Southern Charm : A BWWM Cowboy Romance

by Tiana Cole

  The celebration went well into the wee hours of the morning. By the time everyone went home, they were only going to gain a few hours sleep before they had to be back at work.

  That was the thing with a ranch: it operated seven days a week, regardless of weekends. There were some jobs that didn’t require they be there on weekends and it ran on a lesser scale that allowed for reduced staffing which rotated to give weekends off here and there, but quite a few would have to come in, including the newly engaged couple.

  “We have so much to do!” Cecilia said, as she woke up before the sun had even risen the next morning.

  “I know. It’s going to be a long day, even for a Saturday,” Jack groaned, a bit hung over from the night before.

  “I mean for the wedding,” she bounced excitedly as thoughts flitted through her head, color schemes and invitations and centerpieces. There was just so much that went into planning a wedding. “When do you want to get married?’

  “Can I have coffee first?” he laughed, smiling at her with an expression of pure love and joy on his face.

  “You can’t just propose to a girl and then slough off setting a date until you’ve had coffee!” she teased.

  “Watch me,” he told her, kissing her on the cheek and padding toward the kitchen. She could hear him clanging around down there as she went to the shower. When she was dressed and made her way down to the kitchen, she found a much more chipper Jack waiting for her with coffee and a fresh kitchen sink omelet.

  “Perfect,” she moaned, sitting down beside him at the breakfast bar and taking a big bite.

  “When do you want to get married?” he asked.

  “Tomorrow?” she said with a smile.

  “Okay. We’ll go down to city hall and do it,” he replied, looking completely serious.

  “Wait! I’m just kidding! I don’t know. I don’t think we need a huge wedding, but I would like to have one,” she replied.

  “I know. I was just calling your bluff,” he teased her.

  Cecilia punched him playfully in the arm, contemplating a wedding date over her breakfast. There weren’t really any significant dates she could think of that she had her heart set on. Jack caught her off guard as he stood up and took his plate to the sink.

  “How about May the fourth?” he asked.

  “If that is another bad Star Wars reference, I’m going to punch you again,” she told him, rolling her eyes.

  “Star Wars? What?” he asked, seemingly confused.

  “May the fourth be with you?” she said, giving him a look like she didn’t believe he wasn’t catching on. He started laughing, a big belly laugh that had her cracking a smile right along with him.

  “I forgot all about that. Who’s the geek now?” he said, still chuckling. Then, his smile faded a little. His voice was serious. “It’s my parents’ anniversary.”

  Cecilia tried not to look as surprised as she felt. Where was all this sentimentality coming from suddenly? It wasn’t something she had ever really known him to express before. She studied his face for a moment before answering. Walking over she touched his face softly and smiled.

  “It sounds perfect,” she smiled softly up at him and he wrapped her in his arms, kissing her sweetly before pulling away.

  “Can you dress as Princess Leia in her slave outfit?” he asked suddenly.

  “No!” She gasped up at him, before a sly smile curved her lips, “Well, maybe for the honeymoon,” she said seductively.

  Jack made a sound like a wookiee as he left the kitchen to take his shower. Cecilia laughed to herself then turned her thoughts back to her mental wedding planning. May was ten months away.

  That would give her plenty of time to plan a small wedding. Still, she wondered what had happened to his parents and why he was suddenly so sentimental about them. It seemed odd, but probably with a very reasonable explanation that she just happened not to know.

  “Alright, my gorgeous bride-to-be, are you ready to get to work?” he said.

  “Yes, boss,” she replied.

  “I’m going to sexually harass you later on,” he said, kissing her on the forehead before heading toward the front door. She followed behind him, walking across the path that led from their house to the office.

  “I might not sue,” she replied as they walked along.

  Chapter Twelve

  The day was fairly uneventful with the exception of people from the ranch stopping by to congratulate her on the engagement. It was nice of them, but a bit too much of a disruption for her to get any real work done. By the time lunch rolled around, she had gotten next to nothing done and decided to call it a day.

  She rarely worked past lunch on Saturdays anyway. Tommy stopped by just as she was leaving the office.

  “Congratulations,” he told her with a big smile.

  “Thank you. I really appreciate it,” she replied as she locked the door and stood outside of it talking to him. She remembered the two dates they had went on when she had first started working there, but now, looking at him, he felt more like a big, bald brother than anything else. She marveled at how fate worked sometimes.

  “I’m really glad he got the ring back,” Tommy said, shaking his head.

  “Got the ring back? What do you mean?” Cecilia looked up at him with wide, questioning eyes.

  “You didn’t know? That is apparently what set Barbara off. She saw the two of you kiss goodbye and then he ducked into the jewelry store to pick it up. It was his grandmother’s ring. He was having it resized to fit you. She apparently watched him through the window and attacked him when he came out,” he said.

  “What? Why? Just because he was moving on?” Cecilia exclaimed, wondering why he hadn’t told her.

  “That and I guess she didn’t like you wearing the ring he took back from her,” Tommy said, his face instantly going white as he slapped a hand over his mouth.

  “I’m sorry. What did you just say?” Cecilia said incredulously. No way could she have heard him correctly.

  “Oh, geez. I’m sorry, Cecilia. I have a big mouth. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s not like you think,” he began to say, but it was too late. Jack was walking toward them and Cecilia was angry. She yanked the ring off her finger and threw it at him.

  “You gave me the same ring that you gave Barbara?” she yelled at him, not waiting for an answer before she turned around and stormed off. She could hear him calling after her as she cleared the distance between the office and the house, but ignored him.

  Instead, she headed straight for their bedroom and began throwing some things in a suitcase. She would go to town and stay with friends while she sorted this out in her head. Tears streamed down her face as she considered how he could be so thoughtless.

  “Cecilia, what is going on?” Jack demanded as he came into the room behind her.

  “What is wrong? What is wrong!? When were you going to tell me that you were re-gifting Barbara’s engagement ring to me? Do I really mean so little to you that you can’t be bothered to pick out another ring?” she barked at him.

  “It is not like that, Cecilia,” he replied.

  “It is exactly like that. You gave me a crazy woman’s ring and she shot you for it. Then, you still gave it to me. What happens if she gets out of jail again and spots it on my hand? Do I get shot next?” Cecilia barked at him.

  “That ring has sentimental value,” he replied, trying to make her understand. “It means a lot to me, Cecilia.”

  “I will just bet it does. You give it to all your fiancées,” Cecilia replied sarcastically as she stormed out and headed to her car. She tossed the suitcase into the back seat and jumped behind the wheel with Jack in quick pursuit.

  Before he could say anything else, she pulled out of the driveway and headed away from the ranch, uncertain of where she was going. Her phone rang on the seat beside her. Looking over, she saw that it was Jack and ignored it. After several more attempts to reach her, the phone stopped ringing.

  “Should have
known you would give up easily,” she mumbled at the phone, tears beginning to fall down her face again. She went to the only place she knew to go: to a friend's in the city.

  “Well, I’m surprised to see you here,” Ty said as he opened the door.

  “I need a place to crash for a couple of days, Ty,” she told him.

  “Of course, doll. Anything you need. What is happening?” he asked, reaching out to take her bag and bring it into the house for her.

  Cecilia sat down on the sofa and began to tell him what had happened. By the time she finished, she was in tears and staining his pristine white shirt with her running mascara.

  “I don’t know what to say. He’s a fool for letting you go. I should know how stupid it is to let you get away more than anyone,” Ty told her.

  “We were a long time ago, Ty. It was a different time and place. We’re good friends now and that is all that matters,” she replied.

  “We are friends because I screwed what we had up to the point that there is no going back. I only settle for being your friend because it is all you’ll let me be now,” he told her, his eyes dark and serious on hers. She shook her head at what he was saying. She was already dealing with so much, she didn’t need his drama on top of all of it.

  “Ty, let’s not do this. I just needed someone to talk to and a place to sleep. As of today, I’m single, jobless, and homeless. I have a lot to sort out in a short period of time,” she told him.

  “Okay. I’ll stop licking old wounds. You know you can stay here for as long as you need to,” he told her. “Let me put your bag in the guest room and I’ll pour us a couple glasses of wine.”

  Cecilia’s phone rang several times as she and Ty talked. She ignored it even though each time it went off felt like a slap in the face to her. She did her best to relax, but her heart felt broken and she was completely on edge, despite Ty’s efforts to calm her down. After a while, she excused herself to an early bedtime, burying her face in her pillow and crying most of the night.

  “Come on, let’s get you a shower and some breakfast,” Ty told her as she crept into his living room the next morning. Her face was puffy and her hair a mess, but she didn’t care. There was no one for her to impress now.

  She picked up her phone from where she had left it on the living room table and noted there had been no more missed calls after the ones she had ignored before bedtime. He hadn’t tried very hard. She dropped it back down on the table and went to get cleaned up.

  Thirty minutes later, she was sitting in the passenger seat of Ty’s convertible Mercedes and wishing she was in some far off exotic land. She daydreamed about a magical island getaway where she had never met Jack Mayhew and didn’t know what she was missing without him. It was still hard to wrap her head around the fact that he could have thought so little of her that he would give her the same ring he had given Barbara. In fact, Barbara might be crazy, but she could now at least understand why she had attacked him. Shooting him was a bit over the top, but the anger was certainly justifiable.

  “How do you feel about things this morning?” Ty asked after they had gotten seated and ordered their food at the little breakfast place she and he used to come to often when they were together.

  “I feel like someone ripped out my heart,” she told him.

  “I think someone kind of did, from the sounds of it,” he replied, before turning to thank the waiter who had turned up to deliver their drinks. Ty took a sip of his orange juice and looked at her.

  “Yeah, I guess you are right about that. The thing is, I don’t think he intended to, but how could he have thought I would want the ring that belonged to another woman? It’s supposed to be special when you get engaged. It felt like it was just me and him and this moment when we committed to a life together.

  Then, you realize that he had used the same ring for a similar moment with another woman, a woman who tried to kill you and then him. How can you still believe you mean so much after that?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. No one can really answer that but him, Cecilia. As much as it pains me to see you end up with another man, you seem to love him and I hate to see you unhappy. Perhaps instead of running away, you should have stopped and asked him that question,” he said, looking at her thoughtfully.

  “I was afraid to ask,” Resignation was thick in her voice.

  “Why? How could you be afraid to ask the one question that might have made sense of this whole situation? You aren’t a child. He isn’t a child. The two of you should be able to have an adult conversation regarding why he chose to do something that you found so hurtful,” he said.

  “Maybe he just thought I wouldn’t find out.”

  “Maybe he did. Perhaps he paid a lot for that ring and couldn’t afford another one,” he shrugged.

  “No. That’s not it. I’m his accountant. He could have afforded another ring easily. That’s why I can’t help but believe it didn’t mean all that much to him.” She tried to remember exactly what he had said about the ring.

  “You will never know what is really the truth if you don’t have a conversation with him.” Ty tried to reason with her.

  “I’m just not ready for that, Ty. I feel so hurt, so angry. What if he has some lame excuse that lets me know I am completely right?”

  “Then you know that he wasn’t worth your tears, beyond a shadow of doubt. If you don’t ask the question though, you will always wonder,” he told her.

  “You sure have gotten wiser since we dated.” She let out a little laugh that didn’t really feel happy.

  “I learned a lot from losing you, Cecilia. If I could go back and change the things I did wrong, I would. I blamed you for not understanding. I thought you were cold for leaving me, but after some time, I realized that I drove you away. The biggest thing between us is that we didn’t communicate how we were feeling. We just let it fester until it eroded away our relationship and then it was too late. That is why I am telling you now that, if you love this guy, talk to him. Lay your cards on the table and know the truth before you just leave for good,” he said, putting his hand on top of hers and smiling at her.

  Cecilia smiled back at him, grateful to still have him as a friend. He might have just been the voice of reason that she needed to get her through this. The waiter approached with their plates. She was about to pull her hand away from his so that the waiter could sit their food on the table when she heard a voice from behind her.

  “Well, it certainly didn’t take long for you to replace me. I guess you had your own reasons for jumping to a ridiculous conclusion and backing out of our engagement the day after you agreed to marry me,” The words were spoken through gritted teeth, and she turned at the sound of Jack’s voice.

  “Wait, man. You’ve got the wrong idea,” Ty told him, pulling his hand away from hers and standing up from the table.

  “Doesn’t look like I have the wrong idea when you are sitting here holding her hand across the table, man,” Jack said mockingly.

  “You know what, I see why the two of you get along. You’re just alike. Neither of you want to talk about anything. You rather just jump to conclusions and find reasons to argue. The problem here is not me, it is the two of you. Now, I’m going to ask the waiter to take my breakfast to a different table.

  I suggest that the two of you sit here and talk this out like reasonable people instead of overgrown children,” Ty snapped at him, getting up and leaving the table.

  Cecilia watched as he approached the hostess stand and spoke to her. A moment later, an embarrassed looking waiter retrieved his food and took it to him at a table in a different corner of the rooftop seating.

  Still, she said nothing nor did she look at Jack, still standing behind her. She heard his footsteps as he walked to the other side of the table and sat down. He still looked angry as he caught her own eyes across the table.

  “How could you ever think that I care so little about you that I would give you the same ring that I bought for Barbara?” he as
ked.

  “Because you did, Jack. Tommy told me why Barbara shot you,” she replied, as she threw her hands up in frustration. She was tired of arguing with him.

  “Barbara shot me because she is a very sick woman. Do you think she just happened to have a gun on her after just getting bonded out of jail? She stole that gun from Steve’s house and came looking for me. Her intention was to somehow force me to go with her, but when she saw the ring in my hand, she went ballistic and shot me instead.

  Yes, I had once given her that same ring, and it is probably what made her pull the trigger right then and there, but she would have done it anyway,” he said.

  “What you neglect to realize in telling me all that is that I am still right. You gave me Barbara’s ring,” Cecilia snapped back at him, her eyes filling with tears despite her attempts to maintain control of her emotions.

  “No. I gave you my mother’s engagement ring. Barbara was devastated when I took that ring back from her, but she was broken and I couldn’t marry her. She killed everything I ever felt for her. So, she probably fixated on the loss of it a bit. I had taken it to the jewelry shop to get it resized and cleaned, plus I had them make a few changes to it so that it was still my mother’s ring, but unique to you. After Barbara shot me, she took it and pawned it. That is why I waited so long after that to propose to you. The sheriff had to find it for me and then it was held as evidence in the trial. The ring is what the deputy brought you the day I proposed and I made arrangements the instant I got it back and saw that it was okay,” he told her.

  “I don’t know what to say,” Cecilia replied.

  “Say that you understand and still want to marry me, Cecilia. If you want another ring, we will get you one. You don’t have to wear that one if you don’t want. I realize that it is special to me, but perhaps not to you since you know that Barbara once wore it. It wasn’t something I really thought about. I admit that, but I do love you with all my heart and I never meant for you to feel that you are anything less than the most wonderful woman in the world to me,” he told her.