Page 21 of Love Me, Cowboy

George was bringing Reed McCormick as her date, which Claire took as a good sign. If anyone could break through the high walls behind which Georgia Hightower hid, it was Reed. Though she did worry he might find himself buried under the rubble and Georgia long gone before he knew what hit him.

Claire reached the edge of the patio before she spotted Mary Catherine, but before she could gain her friend’s attention, the familiar and unwelcome scent of Chanel No°5 accosted her.

“Please tell me you brought a date,” her mother hissed, pasting on a fake smile and waving to someone she knew.

“No,” Claire said. “I didn’t. I don’t remember seeing the words date required on the invitation.”

“If you hadn’t made such a fool of yourself last night, you might not look so pathetic now.”

Did her mother really call her pathetic? “I’m not—”

“I don’t know why you bothered to lose weight if you were going to chase off every eligible man I find for you.” Raising her wineglass to her lips, she added, “Grandchildren don’t grow on trees, missy. At the rate you’re going, I’ll be too old to enjoy them by the time you pop one out.”

Enjoy them? She meant torture them.

“If I marry, it will be on my terms to the man of my choosing.” Claire ignored her mother’s gasp of disapproval. “And if I have children, they’ll know they’re loved unconditionally no matter their size, their choice of career, or their lack of political aspirations. I only wish someone had done that much for me.”

The stunned look on her mother’s face bolstered Claire’s spirits at the same time the urge hit to apologize. But she would not take back the words. She’d wanted to say them for most of her life, and the cold woman before her needed to hear them.

“Your father and I have given you every possible privilege a child could ask for, and this is how you repay us?” Claire should have known her mother would gladly pick up the gauntlet she’d just dropped. “If you want to die bitter and alone, surrounded by cats and pretending all those ungrateful little brats you teach will remember you, then go ahead. But don’t ever say I didn’t try to help you.”

So much for making her mother hear her. Claire felt as if she’d been slapped, and then stabbed in the gut. Without so much as a blink, as if she hadn’t lacerated her own child, Sylvia Campbell strolled off with a smile on her face, chiming a greeting to one of her country club friends. And Claire headed for the bar.

* * *

Tyler had put on his best shirt, the red one with the pearl snaps, along with his newest pair of Wranglers for the big barbeque. Whiffs of smoking brisket had carried on the air all the way to his front porch, which had his mouth watering for the last hour.

The Double H Ranch holiday shindig was a big event every Christmas, but this one was special. This was a big night for Bug, and whether Tyler approved of her choice or not, he would be there for her. Brad Hampton wasn’t somebody Tyler wanted for a brother, but if he was the man Mary Catherine wanted to marry, then he was welcome to the family.

But Tyler had another reason for wanting to look his best. And she was standing by the bar looking better than anything he’d ever imagined in his dreams. Her red hair hung loose over her shoulders, and the dark-green dress made her pale skin glow in the torchlight. As he drew closer, Tyler saw the look in her eyes.

She looked miserable.

“How’s the local hero doing tonight?” he asked, hoping to make her smile. Claire hadn’t seen him approach and started at the sound of his voice in her ear. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“That’s okay,” she said. “I was distracted, wallowing in my own little world. Did you say hero?”

“Yeah. You saved that little boy.”

She blushed. “I didn’t keep him from falling off a cliff or anything.”

“No, but he could have gotten trampled by the horses if you hadn’t done something.”

She lifted an auburn brow. “You did something, too. I’m guessing you had the same reaction I did, but how did you see him?”

Tyler considered making something up but went with the truth. “I was watching you, then followed your gaze and spotted the munchkin in the street. It didn’t take much to guess the two people looking frantic behind the crowd were looking for him.”

“You were watching me?”

“Yeah,” he said, opting for evasion. “How are your knees? I’d meant to take the brunt of the hit, but momentum won out.”

“They’re fine,” she said, flexing them as if to prove her recovery, then falling silent.

Before Tyler could keep the conversation going, he spotted Reed McCormick with Georgia at the other bar across the yard. Cooter looked to be talking their ear off as Reed nodded in Tyler’s direction. Seconds later, the vet disappeared with his date in the direction of the old barn. He sure hoped the man knew what he was doing.

He turned back to Claire in time to see her toss back half a glass of wine in one swallow.

“Whoa,” Tyler said, steadying her as she swayed. “How many of those have you had?”

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