Page 33 of The One I Stood Beside

“Lottie!” a male voice calls from the front of the store.

“Get out!” she shouts back and squeezes my hand. “I won’t say a word, but be prepared, okay?”

“For what?”

“For the firing squad. If you’re going to marry the most sought-after bachelor in Willowbrook, there are going to be some women who aren’t very happy about it. But I’ve got your back.” She winks and walks out of the back room.

“We’re not open,” she says to whoever is there.

I stand and steady myself for a moment. That’s something I never thought about, how I’m not the only one who wants Jude Noughton. The last thing I want to be is the talk of this town or have people speculate that our marriage is a sham.

I follow Lottie out of the back room and find Brooks leaning along the door frame of the front door in his sheriff’s uniform.

“Sadie, this is usually Lottie’s and my time together.” He smirks and eyes Lottie at the coffee station.

“I’ve been telling him for weeks that he’s not welcome, but he shows up like a stray dog looking for his next meal.” I quirk an eyebrow, and Lottie glares at me. “Don’t think dirty thoughts, Sadie.” She rounds the counter and thrusts the coffee at Brooks.

He grabs it before it spills, and he chuckles. “Thanks, and I’m open to a hot meal anytime you wanna offer.” His gaze falls between her thighs.

She pushes his shoulder. “Gross. Go!”

He chuckles, and she slams the door behind him, flipping the lock.

“Huh,” I say.

She turns and looks at me. “What?”

“Nothing. Just nice of you to make him a coffee every morning.”

“Don’t you have to see a preacher about a wedding?”

I laugh, and she does too. At least I’ll have Lottie to be my sounding board when all this goes terribly wrong.

Chapter Ten

Jude

I’m probably picking the worst time to tell my dad, but I’m not interested in him calling me out in the kitchen of his house or, hell, calling a family meeting. We just got back from herding the cattle. I should at least ease into it, but that’s not my style.

I put Titan back in his stall and shut the door. “I’m marrying Sadie.”

Dad doesn’t say anything, running a brush over Legend’s mane.

“Did you hear me?”

“I heard you,” he mumbles, continuing to groom his horse.

I was prepared for him to question me, tell me not to act like an idiot, and defy him. But we both know if he’d found himself in my position, he’d have done the same thing.

“I asked her last night. We’re going to elope.”

He puts down the brush, keeping his back to me. “Elope?”

“Yeah. I’ve been seeing her for months, and I was going to propose before Monty died.” I hate lying to my dad. He’s always had an open door for us when we sought out advice. But I have no choice if we’re going to sell this whole proposal thing. He’s put me in this position, and I know that helping Sadie is the right thing to do.

“You have?” He turns around, shuts the stall door on Legend, and sits on the stool outside, resting his forearms on his legs. “Why were you keeping it a secret?”

That’s a good question and not one I prepared myself for. Shit.

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