by Hope Moore
With that said, she headed to the back and Penny started talking. She’d cupped her hands on the table. “Okay, you two, so here’s the deal. Your granddaddy made those slightly odd stipulations about you getting married to inherit the ranch and as you know, it was for your own good. He just wanted great-grandkids on that property. And he knows good and well that you just could have married her for the three-month time frame and then you two could divorce and go on your merry ways, go on about your business, both of you having gotten what you wanted—Allie getting the paycheck she’s going to get and you getting the property and the money. And to be honest, your granddaddy knows that you worked your butt off to help build this ranch. And he didn’t want you not to get it. He also knew you well enough to figure you would find a way to marry somebody.
“But he knew you weren’t just going to marry somebody who didn’t appeal to you in some way. And I suspect, from my own observations of watching you for the last three months and you hadn’t married somebody until right up to the deadline, that you had many a chance to offer the deal to a young woman and had yet to do it. I was starting to get a little bit concerned myself. And I imagine your granddaddy up in heaven was worrying, too, but you came through. I suspect there was a reason why you asked Allie to marry you. Now, don’t say anything. I see that speculation in your eyes and when you look at Allie, I see a little twinkle there. But I think that like your granddaddy suspected, I, too, hoped that there was a little something between you two that got you both to agree to this marriage and that it was not just the money factor.
“So here’s the deal: you know that it had a three-month time period but his hope was that in three months you two might find something more between you. And the old charmer hoped you’d find love. He was always a romantic when you got past the rough edges of him. Your grandmother testified to that many times to me.”
Allie looked at Wade. They were sitting with their shoulders touching and she’d felt him tense.
“I had figured it was something like that.” He didn’t look happy. “But whatever he was thinking, I still don’t agree with what he’s done. But it’s his will and in the end, he’s been quite clear showing me that it is his land to do with as he wants, no matter how hard I worked.”
She hurt for him.
“That’s your view. And I’m not saying I agreed with him, either. But what’s done is done, and you two are now on a journey to make it right—however you decide it will end for the two of you as a couple.”
Their food arrived and they waited as Carla set the plates in front of them.
When she’d gone, Penny picked up her sandwich. “It is my dearest hope that you wouldn’t just look at this like a paycheck—that you would at least give it a chance, a real chance. Therefore, I hope that you two get close to each other and drop your defenses.” She looked at Allie. “I have a feeling you have some. I know Wade does. That boy is so tight-lipped and he’s got his heart so bolted up it can’t see daylight. And I understand why. For instance, I see how Carla eyed him. I understand it happens a lot and he’s not just known here in this area for who and what he has. I’m sure you’ve looked him up by now and seen his picture is splayed everywhere. All the McCoy boys are. But Wade dislikes it the most, I think. He’s wary. And that means I hope you two will be vulnerable with each other and honest.”
Wade had listened quietly. Now he took a deep breath. “Penny, here’s the deal. Allie is a good person and I’m not going to do anything that’s going to hurt her. And what you’re asking of us to do has the potential of backlash and backlash does damage. This is a business transaction as it stands now. If we change that, then Allie could get hurt. I could, too, but it’s not me I’m worried about anymore. She’s done this for me—yes, for the paycheck that she needs—but mostly out of the kindness of her heart. I’m not planning on toying with it.”
Allie bit the inside of her lip as she contemplated what he was saying. There was that small hope inside her that was suddenly wishing that they could give this a chance. Even if he was poor as dirt she’d want to, because Wade was a good guy and it wasn’t because of what he had. He was just a good guy and she was overwhelmingly attracted to him like no man she’d ever been attracted to. And maybe it was just because he was giving her a chance to find a sanctuary for a little while from all of the troubles she had before.
But he was right in many ways. She was more vulnerable than him and she could get really hurt if they allowed this attraction they were feeling to go any further. Because she had no doubt that Wade would walk away. Her deadline was three months and she was gone. And there was nothing in his attitude that led her to believe that anything she could do would change that…
Penny gave Wade a very pointed look. “I understand what you’re saying, Wade. But that’s what your granddaddy wanted. He wanted you to give this a chance. And so for that, I promised him I would do a few things that I would have done for you if this was a normal marriage. I’m throwing you two a wedding reception dance in two weeks. And I expect you to come and be on your best behavior as a married couple. All your neighbors have no idea about the will and will want to wish you well and meet your lovely bride. All you need to do is come with smiles on your faces and looking like a happily married couple cutting cake, and dancing the first dance, just like if this was the reception after your quickie marriage. What do you think about that?”
Allie was dumbfounded. Stunned. Sick to her stomach.
Chapter Ten
Wade stared at Penny, the woman who was like a grandmother to him. Had been there for his family always. He didn’t like her idea at all. He was sitting beside Allie right now and she had accidently bumped his thigh with her thigh and heat had risen up through him instantly. He’d been fighting off his attraction to her harder than ever since the calf incident that morning.
Three days in and he was struggling. He was attracted to Allie but that didn’t mean he was going to fall in love with Allie. He wasn’t going to let that happen. He had his reasons and he tried to explain, but he did not want to hurt Allie and he had this big fear that he would. And now Penny was really messing with his plan. But there was no getting around it. Penny got what Penny wanted.
“Penny, you are driving me crazy but okay. We’re going to come because I know you and Granddaddy had a plan and we’re going to see this thing through. Is that fine with you, Allie?”
She was biting the inside of her lip, and her eyes were very serious. “I am, but I thought I was going to come here and learn a few things on the ranch, and you know, play married until we parted ways. I hadn’t planned on having to truly lie to anybody. Until right now, it hadn’t hit me that all your friends and neighbors will be wanting to congratulate you. That will be lying. Face-to-face lying. I’m assuming you’ll invite all the important people in Wade’s business and people in his granddaddy’s life?”
Penny nodded.
Allie took a deep breath and Wade could feel her turmoil. But he didn’t know what to do for her.
“Then that means we’re really going to be lying to them. And that makes me uncomfortable. I’m not good at lying. Never have been and I don’t like it. That’s probably why I’m so terrible at it and always fell for whatever lies a fella felt like telling me.”
Wade lost his appetite. She looked really panicked. She was so panicked she had clasped her hands together on the table around the front of her plate and her knuckles were white.
He placed a hand on top of hers. “Relax, Allie. Come on, breathe. Don’t get all uptight and nervous. We’re not going to be lying to them. Let’s just say that for the night of the wedding reception, we give it our all just like Granddaddy wanted. It won’t be like we’re flat out lying that way—we’re at least giving it a shot. What do you think about that? Will that help you?” What was he committing to?
“I know you don’t want to and I understand. I respect that you don’t want to lie to me either or lead me on. It’s just so much more complicated than I thou
ght when I married you. I thought it was cut-and-dried. I had no idea.”
“Sugar,” Penny smiled sympathetically at her, “I like you. I can tell you right now Wade’s granddaddy would’ve liked you and his grandmother, too. You are very honest and wear your heart on your sleeve. That’s a little bit dangerous but it means you are hoping for goodness. I’m going to come out and tell you, one woman to another, in this situation you might need to cover your heart up just a little bit. If at all possible. I can understand if you can’t and I can understand where Wade’s coming from too. He doesn’t want to hurt you, and I can see what he’s talking about now. But I don’t see what it’s going to hurt to truly give it a shot, like Wade’s suggesting, for that night. And that won’t be lying; it would just be between all of us. What do you say?”
Their gazes locked.
“Okay. I’m in. Let’s do this,” Allie said.
Her hands beneath his trembled just a little bit and only then did Wade realize he was still holding her hands. He could dive into those pools of blue. Because he knew Penny was seeing it all and Allie had no clue that she was already in trouble. Wade groaned inwardly and pulled his hand away from hers. He sounded conceited by knowing she was falling for him but it was right there on her face. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out. Now he was in trouble because the thought of holding her in his arms while dancing appealed to him too much.
Allie stared out across the pasture at the horses running and frolicking with the colts. It was beautiful. The grass was so green and rich and the horses were amazing. There were eight horses and six babies. The prettiest one was a golden color with a cream mane that ruffled in the wind as it galloped across the pasture.
She made the call while she was standing there and checked on her mother. She was still the same. Allie planned to go see her the next week just to satisfy herself that all was well. She needed to ask Wade about either driving or taking the plane he had insisted she think of as hers while she was here. She hadn’t missed the while she was here statement.
Since their lunch with Penny, Wade had shown her again how to feed the calves, and had approved that she could do it. She’d been so proud of that and had to fight down the want to hug him. But he’d been more reserved this time than the first, as if he were trying to keep her at arm’s length, so she had made her excitement more reserved. He’d been working long hours and hadn’t come to sit with her on the swing at night. Though they did eat together. He had also given her the keys to his truck so that she could go exploring if she wanted. She had gone to Fredericksburg one day and walked the long, long main street area where there was shop after shop of things to buy. She’d eaten lunch alone at an outside table of a restaurant that had live music and she’d people watched. She’d given in to temptation and gone in one of the many ice cream shops and bought a scoop and a piece of fudge. She’d come home empty-handed.
“How did your day go?” Wade had asked that evening on his way to his office.
“It was nice. I enjoyed it. And your day, how was it?”
His gaze had been guarded. “We’re moving cattle from a ravine and into a flatter pasture in case of flash floods. It was hot. I’m sorry, I need to finish up some paperwork for a group of cattle buyers.”
“Sure. I’m going to swing then head to bed.”
And then she’d taken her pad and pen out to the swing and he’d gone to his office.
Standing there watching the horses, she replayed every moment they’d spent together before he had closed himself off. What had gone wrong?
Four days had passed and she was going stir-crazy. And she missed seeing Wade. She’d been feeding the calves, after assuring him she could manage, and she had done okay.
As she stood there, a truck startled her as it barreled down the lane from the entrance gate. She was in a pasture to the back of the stables, so she wasn’t sure whether the truck would see her but as she stood there, it angled onto the road that led straight to where she was, as if whoever was driving had spotted her standing there beside the horse pen.
The truck pulled to a stop and a woman a little older than her hopped out and strode toward her. “Hey there. Are you Allie?”
Allie walked toward the brunette curiosity driving her forward. She smiled. “I am. I’m married to Wade.” She didn’t know what else to say, but still not comfortable saying she was married to Wade.
“Great.” A wide smile erupted over the woman’s face. “I’m really glad to meet you. I’m Caroline McCoy. Wade’s girl cousin-well second cousin to be accurate. Our granddaddies are brothers. Not that you’d confuse me with his boy cousins—my brothers—but I’m the only girl in the bunch. And I am so thrilled to see one of the boys tossing in the towel and settling down.”
“Oh, that’s nice.” What else could she say? She didn’t know why he and Allie had married. Allie realized Wade and his brothers hadn’t told anyone about the will. Not even his cousins. It hit her then who Caroline was. “Oh, your parents died in the plane crash with Wade’s parents?”
Caroline nodded. “Yes, Sadly, we lost them all far too early. So, we McCoy cousins have a bond we wish desperately we didn’t have but we do and we’re stronger because of it. I adore Wade, Todd and Morgan as if they were my brothers.”
“I am so sorry for your loss. I lost my dad not too long ago and its just hard.” She couldn’t bring herself to go deeper into her situation and her mother’s struggles right now. It was too close to her heart.
“Thank you, and I’m so sorry about your dad. It’s not easy, but now you have Wade to help you through this tough time.”
“Yes,” she said, knowing it was so true in so many ways.
Caroline smiled. “I came over to welcome you. I hope that Wade is treating you right.”
There was teasing in her words and it made Allie laugh. “He is.”
“I figured so, since he married you. That is a feat! I’m going to want to hear the specifics on that at some point. I mean, he hardly dates and then he goes on a cattle-buying road trip and brings home a wife too. Were you dating and we didn’t know?”
“Um, no. We met when he stopped at the truck stop I worked at.”
To Caroline’s credit, she just smiled. “Love at first sight. I love it. Well, I have been meaning to come over here and welcome you ever since I heard the news. You two must have had a whirlwind of a relationship.”
“You could say that.” Allie said as little as possible. From Caroline’s comments, she wondered whether she thought they’d met at the truck stop on a different road trip and had dated at least a little while. If so, she wasn’t going to deny or expand on what really happened.
“We need to hang out. Bond. I can help you acclimate to the area. And Penny called and told me she’s throwing y’all a wedding bash. I think it’s a fantastic idea. A reception with dancing and live music and cake, lots of rich and creamy cake. Anyway, she suggested you might need a girlfriend to help you navigate this shindig and I am always up for a party. And I wanted to meet you anyway, so our stars have collided. I’d have come over sooner but I was out of town. But never fear, I am here.”
Allie liked her and she reminded her in many ways of Ginny, and she missed Ginny so very much. Their very short phone conversations hadn’t been enough but they’d seemed to be playing phone tag. Caroline had that boldness that her friend had and Allie was drawn to that.
She really needed to go back to Tyler and see her mother and Ginny. She was going to talk to Wade tomorrow.
She relaxed. “I’ve actually been thinking I needed to figure out what to wear to the reception/dance. What am I supposed to wear to this shindig?” she asked, using Caroline’s description. “Would you want to go shopping?” Allie didn’t normally go shopping with someone she barely knew but she was actually a little bit desperate.
“The magic words. What are you doing this afternoon?”
“Um, well, nothing. Wade’s working cows and Nelda’s got the house sparkling and dinner already
in the refrigerator and it’s barely past lunch. And I’ve already fed the calves. To tell you the truth, I’m bored out of my mind.”
A grin spread across Caroline’s face. “Get your things and load up. We’re going shopping for a fabulous dress and some girl time. There are some great specialty shops in Fredericksburg. Or we could go to San Antonio. That’s the closest place you’ll find a decent dress. So, we’ll just have to leave your sweetheart a little note and tell him that I kidnapped you and are headed to Fredericksburg. If we can’t find a perfect dress there, we’ll just be forced to go shopping again.” She laughed. “Tell him I said we would be back when we get back.”
Allie chuckled, not exactly sure what to make of Caroline but she most assuredly reminded her of Ginny. Yes, it was time to go home and see her. She could invite Ginny to drive out here for the dance if she had time. Or maybe they could send that plane they owned for her because she probably wouldn’t have the time to get away from her vineyard. Her work was everything to her. She decided tomorrow she would give Ginny a call.
“Then let’s do it. I guess I need to change?”
“You’re just fine. I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m a jeans and T-shirt kind of gal. At least you have sandals on—I have my boots on. When we whip out the payment, they will take us however they can get us.”
Yes, Ginny for certain. “Sounds good.”
“I promise you, though, that I’ll clean up for the dance. I do like frilly things too, just in their time. I just got off of riding my horses for the morning, so I might even stink a little bit. Hope you can take it.” She laughed. “Just teasing. I took a shower before I came over here—I couldn’t meet you for the first time smelling like my horses.”
Allie laughed and knew she was going to get along with Caroline just fine.
They walked toward her truck. “I’ll ride with you to the house and leave him that note.”