Page 14 of Seaside Cowboy's Fairy Tale

“And tracking the event invitation she used led nowhere?” Mom asked when he finished.

He lowered his full fork, having trouble swallowing the disappointment. “I even drove to Ms. Mueller’s place to double-check my memory of her from a previous brief meeting was correct. It was. Going there was a mistake.” He stifled a frown at how she’d tried to get him to stay for dinner. “She claimed her invitation must have been stolen. She’s much taller than Cinderella. Ms. Mueller has green eyes, not hazel, a deeper voice, and a different perfume.”

Mom spread her arms. “Well, if you even sniffed her—”

“Mom! But seriously, why go to such lengths to conceal her identity?”

His mother’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t think that Cinderella woman could’ve stolen the necklace and tried to throw the blame on some man?”

“I know I got my brain from you. Vanya Patel corroborated her story.”

“But Ms. Patel didn’t see her necklace stolen exactly. She just realized it when the Cinderella woman screamed and ran after the guy.”

He squirmed against the doubt. No. He didn’t want to doubt the first woman he liked in years. But hadn’t his trust in a woman he liked gotten him in trouble the first time?

His fingers formed fists. He unfisted them fast under his mother’s watchful gaze. “Why would the man run then? And I heard gunshots. That would be an elaborate ruse with several players.”

Which still could be a possibility, and his mother’s silence said as much.

The sweet peach cobbler soured in his stomach, and the taste in his mouth became bitter. He did his best to sweeten it with the cold tangy liquid. “Then there’s even more reason to find her and bring her to justice.”

Mom sighed and then sipped her lemonade. “I don’t mean to quash your hopes. I want you to fall in love and get married like several of your brothers.”

“Mom!”

She lifted her arms. “No pressure. Most of all, I want you happy.” She studied the shoe again. “Okay, I know way more about cowboy boots than designer shoes. But I also know someone who grew up with this stuff—your new sister-in-law, Kennedy. She might even guess where it was bought. May I take the shoe to her?”

“Sure.” And with that one word, he passed along his hopes with the shoe. “Then I can go to that store and talk to the clerk or manager.” Usually, he outsourced things like that. But this case was personal.

“There’s also another way.” She winked.

“I’m all ears.” And he was.

“We can announce you’ll marry the woman this shoe fits. I might be a proud mother, but I’m sure you’ll have long lines at the ranch tomorrow.”

“Mom!”

“Okay, okay.” She grinned, pushed to her feet, and gathered him in another bear hug. “I’m glad you met someone, and I hope she’s not a jewel thief. After Madison, I started worrying you’d never risk your heart again.”

He could breathe again when she let him go and reclaimed her seat. “That was a long time ago.” The pain from Madison’s betrayal was dull, not sharp anymore. But it was still there.

His first love had broken his heart, deceived him, and stolen from him, all in one swoop. He resisted the urge to gnash his teeth. Instead, he changed the topic. “Enough about my love life or lack thereof. How is your romance going with Kennedy’s uncle?”

He helped himself to another bite of the sweet peach cobbler, then flushed it down with lemonade. Who’d have ever thought he’d be discussing his mother’s love life? At least, this should be a pleasant topic as he’d heard she’d been spending a lot of time in the guy’s company.

It was about time, too. The painful disaster of her first marriage had kept her away from romantic entanglements. Plus, she’d been busy raising him and his brothers, who by the time Dad died were teenagers. This time, hedidgnash his teeth. Instead of helping at the ranch, he’d gotten out as soon as he could. He wasn’t a cowboy, after all. The fact that most of his brothers had stayed and picked up the slack wasn’t an excuse.

Instead of brightening, her eyes darkened. “We hardly see each other now. He’s hurt and dealing with it the only way he knows—by disappearing into his work. He’s working on building another hotel with Kennedy and adding new luxury services to their existing hotels.”

So much for finding a cheerful topic. His mother’s chin was up, but her blue eyes were sad. He ached for her. But he could relate to trying to drown the pain in work, in being productive. “Hurt, why?”

Mom poked into her slice of the peach cobbler. “His daughter doesn’t want to see him. Didn't I tell you the story on the phone, how his ex-wife kidnapped their little girl, and no one knew who took her? Then when Kennedy found his daughter, the woman refused to return here, poisoned by her mother’s lies.”

“Right.” He did his best to reconstruct the story in his mind. One could write a book about all the things that happened in his family and with the women his brothers had married. An entire series even.

How would his own story pan out? And why did he want Cinderella to be the heroine? His heart fluttered.

But this wasn’t about him right now. It was about his mother, who was upset. He got up from his chair, leaned to her, and hugged her. “I’m so sorry. I hope it all works out somehow and you two can still be together.”

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