Chapter Twenty-Two

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

P ICKETT WAS WORKING at the house when he got the call from his sister-in-law. “Tilly, if you’re looking for Cooper, he’s right here,” he said with a chuckle. His friend looked up from where he and some of the other crew from the McKenna and Stafford Ranches were helping hang sheetrock. He was determined to get this house finished before winter.

“I was calling you, Pickett,” Tilly said, and quickly told him what had happened at the baby shower. “Oakley’s headed home. She’s devastated.”

He looked down at the floor and groaned in pain for his wife, for himself. “Thanks for letting me know. I’ll go find her.” Oh, Oakley , he thought, his heart aching. And to have it happen at her sister’s baby shower. Pocketing the phone, he turned to Cooper. “I need to go.”

His brother-in-law came over to him, looking concerned. Pickett whispered, “Another miscarriage.” Cooper put an arm around his shoulders for a few moments. They’d always been like brothers since Pickett had come to work on the McKenna Ranch when he was a teen.

“Go. We’ll keep working,” Cooper said. “You need to get your woman into a decent home. Could change everything.”

Pickett nodded. “Thanks.”

He found Oakley in the stable, saddling up a horse as if nothing had happened. His wife had always been happiest out riding. “Want some company?” he asked from behind her.

She didn’t turn but did stop what she was doing for a moment. “I thought you were working on the house?”

“Was. Cooper is keeping the crew going until I get back.” He desperately wanted to turn her around, pull her into his arms, make everything right.

“Well, you should get back. We need walls in our house. I’m fine. I’m going for a ride.”

Pickett wasn’t fine. “I need a hug.” They’d heard somewhere that to have a happy marriage, they needed to hug for twenty seconds every day no matter how busy they were.

“Please don’t,” she whispered, emotion making her voice break.

“Twenty seconds, Oakley,” he said. “I really could use one. I hit my thumb with a hammer. It hurts like the devil.”

She dropped her head for a moment before she turned. He saw the anguish in her eyes as he quickly pulled her into a hug. He didn’t want her to see how badly he hurt for her, for them. At first her body was stiff, but slowly she began to soften against him. She buried her face into his neck, leaving wet tears as she clung to him.

He never wanted to let her go even as he felt his own heartbeat slow. They stayed like that, well over twenty seconds, before he was the one to pull away. “Best get back to that sheetrock and let you go on your ride.” Their gazes met for a moment.

Oakley sniffed and wiped at her cheeks, avoiding his gaze. “Watch that thumb,” she said, and turned to swing effortlessly up into the saddle.

Picket would have gladly stood there and watched her ride off into horizon, but Cooper was right. He needed to complete their home. One of these days they would have children to fill it—even if they had to adopt.

Turning, he walked back to his pickup. He heard the jingle of the horse’s tack as Oakley spurred her horse. Once he was behind the wheel, he finally looked to see her riding across the pasture, silhouetted against the golden leaves of the cottonwoods, a woman in her element.

He told himself that she was going to be all right. They were going to be all right. They had to be.

H OLLY J O HAD been excited but also anxious about her very first dance, especially after the way Buck had been acting. She’d made excuses for him insisting she leave the gym before they were finished decorating. She hoped they would have fun tonight and that he might kiss her again and this time it would be better. She was determined to have a good time. She’d be dancing with the cutest boy in school.

But when they arrived at the school, Buck had taken the time to refill his flask from a bottle he had behind the seat before they went into the school gym.

The moment they entered, he spotted his friends and left her standing in the doorway. She’d been looking forward to their first dance. Nothing was going like she’d thought it should. Buck was still angry about HH getting him in trouble with his dad. He’d hardly said a word on the way to the dance. She could see him now passing his flask around to his friends and laughing, not even looking in her direction.

She was fighting tears when Tana joined her. “You look so pretty,” her friend said the moment she reached her. “Everyone’s over here. Wait until you see Claire’s dress. I think it was her mother’s when she went to school here.”

The night became a blur with her gossiping and dancing to a few songs with her friends. She tried to have a good time despite Buck avoiding her the whole night. By the time the DJ played the last song, she was ready to go home. Her feet hurt in the dress heels she’d worn, and she was pretty sure that Buck planned to break up with her after tonight.

More than anything when she felt like this, she wanted her horse. Often when she was sad, she would go out to the stable, loop her arm around Honey’s neck and talk to the mare. She wished she could do that right now as she watched Buck stagger across the dance floor toward her. When he reached her, he threw his arm around her and kissed her. He tasted like alcohol and made a show of sticking his tongue in her mouth. She shoved him away as his friends all howled in laughter.

“Let’s get out of here. I know where there’s a party,” he said, slurring his words as he reached for her.

She stepped back out of his reach

“I have to go home. If I’m late—”

He stumbled back from her, his expression one of anger as if she’d been the one to ignore him all night. “Then go.” He breathed alcohol fumes on her as he lurched toward her and whispered loudly, “I can do better.” He laughed. . “See ya.” Turning, he walked off, his friends joining him as they headed for the door, all of them laughing. She felt her face burn.

“I can give you a ride home,” one of her friends offered.

“No, it’s fine. I have a ride,” she said despite the sobs that threatened to burst from her. She didn’t even want to be around her friends as humiliated as she felt. She waited until they’d left and the two young teachers who’d chaperoned were packing up to leave before she stepped outside. She didn’t want one of them waiting with her. She wanted to be alone.

Pulling out the phone Pickett had given her, she made the call. He answered on the first ring. At just the sound of his voice, she burst into tears.

B AILEY DIDN ’ T REMEMBER eating dinner. The night was a blur of well-wishers and gawkers, who seemed to be watching them as if they weren’t a likely pair. But the worst part was the disappointment she felt, because it made her angry with herself. She was the one who’d called the shots when it had come to their so-called relationship. She’d been the one to push him away—and was still doing that.

So why did she hate that it hadn’t been real? She tried not to look at the beautiful ring Stuart had put on her finger. How could he dare make a promise of a future—even pretend—knowing what was at stake? Not that it wasn’t a good plan, but she wished she’d been in on it so it hadn’t hurt so much.

When he’d gotten down on one knee, her heart had broken. She’d never been much for tradition. It was hard for her to even admit why she was disappointed. So far nothing about her and Stuart had been traditional by any means. This was their first date, for crying out loud. She had wanted to stay home and watch TV at his house.

And it wasn’t like she’d grown up dreaming about her wedding day. She’d been more interested in horses than boys. At seventeen, she’d never been in love. Then he had happened.

Now she was engaged to the only man she’d ever loved, and it wasn’t real. The only thing real in her life was that there was a killer out there coming for her. Had she dreamed of her future, this was not the way she would have wanted it to go.

It only made it worse when Stuart looked at her, his eyes full of love and concern for her. She’d stared back, angry with him even as she had to admit the reason she was so disappointed. She loved this man. Because of that, she wanted the romance, the real engagement, the dream of a future together.

Damn him for making her ache for it when she didn’t believe it possible—as much as her heart yearned for a happy-ever-after with Stuart.