The Hero of Hope Springs

by Maisey Yates

  “So you’re telling me the world’s not going to end, and that’s about all you can guarantee.”

  “That’s about all any of us have.”

  “A great comfort.”

  “You know,” he said. “It’s not different for anyone else. Really. No one has guarantees. It’s just that you and I know it. We know that sometimes life is not kind, and you’re born into the wrong family. Two parents who should never have had children.”

  “That’s awfully cheering,” Sammy said.

  “I’ve always thought so.”

  But as they sat there together, together like they’d always been, and different than they’d ever been, he had to hope that it really would be okay.

  Because they weren’t like anyone else. And they weren’t like they’d ever been before.

  He reached out and took Sammy’s hand in his, brushed his thumb over her ring finger, which was bare because she’d told him she didn’t need real wedding things. Because she’d acted like rings and dresses would scare her away from the aisle.

  And it felt wrong.

  He knew how to be friends with Sammy. He knew how to protect her.

  He had no real idea how to be a husband to her.

  And if he was going to promise her it would all be okay, he was going to have to figure out exactly what to do.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  SHE HAD BEEN married to the idea that they would do this casually and unconditionally. But she was out shopping with Pansy, Iris and Rose one afternoon, and they passed by the small bridal store that occupied the end of Main Street.

  “We’re getting married outside,” Sammy said. “In two weeks. It’s not like... It’s not like I can wear an actual wedding gown.”

  She didn’t even have a ring yet. But of course, she could make her own, and she had told Ryder as much. She didn’t want diamonds or anything like that anyway. She preferred to work with more unusual stones. And for some reason, everything about what she said rang hollow in her chest at that moment, as she looked through the store window. And, at the gown in there.

  She was being ridiculous.

  “Why don’t you go see what they have?” Pansy asked.

  “Are you going to wear a wedding dress?”

  Pansy laughed. “I’m going to be a bride, aren’t I?”

  “You’re getting married at the ranch, too.”

  “Yes,” Pansy said. “In the barn, though. With the fall wedding, the weather is a little bit too much of a gamble.”

  “Yeah. I mean, we’re going to get married in the field. Because it feels very me. But...”

  “Sammy, why don’t we go look at dresses?” Pansy said.

  “Can you imagine me in a wedding dress? It would be silly.”

  “I couldn’t imagine you marrying my brother, either, but you’re doing that,” Pansy said. “And it makes sense now. So maybe if you go in to try on wedding dresses, it will make sense.”

  She had not expected Pansy’s particular brand of practicality to extend to wedding dresses. But lo.

  She would have thought that Pansy would say there was nothing practical about a wedding dress. Because there wasn’t. She didn’t need one. She didn’t need to pretend that this was normal. That they were normal.

  “I don’t...”

  “If you really don’t want one, then you don’t need to fear them,” Pansy said, maddeningly logical. “The only problem seems to be that you don’t want to want one.”

  “You don’t know me,” Sammy grumbled.

  But on that grumble the four of them walked into the bridal store.

  There was a young woman behind the counter in the front, who treated them to a smile. The whole place was oddly polished for this part of town, and so was the attendant.

  “Welcome,” she said. “I’m Miriam. Are you looking for a wedding gown today?”

  “Actually,” Pansy piped up. “Two of us are.”

  It was as if her friend knew that somehow it would be more acceptable if the two of them did it together. And that was how Sammy found herself only a few moments later stuffed into a dressing room with an endless parade of gowns being brought to her by Miriam and Iris and Rose.

  When she emerged in the first one, Pansy was already standing there, boosted on a stool. The dresses were cut for women who were even taller than Sammy, so Pansy herself was swallowed up by the length. Without the stool, the fabric ballooned around her and it was impossible to tell if the dress looked nice or silly.

  “All of it can be hemmed,” Miriam said. “It’s sort of cut in a default state. But all wedding gowns are made to take any number of alterations.”

  “I don’t have a lot of time,” Sammy said, looking at herself in the mirror. “So it’s okay if I can’t make one work.”

  “Nonsense,” Miriam said. “I’m sure we can find something for you.” She looked at her enigmatically. “You don’t like this, though.”

  Sammy looked at herself, and the insane, princess-like confection of tulle around her body. “No,” she said.

  “Do you know what you like?”

  “No,” Sammy said. “In fact, I was absolutely opposed to having a wedding dress until we walked by your window. And now I’m not really sure what I’m doing. Considering that I’m just getting married in two weeks and it’s a whole backyard shotgun situation.”

  “I see.” Miriam looked her over and then went into the dressing room for a moment. It took Sammy a second to realize that the other woman was looking at the clothes that Sammy had come in wearing.

  “Just give me a minute,” Miriam said, and she disappeared back into the racks of dresses.

  She reappeared shortly after with three other gowns in bags, and thrust them into Sammy’s hand.

  “It’s okay,” Sammy said. “I probably won’t find one. You should help Pansy. She’s much more likely to walk out of here with the full meal deal. She’s having a real wedding.”

  “Isn’t yours real?” Miriam asked, her voice low.

  “Well. Legal.”

  “That sounds...”

  She cast a glance over at Iris, Pansy and Rose. They weren’t paying attention to her. They were too busy putting veils on Pansy’s head, and she was grateful for it.

  “Ridiculous?” Sammy asked. “It’s not. I mean, he’s my best friend. He’s literally my best friend. But we’re having a baby so... He’s very traditional.”

  “And you’re not,” Miriam said.

  The other woman was probably about Sammy’s age. But there was a gravity to her that Sammy certainly didn’t possess. Her black hair was tamed into a bun, the deep rose-colored lipstick she wore matte and perfect and sophisticated. Her brown skin glowed with the radiance of someone who had the patience for a daily skin regime, something that Sammy didn’t think she would ever have.

  She was probably very traditional. Though Sammy noticed she didn’t have a ring on her elegant finger. She did, however, have a very nice manicure, which also spoke of patience and attention to detail.

  “Not really,” Sammy said. “I’ve never believed in doing things for the sake of tradition. That’s how people wind up miserable.”

  “And, often they wind up miserable bucking tradition for the sake of it, too. Nothing should be done just for the sake of it.”

  “A good point,” Sammy said.

  Of course, she didn’t know what the point of the point was. She was committed to marrying Ryder and everything was going to be fine. No matter what. There was no other option. Which was great, as far as she was concerned, and she didn’t need some polished-looking woman with better fashion sense than she had to start talking about her situation like she knew. She didn’t know. Nobody did.

  She and Ryder weren’t like anyone else. There were no comparisons to make. No precedent set. Maybe that was a little bit egotistical, or somethi
ng. But it was true. She knew that Pansy and her fiancé, West, had found some kind of amazing manic version of true love, and she was happy for them.

  She and Ryder knew each other. They had the benefit of years of caring for one another. They... They practically were married. And had been long before they had ever slept together. If any two people knew what to expect from a lifetime commitment to one another, it was them. He was right. They knew each other too well to let themselves break apart over something as simple as sex. It just wasn’t them. It wasn’t in them.

  “I’ll just go try the dresses on.”

  She was feeling sulky and resolved to find nothing by the time she stripped the poofy confection off and put the new dress on. But then, something really unexpected happened, and when she stepped out of the dressing room and caught a look at her own reflection in the mirror her breath got trapped in her throat. She didn’t know she could look like that. The dress was simple, made of lace and beads, clinging to her body, rather than adding any volume to it. The kind of simplicity she hadn’t known could come with a wedding dress. It made her feel traditional and herself all at once.

  And suddenly, she could see it. Really see it. Walking down some sort of aisle toward Ryder. As his bride.

  His bride.

  And he would be her groom. Was he going to wear a suit? Suddenly she wanted him to. Suddenly, she didn’t want it to be the same kind of day that they’d had a hundred times before, only with vows instead of a barbecue. Suddenly, she wanted a whole lot more.

  She looked over at Pansy, who was stunning in a dress made from soft, flowing fabric that didn’t dominate her petite figure, but made her look like an absolute princess.

  “That’s wonderful,” she whispered, looking over at her friend.

  Pansy looked back at her. “Sammy, you look...”

  That earned her the attention of all the women, and suddenly, she was being swarmed by her friends, each clucking and touching pieces of her dress and she unexpectedly felt part of something. Traditions and a family in a way that touched her down to her soul. She hadn’t thought she wanted any of this. But to her surprise, she did. They were going to be her sisters-in-law, and that was significant. Sharing this with them was significant. She just hadn’t expected it. Not at all. She had expected... She didn’t know. To feel above this. To feel like it didn’t matter. Not when she knew that he didn’t... That he didn’t love her. Not really. Sure, as a friend, but it wasn’t the same. It just wasn’t. And that was fine; it had been fine. All of this had been fine until she had come in here.

  “Get the dress,” Iris said, her voice soft.

  “Yes,” Rose agreed. “Get the dress. You’re going to absolutely knock his socks off.”

  And she could see it. Hearts in Rose’s eyes. Because she wanted to matchmake everyone and anything, and she seemed to truly believe that anyone could have a happy ending. It was more than Sammy could believe. But somehow, even though she didn’t believe that she could have normal and love, even though she didn’t believe this whole wedding thing was going to work, and didn’t think that it would be a marriage in the real sense, and didn’t want to have all the feelings she would need to have to get those things anyway, suddenly she wished that she did. Suddenly, no matter what she felt, no matter what made her afraid, she wished that it could be more.

  But mostly, it made her wish she were different. It made her wish that she were the woman in the mirror. A girl getting ready for her wedding day. A bride.

  Well, she could be. For one day. So why not embrace it? Pretend that she was a normal girl. Pretend that she was living the kind of romantic fantasy that she had never imagined she could.

  Why couldn’t she have a fantasy for one day? Pretend that she was a normal girl. Pretend that this was the fantasy. Her throat ached with it. Her whole body ached. Well, in one way he was right. She did want this. She wanted this whole thing. The family. His family. Yes, she did want them to be her family, too. She couldn’t pretend that wasn’t the case. She wanted to dive headfirst into this whole thing all of a sudden. And maybe that was what she had been afraid of all along.

  “Thank you,” she said faintly.

  “Do you want a veil?” Iris asked.

  It was uncharacteristic to see even practical Iris alight with pleasure over something as inconsequential as bridal fashion. But it added to the well of feelings building in her chest. It added to it quite a lot.

  “Probably not,” Sammy said.

  She had so much hair, and that was one thing she had no desire to change much for her wedding. She wouldn’t feel herself with her blond hair tamed in any fashion. She was accustomed to it as it was. Out of control and a bit on the feral side.

  Plus, Ryder liked it. He liked to run his fingers through it. Liked to hold on to it while she pleasured him. Liked to pull it sometimes, quite frankly, and the idea of leaving it loose for him felt...

  “You’re blushing,” Rose said.

  “No, I’m not,” Sammy said. “I don’t blush.”

  Except, she found that with him, she did. For him, she did.

  He was responsible for a whole lot of firsts. A whole lot of things that she would have said weren’t her. Weren’t possible or real.

  And yet, here she was.

  “I have to try on the next dress,” Pansy said. “This one isn’t quite it, either.”

  Iris and Rose disappeared into the dressing room with her, a gown that elaborate apparently requiring multiple people to get off her.

  That left her alone with Miriam.

  “I think the dress might be too much,” Sammy said. “I mean... I don’t want him to think I’m taking this...more seriously than he is.”

  “But you like it,” Miriam said.

  For some reason Sammy’s throat got tight. “I do. I like it a lot but... I don’t want to want this.” She blinked away tears. This poor near-stranger had not asked for Sammy to cry on her. “I don’t want to care more than he does.”

  “He’s marrying you,” Miriam said gently. “He must care an awful lot.”

  “I’m afraid it won’t be enough.”

  Sammy ended up being the only one who left with a bridal gown. And the gown felt heavy.

  She didn’t want to be in love. Not at all. Love was such a weird thing. The kind that you wanted to give and get back. Friendship was different. You didn’t wander around wondering if the people you were friends with loved you. Telling them you love them and hoping for a reciprocal response. At least, not her friendships.

  You did that with parents. You did that with husbands. In a traditional sense. She didn’t want to do that. Not ever.

  As a friend, she had never wondered if Ryder’s feelings for her were real.

  Heading into a love situation...

  She ignored the pain in her chest when she thought of it. Because that was... It was so nothing she wanted to get involved in. Not in the least.

  Why add a worry like that to her plate? Why, when in the context of friendship the two of them were so solid?

  Unbreakable.

  Suddenly, in her mind the scale of what they were appeared, and it seemed so much more precarious than she would like. Like if something was added to it that brought them out of balance all of it could crack, crumble and dissolve.

  That if love was added to it, the hope of it, the demand for it, it finally would destroy things.

  Good thing she didn’t want it. Good thing she found no security or satisfaction in it.

  Good thing her father had broken her of the desire to ever enter into a conversation about love.

  Miriam was a nice woman, but she sold wedding dresses, and she didn’t have a ring on her finger.

  Sammy realized again that she didn’t, either, and felt irritated about it.

  You told him you wanted to make your ring.

  Well, suddenly, she
didn’t. Suddenly, she wanted him to choose one and give it to her.

  She squeezed her eyes shut, her whole face feeling scratchy for some reason.

  Everything was fine, and she was not going to allow a bad case of bridezilla fever to infect something that she was so certain about otherwise.

  She simply wasn’t going to.

  Wanting a wedding, and what their marriage was, were definitely two different things and she needed to be careful not to get them twisted up. She would have a wedding gown, and that was fine. She had wanted one, so she had one. If she wanted to have a little dress-up and glamour situation happening, that was fine.

  She rationalized as they wandered from the car to Sugarplum Fairy’s, the bakery that had opened a couple months back across the street from their favorite coffee shop.

  She decided that she was far more likely to find answers in the cupcake she ordered than she was in the tangle of thoughts whirling through her mind.

  She didn’t need to untangle them, either.

  Because if one thing was certain, it was Ryder. He was always certain, and he was always steady.

  She could count on him if nothing else.

  And that made her feel relieved indeed.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  RYDER DIDN’T TAKE asking for advice lightly. In fact, he never took advice, so the fact that he was doing it at all spoke volumes about how out of his depth he felt.

  But he’d never been married before. And it had hit him at the barbecue that he had to figure that out.

  He didn’t start a workday on the ranch without a plan. He’d never gone out onto a football field without knowing the plays.

  He needed to figure out some husband plays.

  West was in love. West was marrying Ryder’s sister. And West was also a degree removed from Sammy in a way that Logan and the others weren’t.

  And that was what brought him to his future brother-in-law’s side at the Gold Valley Saloon that evening, only a couple of days before his wedding.

  “She says that she doesn’t want a ring,” he said. “But it doesn’t feel right to me.”