The Cowboy's Surprise Bride

by Macie St James

  “Yes,” Clay said. “Do you know what’s going on?”

  “A wedding.” It was going to kill Colton to lie about this, but he reminded himself he had no choice in the matter. “My wedding.”

  Narrowing his eyes, Clay looked at Colton. Same wavelength again. Colton was guessing his brother was trying to decide if he was serious or not.

  Apparently, he decided not. First, he broke into a smile, then a laugh. Then he hit Colton on the arm, said, “Good one,” and turned back like he was going to return to the barn.

  “Not a joke,” Colton called out.

  Clay froze, then turned back to face Clay. “Your wedding? To whom?”

  “Mina,” he said, as though it should be obvious. Then, after thinking about it for a second, he added, “Mina Baxter.”

  Clay frowned. “The mayor woman?”

  Colton nodded. “She went to high school with us. We’ve known each other for years.”

  That was a bit of an exaggeration, but he’d go with it. He didn’t really plan on getting into the whole we had a crush on each other storyline they’d given Harley. If it came up, Harley would probably fill Clay in on that.

  “Don’t you think that’s a little…impulsive?” Clay asked, studying him carefully.

  Colton shrugged. “When you know, you know.”

  Again, Clay narrowed his eyes. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that Mayor Cobb keeps pointing out that she isn’t married, would it?”

  Uh-oh. Colton’s instinct had been to tell his brother the truth from the start, and he should have listened to it. It wasn’t easy to deceive a brother who knew you better than you knew yourself.

  “Not at all,” Colton lied. “It won’t hurt her campaign, but I’m crazy about her.”

  There. A little honesty. Maybe it was stretching the truth, but not by much. He could easily see himself becoming crazy about her if they spent enough time together, provided she somewhat returned the attraction. At this point, he was pretty sure she saw him as nothing more than an item on her day’s to-do list.

  Clay was still scrutinizing him. “You really are. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this. Are you sure you’re still Colton Briscoe? Did an alien invade your body while you were sleeping or something?”

  Colton laughed. “Same brother you always knew. There are just some things I don’t talk about.”

  Clay nodded. He should know this all too well. It wasn’t like Clay had said a word to his brothers when he’d met Harley and started falling in love with her. He wouldn’t even discuss when he planned to propose. It was how they were raised. Work more, talk less.

  “So you’re getting married here?” Clay said, glancing around. “When?”

  “Tomorrow, looks like. Mina has a packed schedule, so she wanted to get this out of the way.”

  Oops. He probably shouldn’t have used those exact words to describe it. Clay’s eyebrows arched, and he nodded. That look of concern returned.

  “I mean, when it’s inevitable, why put things off?” Colton rushed to say.

  Wait, that had come off like a dig at Clay, who seemed to be procrastinating the inevitable for some reason. If they discussed things like proposals, he’d lay money on Clay saying he was waiting for the right moment to propose. They’d probably have one of those fancy weddings that took months to plan, too. Even if Colton were getting married for real, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t care about any of that. Going to City Hall sounded perfectly fine to him.

  “Well, Harley’s going to love it,” Clay said, looking at the barn. “I’m sure you need to go pick out your tuxedo or something.”

  “Actually, I’m going to swing by Reilly’s and break the news to him. Then I’ll make a call to Robby. Don’t worry, though. After the wedding, I’ll be right back to managing Pumpkinfest. Just have to get this out of the way first.”

  There he went again, sticking his foot in it. He decided the best thing to do was get out of here before he gave his brother further reason to question what was going on.

  Once they were fake married, it would be done. Nobody could question it. He just had to get through tomorrow without giving it all away, and he’d be fine.

  Or at least that was what he told himself.

  10

  This was not how Mina had pictured her wedding.

  Forget wedding. This was more of a photo op. Shawna Slater was seated in one of the dozen or so seats the Briscoe brothers had set out for the very brief guest list to fill. Another photographer—a friend of Robby’s—was on the front row on the groom’s side. Robby sat next to him, and Reilly and Clay sat on the bride’s side. The rest of the seats were empty.

  Robby tapped the play button on his phone screen and the heart-stopping sounds of “Here Comes the Bride” blared through the Bluetooth-connected speakers. That was Mina’s cue to walk. Up the aisle. Toward the man she was pretending to marry.

  Everyone turned to look at her, and she realized at that moment that she wanted a real wedding. She wanted to walk toward a man who couldn’t wait to spend the rest of his life with her. She wanted everything that came after that, too.

  It was a strange time for that to hit her as she walked up the aisle toward her groom. She knew this was pretend, but she couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like if he really loved her. He’d look at her in that way that she’d always longed for someone to look at her. She’d never gotten that look, even from the guys she’d dated during or after college. Most of them had been too self-absorbed to even notice she was around.

  Colton was looking at her now, though, with that look. As she drew closer, she saw it, and it hit hard. It was all an act, of course. He was giving her the same look he’d given yesterday in front of Harley in order to convince her that, yes, they’d somehow managed to fall in love in a matter of days.

  Mina had to protect her heart here. Even with her bizarre thoughts a few seconds ago, this didn’t fit into her life. Not that Colton wanted to settle down with her for real, but even if the impossible happened and he did, she couldn’t stay in Canyon Falls forever. She was looking at four to eight years at best, then on to her next ambition. Colton would never leave Cedar Tree Ranch, and she couldn’t make her way back to D.C. as a senator if she had ties in some small town in Montana.

  Still, she had to make this whole scene believable. As a politician, she was used to putting on a show, so she could do this. She told herself that when she gazed up at Colton, returning his intense, heart-melting stare, it was no different than graciously tolerating a politician’s grabby hands to avoid being fired or smiling politely at a constituent who was yelling about a neighbor’s overgrown lawn.

  There was no veil to lift, no father here to give her away. So she did as Harley had instructed beforehand and turned to face Hank, their impromptu officiant. He looked very uncomfortable as he stared intently down at the sheet of paper in front of him.

  Mina clasped her bouquet in front of her, wondering if her dress looked authentic enough. She’d bought the off-white, flowy, tea-length dress at a department store located in the next town over. Harley had chosen it upon Mina’s request to keep yesterday’s shopping spree as top secret as possible. They’d found a nearby home improvement store for the lights that they’d strung from the rafters and the flower petals Harley had scattered in the aisles. Somehow, they’d managed to pull off the whole thing without anything being leaked about it, as far as Mina knew.

  “We’re gathered here today to celebrate the union of Mina and Colton,” Hank said, very obviously reading from a script. “Finding the person you want to spend your life with is a big accomplishment. We’re honored, as your friends and family, to share this moment with you.”

  Every word Hank mechanically read bothered Mina. It was wrong to be doing this when they didn’t really mean it. To be saying “I do” to vows they had no plans to honor was just wrong, wrong, wrong. It made her feel a little better that they wouldn’t be submitting their marriage license to mak
e it official, but they were promising things in front of people Colton loved.

  They’d both declined to write their own vows, saying they wanted to keep things simple. So it was just a matter of Colton slipping on the fake wedding band Harley had picked out at the department store where they got her dress. Then Mina slipped on the plain gold band they’d borrowed from Reilly, who hadn’t explained why he’d happened to have a gold band lying around.

  “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Hank read, using the verbiage Mina had asked Harley to include. She’d never been a fan of the “man and wife” terminology. “You may kiss the bride.”

  Oh. She’d completely forgotten about this part. They had to kiss. Wedding kisses weren’t passionate kisses, though, were they? The bride and groom always seemed to be uncomfortably aware of the roomful of people staring at them. They could probably get away with a quick, chaste, closed-mouth kiss.

  She knew as Colton moved in that wasn’t going to be the way it went. He was still giving her that heart-melting stare, only now it made her feel like she might melt right into a puddle at his feet. She tried to steel herself against whatever was about to happen, determined not to let him into her heart, but then his hand flattened on the small of her back, he pulled her toward him, and she lost all control of what happened next.

  The second his lips touched hers, her body betrayed her. She didn’t even realize her hands had gone straight to his shoulders until she felt the warmth of the skin of his neck under the tips of her fingers. He pulled her even closer, deepening the kiss, making her forget all about the family members and photographers who were looking on. Only when he pulled away and their gazes locked did she remember they weren’t alone.

  What reminded her were the gasps coming from the area of the room where the guests were seated. Someone let out a cheer, and the next thing she knew, everyone was clapping. “Mendelssohn's Wedding March” blasted over the speakers, and Mina knew it was time to march their way out of there. So that was exactly what they did.

  Colton grabbed her hand, and after exchanging a look, they started down the aisle past the sparse gathering of onlookers. Before they even reached the door, though, Mina realized they had a problem.

  “What are we supposed to do now?” she asked.

  He dropped her hand and turned to face her. “I have no idea.”

  It wasn’t like they were headed out on a honeymoon or anything. They hadn’t planned past the wedding itself. Not even a reception.

  “My house for drinks!” Reilly called out from behind them.

  The group was trickling through the barn entrance, gathering around them. Reilly had legit saved the day. Otherwise, they would have had to come up with something for everyone to do…or made an excuse for why they had to get away.

  “Let’s go.” Colton released her hand. But instead of heading toward his truck, he actually scooped Mina up and began carrying her that way.

  “What are you doing?” she asked when she finally caught her breath. “I can walk!”

  “It’s romantic. Go with it.”

  She didn’t want to go with it. She didn’t want some man carrying her around like she was a child. But she reminded herself that this was all about the romance and, more specifically, about looking romantic for his family and everyone else in town.

  What had she gotten herself into?

  Reilly’s house, with its beautiful lake views, was the perfect place for their fake reception. They pulled into the driveway, realizing they’d beaten everyone else here. But if Mina had expected him to wait for the others to show up before entering the house, she would be way off. He walked straight to the porch, turned the doorknob, and pushed it open.

  “You don’t even lock your doors here?” Canyon Falls was a pretty safe town, but she still locked her front door when she wasn’t home.

  “Clay and Jared do, but they’re closer to the road. I try to, but I won’t say I’m always great about it. Reilly’s a bit more…laid-back than the rest of us.”

  Yeah, she’d noticed that about him. He’d even shown up for their wedding looking like he’d just climbed out of bed. He’d sat in his chair, slouched, a slightly amused look on his face. All in all, he just seemed the opposite of the big ball of stress she felt like most days.

  Maybe he could give her some tips on how to relax.

  As she stepped through Reilly’s doorway and got a look at his house, though, she saw the first tip. Live in an amazing house. The living room featured high ceilings and big windows that overlooked the lake. It would be a million-dollar-plus house if it were anywhere else, but the Briscoe family owned the property, so she was guessing Reilly had lucked out on the cost.

  “You haven’t seen anything yet. Come look.” He gestured for her to follow as he walked toward the back of the house.

  To the right was a big, open room with a pool table, couches, and the largest television screen she’d ever seen. She assumed this was Reilly’s man cave.

  “You’ll probably be disappointed living at my place after seeing this,” Colton said. “But my house isn’t half bad. No pool table, though.”

  He turned to look at her, no doubt noticing immediately the stunned expression on her face. It took her a second, but she finally found her voice.

  “Did you say living at your place?”

  “Well, staying there.” He began walking toward the living room, and from the sounds floating through the air, she was guessing someone had arrived.

  “Wait!” she called out in a loud whisper. “Get back in here.”

  He turned around and began walking back toward her. “What? What did I miss?”

  “I can’t move in with you. It wouldn’t be… I need my space. This is too far away from the city.”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “We’re married. If we don’t live together, people will have questions.”

  He shrugged and turned to walk out again. She thought about stopping him, but she needed a second to process what he’d just said.

  He was right. If they were fake married, they had to be fake living together or it wouldn’t make sense. At the very least, they had to fool his family into thinking they’d committed for life. “Until death do we part” had been the exact words they’d said in the vows they’d repeated after Hank.

  Speaking of Hank, he was standing away from the crowd when she entered, and he gave her one of those chin lifts that seemed to replace tipping a cowboy hat among ranchers in this town. She lifted her chin in response and continued until she was standing by her pretend husband’s side.

  “I was going to propose a toast, but all we have is beer,” Reilly said as she took her place.

  Someone handed her a red plastic cup that was, as she confirmed by scent, filled with beer. Even the smell of beer made her a little sick. She’d rather have a cup of just about anything else. But she didn’t want to spoil the mood, so she lifted her cup when Reilly said, “To happily ever after,” and pretended to take a sip.

  Happily ever after made her a little sick, as well. It reminded her that there would be no romantic happily ever after at the end of this arrangement. But it did mean there might be a happily ever after for her as a mayor and whatever came next, and not much could make her happier than that.

  “So, when will there be a little Colton and Mina running around?” Reilly asked, throwing them a lopsided grin.

  Mina nearly choked. She wasn’t even drinking, but she managed to inhale air down the wrong tube in her surprise at what Reilly had just said. They were already nagging them about kids when they’d only got married minutes earlier. Was that how things worked around here?

  She knew the answer to that. Yes. Growing up in Canyon Falls, there had been two things people did once they graduated high school. They got married or they moved away to go to college. Few came back after graduation, so most of the adults who lived here had married young and popped out at least a couple of babies by the time they were twenty-five. By those standards, her clock was tick-ticking
away.

  “Let them at least have their wedding night first,” Harley said.

  Reilly laughed. “That’s the perfect time to get pregnant.”

  Mina noticed Robby was standing over in the corner, staring down at his phone. He didn’t even have a plastic cup. Always working. She felt like a slacker, standing over here not drinking the beer they’d handed her. But then she remembered she was working hard. This entire day had been hard work, whether it felt like it or not.

  “How about we focus on getting Pumpkinfest off the ground?” Colton asked. “That’s the only baby I want to raise right now.”

  Perfect answer.

  She took a deep breath and added her own thoughts on the matter. “And I have a campaign to focus on. The last thing I need is morning sickness and swollen ankles. It’s a pretty stressful time.”

  “But I’d love to see the look on Mayor Cobb’s face if she announced she was pregnant,” Robby chimed in to say.

  Everyone turned to look at him. Apparently, he wasn’t all business. He’d been listening all along.

  “Nobody announces a pregnancy before at least six weeks, later if they’re smart.” That came from Harley, who had climbed up to sit on one of the way-too-tall stools that were in front of the bar part of the island.

  Reilly looked around at the group but addressed Harley with his question. “Something you want to tell us?”

  Harley shook her head. “Oh, gosh, no.”

  “He has to put a ring on it first,” Colton added.

  His comment took the heat off Harley, who was now a particular shade of flushed. The conversation had turned pretty personal. But in addition to taking the heat off Harley, it also took the focus off the newly-married couple, which was fine by Mina. In fact, if they could just celebrate anything but their fake wedding, she’d be happy with that. Maybe Clay would propose right now and fulfill that wish.

  Robby suddenly cleared his throat, disrupting the moment. “We have to go.”

  Everyone turned to look at him. Mina’s campaign manager was holding up his phone with a very urgent expression on his face.