Page 49 of Cowboy Friend Zone for Christmas

Shelly peeked her head out from behind her skirt to grin triumphantly at her in the mirror. “We fixed it!” She was squatted down, fiddling with the left side of the train. Laura Lee was squatted down on the other side of it with her mane of dark hair falling forward to hide her face from view.

The three women were in a small meeting room in the vestibule at the First Church of Pinetop. Carol Jackson, the children’s pastor, had insisted they use it for a bridal dressing room. She’d recently gotten married there herself, so she’d served as Nash and Noelle’s unofficial wedding planner.

“You two are miracle workers,” Noelle breathed. One of her buttons had come loose that she would need to button up the train during the lunch reception after the ceremony. “How did you do it?”

“With a safety pin.” Shelly chuckled as she stood. “The best universal utility tool ever invented.” She was in a column dress of Christmas red satin that fell all the way to the toes of her matching velvet pumps. She’d insisted on wearing a matron of honor dress with an empire waist, in the event she failed to lose her baby weight in time. Noelle had no idea if she’d succeeded. All she knew was that her friend looked stunning today.

So did Laura. She was in a matching red dress and heels. Her porcelain features were flushed, and her exotic eyes sparkled with excitement. According to her, it was the first wedding she’d ever been asked to take part in.

As the three friends stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the mirror, Noelle stuck her tongue out at them. “Did you ladies forget the rule about not out-shining the bride?”

Shelly stared in confusion for a moment. Then a brilliant smile lit her features. “That’s seriously the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me!”

“And me,” Laura sighed.

Noelle chuckled. “I won’t tell Chad or Ames you guys said that.”

“My husband wouldn’t care.” Shelly gave her a wicked look. “He’s always been more into showing me how he feels as opposed to telling me.” The flush rising on her cheeks indicated that she was just fine with her husband’s style of communicating.

Laura blushed harder. “In case you’ve forgotten, Ames and I are just friends. I’m not in the market for another boyfriend.” Her smile grew strained.

Though Noelle didn’t know all the details, Laura had gotten her heart bruised pretty badly before moving to Pinetop. The short version was that her boyfriend hadn’t been interested in a long distance relationship.

“Just friends.” Shelly rolled her eyes. “Boy, have I heard that line before!” She gave Noelle a comical look. “Quite recently!”

A light knock sounded on the door, followed by a lighter, even more tentative knock.

Noelle and her friends exchanged surprised looks. It was still a good twenty minutes before they were due to walk down the aisle, and they hadn’t been expecting any visitors.

Shelly shrugged. “I’ll see who it is.” Her high heels clicked along the hardwood floor. Opening the door a crack, she grew still. Then she darted a fiercely concerned look over her shoulder at Noelle. “It’s your mom.” She waited for Noelle to indicate how she wanted to proceed.

Noelle drew a deep, bracing breath, wondering what her mother wanted. Though she’d mailed her parents an invitation to the wedding, she hadn’t received a response. For Triss Ward to show up unannounced like this was both unexpected and out of character. In the past, she’d been a stickler for protocol.

“Let her in.” Though Noelle kept her voice noncommittal, her insides swam with apprehension.

Shelly reluctantly pushed the door wider and nodded rigidly for Noelle’s mom to enter. Then she met Noelle’s gaze again. “Would you like us to stay?”

“Yes, please.” It was her wedding day, and she didn’t trust her mother not to be working some sort of angle. Again.

Triss Ward stepped noiselessly into the room and remained by the door. She was dressed in a simple gray pantsuit with a white turtleneck sweater. No jewelry and almost no makeup. She normally looked like she was ready to promenade down a catwalk. Something had to be wrong.

Laura reached over to touch the back of Noelle’s hand, as if to remind her she wasn’t alone. Noelle shot her a grateful look before demanding, “What do you want, Mom?” With respect to time, she got straight to the point.

“To see my daughter on her wedding day.” Her mother’s voice hitched. “Thank you for letting me.”

“Is that all?” It took all the willpower Noelle possessed to keep her fingers still instead of balling them into fists.

“I wanted to apologize.” Her mother twisted her hands uncertainly on the handle of her designer silver clutch.

Why now? Why today of all days? Noelle waited in silence.

Her mother continued twisting the handle of her clutch. “I almost didn’t come. If I were in your shoes, I’d never want to see me again.” She drew a ragged breath. “But Nash paid us a visit yesterday morning and told us we needed to be here.” Though her expression grew bleak, she didn’t weep. “I spent the rest of the day hunting for a wedding gift and ultimately decided the best gift I could give you is the truth.”

Noelle wasn’t sure what to say, so she merely nodded.

“Your father has always considered Ellison Faust to be the son he never had. He helped him get his start in the accounting business, made him a partner, and dreamed of welcoming him into our family as our son-in-law. We had no idea he was skimming our corporate banking accounts or that he was even capable of…” She paused and swallowed hard. “…of what he did to you.”

Noelle spread her hands, not sure what her mother was hoping to accomplish with her sob story. “I tried to warn you about him, and you refused to listen.”

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