Page 34 of The Bull Rider & the Wedding Planner

Easton was frozen. All of her resentment, standoffishness, and anger made sense now. Cassie truly thought he’d cheated with some redhead and it was in a magazine.

He stewed, trying to wrap his mind around this revelation and rewrite the past six years from her perspective. No wonder she couldn’t trust him or love him again. He felt like he’d been flung off of a bull’s back, slammed to the ground, and was paralyzed, unable to move. The bullfighters couldn’t get to him and the bull was coming to finish him off.

How in the world could he find the magazine and prove she was wrong? If he couldn’t, would she ever believe him, forgive him, and be his again?

His chest felt tight, and despair cloaked him like a foggy day. He saw no way through or around this.

Chapter

Twelve

Cassie triedto put on a good face for Presley and get through the afternoon. Easton took them on a horseback ride in the snow. Presley loved riding with her ‘prince cowboy’. It was adorable. Cassie took a lot of pictures from her horse. She’d missed riding. It was something she and Easton had done together often. She hadn’t been on a horse in ten years. Easton kept giving her beseeching looks, and she had to pretend she didn’t notice, instead focusing on the views and the crisp, beautiful day. She was a mess about him—angry, longing for him, wishing he was right and hadn’t cheated on her. But the proof was indelibly seared into her brain.

After the horseback ride, they went back to Easton’s and ate the leftover fajitas he’d promised her the day before. They were delicious. It was mind-blowing that the playboy cowboy was living in her dream home, cooked, was a secret warrior, and for all intents and purposes appeared wholly devoted to her andher daughter. If only he hadn’t cheated on her. If only he wasn’t lying about cheating on her. Maybe they could move past it. If he would just admit the truth and apologize and swear on the Holy Bible not to cheat again.

Tomorrow were the weddings, so they’d be swamped all day. She’d wanted to do a dress rehearsal as she usually did, but Eva Chevron and Miles weren’t flying in until tonight. The families had a family luncheon planned before the wedding at Mama Millie’s. Then they’d have the weddings at the church and a party with food and desserts at Clint’s home. It was untraditional. A few weeks ago, she’d found it intriguing that they wouldn’t have the larger party here at Mama Millie’s. Now that she knew about the protection details at the ranch, it made sense.

If she could just get through the weddings, maybe Clint would find Baxter, and then what? It would be a huge burden gone to know Baxter was in prison and not after her and Presley or hurting anyone else, but she was damaged by Easton continuing to lie about cheating on her. It overshadowed everything else. Maybe he truly thought he wasn’t lying. Maybe he didn’t even remember cheating on her with that redhead. How many redheads and magazine photos had there been over the years that he couldn’t remember one specific woman?

Ugh! Where did all this stirred up contention in her heart leave her? She had no desire to go back to Syracuse. They had church friends, and Presley’s daycare ma and pa were great, but there weren’t any lasting connections there. Easton was the deepest connection for her. She had no desire to leave him, and she didn’t want to rip Presley away from him, no matterhow angry she was.

Yet she’d have to. If they had no trust, they didn’t have a relationship. And she didn’t trust him where beautiful women were concerned. It ripped her heart in two.

Coming back to Coleville, with the exception of finding her mother dead and dealing with Trudy Everett, had been wonderful. The people had welcomed her and being around the Lillywhites and the Colevilles made her feel like she had family and people that would do anything for her and her daughter. If only she could find a spot here and raise Presley around people who cared deeply for them, but there was no need for a wedding planner in a town this small. She could go to Kalispell, but why would she want to stick around, be close to the playboy magnet, and have her heart broken time and again by Easton Coleville?

He was the love of her life; she knew that as deeply now as she had at eighteen. But just like when she’d driven away at eighteen and despaired that they’d ever be together, now she knew they couldn’t be. It was one thing to have different dreams and career paths. It was quite another for the man she loved to lie to her face and claim he’d never cheated on her.

After dinner they played some card games with Presley, but her little girl was fading fast. Her nap had been cut short by Cassie yelling at Easton. She felt badly that she’d gotten upset and yelled, but he was so infuriating, and her heart was breaking again just realizing they couldn’t be together. She said a prayer in her heart to be forgiving. Even if she could forgive him, she couldn’t forget and put herself and Presley in a situation where they could easily be burned by his womanizing tendencies and lack of taking anything seriously.

Yet he’d taken her and Presley’s protection very seriously. He’d dropped all his teenage slang but still been warm and fun.Though he teased with Presley nonstop, their relationship already felt deep and serious, almost like a father and daughter.

Her stomach flip-flopped at that idea. Could the bull-riding, flirtatious, too-enticing Easton Coleville be the father for her daughter and husband for herself she’d longed for?

Easton scooped her little girl up in his arms and they both smiled at Cassie. Her heart missed a beat. He looked like the most alluring daddy of an angelic little girl on the planet.

“How about I sing and pray with Presley while you get done anything you need to for the weddings tomorrow?”

“Okay,” she agreed. “Don’t forget to brush your teeth, sweetheart.”

“I know,” Presley drawled like a teenager.

Cassie appreciated the help with bedtime. She’d never experienced that as a mother. It meant a lot. There were some details she wanted to check on and some emails and texts to respond to. Though, allowing him to put Presley to sleep would leave her vulnerable. She’d planned to put her daughter to sleep and hide out in their room all night.

“Let me kiss my mama,” Presley requested.

Easton came close, and the look in his eyes made her heart stop. It was partly his normal sexy smolder and partly a yearning for her that pulled the breath from her body.

Presley kissed her on the cheek. “I love you, my Mama!”

“I love you, my girl.”

Cassie might not have a lot in her life, but she had her daughter, and for that she’d even thank the nightmarish Baxter.

“Hold that thought, Cass.” Easton said the words like a promise.

Her pulse sped up. How was she supposedto stay immune to him? What about the redhead he’d kissed? Had he come up with some excuse to try to smooth it over? Had he even remembered the incident? If he couldn’t remember, did that mean he’d cheated on her countless times in those four years she was at university and hoped she’d never find out? He couldn’t hide his sins.

Cassie opened her laptop and tried to focus. She at least tapped out the emails and texts she needed. Mostly she stewed and prayed about how to respond to Easton. Could she possibly guard her heart? Could she believe him if he had some plausible excuse for cheating on her? She could forgive him for dating all those other women after they broke up. He didn’t know that she’d come for him at that rodeo and seen him with a woman in each beautiful arm. That wasn’t his fault as they were broken up, no matter how it had hurt her and sealed her decision to not turn to Easton again and to marry Baxter.

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