Page 26 of Caught By A Cowboy

“Fine, I’ll drive ya.” He looks a little disappointed, but he can’t argue with my logic. Since I came here, Jace has been spending far less time out on the yard. If he’s putting more pressure on his men, the least I can do is feed them properly.

“I can drive myself.” As much as I’d love to have Jace by my side wherever I go, it’s not conventional. I can already feel myself becoming too reliant on him.

“I know that, but I wanna drive ya. I got to pick a few things up from Eamonn at the hardware store anyway.” He picks up his keys and puts on his hat as he drags me out the door.

Jace tells me some of the town’s history on our way to the store while I take in all the beautiful scenery. Spread around us for miles are open plains with mountainous backdrops. I must have been too scared and confused to notice how pretty it all was when I first arrived here.

It’s hard to believe that that was just a few days ago, my life seems to have taken a whole new direction since then. Ever since Jace put the idea about us having a baby together in my head, I’ve found myself fantasizing about being a mom. Wondering who our child would look like and what their first word would be. I smile to myself when I imagine the magical Christmases. My parents were always too busy to celebrate holidays.

“Whatcha thinking about, pretty girl?” Jace’s voice pulls me from my thoughts.

“Do you like Christmas?” I ask curiously.

“Me and Mom kinda stopped celebrating after Dad died.” He clears his throat. “She even stopped putting up a tree. Me and Dad would usually go out to cut one down together, he’d wannaget the biggest one we could carry and we’d always argue about how we’d fit it in the house.” He laughs at the memory even though I can tell it makes him sad.

“Not having him around to celebrate with us didn’t feel right.” His smile fades as we pull up in the town square.

Everyone seems to be staring at us when Jace gets out of the driver's seat and rushes around the hood to open my door.

“I guess folk around here ain’t used to seeing me being a gentleman,” he smirks as he offers his hand to help me out. I get a filthy look from one of our younger spectators, which I’m assuming is due to jealousy, but I pay the girl no attention instead, I take my man’s hand and let him lead me across the street.

“I didn’t know you were stepping out with someone, Jace Sullivan.” An older woman whose hair is pinned up immaculately, pops her head out the hair salon door.

“Stepping out?” I whisper to myself in confusion.

“We’re far past that phase, Daphne,” Jace raises my hand to draw her attention to the ring on my finger.

“Isn’t she… I mean, aren’t you the bride who owns the Mercedes soft top that broke down just outside of town? ” The woman looks appalled.

“That’s me.” I shrug, glancing around and noticing a crowd starting to build around us. I see Sawyer in the distance, standing with his shoulder resting against one of the wooden pillars on his bar porch, wearing a huge grin on his face.

“Hold up, hold up…” I don’t recognize the guy in the blue overalls who pushes himself to the front of the crowd, but I assume from the oil streaks on them that he’s the person fixing my car, “...are you telling us that you and the runaway bride are engaged?” He stares at Jace as if he’s some kind of alien life-form.

“That’s what I’m tellin’ ya.” Jace smiles proudly and while the guy instantly holds out his oil-greased hand for Jace to shake, the whispers and gasps of shock pick up around us.

“So I take it you’ll be going to the dance together?” A girl I’d guess is the same age I am steps up beside me and holds a flyer in my face.

“A dance?” I look down at the brightly decorated flyer and Jace quickly snatches it away.

“Isabel, I told ya?—”

“Come on now, Sullivan, you can’t have a girl as pretty as this one wearing your ring and not take her to the dance. I’ll sure be taking my girl.” A tall, stocky man, whose belly almost bursts from his shirt, shoves my mechanic out of the way so he can wrap his arm around the girl's hip. She smiles awkwardly, as his swollen fingers grip the fabric of her dress, but she hides her distaste well. I only notice the way she inwardly squirms when he kisses her cheek because it’s the way I used to feel every time Adam touched me in public.

“Maddison, this is Eli, he’s our mayor.” Jace nods his head politely at him before he looks at the girl. “Isabel, perhaps you’d like to show Maddison across to the store while I have a word with your husband?” Jace suggests and I can’t help feeling sorry for the girl as she smiles warmly and takes my arm in hers.

“It’s right across here, ignore all the folk, you’ll soon be old news,” she whispers as she pulls me further from Jace along the sidewalk.

“This town may be small, but the next scandal is always just around the corner.” She raises her eyebrows as we get to the storefront.

“Do you have a list?” She places a basket in my hand and grabs one for herself as we step inside.

“Yeah, somewhere here.” I search around in my purse trying to locate it. “Sorry, all those people staring at us, kind of threwme off. Is it always so tense around here?” I glance over my shoulder when I see another person staring at me.

“Welcome to Clearwater Creek,” Isabel laughs, snatching the list out of my hand and leading me down one of the aisles. “Everyone knows everyone’s business, or at least they think they do,” she explains as she starts loading things from my list into my basket.

“I may still be new, but even I know that Jace committing himself to a woman is a big deal.” She studies the shelves before picking up a box of cornflour. “Did you know they held a meeting because they heard the new sheriff we’re getting is gonna be a woman?” She doesn’t give me a chance to ask why having a woman sheriff would be such a big deal. “A meeting chaired bywomen!” Her voice kicks up a few decibels and she shakes her head as she double-checks the list.

“Eggs? You live on a ranch.”

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