Her Cowboy Groom

She smiled a little bit. Underneath the party boy exterior, Owen Brody just might have a nice streak in him.

She walked slowly through the house, pausing to look at familiar family photos. She was even in a couple of the snapshots with Chloe from their college days. They looked so happy and carefree. Hard to believe that little more than a day ago, she’d still been happy. But that emotion seemed so far away now.

Shaking her head at the self-pity that was threatening to consume her whole, she headed out onto the porch and the heat of the day. She stopped short when she saw her car parked in the graveled area between the house and the barn. Part of her sorrow gave way to guilt. While she was sleeping the morning away, Owen had already gotten her tires fixed and brought her car back to the ranch. She scanned the area but didn’t see him. No doubt he was already out riding on the back forty somewhere, doing whatever ranchers did every day.

Despite still feeling shaky, she descended the steps and started walking. The day was quite warm, but she didn’t care. Though she spent most of her time indoors working, there was something therapeutic about getting out in the sunshine under a wide blue sky. It almost made her believe things weren’t so bad.

But they were.

She walked the length of the driveway and back. When she approached the house, Roscoe and Cletus, the Brodys’ two lovable basset hounds, came ambling around the corner of the porch.

“Hey, guys,” she said as she sank onto the front steps and proceeded to scratch them both under their chins. “You’re just as handsome as ever.”

“Why, thank you.”

She jumped at the sound of Owen’s voice. The dogs jumped, too, probably because she had. She glanced up to where Owen stood at the corner of the porch. “You made me scare the dogs.”

“Sorry. But I was taught to thank someone when they pay me a compliment.”

She shook her head. “Nice to see your ego is still intact.”

“Ouch.”

She laughed a little at his mock affront, something she wouldn’t have thought possible that morning. She ought to thank him for that moment of reprieve, but she didn’t want to focus on why she’d thought she might never laugh or even smile again. Instead, she nodded toward her car. “Thanks for getting the tires fixed so quickly. How much do I owe you?”

“Nothing.”

“I’m perfectly capable of paying my own bills.”

“I’m sure you are. Still, I don’t think fixing a couple of flats is going to send me to the poorhouse.” With that he tapped the brim of his cowboy hat and headed toward the barn.

As he walked away, she noticed how nice he looked in those worn jeans. No wonder he didn’t have trouble finding women.

Oh, my God! She was looking at Owen’s butt. Owen, as in Chloe’s little brother Owen. The kid who’d once waited on her and Chloe outside Chloe’s room and doused them with a supersoaker, the guy who had earned the nickname Horndog Brody.

She jerked her gaze away, suddenly wondering if she was mentally deficient. First she nearly married a guy who was already married. And now, little more than a day after she found out she’d nearly become an unwitting bigamist, she was ogling her best friend’s brother’s ass.

Unsettled, she went back inside, but instantly felt at a loss for what to do. She was normally hawking wedding gowns, veils and tiaras, everything to make a bride feel like a princess on her special day. Now the idea of even stepping foot into her store made her stomach turn. She knew she’d have to find a way to get past that. She had too much invested in the shop, and she couldn’t leave Katrina in the lurch for too long.

Her heart stuttered when she realized her own fairy-tale gown still hung in the back of the shop. After weeks of admiring it every day, she knew she never wanted to see it again. She grabbed her phone and called Katrina.

“Hey, sweetie,” Katrina answered. “How are you doing?”

It was a miracle Linnea had remembered to even call Katrina the day before to let her know she was going out of town for a few days. In fact, she’d been an hour out of Dallas before it dawned on her.

“I’m out of bed, which is more than I thought I’d accomplish today. How are things going there?”

“Fine. Don’t worry about the shop, okay?”

“Listen, I need you to do something for me.”

“Name it.”

“Sell my dress.”

“What?”

“My dress. I don’t want it to be there when I get back. Mark it at a price that moves it fast.”

Katrina hesitated before responding, “Are you sure? You love that dress.”

“I loved Michael, too, and look what that got me.” She realized how sharp her response had been as soon as it left her mouth. “I’m sorry. It’s just that it’s a reminder of what a fool I am.”

“You’re not a fool. I was standing on the outside and didn’t see any red flags, either.”

Linnea knew that should make her feel better, but it didn’t. “Has he called there looking for me?”

“A few times, but don’t worry about that. I took care of it.”

Something about the tone of Katrina’s voice sounded as though more was going on. “What do you mean, you took care of it?”

“Well, he came by, demanding to know where you were. I may have told him to leave, and if he came back I was going to call the cops and report him for stalking.”

Linnea’s mouth dropped open. “You didn’t?”

“I did, and I’d do it again. I might be small, but I will mess up anyone who hurts my friends.”

Despite everything, Linnea smiled. “Have I told you lately that you’re awesome?”

“No, and you should do that more often.”

“You’re right. I’ll make a note of that.”

Katrina laughed, and it lifted Linnea’s spirits some. They plummeted, however, when after she ended the call, she pulled up all the pre-wedding photos stored in her phone and started deleting them. With each one, it felt more and more as though the past six months of her life had been a waste. Despite what she’d told Katrina, she paused on the main photo of her gorgeous wedding gown. Yes, it was just a dress, but it had embodied her happiness, all her hopes and dreams for the future. Michael had robbed her of all that with his lies.

She hesitated with her finger over the last photo of the dress. As soon as she hit the Delete button, everything she’d planned for with such excitement would be well and truly gone. Fresh tears overflowed and ran down her cheeks as she hit the button.

Chapter Three (#ulink_cfca0d94-f088-57d5-923a-ca52c5fa4611)

Owen was still in a foul mood when he reached the house. He was covered in mud literally from head to toe, thanks to a calf that had given him the slip. And because Linnea was visiting, he was going to have to wear the mud all the way through the house, probably dropping globs from the back door to the bathroom.

He took his boots off outside the back door and stepped into the house. As he passed from the mudroom into the kitchen, he nearly collided with Linnea. He reached out on instinct but managed to catch himself before he actually touched her.

Linnea took a step back and eyed him. “What on earth?”

“Another glamorous day in the life of a rancher.” As if to punctuate his words, a blob of mud dropped off his arm onto the floor.

She motioned him back into the appropriately named mudroom. “Take off those clothes, and I’ll put them in the wash.”