by Hope Moore
Allie laughed. “A little after seven. But oh, Ginny, I’m so nervous, I don’t even know why or what I’m thinking. I had to call you.”
Ginny suddenly sounded more alert. “Allie, what is going on? You sound strange. Are you all right? Is your mama okay?”
Her sweet friend was always looking out for her, and that was part of why she was nervous because she knew Ginny was going to be upset. “Relax, Ginny. Everything is okay. Mama is the same, but she’s going to be fine because, well, I’ve agreed to something and it’s going to mean that she is going to get everything she needs.”
“How? What’s happened? Did you win the lottery?”
Allie bit her lip and then went for it. “In a way, yes. Are you sitting down?”
“I’m in bed. What in the tarnation is going on? You don’t gamble and you sound strange.”
Allie took a deep breath. “Okay, so…I’m getting married.”
“What!”
The shriek over the phone practically burst Allie’s eardrums. She held the phone away from her ear for a second and then prepared herself for battle.
“What’s going on? You don’t even date. How can you be getting married? Have you been keeping something from me?”
“No, Ginny. I have not been keeping anything from you. You’d have tortured me out of it anyways if I was trying to keep something from you. That’s why I’m calling you. Look, this cowboy came by the truck stop last night. He looked real sad.”
A groan came from the other end of the line. “Please don’t tell me that you fell for another sob story from another stinkin’ cowboy. What is up with every loser cowboy out there finding you and—”
“Ginny, wait, slow down. It was kind of a sob story, but it’s very unique.” Her friend tried to start up again. “Halt. Hold your horses and don’t talk for a minute, okay? Promise? This is not like the-one-who-will-not-be-named.”
Ginny growled then heaved a sigh. “I promise. Just tell me what in the tarnation is going on.”
“Okay, he has to get married by the end of the day—by Thursday, actually—or else he loses his big ranch, his inheritance. At least, it sounds like a big ranch from the way he’s talking about it. His granddaddy stipulated this in his will, and he obviously likes three-month markers. Obviously, he goes by quarters. I’m sorry, I’m rambling, but if we stay married for three months, then I get money for marrying him right up front, but it’s not the big money. I get that if I stay married to him for three months. And there’s not going to be any hanky-panky going on. No romance. I just have to stay married to him for three months because if he gets married, he saves his ranch for him and his brothers. If he doesn’t get married, even his brothers lose out on the inheritance, and I don’t know who gets the ranch if that happens. But just remember, I’m getting something out of this. I’m getting enough money in the beginning to pay for my mama’s rehab and hopefully she will come out of the coma.”
“This sounds way too fishy.”
“I know, but if you’d been there and heard him—seen him—you’d see why I believe him. He said I would get plenty of money to take care of my mama. And this morning, I’m meeting him at the park across from the courthouse to go over the contract and the prenuptial contract. Then we’re going to the clerk’s office where we’re going to get our marriage license. Whew! I am so nervous.”
Tension-filled silence was all she heard from the other end of the phone line.
“Ginny, are you still there?”
“I am here,” Ginny gritted out through what sounded like clenched teeth.
Allie prepared herself for what was about to happen. This was the calm before the storm. Before the deluge hit like a Texas flash flood. She’d known this from the beginning.
“Allie, you are too sweet and have always been gullible. Your heart is too good. But this time that sweet heart of yours has gone way off the deep end. I cannot believe how low this guy is willing to go to get—to get a woman. Geesh.”
“It’s not like that.”
“How do you know that you are truly going to get this money? Did you ask for credentials? Did you ask for some form of ID? What do you know about this guy? I’m getting dressed right now. Do not go meet this guy at that courthouse. You could go missing. He’s a creep. He could be taking you off and I will never see you again. You will never see anyone again. You will probably disappear. Allie, I cannot believe you’re doing this.”
“Ginny, Ginny, calm down! Ginny, calm down!”
“Ouch! Darn it.”
Allie cringed, listening. It sounded as if she were hopping around as she probably tried to pull on her ever-present jeans on one leg at a time and running into things as she did so.
“I am not going to calm down. Ouch—I am telling you, Allie, I am going to be there in five minutes.” There was a crash. “Ouch. For Pete’s sake. Well, it might be longer than that. Don’t you go anywhere.”
“Ginny, I’m supposed to meet him at little before eight. It will take me ten minutes to get down there. I have to leave now. I don’t want to make him wait. I’m going to do this.”
“I will be at that park. You are not marrying this jerk. You got that?”
Allie groaned. She had known it was going to be bad, but not this bad. All she needed was Ginny the Warrior-Sister to come up there and mess everything up. “Ginny, please calm down. I need this. I don’t need you coming up there and messing everything up. Please, please, listen to me. He is a nice guy, I can tell.”
“Excuse me? Did you forget all the times that you have been so gullible with men who have taken advantage of you? Like that time that—”
“Please don’t go there. Please. I am not being gullible, I promise you. I sat down and I had a nice conversation with him. He is not like those other guys. Especially not like him.”
“You are too important to me, girlfriend. I’m going to meet him. I’m not letting you do this. I will meet you at the courthouse in ten minutes. And whoever this guy is, he better be ready, because I am coming with all my barrels firing.”
“Please don’t bring Loretta.” Allie rubbed her forehead.
“Oh, you can bet I’m bringing Loretta. Best backup a girl can have.”
Allie had a headache, but she also had a deadline. She grabbed her purse and tucked her phone in her pocket because Ginny had hung up on her and was probably yanking on the rest of her clothes. Who knew—she might be in her pajamas when she arrived. There was no telling what was about to happen when Ginny arrived. But one thing was for sure—she needed Ginny for backup. This was a major decision and Ginny had more experience with contracts. She just needed to prepare Wade for what was coming. Because when Ginny was mad, she was worse than a Texas tornado.
The-one-who-shall-not-be-named had wished he’d never met her. And, well, Ginny sounded madder now than then. Ginny had found Allie and him in his hotel room just in the nick of time. Allie had managed to lock herself in the bathroom…she didn’t even want to think about it. But Ginny had saved her that night. That cowboy had been coming by the truck stop a lot and had been flirting with her and trying to get her to go out with him. She’d said no every time he asked but he wasn’t getting the hint. Then he’d started telling her how sick his grandmother was. She’d felt really bad for him. When he’d told her he needed help getting her to the hospital, Allie had gone with him. Stupid, stupid mistake. Even more stupid: when they reached the hotel room and she’d let him convince her that his grandma was inside. Yeah, right—the Big Bad Wolf was in there. Thankfully, she’d texted Ginny and told her the room number. Ginny had arrived with Loretta—her pink, double-barreled shotgun—in tow. Thank goodness.
She had gone to help his grandma. Yeah, she knew that sounded pretty lame, but this was different. She could feel that it was different. Wade’s steady, serious eyes filled her mind. He couldn’t be a jerk. He just couldn’t be.
Ginny had saved her before. But never had it been that serious. Her friend had ridden to her rescue with those b
arrels blazing, shot that doorknob off that hotel room and found him in his underwear, picking the lock on the bathroom door.
All Allie had heard was a lot of begging going on until Ginny had told her to come out of the bathroom. The cowboy had gone willingly with the cops, screaming to get him away from the crazy woman.
Thinking of those barrels, Allie raced to her car. She had to get to the courthouse, and she had to get there now to warn Wade what was coming.
Chapter Three
Wade was pacing in the small park when he saw Allie drive up in her very old Corolla. He halted, then shifted his weight from one boot to the other as he watched her get out of the car. She hesitated for a moment as their gazes met. She pushed her hair away from her face, looking pensive. He’d struggled all night about doing this. She seemed very sweet, but very vulnerable. He was worried. He had told himself over and over again that he wasn’t taking advantage of her. But it felt as if he were because she was desperate to help her mother.
But he was desperate too.
As she started toward him, his gut clenched. She wore jeans and a blue top. With her hair pulled back in a ponytail, she looked younger than she had last night in the brown truck-stop uniform. Her jeans were rolled at the ankles and she had on flat-footed Converse tennis shoes that he had seen mostly teenagers wearing. Maybe the weariness on her face last night had aged her. She still looked tired, and her big, blue eyes that dominated her face were full of worry. The closer she got, the younger she looked.
He groaned. How old was this woman?
The minute she got to him, he didn’t waste any time. “Okay, first things first—how old are you? I didn’t ask you last night, but today you look really young.”
She looked panicked. “I’m twenty-four years old. I just look young for my age. It’s been a curse all my life. But don’t worry, I’m plenty old. I’ve had two years of college…and I have my driver’s license if you don’t believe me. It’s in the car. I can go get it.”
She spun to go back and he reached out and grabbed her arm. Her skin was soft and warmth raced through him. “Wait…I believe you.”
She closed her eyes as if saying a prayer of thanks. Desperation clung to her. “Good. How old are you?”
“I’m twenty-nine, going on thirty in just a few months. I just needed to make sure you were older than you looked. I need to know I’m not taking advantage of you.”
She smiled and his pulse raced. “I understand.”
“And I have to tell you, probably if you were much younger than twenty-four, I wouldn’t be able to do this anyway. I have to make sure you’re old enough to really understand what you’re doing.”
She looked indignant. “Look, I may be a little vulnerable and that’s what I’m trying to tell you, but I understand what I’m doing. I understand completely what I’m doing. I am not stupid. But I need to tell you something. My friend…”
His attention turned completely to the Jeep that had just whirled into the parking lot next to her Corolla. A woman wearing a cowboy hat sat in the open-air Jeep. She immediately sprang from the Jeep and started fast-walking toward them. She looked seriously like she wanted to hurt someone.
Him.
“Who—”
“That’s what I was trying to tell you. That’s my friend Ginny. And she’s really mad and she…she’s coming here, and she’s going to get you. I mean…I’m sorry…she’s going to try and stop you. She’s really protective of me.”
Before she could get anything else out, the gal in the cowboy hat had reached them. She skidded to a halt in front of him. She was pretty. She had curly brown hair and a sassy look about her. She wore a Western shirt and her jeans were tucked into her cowboy boots. Her hat was beat up, one of those that gals bought at the dime store or the convenience store or the truck stop. It was a play hat, but he guessed that it was one of those designer things, he thought. He figured she wasn’t a real cowgirl, but that she liked to dress like one. She was hot. She was hot but he meant hot, like mad hot. There was practically steam coming out of her ears.
“Okay, buster.” She jabbed a finger in his chest. “Just what do you think you’re doing? Because if you think you’re going to con my friend into marrying you, you’ve got another think coming. You are not going to get to her today. You just take your lies and whatever else you’ve been spilling and you just get in your truck and you hightail it out of here.”
“Ginny, please…this is Wade McCoy. And he’s not spilling me lies. I told you, he’s nice.”
She thought he was nice. Wade stared at Ginny. He couldn’t get mad because he admired her. She had spunk, and she was trying to protect Allie. He liked that. He figured that anyone as sweet-looking and sweet-acting as Allie probably needed someone to protect her. Heck, he wanted to protect her. He couldn’t help himself. From the moment he saw her, he wanted to protect her. When he walked into that truck stop last night, his first thought was that she looked tired and he wished she could sit down. Then he got lost in his own worries and thoughts.
“Ginny, it’s good to meet you, and I can show you my credentials. I am not trying to take advantage of your friend. I need her help and she needs my help. I promise, it’s going to be okay.” It was; he would make sure of it.
Ginny’s eyes drilled into him. “And you can bet I want to see those credentials. I want to know who you are. I want to see a contract. You know, write something down that says that she isn’t obligated to you for anything and that she’s getting what you say she’s getting. I am not her keeper, but, I can’t help but make sure she’s okay.”
He glanced at Allie. She was pink and biting her bottom lip. He had to fight the desire to wrap his arm around her and tell her everything was going to be okay.
“I contacted my lawyer last night and he faxed me the contracts. I have all the paperwork right here.” He pointed to where he had a briefcase on the table. He strode over, snapped the leather case open, and pulled out all the paperwork. He handed it to Allie. “Everything’s written out in there. I’m glad you’ve got a friend with you to look it over. If you want to take it to a lawyer to look over, that’s fine…if he can do it this morning. You read it and tell me if the money is enough.” He knew he was leaving himself open for vulnerability, but he was desperate and he wanted to believe that this sweet-faced woman was what she said she was and wasn’t going to try to take advantage of him.
“Thank you. Ginny, come on.” Allie headed to the end of the table and sat down.
Ginny stepped over the bench seat and sat down beside her.
Wade moved away. He wanted to pace, but he knew that would make them nervous, so he walked over to a tree and turned his back to lean against it, with his book propped open. He waited. Several minutes later, after the two had their heads bent over the papers and talked together over various pages, Allie waved him over.
Ginny watched him and seemed more subdued, and that was good.
“Ginny and I have looked at this and we agree that it looks good. I’m not a lawyer or anything, so I’m going to trust you on some of this that it’s the truth. So, I’m going to sign it.”
Ginny stared at him. “She’s going to sign it because I agree with her. It all looks above board. But if she calls me and she needs me, I do have a gun and I am going to come see you.”
He smiled at her. He took her threat to be the truth. He had a feeling that she did have a gun and she did know how to use it. Heck, most women in Texas did. He tried to reassure her anyways. “I promise, you are not going to have to come see me with your gun. I will be a gentleman. I will honor what’s in that contract, and at the end of three months, Allie can walk away a richer woman.”
“And no monkey business.” Ginny gave him the evil eye.
“Ginny, stop.” Allie gave her friend a pleading look then gave him an apologetic one. “Wade, like I said last night, you’re the answer to my prayers. And Ginny, she’s always been my protector ever since we were little kids, so you’ll have to forgive h
er. She wouldn’t shoot you—although I won’t say she wouldn’t shoot someone who was trying to hurt me. She might kick you where it hurts, but she wouldn’t shoot you.”
He grimaced. “I promise you, she’s not going to have to kick me either.”
Ginny hiked a brow. “Hope not.”
One thing was certain: Allie had one vigilant, slightly scary friend in her corner. The fact made him feel good for Allie.
Allie and Ginny had spent the evening packing her things that she would take to Wade’s Hill Country ranch on the outskirts of Fredericksburg. Ginny was resigned that she was going through with the wedding but after exhaustive research on Wade McCoy, everything was clearer now. He was very rich. So rich she couldn’t even fathom his wealth. The McCoy fortune was estimated in the billions. Billions.
With Ginny as her witness, Allie stood in front of the justice of the peace and exchanged wedding vows the next day. She stared into Wade’s earnest eyes and butterflies swirled inside her. He was so handsome and he seemed so nice and there was a chemistry she felt humming between them…on her part, anyway. But she had to keep reminding herself this was strictly a business deal. Absolutely nothing else mattered. And then there was her track record with men that was not the most reliable. She inhaled sharply as he took her hands and the JP recited the vows. Fake vows. Not the real vows she longed for one day. This was not that day. This was for her mother.
She was still trying to figure out why Wade’s granddaddy would threaten to give away his legacy instead of willing it to the grandsons who loved him and had worked beside him to build his fortune and legacy on the ranch Wade obviously loved. She didn’t believe it was all about the money.
Allie was thankful Ginny had come around. They had talked late into the night as they packed up most of her clothes and got her ready for this trip. She called and apologized to her boss at the truck stop for having to leave him on such short notice. She felt bad, but there was nothing else she could do. He was a nice guy and she had worked for him off and on through the years, started when she was in college and then before she opened her florist and then recently when she needed a job so desperately. As always, he told her she was a good waitress and that if she ever needed a job, she had one at the truck stop. He had always given her a job when she needed one and she would forever be grateful to him.