Page 34 of Cowboy Falling Hard

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DWIGHT HAD GONE FROMpushing baseball on her, practically telling her he was the best baseball player who ever lived, to saying he was just okay.

“Miss Charlene told me I brag too much. I realized she was right.”

“Maybe that was because of some of the hang-ups from your teenage years? Where you didn’t feel like your stepfather really cared about you, and you had to do something to get attention?”

“I guess.”

He probably didn’t want to talk about it, and she couldn’t blame him. He hadn’t come here to have a psychological evaluation and be told the root of all his problems. And that wasn’t really her job anyway.

Her job was...to see him as Jesus saw him. For one. And accept him as he was while still challenging him, somehow, to be better.

“I didn’t mean to make things so serious. I was actually having a good time joking with you. I guess I like to think about things though. Figure them out. Figure people out.”

“I’m pretty simple. I like baseball. I like bacon. And...” He looked up, still harboring a sadness in his eyes, but the corners were twinkling again. “I’d tell you someone else I like, but I can’t talk like that today. I promised I was going to be just friends.”

She grinned. “Maybe by the end of the day, you’ll be sick of me, and you won’t want to talk like that anyway.”

“I’ll take that as a challenge.” His grin was easy, confident, and she liked that. There was a point where things became arrogant, but she could admire a man who was strong, who knew what he wanted, who would protect her, without expecting that there would never be some flaws in his personality.

The thing that impressed her the most was that he had said that he talked to Miss Charlene, she’d given him advice, and he was actually trying to implement it. A man who could be taught, who wanted to do better, was far better than a man who was convinced he was already perfect.

She supposed the same thing went for women. For anyone. A person had to be teachable in order to grow.

Once a person thought they knew everything, there was no hope for improvement.

She cracked an egg into a bowl. “How many eggs would you like?”

He told her and she said, “Once you’re done with the bacon, I’ll cook them in that skillet in the grease.”

“That sounds good.”

“If you don’t mind, I’m going to run to Powell’s room and get her up.”

“I can hold things down here. It’s been a while since I caught a kitchen on fire. I’ll do my best.”

“Nice. Because that would really ruin my day.”

He laughed, and she left the room smiling, almost wanting to whistle. She had to tell Lavender she’d been right. He really was a nice guy.

Her opinion didn’t change as Powell came to the table, and Orchid cooked the eggs, and they ate together.

They stuck the cinnamon rolls in the microwave, and the sweet cinnamon scent, along with the bacon, made the house smell amazing.

“I almost feel like I need a nap after that,” Dwight said as he pushed back away from the table.

“Peyton really outdid herself with those.”

“Owen said his mom was going to close the shop after she gets married.” Powell spoke up from the other side of the table across from Orchid.

“Actually, I think they’re planning on getting married today.” Dwight acted like he’d just remembered he’d heard that. Orchid couldn’t believe it wasn’t the first thing he said when he walked in the kitchen. “That’s what Peyton said this morning when I picked up the rolls.”

“Really?” Orchid sputtered. Why hadn’t he said? That was big news.

“I totally forgot about it, but I had planned on asking when I walked in if it would be okay if Owen came with us today. I think they’re going to have just a short ceremony after church, and then they were going to leave on a honeymoon, just for a few days. Nothing big or pretentious.”

“Wow.” Orchid thought about some of the weddings she’d been to, where the bride had planned them for a year or even more in advance. Where they put everything together, spent a ton of money, and everyone dealt with months of stress and strain.

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