Page 60 of Wrangling a Texas Hometown Hero

Rome tucked a blanket over Cloe’s legs and rounded stomach. “It’s one of the Secret Sisterhood rules.” Obviously, all the husbands now knew about their not-so-secret club.

“No kidding?” Jesse chimed in. He sat on the next row up with Liberty and Belle. “Now I know not to repeat anything I don’t want spread around to every Holiday sister.”

Liberty turned on him. “And just what wouldn’t you want spread around to my sisters? Are you keeping secrets from me, Jesse Cates?”

Jesse tugged her close, giving her a smacking kiss on the side of the head. “Never, darlin’. Never.”

Annoyed by the detour the conversation had taken, Hallie tried to get it back on track. “So what did Jace say, Deck?”

Decker shook his head. “I’m not going to tell you what he said, Hal. But he was pretty upset.”

Tears filled her eyes. “I know. I screwed up.”

“That’s funny,” Sweetie said. “Because Jace feels like he was the one who screwed up.”

Decker groaned. “Swe-e-ets. We really shouldn’t get involved.”

Sweetie sent her husband an annoyed look. “If it comes to my sister’s and Jace’s happiness, I’m getting involved.” She looked back at Hallie. “Jace realizes he made a mistake trying to tell you what would make you happy.”

“And Jace wanting Hallie to be happy is a mistake, why?” Jesse asked.

Liberty turned to him and sighed. “Because you should never tell a woman what will make her happy. Even if you’re right.”

“So what did Jace think will make Hallie happy?” Rome asked.

All the sisters answered in unison. “Running the Holiday Ranch.”

Hallie looked at Sweetie. “You told everyone what Jace said?”

“I didn’t have to. All of us have always known what would make you happy, Hal. We’ve also known it’s something you had to figure out for yourself. Like me, I had to go to Nashville to figure out I didn’t want to be a superstar country singer. I wanted to write songs.”

“It’s the Dorothy theory,” Belle said. “Sometimes you have to go to Oz before you figure out there’s no place like home.”

Cloe glanced at Rome and smiled. “Or no one more special than a hometown boy.”

Hallie looked around at her sisters and realized they were right. She wouldn’t have listened to them any more than she had listened to Jace. She needed to leave to figure out how much she loved the ranch. And she needed to walk away from Jace to realize she never wanted to walk away from her hometown boy again.

At one time, the thought would have scared her. She had watched all her sisters change once they’d fallen in love and she thought it was for the worse. Now, she realized it had been for the better. Sweetie had been working as an unhappy waitress struggling to become a country singer before she fell in love with Decker. Now she was a promising songwriter and a soon-to-be mother. Cloe had been the wallflower of the family. The one who sat back and let life happen without her. Now she helped run one of the biggest ranches in Texas, worked as a speech therapist at the elementary school, danced at the Hellhole every Saturday night, and was preparing for her first child. Liberty had been a control freak who wanted to run everyone’s life, then she met Jesse and now she enjoyed life rather than tried to beat it into submission. And Belle had let Liberty make all her decisions until Corbin helped her learn how to make her own choices.

It seemed that love hadn’t made her sisters weaker.

It had only made them stronger.

Jace had made Hallie stronger too. He’d helped her realize what her dream really was. He knew because he’d been there all along. He had watched her grow into the cowgirl she was and never once made her feel like she wasn’t good enough. Never once made her feel like she was just an annoying little girl who tagged along behind him. He had answered all her questions about football with his lopsided smile and treated her like a friend rather than a pesky younger sibling. Which was how he’d known owning a brewery wasn’t really her dream . . . and how she’d known he would never be happy without football.

It seemed that people who love you know your heart better than you do.

“So let me get this straight.” Jesse cut into her thoughts. “Jace was right. You do want to run the ranch. You’re just mad at him for pointing it out.” He laughed. “That’s Liberty logic if ever I heard it.”

Liberty turned on him. “What do you mean by that?”

“Now, darlin’, I love your logic. But it can be a little confusing at times. It sounds like Jace was just pointing out the obvious. Corbin’s known for weeks that Hallie should be the one running the ranch.”

About then, Daddy and Corbin appeared at the end of the row, juggling trays filled with drinks, hot dogs, and nachos. Mama and Belle jumped up to help them distribute the food and Belle quickly told her husband the news.

“Hallie has finally figured out that she wants to run the ranch.”

Corbin took his time replying, which made Hallie extremely nervous. Maybe he’d decided he didn’t want his flaky sister-in-law running his ranch. He waited until he was seated next to his nacho-munching wife before he spoke.

---