by Tina Leonard
“What the hell are you doing?” Suz demanded, hidden by a clump of leafy bushes.
“I might ask you the same!”
“Don’t look like you’re talking to me,” Suz instructed. “It would be frowned upon by the town busybodies. And Daisy is an epic tattletale.” She looked at her sister with exasperation. “I heard the whole verbal squall. Why did you let Daisy push you around?”
“Because I don’t care.” Mackenzie scooted closer to the end of the bench so she could see Suz better. “She can do what she likes. It won’t change my destiny.”
“Well, that’s serene of you. It was all I could do not to jump out of the bushes and perform major facial rearrangement on her. And your phone is totaled.”
“I’ll replace it. And I can handle Daisy. You’ve got to quit worrying. Back to why you’re hanging out in the hedge?”
“Keeping Daisy kosher. I knew she’d pull something. I’ve known her ever since she came to BC, and she’s always been a brat.” Suz grinned. “Just happens to be I’m a bigger brat.”
Suz was no brat. She was an angel with a good heart. “You’re my darling sister, and I love you.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to let my big sister sit here on the biggest day of her life by herself,” Suz said impishly. “I’ve got a good mind to go over there and do something to Daisy.”
They both hesitated as the roar of vehicles heading up the road came to them.
“It’s on,” Suz said. “You’ve had your last five minutes to reflect on life as a single woman.”
Mackenzie smiled. “It may not happen that way.”
“Of course it will. Don’t be silly. Daisy wouldn’t have been so desperate to fight you for it if the legend hadn’t come true every single time. Now you just sit there and think blissful thoughts. Your happy ending is on the way. By the way, this race is going to be a long one. You might want to get a nap in so you’re fresh for your prince.”
“Okay, I’ll bite. What have you been up to?”
“Not me.” Suz’s face was the picture of innocence. “A little birdie told me Justin’s knee is still in a soft cast. So he won’t be tearing up the finish line to get to you.” She grinned. “But he will.”
“What are you talking about?” Mackenzie was alarmed. She hadn’t seen anything on his leg. Not even when they’d made love.
“Just telling you what the birdies tell me.” Suz grinned. “I think it’s sweet.”
She fell in love with Justin that much more, helplessly, happily in love. “Where are you going?” Mackenzie peered over the leaves that folded over where her sister’s face had been.
Silence.
“Suz?”
But Suz was gone. Mackenzie smiled, thinking about how much she loved her sister. Nobody had helped her through her divorce and the ensuing bad times more than Suz.
She glanced over at Daisy to see what she was doing. No shock, she was combing her hair, primping in a mirror. Her long brown locks shone in the sun, her shapely, tanned legs daintily stretched in front of her in a skirt short enough to cause male heart failure.
While I’m wearing capri jeans, a sleeveless blouse and flat tennies, my hair in a ponytail.
It didn’t matter. She’d held Justin in her arms. Even though he hadn’t said the words, she knew he loved her.
She certainly was in love with him.
Mackenzie heard a squeal and commotion, and she glanced at Daisy again. Suz leaped on Daisy with a burlap bag, stuffing her in it before Ty carted her, struggling, to his truck bed and put her in it as if she were nothing more than a hay bale. He waved at Mackenzie; then he and Suz hopped in the truck and drove away.
Maybe it was cheating. Technically it was breaking the rules. Certainly she’d raised her sister to be more genteel and ladylike than to pin someone down and stuff them into a sack.
One day she’d return the favor for Suz. The very thought made her smile, and now that she was alone at the finish line of Best Man’s Fork, Mackenzie suddenly felt very, very happy. In love.
As if this was the moment she’d been waiting for all her life.
Chapter Twenty
“Ready, set, go!” Cosette yelled and Philippe fired the starting gun, which brought a cheer from the crowd anxious to see Justin start the race.
He waved at everyone and took off at what he hoped was an impressive pace. His buddies had disappeared.
Which was fine with him. “I’ve got this,” he muttered and headed to the fork. He didn’t even hesitate; he already knew which way he was going.
He chose the left side of the fork, and a cheer went up from the crowd who’d gathered at the starting line. Justin couldn’t say that this was something he’d ever imagined he’d be doing, but he was having a ton of fun. He felt like a warrior of some kind, a troubadour of old, going off to win his lady.
Which no doubt was exactly how Bridesmaids Creek intended a man to feel. Part of the fairy-tale charm and all that. Kind of silly, but if this was the way things were done here, he’d play along.
At the one-mile marker, the race monitor waved at him, offered him a water bottle, which Justin accepted, heading off without resting, determined to make a good showing.
At the one-and-a-half-mile marker—so designated by a giant heart-shaped sign posted on a tree—Justin was joined by the five doorknobs.
Daisy’s gang set a pace behind him without saying a word. “More the merrier,” he muttered and kept going.
They surrounded him at the two-mile marker, not touching him, but pacing along, in back and in front of him.
Annoying but not important. He had a job to do.
“Nice day, huh, fellows?” he said, just to be friendly, and then he ignored them as he tried to dismiss the fact that his knee was beginning to protest the treatment it was receiving.
Daisy’s gang changed position, two on either side and one in the back. What the hell, maybe they figured they no longer needed a leader. He knew exactly where he was going, after all.
At the two-and-a-half-mile marker—another big heart-shaped sign—a commotion broke out behind him. Justin kept moving, not looking back, but his companions on either side of him did, and suddenly all hell broke loose.
Then silence.
“Don’t look back, remember,” he muttered and kept on going.
He ran alone after that, his thoughts busy with Mackenzie and the babies and how great it was going to feel when she told him yes. What man didn’t think of the woman he loved telling him she wanted to be his wife?
He stopped dead in his tracks.
He’d never thought of it. Yet suddenly he couldn’t stop thinking about it.
“Holy cow, there is something in the air around here.” He glanced around, studying the thick foliage on either side of him. His shoes were dusty from the dirt road and his leg ached—he was far from his rodeo shape. The air was completely silent but for the occasional birdcall—mockingbird, for sure—and the sun beat down on him.
Some sixth sense or maybe even some of Bridesmaids Creek’s enchantment pushed him into the woods. He crunched through tall grass and ground cover, beat back branches that rarely had experienced human contact until he got to the other road.
This was right. It was a rebel move, but he was playing a game with folks who were known to make the rules to suit themselves.
At the end of this road would be the woman of his dreams. That was how the legend went.
He ran like he’d never run before.
* * *
JUSTIN NEARLY HAD heart failure when he saw the final race monitor a hundred yards from the finish line, because Mackenzie wasn’t there. His spirits sank. He looked wildly past the monitor, barely heard the greeting offered to him and crossed the tape at the finish line, bent over to gasp for air.
&nbs
p; He could not believe he’d picked the wrong road. He hung his head. What the hell—it was a dumb charity race. He’d made the town some money, felt like he was a newfound son they were trying to weave into the fabric of their town.
It would all work out. He’d still ask Mackenzie to marry him, and hopefully she would say yes.
She might be a little tangled up because of that business with her ex being a loser at the race and the legend not working out too well for her that first time, but he could get her past that. Somehow.
He’d just have to convince her how much he wanted to be with her and the girls, forever.
“Hi,” he heard at his elbow, and Justin stood straight up. Stared into his gorgeous lady’s eyes, felt the mysterious wonder of Bridesmaids Creek fill him, changing him forever.
“Mackenzie!” He swept her into his arms. “Will you marry me?”
She laughed, and it sounded like pure joy to him. “Yes! Yes, of course. I would love to be your wife.”
“I’m sorry.” Justin took a deep breath. “I meant to ask you more romantically with flowers, a ring, maybe some hot sex to convince you I’m the only man for you.”
“That was all pretty romantic.” She kissed him, and it was the happiest moment of his life. Justin held Mackenzie in his arms, hardly believing how perfect his world had suddenly become.
“You were supposed to be at the finish line, weren’t you? I thought I’d taken the wrong road.” He ate her up with his eyes, wondering if he could get her to a wedding ceremony fast enough to suit him.
“I had to get the girls.” She smiled up at him, and he saw Jade and Betty with the stroller of babies waiting under a shady tree. “The babies wanted to see you win.”
“I’m a dad,” he said. “I’m going to be a father to four beautiful little girls! I’m going to have four beautiful daughters and a gorgeous wife!” He laughed, hugging Mackenzie to him, his whole world opening up in a new way he’d waited his entire life to feel. Justin held Mackenzie, basking in the cheers from the townspeople who realized they were about to get their fondest wish, a wedding to attend.
“I love you, Mackenzie Hawthorne. The best thing that ever happened to me was the day Ty sent me to your ranch. I’m the luckiest man in the world.”
Mackenzie laughed. “I love you, too,” she said, “welcome home.”
Justin grinned, reveling in the most magical, heavenly moment of his life. How had this happened to him? How had he gotten the woman of his dreams, and the family he’d always hoped he’d one day have? He looked at the smiling faces of the people around them, felt their joy as they shared this amazing moment with them. It didn’t matter how the fairy tale had happened. All that mattered was Mackenzie and the daughters he loved with all his heart.
He was home at last.
Epilogue
“So what about the haunted house?” Ty asked Justin on a day that was so beautiful Justin didn’t think he’d ever known a better one. Of course most of the beauty that was in his life now was thanks to Mackenzie and her babies. He grumbled, slightly nervous as Ty situated his jacket and tie, having never been a groom before, only the man running in the Best Man’s Fork race just last week.
It had been worth everything he had to see the smile on Mackenzie’s face when he’d chosen the right path.
He allowed Ty to stuff a pocket square in his jacket, a useless detail he felt was unnecessary for the casual wedding he and Mackenzie wanted, but Ty was a stickler for details. “Mackenzie says the haunted house is part of Bridesmaids Creek. Now that there’s some confusion about whether folks really want it reopened or not—”
“Hogwash,” Ty said. “That was just stuff Daisy stirred up.”
True, but Justin had done his part, which was rescuing fair maidens, all five of them. Actually, they’d rescued him. Now he was going to enjoy life in their world. “Mackenzie says it’s a battle she’s going to let Suz handle at this point. She says if anyone can corral Daisy, it’s Suz.” Mackenzie had also said that her time would now be completely taken up by making love to him, and haunted houses would have to take a backseat to that.
Which made him very, very happy.
“I don’t like it,” Ty grumbled. “No one else has any good ideas on how to save BC. That was my best one.”
“It’s fine, old buddy. You did your part. You can relax now.” He slapped Ty on the back. “I want to thank you for telling me about Mackenzie’s fake dating ad, by the way. Madame Matchmaker better watch out for you, obviously.”
Ty laughed, pleased with himself. “It wasn’t fake. I just never let it go live. And that’s the last thing you’re dragging out of me. I can’t give up all my trade secrets.”
They went downstairs and made a path to the altar. Justin was amazed by how many people had arrived to see their wedding, but then he realized he shouldn’t be—this was BC. Everybody was always going to be in everybody’s business—which was something that no longer worried him.
“Now I just need my bride,” Justin said, and on cue the three-piece orchestra of two violins and a harp began playing and the guests swiveled their heads to look for the bride.
Suz came down the aisle first, sassy in a short pink dress, unable to resist squashing Ty on the toe with her high heel before she took her place at the altar.
“What was that for?” Ty asked Justin.
“I think you’re in the doghouse for not fixing her up, too.” But Justin couldn’t worry about his buddy right now, because Mackenzie came around the corner, escorted by Sheriff Dennis, and Justin’s heart felt like it was going to explode with joy. The babies were wheeled in a white carriage hung with pretty pink-and-white bows to the edge of the altar so they could have a front-row seat, and a happy sigh went up from the guests.
Mackenzie stood beside him, a short veil gracing her midlength faint pink wedding gown, her smile all for him.
“You’re beautiful,” he said. “The happiest moment in my life was watching you and the babies come down that aisle.” He took her hand and kissed it, and the guests sighed again. “I love you so much.”
“I love you,” Mackenzie said. “I do, and my girls do, too. We all do.”
“Yeah,” Suz whispered. “Welcome to our family.”
Okay, so maybe most sisters-in-law wouldn’t butt in, but it was Suz, and, frankly, he was delighted to hear that she thought he was a good thing for her sister. Mackenzie laughed and he smiled; the babies laid almost perfectly still in their pram, fussed over by Cosette and Jane, and Justin’s life became a rodeo of a different kind. Bigger, better, happier.
Which was a completely happy ending for a rebel cowboy.
And if he thought he heard Ty mutter, “One down, three to go,” he paid no attention to his buddy at all.
It was a most enchanted day in Bridesmaids Creek.
* * * * *
Watch for the next book in Tina Leonard’s
BRIDESMAIDS CREEK miniseries,
THE SEAL’S HOLIDAY BABIES,
available November 2014
only from Harlequin American Romance!
Keep reading for an excerpt from THE TEXAN’S COWGIRL BRIDE by Trish Milburn.
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Chapter One
Savannah Baron hit Send on the online order form for more canning jars and scratched another item off her to-do list. She grabbed the separate list she’d made for Gina Shelton, her employee, and walked out of her small office into the kitchen area of the Peach Pit, the farm store she managed on her family’s large north Texas ranching and farming operation. She walked up next to where Gina was sliding a fresh batch of fried peach pies into the glass-fronted display counter next to the cash register.
“Ben and Juan will be in later with a few more bushels of peaches. Half of them are for fresh baskets, half for a new batch of preserves. Ingrid Tollemey will be by around four this afternoon to pick up the dozen pies for the church fair. And—”
Gina smiled and held up her hand. “You’re only going to be gone a couple of days, not a month.”
Savannah nodded, realizing she was micromanaging. She hated when she did that. “And you’ve done this before. Sorry. I get carried away.”
“It’s okay. But you better get going.”
Savannah looked at the clock and hurried back into her office to grab her keys. She was supposed to meet her friend and fellow barrel racer Abby Morgan in Mineral Wells in three hours for a weekend of rodeo. It was about a hundred-mile drive, but she still had to load Bluebell into the horse trailer and toss her luggage and gear into the truck.
She heard the front door open, but she let Gina take care of the new customer. But when the phone rang, Savannah blew out a breath and answered.
“Peach Pit. How can I help you?”
“Savannah, I need for you to come to the house,” her father said. “I’ve been going over the financials for your little store, and I have some concerns.”
“Now’s not a good time, Dad.” Not that anytime was going to be particularly good.
Since her dad had broken his leg during a senior rodeo and been laid up at home, he’d been driving everyone bonkers with his pronouncements about how they should all be doing their jobs differently, which meant the way he would do them. She’d bet good money he was even pointing out ways Anna, the family’s longtime housekeeper, could more efficiently vacuum or wash the dishes. If Savannah found a genie in a bottle who said he’d grant her only one wish, it would be to instantly heal her dad. Then he could go back to work at the Baron Energies company headquarters in Dallas or focus on anything other than her slice of the Baron pie.