Page 6 of The Cowboy Who Looked Again

Misty turned back to his parents, her heartbeat flailing in her chest. Link hadn’t looked over to her at all, and she glanced back to him.

Their eyes locked for a beat of time, and Misty employed every ounce of bravery she had as she tore her gaze from his and looked at his glowing mother and his grumpy-cat father. “I need some help with him,” she said. Every cell in her body quivered. “I hurt him. I know that.”

She took a breath and pressed her palms together. “I want to fix things with him. Maybe try again. How do I—?” She exhaled heavily, her lungs suddenly holding too much oxygen.

“How do I do that? Any ideas?”

Bear looked at his wife. Sammy looked back at Bear. Then they both looked at Misty, and she stood there in agony, waiting for one of them to give her the key to Link’s heart.

Chapter Three

Link did not like what was taking place on the sidelines of the dance floor. In front of him, Hailey continued to talk a mile a minute, and even if Link hadn’t been discombobulated by Misty’s presence in his life—the two of them standing there with his parents—he wouldn’t have been able to keep up with the words streaming from his cousin’s mouth.

He glanced over to where Misty had been standing with his momma and daddy, and his heartbeat thumped hard at him when he found they’d dispersed. Well, a couple of them had, at least. Momma still stood there, looking radiant in a flowing, formal dress in flowers and blue—which matched her eyes and made her blonde hair seem lighter—and she cast a look in his direction.

Immediately, her eyes drifted back to the right, and Lincoln followed her gaze. His body lost all ability to function, and his feet came to a complete standstill.

For Daddy—a big, burly man named Bear—now swayed with Misty—the strawberry blonde who still had a tight grip on Link’s heart.

“Blast it,” he muttered, but he wasn’t sure if it was because of what his daddy might be saying or if he’d finally admitted to himself that he wasn’t over Misty.

As he stared, and as Hailey said, “What is it?” and turned to see what he was looking at, he realized neither Misty nor Daddy were speaking.

In fact, Daddy looked about two seconds away from going into fully Grizzly Mode. Link cast a frantic look back to his mother, and he found her taking the first step toward where Misty danced with Daddy.

“Hailey,” he said as kindly as he could. “I’m real sorry about you and Scott. You’ll have to come by and tell me more about it, okay? I need to—” He swallowed and looked briefly at his cousin. Then he simply walked away from her and toward Daddy and Misty, though Momma had now interrupted them.

Before Link could arrive and make proper introductions—what had gotten him in trouble with Misty in the first place—Mitch tapped on her shoulder and asked her to dance. She smiled, glanced at Link, and allowed his cousin to twirl her out of the situation.

“My goodness,” Momma said, her fingers fluttering up by her neck. “That was interesting.”

“Daddy,” Link said as he arrived on the scene.

“I said nothing to her,” Daddy said, his voice gruff but his eyes pleading. “I promise. I just wanted to get her away from your mother.” They exchanged a glance, and while Link had grown up with them, he couldn’t speak their language.

“What does that mean?” he demanded.

“Nothing,” Momma said lightly. “Let’s get off the dance floor, so we’re not making a scene.” She glanced around, but no one seemed to notice they even stood there. “Come with us, Link. Mitch can drive your truck back to the ranch.”

Link hesitated, but something told him to go with his parents. “Let me tell Alex and Nicki congratulations and that I’m going.” He met both of his parent’s eyes and pulled his keys from his pocket. “I’ll meet you at the main entrance. Five minutes.” He gave his keys to his father, and looked to his mother for confirmation.

“Okay.” Momma still looked worried, but she allowed Link to duck into the crowd and start weaving his way toward his friends. They broadcasted life out into the party, and Link grinned as he stepped up to Alex and took his hand.

“I have to go. Congratulations, brother.” Link pulled Alex into a hug and clapped him on the back a couple of times. “Beautiful wedding,” he said as he stepped back and looked at Nicki.

“We still want to double with you,” Nicki said as she hugged him. “My nieces have already said they want to go out with you.” She grinned as they separated. “Abby said you were the best-looking cowboy she’s ever laid eyes on.”

Link flushed as he laughed. Then he shook his head. “I always like getting together with you guys, but I don’t want it to be a blind date. Too awkward for everyone.”

“Can I give her your number?” Nicki asked as Alex pulled her close to his side. “Then you guys can just start talking.”

“Does she live here?” Link asked. “I thought only your family was in Three Rivers.”

“They’re in Oklahoma City,” she said.

“Only a couple hours,” Alex said, grinning.

“Still long distance,” Link said. He shook his head, unwilling to have this conversation right now. “No reason we can’t talk, but yeah. Not sure how anything long distance is going to work out.”

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