angel agreed and it hit her how much older her daughter looked than she had, seemingly, only the day before. She’d even insisted on dressing herself in the room that had once been Sloane’s and had recently become Julia’s very own space. No more sharing with Angel. Though part of Angel liked having more privacy, she couldn’t deny she missed having Julia so close at the same time. After all, they’d shared a room from the moment Julia had been born. But she understood how exciting it was for Julia to have a room that was hers and hers alone.

  “My little girl is growing up.”

  Julia giggled. “I’m only in first grade, Mom.”

  Even that fact highlighted how fast the past six years had flown by. If she wasn’t careful, Angel was going to blink and Julia would be driving and asking permission to go out on a date. She almost snorted thinking about how many layers of Hartleys a boy was going to have to get through before he was given permission to even meet Julia at a school dance, let alone go on an actual date where they’d be alone together. Gauntlet was probably the right word for it. Julia loved being surrounded by loads of family now, but Angel wondered if that attitude might change with the passage of years.

  “Well, we all better get going or we’re going to be late,” Angel’s mom said as she ushered Julia out the doorway.

  Angel’s nerves came back full force, so she inhaled a deep breath while taking one final look in the mirror. Amid all the worry that the opening would be a stunning failure, an entirely different concern bubbled up. Would Hunter think she looked nice?

  “Oh, good grief,” she whispered to her reflection and shook her head.

  “What, honey?” her mom asked.

  “Nothing.”

  Nothing but crazy thoughts coming from my crazy brain.

  When they arrived at the gallery, there were only a couple of cars in the lot and Angel’s stomach sank until she reminded herself that it was still early. The start time wasn’t for a half hour yet, so it made sense that only Merline’s and Lauren’s cars were there already. She wished she could see into the future, to how things would go tonight. If she was worrying for no reason, she’d like to know so she could calm the heck down.

  She held Julia’s hand as they walked into the gallery. Angel’s gaze went directly to the table filled with delectable treats provided by Lauren and her sister, Violet.

  “Are you trying to outshine me? Because that looks like an art display all on its own,” she said as she pointed at the array of bite-size appetizers, cakes and tarts.

  “If attendees like the treats, they stay longer and are in a better mood. A better mood may loosen their purse strings and wallets.”

  “I like how you think.”

  Lauren smiled. “Hon, even if I’d brought prepackaged snacks, it wouldn’t have mattered. Your work is great. Your show is going to be a big success.”

  “From your lips to God’s ears.”

  Gradually, people began to trickle in, and chatting with each one helped Angel to breathe a little easier. It didn’t mean she’d sell anything, but at least she wouldn’t be standing around in an empty gallery stuffing her face with all of Lauren’s tasty treats.

  Julia tugged on her hand, drawing Angel’s attention away from greeting Nathan and Grace Teague, Merline’s oldest son and his wife.

  “Mom, can I have some cake? Aunt Lauren said I had to ask you.” The pleading in her daughter’s eyes almost made Angel laugh.

  “Sure, sweetie, but no more than a couple.” Angel caught Lauren’s attention and held up two fingers to indicate Julia could have only two of the bite-size treats. Any more than that and she’d be bouncing off the walls until way past her bedtime.

  When Julia headed back toward her aunt, Angel called out, “And don’t get anywhere near the photographs.”

  Violet smiled from behind the refreshment table and indicated they’d keep an eye on Julia.

  Over the next several minutes, Angel put on her best cool and collected face as she chatted with friends and strangers alike. She was discussing her views on various cameras with a couple from Austin when she caught sight of Hunter ente
ring the gallery with his mother and completely forgot what she was saying.

  He’d followed her advice and left the suit at home, but the blue shirt he wore sent sparks of attraction racing along her skin. She couldn’t even really say why. It was the type of nice button-down that any number of men owned, but for some reason on Hunter it looked like the sexiest piece of clothing she’d ever seen. The only thing that would make it sexier would be if he unbuttoned the cuffs and rolled up the sleeves to expose his lower arms. She might have a thing for arms.

  “Is everything all right?”

  She visibly startled at the question that came from the man in front of her.

  “I’m terribly sorry. I saw someone I know come in. You were saying?”

  As the man resumed the conversation, Angel had a difficult time not letting her gaze wander, especially when the man’s wife looked toward Hunter and gave Angel a knowing grin.

  When the conversation came to a natural conclusion, Angel searched the crowd for Hunter and his mom. When she spotted them talking to Sloane, she nearly sprinted across the gallery as alarm bells clanged so loudly in her head she was surprised they weren’t audible to anyone else. But before she could take the first step toward making sure her sister wasn’t in the midst of mortifying her, Merline was at her side, steering her in the opposite direction.

  “You need to meet someone,” Merline said as they approached a middle-aged man wearing a dark suit and a bolo tie with a silver longhorn. “Angel Hartley, this is Steven Hill. He works for West magazine.”

  As she shook Steven’s hand, Angel hoped he couldn’t sense her nervousness. Was she actually shaking? She couldn’t tell. How many times had she imagined her work gracing the glossy pages of his magazine? But the competition was stiff, not unlike a National Geographic for Western landscapes and people.

  “It’s very nice to meet you,” she said, wondering how he’d come to be in a small Hill Country town.

  As they talked, she learned the answer was he liked to check out local galleries whenever his family vacationed and they were enjoying some river recreation on the Frio River over in Poppy. Angel couldn’t believe her luck.

  Of course, there was no guarantee, but at least he took one of her business cards and seemed interested as he listened to her answer his questions about how she got her start, her inspiration and vision for her career.

  After he left, she desperately wanted to sit down. But the gallery’s two benches were already full.

  “Please tell me I didn’t stammer through that like a complete idiot.”

  Merline squeezed her hand. “Far from it.”

  Angel hoped Merline was right because entry into West magazine would make this night a huge success even if she didn’t sell any photographs at all.

  As Merline turned to talk to other patrons, Angel walked toward the refreshment table, needing an infusion of sugar. She’d just popped a mini lemon concoction that tasted like heaven in her mouth when she turned to find Hunter only an arm’s length away.

  “Good turnout tonight,” he said.

  She tried to smile and acknowledge his statement without opening her full mouth.

  “Sorry,” he said with a smile before moving to the table and snagging one of the chocolate squares Lauren had flavored with orange, a mixture that combined the flavors Hunter had claimed were his and his mother’s favorites. “These are delicious,” he said to Lauren. “Everything is.”

  “Thank you,” Lauren replied. “Nothing but the best for our talented photographer.”

  Angel managed to swallow her dessert before Hunter turned back to her. “Is your mom having a nice time?”

  Just looking at Evelyn Millbrook, you’d never know she had such a devastating disease.

  “She was nervous about coming, but she seems to have calmed down since we got here. She likes your work.”

  “I’m glad she came.”

  “Me, too.”

  Angel scrambled for some way to keep their conversation going, thinking back over their previous ones. “So, uh, what do you think of your first art exhibit opening?”

  “It’s more socializing than I’m used to, but it has some perks.” He held up his dessert.

  She scanned the room, wondering how many of the people filling it would be there if Lauren wasn’t providing the refreshments.

  Hunter leaned into her field of view. “I’m kidding. It’s actually nice to get out, and I’m glad so many people showed up for your big night.”

  “Yeah, it would have been a tragedy if we had to eat all of Lauren’s food by ourselves.”

  Hunter laughed a little. “Yeah, a real tragedy.”

  The front door opened to admit someone else. It took Angel a moment to recognize Chris Ross. What the devil was he doing at her opening?

  Hunter shifted beside her. “I better go check on Mom.”

  She reached out as if to stop him, but he was already out of reach. Could he possibly think she’d rather talk to Chris than him? But really, why did he have any reason to think otherwise? He had no clue she’d developed a sudden attraction to him, and she doubted he had any in-depth knowledge of her past relationship with Chris beyond perhaps knowing they dated. She wanted to grab Hunter and disavow him of any potential notions that she wanted to get back with Chris.

  She pressed her palm against her forehead. Come on. Chances were he wasn’t thinking about her and Chris at all. Maybe his departure from her side was as simple as his wanting to check on his mom. After all, he’d said she’d been nervous about attending.

  And the truth was that she probably shouldn’t be feeling any more yearning for Hunter than she was for Chris. As she’d told Sloane, her experience with men didn’t leave her with much confidence that getting involved with them was worth the potential heartache.

  Before she could make her way to talk to someone else in the room—anyone—Chris made eye contact, smiled and headed toward her. Great, just what she needed to kill the delightful—if potentially unwise—buzz spending time with Hunter had given her.

  “Hey, Angel,” Chris said as he drew near, sounding tentative in a way she’d never heard from him before. Maybe the grown-up version of Chris realized just how crappy his teenage self had been to her.

  Angel wasn’t really interested in being a part of some apology tour, but she couldn’t exactly be rude to him in the current circumstances. Plus, it wasn’t as if she was upset with him anymore. He hadn’t destroyed some great love affair after proclaiming his undying affection.

  “Hi, Chris. Been a long time.”

  He nodded. “I just recently moved back.”

  And if she wasn’t mistaken, he didn’t seem overly excited by that fact.

  He gestured toward the rest of the room. “Pretty awesome you have your own exhibit. I remember how much you used to like taking pictures.”

  She was honestly surprised he remembered anything about her.

  “If you’ll excuse me, I need to play hostess.” Maybe she sounded rude, but she felt weird engaging in small talk with an old boyfriend with Hunter in the vicinity. And yes, that was probably all kinds of nutty, because there was nothing between her and Hunter beyond casual conversations.

  “Wait.” Chris suddenly looked exponentially more uncomfortable than he had moments before. “I’d like to take you to lunch sometime.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea, do you?”

  “Just as friends.” She must have given him an incredulous look because he quickly corrected himself. “Okay, former classmates? I just want to talk, onetime deal and I promise not to keep you long.”

  She wanted to decline yet again, but there was something profoundly honest in the way he asked. An honesty she would have never ascribed to him. Curiosity about this seemingly new version of Chris had her going against her initial response and agreeing to meet for lunch at some future
date.

  “Thanks.” He sounded so sincere, like he’d fully expected her to tell him no but was grateful she hadn’t.

  Seriously, what was going on? Why all of a sudden was she seeing former high school classmates in a different light?

  Sloane appeared at her side, and Angel could feel the throttle-the-guy vibes coming off her sister like waves of sound from the bass speakers at a rock concert. Before Sloane could say anything, Chris was pulled into conversation with Jake Monroe.

  “What did he want?”

  “I’m not actually sure, other than to meet for lunch and talk.”

  “You told him no, of course.”

  “I was going to, but I changed my mind.”

  “That or you’ve lost it.”

  “It’s no big deal. I’m not going to date him again after all, but there was just something... I don’t know, something different and kind of sad maybe.” Sloane pulled a look of disbelief. “I know, I know. But what happened between us was ages ago. I’m not the same person I was then. Maybe he isn’t, either.”

  “But what about Hunter?”

  Angel winced and looked around, fearing Hunter might be right behind her again. “Could you please keep your voice down?”

  “I knew it! You’ve got the hots for him.”

  “Do you honestly think I’d tell you if I did?”

  “Yes, eventually, because I’d become such a pest you’d tell me just to shut me up.”

  Angel stared at her older sister for a moment before sighing. “That’s unfortunately true.”

  “Did you just admit I’m right?”

  “Will it indeed shut up you?”

  “I’d say yes, but then I’d be lying.”

  Angel exhaled in frustration.

  “Oh, come on, don’t be like that.” Sloane started to turn in Hunter’s direction, but Angel grabbed her arm to stay her.

  “Don’t make a big deal out of nothing. I happened to notice he’s not exactly bad-looking, that’s all.”