Page 17 of Coming Home to Maverick

As she melted into the woman’s strong softness, Bailey’s worries slipped away for a moment.

“It’s good to see you, honey.”

When she finally pulled away, Bailey had to wipe away tears. Then she sucked in a breath before turning to her daughter. “And this is my daughter, Gracie. Honey, this is…” She turned, unsure. If Maverick was going to be an uncle…

Mrs. Dawson jumped in. “Call me Grandma Dawson.”

“I have another grandma?” Gracie’s eyes widened like she’d met a princess.

“Not a for-real grandma. But I don’t have any grandkids of my own yet, so I was wondering if I could practice on you for a while?”

Gracie’s grin looked like it would break her face. “Yes, ma’am, I mean, Grandma.”

Nash and Decker chuckled. And Nash winked. “She’s a real charmer. Mama’s gonna be smitten.” He reached out for a fist bump. “Maybe it’ll keep her happy enough she forgets we’re the one barricade to her having heaps of her own grandkids.”

“I hear you, Nash,” his mom said. “And this is just going to make us all realize even more how important family is. Including marriage and all the blessings that come with it.”

Nash sat back and shrugged.

Then the lights dimmed and flashed across the audience. The announcer shouted into his microphone, “And now, we are pleased to present Willow Creek’s one and only Maverick Dawson!”

The crowd went crazy, the strobe lights flashed, and confetti fell from the ceiling. And then Maverick stepped up to the microphone.

“Wow, what a welcome! Hello, Willow Creek!”

Everyone cheered. As Bailey’s gaze traveled over the crowd and saw the families all together, the happiness in every corner, she hoped her daughter would finally have something good in her life.

“It’s Friday night. You’re at our hometown rodeo. It just doesn’t get any better than this.” Maverick’s head turned, and she felt his gaze. This was the moment he used to salute her when he was riding, but this time, he just looked. She brought a hand up to her mouth and stopped herself from blowing a kiss, but just barely.

Then she watched as he honored good people in their town, talked up the 4-H program, and read announcements from the local church. Everyone loved him just like they had his father. Her heart swelled with pride. And a mean streak of insecurity.

She shrank into her seat, grateful that Gracie was playing around with Nash and Decker. Maverick deserved better than what she’d given him. She couldn’t just show up in his life and hope that her messed-up pieces would mesh with their put-together pictures.

She thought she could do anything for Gracie, but as she looked at the amazing man in front of her, her parade of failures just about ground her down to the dust covering the arena floor.

How could she explain Daniel to anyone? How could she ever explain him to Maverick? The creep had offered her the world, all her dreams, fame, the ability to sing. She’d been naïve.

She shook her head. She’d tried to get past this. She’d left him, hadn’t she? Sort of. She’d crawled away from him, a complete failure. No one had wanted to sign a deal with her. Daniel said he’d tried, but she just wasn’t what they were looking for. And then he’d moved on. She started smelling perfume on him. She’d looked at herself in the mirror one morning after another night alone and told herself she’d gone as low as she was willing to go. She’d packed her bags and headed to a motel.

She squeezed her eyes tight against the tears that wanted to come.

Mrs. Dawson’s soft hand reached around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “Now don’t you worry. You’re home now. Whatever it is, we can make it right.”

Bailey shook her head, but she leaned into this strong woman who she’d always loved and whispered, “Thanks.”

Then Maverick announced the first event: calf roping. “And to start us off, three-time rodeo champion with the second-place world record, doing a special presentation just for our audience tonight, let’s hear it for Dylan Dawson!”

The crowd went crazy, and a group of women across the way screamed, “Dylan!” and held up a huge banner with his name on it.

Bailey laughed, and Mrs. Dawson clucked. “Oh, that’s no way to win my Dylan.”

Then the calf raced out into the arena with Dylan right behind him, spinning a lasso up above his head. It spun once, twice, then he threw it, caught the calf, jumped off his horse, wrapped the calf’s legs, and stood.

“Wow, that’s incredible!”

“He’s gotten even faster. We think he might win that first-place record.”

Bailey nodded.

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