Page 32 of The Texas Cowboy's Lady

Jaxson was tired,but he didn’t think he was tired enough to be seeing things like Lacy in the barn, balancing on a long sawhorse, with a book on her head.

“So is this some new way of gaining knowledge? Maybe by osmosis?”

Lacy laughed and grabbed the book before it fell off. “Very funny, Uncle Jax. I’m practicing poise and bettering my posture. I want to walk like a lady down the aisle.”

“What aisle? It isn’t time for you to graduate yet, is it?”

That gained him another shake of her head. “I’m going to be a junior bridesmaid in Aunt Laurel’s wedding. I can’t wait. You should see the dress I’m going to wear. It is purple, and it’s called tea-length. And I even get to wear real high heels, which is why I’m practicing walking like a lady too.”

“I see.” That was about all he could manage. Things had moved ahead while he was gone. From practically zero talk about a wedding to now, it sounded like it was on the fast track. He didn’t care for how his stomach turned over, and he felt nauseous at the sudden realization. Somehow, the thought that Laurel could actually be serious enough to carry through with a marriage to someone so wrong for her as Sean had been set aside in his brain, but he couldn’t ignore it any longer.

“There’s going to be a band and dancing, and you’ll dance with me, won’t you, Uncle Jax? You said you’d teach me the two-step and some of the line dances next time we had a big party and this is going to be it.”

“Sure, I’ll dance with you. But you better get to practicing some more in those high heels because I don’t want you to be stepping on my toes and breaking them.” That earned him a grimace and a roll of the eyes. The book went back on her head. Just as well, because he needed air and a quiet space. Jaxson led his horse into the second barn full of stalls and began to automatically go through the motions of unsaddling, rubbing down, and feeding his mount. It was automatic, and his mind needed the predictable movements. It made sense, and he needed things that made sense.

He hadn’t seen Laurel in almost six days. Since the afternoon they shared the kiss. And he could have sworn her response wasn’t that of a woman contemplating marrying another man in a short amount of time. She was just as much into what happened between them as he was.

Or had she just become that much of an actress during her Hollywood time? His brain warred with itself. Maybe she had changed that much and he just didn’t want to admit it. Or maybe she might be realizing that what they had between them was worth investigating. Better yet, maybe he was just being a fool and grasping at thin air and coming up with empty hands. Wouldn’t be the first time he had shown what a fool he was for the woman.

What he needed was to get away from all thoughts of her that evening and get himself centered to face whatever was coming in the days ahead. Beaudry was spending his time with his wife as a dutiful husband and expectant dad. So that left Matt, the third member of their group. He withdrew his phone, and it didn’t take any time to count Matt in for some beers and pool at their usual watering hole on the edge of town. He needed to get to the point where if someone asked him where Laurel was, he could actually respond with “Laurel who?” Although that might take a little longer than half a lifetime, so maybe he would just settle for easing the ache in his heart for a couple of hours.

*

“This was agood idea of yours,mi amigo,” Matt commented with a smile as they settled into a corner booth an hour later at The Red Rooster. It was your typical low-slung building, wood-beam ceilinged, polished wood floor, with a stage area at one end for the band that was going into their first set of country tunes. The bar was at the opposite end, with high stools and booths filling the area that then flowed into a large addition where several pool tables offered an activity other than dancing. Dartboards were available and a few arcade-style games made their usual pings and ringing bells as their buttons were pushed.

The kitchen served up the usual fare of nachos and burgers. Randy Vela and his wife, Dorie, owned the place and ran it, he as the chief bartender and Dorie overseeing the kitchen and business end of things. Both of them had graduated with the Hawkes boys and Matteo. They kept it clean and respectable, and area off-duty deputies made good money ensuring the peace was kept inside and trouble stayed outside.

The pair shared easy banter with their host and hostess and other hometown patrons, then settled down to enjoy the burgers they ordered and a couple of rounds of tall cold ones. There were more than enough females who managed to drop by their table and exchange small talk. Jaxson was content to keep his interest in the food and drink and let Matt turn on the charm. He was undoubtedly the playboy and most eligible bachelor in several counties. Finally, there was a break in their table visitors, and Jaxson shook his head.

“What’s so amusing?”

“You. I’ve never figured out in all these years what it is about you that females find so mesmerizing. I used to think that they were either needing glasses or just desperate.”

Matt grinned and took another swig of his beer. “But you don’t think those things any longer, right? You see that it is just my natural machismo suave charm and that I know how to please a lady, no matter the situation. Take lessons and you will learn from a master.”

Jaxson lifted his foot off the floor and made a slow perusal of it, especially the bottom of his boot. The move wasn’t lost on Matt.

“Not amusing, my friend. Rather desperate. But I’ve learned to deal with fellow male jealousy.”

“Well, all that charm must not work all the time, because you’re here eating a burger and drinking a beer with me and not some amazing senorita.”

“True, but I took pity on you. You need me more right now.”

“How do you figure that one?”

“I saw your brother in town yesterday, and he said all the news is on the wedding that is rumored to be taking place this weekend. Since the bride happens to be the one woman we all know you have pined after for most of your years, that has to be why you needed to find someone to hang out with and drown your sorrows tonight. I am up to the task.” He motioned to Randy and soon the waitress was dropping off two more fresh longnecks on their table.

“I’m not here drowning my sorrows, or pining, as you put it, for any female. But I do have a question for you in turn. You and my brother have been so positive about the fact that I am in some sort of ‘pitiful me’ situation of unrequited love, so I should ask you, the expert in such things, how did you get over losing MacKenna? She walked away from you, and you were a sorry sight for quite a while, as we can all testify. Yet, here you are, your old self and playing the field without a care in the world. How did you do it?”

Matt swirled the remainder of the amber whiskey in his glass, a reflective pall replacing the grin of earlier. “who says I did it? Perhaps one learns to live with a deep sorrow or disappointment... even a broken heart... without having it shown to the world.”

“Well, I know that was a lawyer’s way of saying nothing about something. I will say flat out that my life is just fine, and I am getting on with it, regardless of what you all think.”

“My friend, I am an attorney. A very, very good one, as we all know. And I can tell when a person is not being truthful with me. That is my stock-in-trade. So, hand that bull poop to someone else. My cross-examination is simple—do you love her?” He laid the question out as if before a witness on the stand, his gaze leveled at Jaxson’s.

Jaxson held the interrogation stare. “I respectfully plead the Fifth.”

“You are one slippery, onery fool. But that is as good as stating a yes for the record. Next question—what are you going to do about it?”

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