“I knew he was a scumbag! What did you do? Did you hit him?”
“No, I got in my car and I started driving. I ended up in Mule Hollow with a flat tire and this really great cowboy came along and helped me fix it and…and he offered me a job as the cook on his ranch and I accepted.”
“Wait. You’re a cook? And you just took off and drove? And Andrew didn’t say anything about calling off the wedding.”
“Yes. Yes. Yes and I know. I just found out this morning when I talked to mother that he didn’t call off the wedding. I thought all the text messages from everyone asking if I was okay and how was I feeling was because the wedding was called off. But they were about me not feeling good.”
“I guess I should have clarified. So you’re working on a ranch? It sounds fun-except for the cooking part. And what about this cowboy?”
“He’s amazing. So handsome and nice and irresistible actually.”
“Irresistible?”
Sadie hadn’t really meant to say that but then she’d been talking about Rafe and after that kiss that was the word that kept coming to her thoughts when thinking of Rafe. He was simply irresistible.
“Sadie, who are you and where did you put my friend?”
That made Sadie smile into the phone. Amber had been thrilled when she’d started doing the bunny ministry but had asked the same thing then.”
“I’m finding my way.”
“I am so glad. But are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m actually good. Very good. I’m enjoying the three days I’ve been here. I carried lunch to the field one day and went horseback riding with Rafe to locate a missing calf. We found him stuck in the mud by the river…” she paused, then told her friend about the incident and they both laughed. “And Amber, Rafe kissed me.”
“Oh girl. Really? Wow. How was it?”
“It was wonderful, but I’m so mixed up and I just can’t trust my emotions.”
“I think this is great. Who needs to trust their emotions? You need to get the sour wind of Andrew out of your system. This cowboy is perfect. It doesn’t have to be permanent. You just stay there, learn to cook and spend time with handsome cowboy. Then come home when you’re ready.”
“Well, I need to come home and call off the wedding. Mother is in denial and believes I’m coming home to marry Andrew even though I’ve told her I’m not.”
“No, don’t come home. Stay there. Don’t give the wedding another thought because I will be happy to take care of this.”
“But what are you going to do?”
“Just call off the wedding. And with pleasure. Hey, wait-Mule Hollow. Oh snap. You are in that town with those matchmaking older ladies. The Matchmakin’ Posse of Mule Hollow. I remember now. That place was in the news a lot there for a while.”
“That’s it! That’s exactly where I am. Can you believe it?”
“Oh I’m loving this. Have you met them? The Posse?”
“I have. But just briefly.”
“Oh, this is gold. I am in heaven thinking about all of this. I have never been an Andrew fan so I am thrilled you are calling off the wedding and that you’re having this adventure. Just watch out for those women. I hear they are good at what they do and you need to take it slow. Even with Mr. Irresistible.”
Sadie thought about it for a few minutes. “I’ll let you know about calling off the wedding for me. It’s my responsibility.”
“Hey, you forget, I am the maid of honor and I do believe that calling off the wedding would fall under my privileges. So, if you could find it in your heart to not steal my thunder I would be ever so grateful.” Sadie laughed and felt better about the whole fiasco than she had from the moment she’d gotten in her car and run for the hills. And obviously Amber felt the same relief and joy as she did. “I’ll try not to. I’ll let you know.”
“Soon?”
Sadie laughed shortly. “Soon. I feel like I should warn Andrew about this.”
“Don’t you dare,” Amber warned. “Come on let me do this for you. You don’t owe him anything not after what he did to you. Stay there. I’ll take care of this.”
“Okay, fine. Yes, that would actually be a relief if you would do it for me.”
“Thank you-gotta go I have business to take care of.”
Sadie hung up then stared at the phone grinning. She didn’t have to leave.
And she didn’t feel bad about it at all.
“Rafe,” Sadie called entering the barn, drawing Rafe to look up from brushing his horse down.
“I’m going to run to town and pick up some things. I thought I’d explore town a little bit. I’m meeting some of the ladies for morning coffee to discuss me visiting the shelter. But I wanted to double check that you don’t need me to do anything for lunch today.”
He stared at her standing there in her borrowed clothes, with her hair twisted up in some kind of soft hairdo that had tendrils escaping down her neck and along her jawline and caused his fingers to itch to tug the clasp from her hair and run his fingers through that beautiful, rich copper hair. “No, we’re fine. We’re going to be working over near the county line and there’s a BBQ place within a mile of that ranch entrance. Thanks but you have a good time. You should have lunch.”
“I think I might do that. I also hear there’s a really cute boutique there so I might see what they have to offer since I’ve decided not to go home on Saturday.”
He came to full attention. “You were going home?”
“I thought about it. Briefly. To make sure everything was canceled but my best friend/maid of honor is checking on everything.”
His heart pounded in his chest. “And you’re okay with this?” It had taken every ounce of his will power not to walk into the kitchen the last couple of mornings and take her in his arms and kiss her good morning. It had been harder each evening to say goodnight and then walk out the door. He hadn’t gone to his room because he’d known he wouldn’t sleep.
“I’m relieved actually. Does that say terrible things about me? I’m not a complete wimp but Amber wants to make all the calls. She never liked Andrew. She finally went along with me only because as she put it I was going to need all of her support after the deed was done.”
He laughed. “That’s not exactly funny but it is. She sounds like someone I’d like.”
“Oh believe me, I’m surprised she didn’t tie me up and kidnap me. I just put her aversion to Andrew off as her usual bad tempered mood where happy-ever-after commitments were concerned.”
“She must have had a bad experience.”
“She did but she’s never talked about it. So, anyway, I wanted to let you know where I was going and that I’ll be hanging around this weekend instead of heading home.”
He nodded…thinking and still stunned by the way she affected him. “You have the credit card with you for the groceries, don’t you? Please buy lunch on it and anything else you need.”
“I have it. But now that my mother knows the wedding's off and there’s no need for me to not access my accounts.” She smiled. “I don’t know why I thought anyone would be trying to hunt me down through bank info anyway. This is not espionage or anything.”
She left soon after that and he took a deep breath, leaned against the stall and stared at the powerful chestnut horse he’d been brushing down when she’d come into the stable.
“I’m in trouble, Red. But the funny thing is it doesn’t hurt like I thought it would.”
He’d had his heart trampled once when he was at his lowest moment and his dreams had been crushed but as bad as that had been, he was realizing that a heart was resilient.
And, thinking about Sadie…he knew some things were worth risking the pain for.
Chapter Ten
Sadie drove to town, her mind locked on thoughts of Rafe—she had to get over this. He’d looked like the sturdy, solid, sexiest cowboy-sexiest man period-that she’d ever seen. And when those deep eyes of his settled on her, it was as if he were touching her despi
te the distance between them. Surely he didn’t do that to every woman who came around. Falling for a man like him would be an all the time worry for the woman who loved him. A man who looked like he did would have women falling for him all the time. She was being foolish and she knew it.
She had been around him for a very few days and already she thought she knew and understood him. Boy was that tricky. Had she ever thought she knew Andrew? He’d completely deceived her and she’d been blind-and she wasn’t in love with him. Surely she would know when the man she truly loved didn’t love her back?
Wouldn’t she?
And why was she worrying about that when she was thinking of Rafe? It wasn’t as if she’d fallen in love with the man simply because he’d helped her when she needed it, no questions asked. Or that he’d been kind and considerate. Or that when he kissed her it was like a dream it was so amazing? Or that when she was with him she felt like no harm could befall her?
Sadie slowed as her thoughts rolled…
How could she feel those things in less than five days? And even if she did feel them how could she trust something that unbelievable?
She couldn’t.
And that was what she told herself sternly. “Your emotions are stressed and can’t be trusted right now.” Right.
So, she would keep her distance, stay here and work because she wanted to stay away from home a little while longer and because despite every argument she could produce none of it made her able to stop thinking about her cowboy- “Hold on there, Sadie. He is not your cowboy. He is just a nice man,” she snapped. Thoughts like that were not helping her situation. Being here was helping one but creating a new one that Sadie was beginning to be consumed with.
Town came into view after the next few miles and the sight of the colorful town in the distance was startling. Why, she was at least five miles away but it stood out on the horizon. It would have looked in the distance like an Old West clapboard town that had been constructed on the plains out in the middle of nowhere. Its different height buildings were silhouetted against the mid-morning sun except…she smiled-every building was painted a bright color and like a jewel in the center there was a very bright, hot pink two story building beaming out like a calling card. It was so bright and inviting that Sadie pressed the gas pedal and drove a little faster just so she could get there sooner. She loved it. Loved it!
And as she drove past the first stores she wasn’t any less in love. Bright window boxes overflowed from second story windows and first floor windows too. And if there wasn’t a window box there was a barrel planter overflowing with flowers that were still thriving from the summer. Red geraniums, pink periwinkles, yellow lantana were the prominent flowers and they stood out against the vibrant buildings. The mind boggling pink one was the hair salon, Heavenly Inspirations. There was a bright yellow feed store and a bright blue diner and a grass green building and the rainbow list went on and on.
Sadie parked her car in front of the salon and got out. Right beside it was a ladies clothing store Dottie had told her about when they’d made plans to meet for coffee. Ashby’s Treasures looked like just what Sadie needed.
Before she took two steps the door of the salon flew open and women piled out like kids let out of school.
They were all smiles as they came hustling toward her.
Norma Sue planted her hands on her hips. “It is sure nice to see you’re still in town. And that you’re going to go visit at the shelter.”
“We sure are. I’m so glad you’ve stuck around.” Esther Mae winked at her. “How’s that Rafe doing? He was so sweet to fix your flat.”
“He’s fine,” Sadie said, seeing Adela smile and shake her head as if she wasn’t sure what to think of her friend. That made Sadie smile because she could only imagine that Esther Mae was probably good at shocking her on a regular basis.
Adela laid her delicate hand on her arm. “We’re heading over to the diner now. I’m sure Dottie will be along any moment. And Lacy and Sheri are joining us soon also.”
“I’d love that.”
“Great,” Norma Sue said.
Esther Mae opened the door to the salon. “She’s coming with us, so we’ll see y’all as soon as you get Thelma out from under that dryer and let her get on home to shock ole Bart right out of his John Deere with that new hairdo you just gave her.”
Sadie chuckled at Esther Mae's boisterous statement. She could see Lacy through the window waving at her. She waved back.
Adela explained. “Lacy and Sheri are going to meet us. They just have a client to finish up.”
They chattered all the way across the street to the diner. Two older men came striding outside as they were approaching. One was tall and thin with a lean, lined face and bushy brows above alert eyes. The other wasn’t short but he was shorter than the tall man and he had a kind, plump face and was balding.
“Hey thar,” the tall one bellowed as they were standing on the plank sidewalk across the street from him. “Are you the new gal in town? The one they said came to town dressed like Peter Cottontail?”
“Applegate,” harrumphed Esther Mae. “We did not say she was dressed like Peter cottontail.”
“It was Flossy,” the other man said just as loudly as his friend. He grinned broadly. “You’re causing quite a stir, we hear.”
Sadie looked curiously from one to the other. “I am?”
“Every new single lady in town causes a stir, with these three,” the tall one they’d called Applegate boomed, face drooped into a deep frown. “You’d better be ready because they’re liable to have you hitched in a week if you’re not careful.”
Sadie held up her hands in front of her. “I don’t think so.”
Both men got the most comical expressions of pity on their faces.
“Most times that don’t matter one iota with the posse,” the shorter man grunted, scratching his balding head.
“Yup, Stanley is right about that,” agreed Applegate. “But then it happens and they all seem happy-cept for a few who hightail it out of here and don’t look back.”
Sadie’s eyes widened and she tried to keep her alarm from showing but it must not have worked because Norma Sue took one look at her and frowned.
“Y’all are scaring her,” she said. “Men. They don’t know anything.”
Sadie realized that the ladies hadn’t denied the accusation that they were going to fix her up.
“Okay hold on.” She looked at everyone in the circle. “Maybe I should let y’all know I’m here in town because I just ran off from my wedding. So even thinking of fixing me up would be a waste of y’all’s time.”
Everyone’s mouths fell open.
“Get out of here,” Esther Mae said shrilly in disbelief. “You’re a runaway bride?”
“Well isn’t that something. You’d be our second one of them,” Norma Sue offered. “App’s granddaughter would be the first. Haley Bell Thornton. Now Haley Bell Sutton and new momma of the cutest little curly headed angel you ever saw.”
Applegate nodded. “I have to admit that my Haley come runnin’ back here lookin’ like a whupped puppy and they fixed her up and put a smile back on her face. And now I’m a great grandpa and I could jest shout it out.”
“You are shouting,” Norma Sue drawled.
Sadie would have smiled at his toothy grin but the alarm bells were now clanging like a house was on fire.
Norma Sue cocked her head at him. “If you don’t put your hearing aid in you’re going to scare that tiny baby into a conniption if you shout at her the way you’re shouting at us. You too, Stanley.”
“Yup, we know. We’re goin’ ta get them right now. Haley Bell’s cooking lunch fer us.”
Stanley poked a thumb in his chest. “I’m getting called her great uncle. How’s them apples?” His eyes sparkled. “We better get. You hang in there, young woman. This is a good place to lick yor wounds.”
She started to deny that she had wounds to lick but knew that wasn’t true. She did.
As much as she hated it she was feeling vulnerable. Andrew had cheated on her for a reason. And though there might be a reasonable excuse that he was just a jerk there was a part of her that was wounded. Part of her wondered if she’d been lacking in some way.
“Please give Haley our love and that sweet newborn,” Adella said and then the men tromped off down the old fashioned boardwalk to their trucks and Sadie followed the women into the diner.
“This is a great place to meet all the locals,” Esther Mae confided as they found a couple of tables and scooted them together. Of course App and Stanley are in here in the mornings playing checkers and being nosey. But Sam does make a wonderful breakfast.”
“And the coffee cake is delicious,” Adela added. “My husband’s coffee is pretty strong though so be warned.” She winked.
Sam came toward them smiling from ear to ear at her. He was a weathered man, skin as tough as leather but the kind, warm eyes fit perfectly with the welcoming smile. She’d met him briefly at the engagement party but he’d been buzzing around like a worker bee making sure everything was perfect for Cliff and Maddie.
“Hello, little lady,” he said. “You sure are running with a suspicious crowd.”
“You don’t say.” She looked at the ladies with mock skepticism. “You think I should rethink my situation?” She was starting to suspect she might need to be.
“I shor would.” His wrinkled expression turned solemn in an instant. The man could probably play a mean hand of poker with an expression like that.
“Sam Green don’t you start scaring this poor girl.” Norma Sue popped him lightly on the arm.
About that time the diner doors opened and Dottie, Lacy and her business partner, Sheri, came hustling in. Lacy’s pale silken hair was a mass of hand tossed waves and it bounced above her shoulders. “We made it!” she said, smiling enthusiastically. “Thelma is looking like a knock out and happily on her way home to stun her hubby. So how are you?” She was hugely pregnant and beaming at Sadie with bright blue eyes and there was just something about her that was happily contagious.
Rafe: (Contemporary Western Romance) (New Horizon Ranch: Mule Hollow Book 2) Page 7