Page 3 of Big Gruff Cowboy

I only meant to steal a glimpse of her and carry on with my browsing. Her voice was so enchanting I had to see her. Then I spotted all of those beautiful curves airborne, and I instantly grabbed her.

The moment my hands were on her body, I was hit with a lightning bolt. I knew right then and there I’d found the woman I want to marry, the one I want to make babies with. But I probably didn’t win any points by telling her I wanted to put my baby in her.

The back of my seat is thumped again. Hard. “When you came banging on my front door at three in the morning, saying you had an emergency, I didn’t expect that you needed to get a copy of Pride and Prejudice.”

“That’s what the fuck we’re here for?” Barrett sounds even more outraged than he did at two this morning when I woke him up and told him we were going on a road trip to the city.

“We’re here to secure my bride. I can’t ask for her hand until I have her favorite book,” I explain. If she needs a rare three-volume set of books from me to prove my feelings, then I’ll search the whole country until I find it. Hell, if she needs me to build her a library, I will. Whatever she wants, my woman will get.

Greer laughs from the backseat. It’s a deep, hearty one. “You’re fucked.”

He would know. He found his soulmate just a few weeks ago. A little slip of a thing by the name of Evie. He fell hard for her and demanded she marry him on the spot. At the time, I thought he was crazy. Now though, I get it.

When you see your soulmate for the first time, something shifts in your head and heart. Suddenly, you want more than anything to find a million reasons to make her smile. That’s why I brought him along on this adventure. He knows exactly how I feel.

Barrett groans. “What is this? I told you he hit his head in the barn the other day when he fell off that beam.”

He’s still single so he doesn’t get it yet. Fuck, I hope he understands soon. I hope he finds a woman of his own that he can’t stop thinking about. This is the best I’ve ever felt.

“Mom is going to kill us,” Zac grumbles from the backseat. He’s my youngest brother. Most folks who follow country music have heard his name. He’s something of a celebrity in Nashville, but here in Courage, he’s just Zac. My annoying brother.

“It’s not our fault he went through a lucid period and seemed normal for a while,” Barrett says. “Someone has to tell Mom that.”

Greer finally catches his breath from laughing at me long enough to wheeze out, “He’s not brain damaged. He’s in love.”

Zac sits up straight in his seat and meets my gaze in the rearview mirror. He’s been pretending to ignore us for most of this road trip. “Yeah, how long have you known her?”

“Since yesterday,” I answer easily. When a cowboy in Courage County meets his soulmate, he puts a ring on her finger and a baby in her belly. It’s just how things are done here.

“You’re fucking with us,” Barrett hisses. I brought Greer along because he understands why this is important, but I brought Barrett along because he’s the best negotiator I’ve ever met. He could talk a cowboy out of his prized heifer. I know because I’ve seen it happen more than once.

A little old lady finally ambles up to the front door and flips the sign to open. Rumor is the store has one of the most expansive collections of rare books and collectibles in the state. You wouldn’t know it by looking at the outside of the shop in this rundown strip mall.

“You could have shopped for a book on your own or online,” Zac says, probing for the truth. Not much gets by him. He’s like our mom. He knows everything somehow. “What are we really along for?”

I unbuckle my seatbelt and admit the truth to them, “Ring shopping.”

I pull to a stop in front of the old farmhouse that Walt owns. My hands are clammy, and I wipe them on my jeans. I can’t say I’ve ever cared what anyone else thought of me. But Lizzy is different. She’s the one person I don’t want to disappoint.

After my impromptu trip to the city with my brothers, I went straight to the barbershop for a trim. My beard was looking a little bushy and unkempt these days, so that had to be cleaned up. I don’t particularly like having my head touched so I usually just let my hair grow. But I figure a cowboy should look presentable when he shows up to ask for his girl’s hand.

I glance at the stuff in the passenger seat. For a moment, I remember being a foster kid and showing up on a new doorstep every couple of months. Always with the desperate hope that I would be liked one day.

Finally, I ended up with the Maples. Mom had been fostering Greer, and she wanted his brothers around him. One by one, she navigated the system until she’d collected all of us. Then she and her husband adopted us.

Four scared boys became Maples and life got a lot better after that. We had more than just a roof over our heads or two people willing to feed us. We had community, family, and love.

I shake away the thoughts and pocket the ring. Then I grab the books that have been carefully gift-wrapped by the little old lady at the collectibles store. She didn’t want to let it go to a dusty cowboy, even when I told her it was for true love.

Barrett offered to sweeten the deal by having country sensation Zac Maple sign more than a few items, including a t-shirt for her granddaughter. It helped that he also threw in free concert tickets for his next three sold-out shows. Suddenly, she was more than happy to sell the books to me.

Barrett has never met a poker game he can’t win. Never walked away from a negotiation with less than he wanted.

Zac was less than impressed with the final negotiated terms, but he did honor them. He sent me a look that told me I owed him one. Truth is, I owe him and all of my brothers about a million favors.

Before I can knock on the front door, it swings open.

Walt, my best friend and the man who’s been the biggest influence in my life, grins. “Well, thanks, Noah. Can’t say I’ve ever been partial to daisies.”

---