Crazy Little Thing Called Love

by Jess Bryant

  Crazy Little Thing Called Love

  The West Brothers Series – Book 1 – Zach & Bluebell

  By: Jess Bryant

  Everyone in Fate, Texas knows that Bluebell Carter has always been a little bit crazy. There was that time she colored her hair pink and the time she keyed her boyfriend’s car not to mention how she up and left town and her daddy in the dust ten years ago. Rolling back home in an ugly orange bridesmaid dress was not the reappearance she’d ever planned to make and staying in town was the last thing she ever thought possible. Then again, being in Texas does crazy things to her brain (maybe it’s the heat?) because before she can say “bless your heart” she finds herself tangled up with a handsome, hard-muscled cowboy.

  Zach West earned his hard body the old fashioned way – lots of hard work on hard Texas land. He’s spent his life playing the role of responsible West brother, the oldest, the protector and guardian. His father’s death left him to care for two younger brothers, a grieving mother and a ranch. He’s had enough of caring for other people to last a lifetime and zero plans to add a woman to that list but Bluebell has a way of driving him nuts that’s impossible to resist. He dreams about her long blonde hair and even longer legs. She’s pretty enough to drive a man to drink, to sin… but to love? Now that’s just crazy.

  Smashwords Edition

  CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE

  Copyright ©2013 by Jess Bryant.

  Cover Art: Image Copyright ©82533550, Oleg Gekman, 2013,

  Used under license from Shutterstock.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used factiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Chapter One

  Bluebell Carter had always been a little bit… crazy. Not insane crazy just… different. Not collecting cats and never leaving the house crazy but a tad irrational. Like that time she colored her hair pink just for the heck of it or that time she keyed her boyfriend’s car or better yet when she up and shipped off never to be heard from again. Crazy.

  Everyone knew good Texas girls sprayed their hair high to heaven and wore their Wranglers tight but Blue had never been a good Texas girl. She’d never even tried out for the cheerleading squad which was just plain wrong. It was Texas after all, the boys played football and the girls waved pom-poms. It was bound to be in the bible somewhere.

  Still, she’d gotten away with a lot since she didn’t have her mama there to teach her. Liza Beth Montgomery had been a real southern lady in her day. She’d been Homecoming Queen and she’d have competed for Miss Texas if she hadn’t married that Carter boy straight out of high school. It was no secret that her daddy hadn’t been happy about her marrying the son of one of his ranch hands but there was no talking sense into a girl in love.

  After their wedding Liza Beth had taken over the wifely duties at Montgomery Oaks Ranch and set about starting her family. The little girl that finally came several long and frustrating years later was the prize of her mama’s eye. She’d dressed her in pretty pink and set about teaching her the things any good Texas woman should know.

  But when her baby girl was just five years old Liza Beth, God rest her soul, was killed in a freak rainstorm that washed the old Haggard bridge out. Her dreams of raising a beauty queen baby died with her. Her little girl was left to the care of Lyle Carter and he’d always been better with a herd of cattle than playing pretty pretty princess.

  Everyone knew Lyle had done the best he could with what God gave him. He hadn’t sunk into the bottle or run away. He’d pulled up his boot straps and taught his girl what he knew. Course Blue learned more about branding and calving than etiquette for meeting the Governor or the proper way to curtsy but he’d tried.

  There had been charm school and lessons. There had been nannies and tutors. Some of it stuck, most of it didn’t and Liza Beth’s little girl grew up running wild. Her mish-mash childhood meant Blue could waltz as well as she could curse like a ranch hand. She’d never been interested in cheerleading, beauty pageants or even softball. Bluebell had fallen from grace and all the townspeople said Liza Beth must’ve turned in her grave the day her baby girl flipped the town the bird in her rearview mirror and burned rubber in her old Ford as she headed out for some fancy university up north.

  She left behind her daddy and nobody heard much from her after that. Rumor was she’d never married which was just plain sad since she’d always been a pretty girl and landing a man wasn’t really all that difficult. Even Anna Louise Sanchez who did collect cats had managed to get a proposal out of Clive Quentin, bless her heart.

  And now Molly McBride was getting married too. An event like that in a small town like Fate, Texas was news. Molly marrying some out-of-towner she met at Tech was news. The size of her dress and her ring was news.

  But the biggest news was that Molly had asked her old BFF from grade school to be one of her bridesmaids and now, after all those long years away, Bluebell Montgomery Carter would be walking down the aisle of the First Baptist Church. The gossip mill was booming with whether she’d bring a man, if she’d packed on the pounds, if she’d still be a little bit crazy and if she’d even bother to go see her poor daddy.

  Blue hit scan on the dash of her little red sports car and listened as it did a full loop before coming to stop on the lone country station once again. Miranda was singing about setting a cheating ex on fire or something so she left it and rubbed her eyes. She was getting close; the fact that the radio could only find one scratchy station on the dial was proof enough even if she didn’t recognize the sights, which she did.

  The flat plains of west Texas hadn’t changed. Everything out the windshield was brown and dusty. The side of the road in both directions as far as the eye could see was more empty hard packed dirt and the occasional wind turbine. This was home.

  Her stomach churned at the idea. She did a pretty good job of not thinking about it in her daily life but no matter how hard she tried now there was no escaping the truth. She was back in Texas. That opened up a whole mixed bag of memories and feelings she couldn’t escape.

  Good memories, like the ones of her mother, were hazy and yellowed at the edges from age. She remembered pretty, frilly dresses and soft hands and smiles. She remembered the smell of vanilla, the way it had always made her feel safe when she curled into her mothers arms and let her hold her tight.

  There were foggy memories of her mother’s funeral too. Flowers, so many flowers piled high at the front of the church. Bluebells, her namesake and her mother’s favorite, were tucked into arrangements with roses and lilies. The benches had been hard and so had her father’s hand as he took hers and led her out of the church when she started to cry. His words that day were crystal clear though, “Cowgirls don’t cry.”

  Those words he’d spoken to her over the years remained clear and fresh in her memory just as all the memories of her father did. His big frame in shadow with the bigger Texas sky behind him. His big hands lifting her and putting her in the saddle of her first pony. His heavy scowl when she didn’t follow his rule and a tear escaped unchecked.

  Her relationship with her father had never been easy. If it had been so before her mother died she didn’t recall. The years after had been a game of sorts, one she always lost. He pushed her to be stronger and she tried but it was never enough. She pushed him to open up and he shut down. Eventually, they’d given up the game entirely.

  They’d stopped talking long before she packed up and headed off to college. As a kid, she’d tried to be who she thought he wanted her to be. She’d learned to rope
and ride and work the ranch but he just scowled and told her it was man’s work. She thought he wanted her to be more like the wife he lost so she’d played dress up and wore makeup and talked real pretty like a lady was supposed to. He’d scowled at that too. So she’d just decided to be herself, to be Bluebell Montgomery Carter.

  That had set the town abuzz. Blue didn’t play by the rules which she understood made her a little bit crazy in their eyes. She didn’t cheer at the football games. She didn’t tease her hair and bat her eyelashes. She didn’t speak pretty and keep her emotions under wraps. She spoke her mind and yelled when she wanted to yell. Sometimes she wore her makeup too heavy and her skirts too short. It had gotten everybody in Fate’s attention but the one man it was meant for. Her father simply ignored her.

  So she left. That had been ten years ago. She’d been back a few times. A couple of Christmases and Thanksgivings, a birthday once or twice as well, they were always short visits, a day or two of silent meals with her father and then she kissed his cheek, told him she loved him and went back to her real life. The last time she’d called to let him know she was planning a trip home for his birthday he’d told her not to bother because he’d be out of town at one of the stock shows. That had been nearly three years ago.

  Guilt threatened to suffocate her in the small car so she flipped the window switch and breathed in a gulp of fresh air. The wind whipped her long blonde hair but she ignored it. She should have come back more, come back sooner but she could be damn stubborn when she wanted to be. It was a trait she’d inherited from her father. She told herself if he wanted to see her he’d visit but he never did so she pretended it didn’t matter and kept on moving.

  Moving she was good at. Her father called her a rolling stone and she wouldn’t argue with him. Six cities in ten years and there wasn’t a one of them she’d called home.

  She didn’t like sitting still. When she was still she felt alone and she’d had enough of that in her life. As long as she kept moving, kept meeting new people and trying new things she didn’t have to think too hard about why it was she never felt at home anywhere or with anyone.

  Her job gave her the freedom to keep right on moving. After years jumping from major to major and college to college she’d earned a degree in journalism. She’d started out with newspapers and then transitioned into magazines. She could freelance from anywhere and go where the story took her.

  The big metal sign on the side of the road said it was just a few more miles to Fate, Texas. Blue rubbed her eyes and slid the window back up. The story definitely didn’t take her here. She couldn’t define what had.

  She hadn’t kept in touch with many people from her hometown over the years. Molly was one of the few. She’d refused to be ignored or forgotten. Despite the distance they emailed frequently and spoke occasionally. The invitation to be in the wedding hadn’t come as a surprise. That had come when the words, “sure, sounds like fun” had fallen from Blue’s mouth without a second of hesitation.

  Going home to Fate hadn’t been in her plans. It wasn’t that she was avoiding her father either. She’d come to terms with the fact he’d never be the open and loving daddy she wished for just like she’d never be the son he’d wanted. So no, she wasn’t avoiding him but she was avoiding Fate.

  The good people of Fate were no doubt busy gossiping about her arrival. They’d be dissecting her hairstyle and her clothes the second she set foot in town. There would be the questions of where she’d been and those would be followed with the pointed looks that screamed of disapproval since she didn’t visit her daddy often enough for their liking. Worse, she’d have to face the scrutiny of having the audacity not to be married at 28 years old.

  The last time she’d been home with her ringless finger she’d gotten looks of horror followed by pitying condolences.

  “There’s still time.”

  “Bless your heart, you’ll find some nice boy someday.”

  “There’s someone for everyone, just you wait and see.”

  She could have walked into town dying of some deadly disease and she couldn’t have been more of a leper. Nothing said loser like being in your late twenties and not having a man according to small-town philosophy. And that had been three years ago when she’d still been young enough to be a catch. No doubt they’d be calling her an old maid this time around.

  Nobody was calling Molly an old maid though, not anymore. No, Molly had the foresight to stay gone until she got that ring on her finger but now that it was she planned to throw a big ol’ party in Fate and show off her husband with pride. Blue would have been a lot happier for her if she’d chosen to get married in Lubbock or Dallas or anywhere but their small hometown but since her father was the mayor that wasn’t possible.

  Still, Molly was a good friend and she hadn’t been able to say no. She hadn’t wanted to say no either until Molly said it was happening at the Fate First Baptist Church. Then she’d thought about calling it all off.

  She’d considered rescinding her answer for the past two months. Like when the bridal shower invitation arrived and her name showed up next to Molly’s cousins who were all a few years younger than her and who all had new last names. Like when the bridesmaid dress arrived and turned out to be a tangerine colored monstrosity with a sweetheart hemline and huge bow that made her butt look double the size while also managing to show more cleavage than could ever be church appropriate. She’d hit the road for Fate with the express reasoning that it was still a fifty-fifty shot that she be in the wedding or kill Molly on sight for the humiliation alone.

  Oh and it would be humiliating. The tangerine color against her blonde hair gave her a sickly glow. Add in the cleavage and the bow and the thing was pure hell on earth. But none of that would be the worst part. The worst part would be that she would have to walk down the aisle with every one of Fate’s gossips watching and she’d have to do it alone.

  Alone. No husband, no boyfriend to speak of, and no date for the wedding. She’d be all alone and they’d give her those pitying stares and condolences and she’d be lucky to make it out of town with any semblance of dignity.

  She hated that she knew it was coming and was driving straight into her nightmare anyway but that’s what she’d been born to do. Cowgirls didn’t cry, they didn’t back down and they didn’t give up. Her daddy had taught her right so Blue sucked it up and kept right on moving.

  She kept moving right up until something loud popped and the steering wheel jerked out of her hands. She let out a squeal of terror before she managed to regain control. Heart racing she eased the little sports car to the side of the highway and cursed.

  She’d blown a tire. Less than ten miles from the turnoff to the Montgomery Oaks Ranch and she’d blown a tire. This was not a good start to her visit.

  She contemplated getting out and kicking the stupid car but instead she did the mature thing. She leaned her forehead against the steering wheel, squeezed her eyes shut tight and cursed some more. After throwing her temper tantrum, she slid through her options.

  Fixing the tire wasn’t a possibility even if she knew how. She’d bought the car on impulse, thinking it might help her confidence to show up in Fate with a flashy, ultra-expensive ride. It hadn’t but worse, she hadn’t bothered to take her emergency kit out of the old car.

  She could call her father but what were the odds he was in the house at this hour? He’d probably just be stalking in from a long day working the ranch. He might be in the bunkhouse having dinner with the other ranch hands but even if she reached him he’d only grumble she should be better prepared and send one of the other guys to come get her. After three years away that’s not how she wanted to see him for the first time.

  There was the tow company in town but she didn’t have the number. She called information and wasn’t surprised when the woman on the other end gave her the number for Bert’s Auto Shop. Bert was the only mechanic in town and he did everything from oil changes and tire rotation to towing and collision repai
r.

  Bert had been old even when she was a kid. His son, Bert Jr. had been in her class in school. B.J. had worked for his dad during summers and then full time once he graduated. She wondered if Bert was still working or if B.J. had taken over for the older man as the phone rang.

  An answering machine picked up and she growled as she glanced at the clock on the dash. It was twenty-seven minutes after five which meant it was long past beer thirty. No doubt B.J. and the rest of the mechanics were already down at the bar sipping a Shiner and commiserating about their workday.

  Blue drummed her freshly manicured nails against the steering wheel as her other options faded away. She’d just have to call her father and deal with his grumpiness. She hated the idea of asking for his help without even setting foot in the house yet but she picked up the phone to dial.

  806-55… She was five numbers in when a large black truck rumbled past. She squealed as she tossed the phone down and hit the horn on instinct. A stranger was a better option than calling home. The truck’s brake lights lit up and she swallowed hard.

  Or was it? That wasn’t the smartest thing she’d ever done. She was a lone woman on a deserted highway in the middle of nowhere Texas and she’d just flagged down a truck that could be driven by a serial killer.

  The truck pulled over to the shoulder slowly and then reversed until it was a half car length ahead of her sports car. She chewed her bottom lip and tried to figure out the best course of action now that she had the attention of the stranger. Should she get out? Yeah, probably. She’d just reached for the door handle when the cab of the truck swung open and she froze.

  It was a man and he was big, really big. She thought about hitting the locks but worried he’d hear it as he moved closer. Yeah that was why she was frozen. It had nothing to do with the fact she was practically drooling in her lap.