The Cowboy's Reality Bride

by Lorana Hoopes

  He whirled on Bronwyn. “Are reporters going to be at our wedding? Because if they are, we won’t walk. We’ll happily get married elsewhere without the fanfare.”

  Bronwyn’s eyes were wide with surprise and perhaps a trace of hurt. “No. I planned no reporters, but they probably caught wind when our crews began arriving. I promise you that even though we are televising the wedding, it will be tasteful.

  “Can we just get to our rooms?” Laney asked. Her voice was pinched yet emotionless.

  “Of course. I’ll have the driver bring your bags up after I get you checked in.”

  Laney sighed as she fell back on the bed. The day had started off so good and then the reporters had been at the hotel. She had forgotten how pervasive the cameras were and though she wanted to marry Tyler, there was a part of her that wanted to call the wedding off, sneak off to some quiet chapel, and elope. Plus, they had drug up old questions and insecurities. Ones that she thought she had gotten over, but clearly, she hadn’t. Strange how in high school she had just wanted people to notice her and now she just wished they would leave her alone.

  She and Tyler had been lucky in Fredericksburg. People in town knew of their television romance but hadn’t seemed to care and only a few rabid fans had bothered to find them there. Her students who watched the show had been the most excited ones, but even they had lost their celebrity fascination after a week. Laney wondered why people even still cared about her and Tyler’s marriage.

  A knock sounded at her door and she considered ignoring it, but it was probably her luggage and she needed to hang up her wedding dress. “Just a minute,” she called when the knocking continued, but when she opened the door, it wasn’t the bell hop she saw but Maryanne, Jennifer, Meredith, Tracey, and Steven - her closest friends from high school. “Oh my gosh, what are you doing here?”

  Steven looked at the women. “I thought we were attending a wedding. Are we not attending a wedding?”

  “No, I mean early. What are you doing here early?” She’d expected Maryanne early and Nancy as they would be her bridesmaids, but the others were an extremely nice surprise.

  “I thought it might be fun if we had a reunion before your wedding,” Maryanne said with a shrug, “since you aren’t having a bachelorette party or a rehearsal dinner.”

  “You are the best. Get in here.” The fears and worries from moments before faded away as her old friends filed into her room. Maryanne, Meredith, and Jennifer sat down on the bed while Tracey, Steven, and Laney pulled chairs from the breakfast table closer to the bed.

  “Okay, I have to know what everyone has been up to,” Laney said as she looked from face to face.

  “Fine, but then we want to hear all about Tyler and this crazy romance,” Jennifer said.

  “Yeah, leave it to you to have the most amazing wedding story of all of us,” Meredith said. “I mean I just married my college sweetheart.”

  “I married one of my coworkers,” Jennifer said, “but it wasn’t amazing like this unless you count our Star Wars wedding as exciting.”

  “You didn’t,” Laney said with a laugh.

  “Yes, I did. Walked down the aisle as Princess Leia with buns and everything.”

  The group continued to share stories for the next few hours. Tracey and Steven had yet to marry, but Meredith had a daughter and Jennifer had dogs she considered her children. Meredith had gone into social work which didn’t surprise Laney as she had experienced foster care for a short time in high school and developed a heart for kids like herself. Jennifer was a drama teacher. Also not surprising. She’d generally held the leads in school plays. Tracey and Steven had both gone into law but not together.

  “So, are you really going to live in Texas after the wedding?” Jennifer asked. “I seem to remember you getting out of the state as fast as possible after high school.”

  Laney chuckled. “Yeah, I think I was running from myself after high school. I wanted to get away from the people who had never noticed me and start over, but somewhere in there I lost who I was for a few years. Tyler helped me find that girl again, and believe it or not, I’m working at a high school, coaching kids for UIL tournaments.”

  “Oh, I can believe it,” Steven said. “I always figured you’d become a teacher.”

  “Because I was ‘Brainy Laney?’”

  “No, because you loved it. You loved school and learning. You came to school even when you felt awful because you were afraid you might miss something.”

  He was right, and as Laney thought back, she realized in running from her nickname, she had run from the best part of her - the part that loved learning and found joy in a good book. How far would she have changed herself in seeking to be noticed had she not gone on the show and met Tyler? She shuddered at the thought and suddenly all the stupid insecurities she had been focused on when she first entered the hotel became just that. Stupid insecurities. She didn’t care that she and Tyler had met in a nontraditional way or that he had gotten paid when he proposed to her. What she cared about was that he had helped her find herself again, and she couldn’t wait to spend the rest of her life with him.

  27

  Laney enjoyed the perks that came with a celebrity wedding. Though she’d had to get up early, the massage, facial, and mani pedi had been worth the lack of sleep. Now she sat in a chair letting an amazing hairdresser twist her blond hair into a fabulous style as another makeup artist perfected her face. Maryanne and Nancy were enjoying a similar treatment just a few feet away.

  “It is beautiful,” the hairdresser said stepped back and Laney had to agree. Her blond locks fell in perfect waves against her shoulders.

  The makeup artist finished applying her lipstick and then Laney slipped out of her street clothes and into her dress. It too was something she never could have afforded - a strapless Vera Wang that hugged her curves in all the right ways. Red, pink, and white roses made up her bouquet, and the beautiful silver locket the studio had given her that hung around her neck completed her image. They had even supplied it with a picture of Tyler.

  Maryanne and Nancy each had their dresses paid for as well and they had even tailored Nancy’s for free to accommodate her growing belly. The soft pink of their dresses matched the color of her roses perfectly.

  “Are we ready to get married?” Bronwyn asked.

  Laney had to admit as they walked to the venue that Bronwyn had done a fabulous job. Not only was the dress perfect, but Bronwyn had set up wooden fences around a section of the beach where the ceremony would take place. It was like they had transported Tyler’s ranch to the beaches of Hawaii, and it was perfect.

  White chairs filled the beach and delicate bows of tulle hung across the backs of them and down the aisle. They had strewn red, pink, and white flower petals across the white carpet runner than covered the beach and a grand gazebo stood at the far end. Laney could just make out Tyler looking handsome in his tux next to Aaron and another friend.

  “You look amazing,” Laney’s father said as he held out his arm. It had taken a few months but eventually her father had warmed to Tyler and given them both his blessing.

  “Thanks Dad.”

  Laney watched as Nancy and then Maryanne made their way down the aisle. She barely registered the cameras filming the ceremony. Bronwyn had been right. They were tasteful, and no reporters were in sight.

  When the music shifted, she made her way up the aisle with her father. Though she wouldn’t have placed them there, it did not surprise Laney to see Peter, Justin, and the women from the show who had been promised a slot in the Maui spinoff sitting in the second row. At least they were all smiles today.

  As she walked past them, Tyler consumed her focus. She had almost given up on getting married and would never have imagined marrying someone she had known less than a year, but here she was. And she knew it was right.

  The pastor began to speak as she handed off her bouquet and took Tyler’s hands, but her brain refused to focus on his words. Instead she focused on Tyl
er’s beautiful sapphire eyes, the ones she would get to look into every day, and his dashing smile that she would get to wake up to every morning. She wouldn’t have thought it possible, but all the angst and all the worry was worth it for this moment - when she would get to call him her husband.

  Tyler’s heart thudded as he slid the ring on Laney’s finger. He was so focused on how beautiful she was that he barely heard the pastor ask for the rings. Thankfully Aaron was paying more attention and tapped his elbow. “With this ring, I thee wed.” The words sounded simple, but Tyler felt the weight of them. He was bound to Laney now, but then again, he’d been bound to her since the first day when she fell into his arms.

  She slipped his ring on his finger and repeated the words. He knew his smile must match her own because he felt like sunlight shone from every pore of his body.

  “By the power vested to me by God and the state of Hawaii, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”

  No words had ever sounded sweeter to Tyler, and he took no time leaning in and claiming Laney’s lips as his own. Vaguely, he registered cheers and clapping, but he didn’t care about them. He didn’t care about the cameras or the contract. He simply cared about this moment. This moment that declared Laney was his wife.

  When the kiss ended, he held up their hands. Another round of clapping erupted and then Tyler led the way down the aisle. He wasn’t an aficionado of weddings, but he thought Bronwyn had done a fabulous job with the ceremony. As he followed her to another large roped off area, he realized she had done just as much work with the reception.

  Beautifully decorated tables filled the area, and an elaborate floral arrangement sat in the center of each one. An outdoor DJ was set up to one side with large speakers mounted on tripods, and an open area sat in the middle which Tyler assumed was for dancing.

  Bronwyn led them to the largest table, and the wedding party joined them shortly after. The rest of the guests filled in the tables. Waiters and waitresses in crisp white shirts and black pants appeared carrying trays of delicious foods. An appetizer, a salad, and an entree graced Tyler’s plate, but while the food was divine, he couldn’t focus on it. The thought of holding Laney in his arms and later in his bed consumed his mind.

  Aaron gave a toast that he barely registered, but he flashed a smile whenever Aaron looked his way. Maryanne must have shared some funny moments from the show because the crowd chuckled, but he heard little of it as well.

  The one thing he did hear was the call for the first dance. Actually, he wasn’t sure he heard it so much as felt it when all the eyes in the area turned to him and Laney grabbed his hand.

  She smelled sweet and flowery as he wrapped his arms around her, and he couldn’t help stealing another kiss from her lips. “Thank you for being such a klutz,” he whispered in her ear.

  Her response was a silver bell of laughter and a punch in the arm. “Thank you for catching me. If you hadn’t, I probably would have broken something and not been a part of the show at all.”

  “That would have been a travesty,” he said.

  “I couldn’t agree more.” Her arms tightened around his neck and Tyler enjoyed the feel of her in his arms.

  The first dance ended, and Tyler reluctantly let go of her, so she could dance with her father and he with his mother. Before he knew it, the sun had drifted toward the horizon, the bouquet and garter had been tossed, and guests were beginning to issue their congratulations before disappearing up the beach.

  “Well, you did it guys.” It surprised Tyler to see Justin looking just as plastic but a little less smarmy standing before them. “I have to admit I wasn’t sure you would make it, but you proved me wrong. Of course, before you ride off in the sunset, I need one more thing from you.”

  “What’s that?” Laney asked beside him.

  “We need a short interview with the two of you for the end of the episode.”

  “Fine, let’s do it now.” Tyler wasn’t really in the mood to give an interview, but he wanted nothing to interrupt his night with Laney, so it made more sense to get it over with and off his mind.

  Justin led them to where two chairs were placed together like a couch. The lights were already focused on it and a crew member Tyler didn’t remember manned the camera. He and Laney sat down and then waited for smarmy game show host Justin to appear.

  “In three, two, one.” And there he was.

  “Welcome ladies and gentlemen and thanks for tuning in with us tonight. I hope you enjoyed seeing Tyler’s and Laney’s wedding as much as I did. On the last episode, I told you I would catch up with them for a small question-and-answer session, and I have. So, let’s welcome Tyler and Laney Hall.”

  The camera panned their direction and Tyler tensed. He had not missed being on camera and he would not miss it after tonight.

  “So, Laney, the viewers want to know if it was worth it going on the show and if you would do it again?”

  Laney’s body was stiff beside him, but her voice was warm and poised when she spoke. “Well, Justin, I didn’t originally audition for the show, but I’ll answer as best as I can. As for it being worth it,” she smiled at Tyler, “I can definitely say yes. Would I do it again? That’s a harder question. I would do it again if I knew going in what the final outcome would be, but it’s a lot harder than people think.”

  “What made it so hard?” Justin pressed.

  “At first it was watching Tyler with the other women and thinking I didn’t have a chance, but it might have been even harder once I became a contestant because I had to deal with the women not liking me and yet being unable to get away from the situation. All those women in one house,” she shook her head, “is stressful.”

  “It can be, but you handled it well, and people want to know your secret. How did you guys find lasting love once the cameras stopped rolling?”

  Laney gazed up at him. “We trusted God.”

  “And our hearts,” Tyler added.

  “And we let ourselves fall,” Laney said with a wide smile.

  Tyler matched her grin and squeezed her hand.

  “One more thing, Laney. I know you were filling in for us and when the show ended, you were looking to continue your work as a makeup artist. I wanted to be the first to let you know that Elite Modeling Agency reached out to us and wanted to offer you a position on their team. What do you say?”

  Laney took a deep breath and stared evenly at Justin. “I would say thank you for the offer, but that isn’t my life now. My life is with my husband on his ranch.” She squeezed Tyler’s hand and smiled at him.

  “Well, there you have it folks. Thanks for joining us tonight and thank you Laney and Tyler for letting us share this day with you. We wish you all the best and we’ll see you at home next time on ‘Who Wants to Marry a Cowboy.’”

  The camera stopped rolling and the lights turned off leaving Tyler and Laney staring at each other under the stars.

  “You handled that well. You’re kind of a natural on camera.”

  She chuckled and laid her head on his shoulder. “I think I’m done with cameras for a while. I’m perfectly content to just be Mrs. Hall. Well, almost perfectly content.”

  “Almost? What are you missing?”

  She looked up at him with twinkling eyes and a mischievous grin. “A baby.”

  His heart soared as he leaned down and kissed her again. “That I can certainly help with,” he whispered in her ears.

  “I thought maybe you could,” she said as she kissed him again.

  As the sun set around them, Tyler couldn’t help but smile at the way things had turned out.

  The End!

  28

  Author’s Note

  First off, let me say how glad I am that you read this book. When my friend Evangeline Kelly and I brainstormed this bride idea, I had no idea what I was going to write. Then I wrote The Billionaire’s Cowboy Groom and my readers told me they wanted more cowboys. I thought ‘I’m from Texas, I can do cowboys.’ But th
e truth is, there weren’t really many true cowboys in Lubbock, Texas where I grew up. So, I still had to do some research.

  This book was originally titled The Cowboy’s Unlikely Bride because I was going to make it an opposites attract book, but I just couldn’t make the idea gel in my head. I liked Laney and I liked Tyler but in order to make them unlikely, I would have to change one of them, and I just couldn’t do it. So I changed the title of the book instead.

  I’ve never been on a reality dating show, but I was on Wheel of Fortune once and yes, they did airbrush us. It was Teacher’s Week 2008 or 2009 I think, but good luck finding the episode. I don’t think it exists anywhere but my Tivo anymore. And yes, I still have the Tivo just because my Wheel of Fortune episode is on it. And because I know you’re thinking it, I wasn’t the big winner, but I almost won a trip to Hawaii. Gently Lapping Waves was the puzzle that would have sent me there, but with only two letters remaining, my brain froze and I picked the wrong letter. One day, I will make it to Hawaii.

  Anyway, I thought it would be fun to bring the reality show into it. I don’t always watch The Bachelor, but I’ve seen a few seasons (shh, don’t tell anyone. Trista and Ryan were my favorite) but I was surprised to find out the women had to do their own makeup and they didn’t get paid.

  And making Laney a makeup artist seemed to work with her personality of trying to be someone else. Laney is actually a lot of me. In fact, I went by Laney for a time in high school. I was a debater and participated in UIL tournaments. Thank you Ms. Patridge for taking us. I really did have a core group of friends named MaryAnne, Jennifer, Meredith, Tracey, and Steven, so this book more than any other is a part of me. The same could be said for the special epilogue that you can get for free because you purchased this book.