Fortune's June Bride (Mills & Boon Cherish) (The Fortunes of Texas: Cowboy Country, Book 6) (10 page)

Aurora shook her head. “And you didn’t need to, I guess, what with your stint as Bianca Blaisdell.”

Roselyn’s lips curved. She touched the base of her throat. “Bianca did rather put me on the map. It would have been such a waste if you’d gone on that audition instead of me.”

Galen studied Aurora, wondering what other tidbits she was harboring in her pretty red head that she hadn’t bothered to share with him. “Why’s that?” he asked Roselyn.

“They were looking for a type.” She lifted her shoulder. “My type.”

Bitch?
He wanted to ask, but didn’t.

“They wanted a dark-haired siren, not a ginger-haired ingénue,” Aurora said. “At least that’s what Bianca turned into once you joined the cast of
Tomorrow’s Loves.
Probably hard for you to give up the role.”

“Well, they couldn’t possibly replace me, of course. Bianca was too popular of a character to recast. My agent hears from the producers every couple months.”

“Wanting you back?”

Roselyn just smiled and rubbed her belly. “I have more important things to focus on.”

“When is the baby due?”

“End of September.”

When his sister Stacey had been pregnant with Piper, she’d been nowhere near as big as Roselyn looked. He considered saying so, but figured the woman would take her offense out on Aurora. “Hate to break up your reunion,” he lied, “but Aurora and I are expected somewhere in a little bit.”

“We are? Oh, right.” Aurora nodded. “We are.” She rose from the table and pushed in her chair.

Roselyn could do nothing else but stand, as well. “Give me your cell phone number, Aurora, so we can firm up details for dinner before we leave town.”

“I don’t have a cell phone.”

Roselyn whistled soundlessly. “That’s taking the small-town life a little far, isn’t it?”

“Not when anyone I’m interested in talking to is within shouting distance.”

Roselyn hesitated, then laughed, as if she’d just gotten the joke. “Here.” She snatched up the pencil hanging from the notepad attached to the side of his wall phone, and quickly wrote out her phone number. She tore off the page and set it on the table, then looked at Galen, expectantly.

Wishing there was some way around it, he told her the number of the house line, which she quickly jotted on the next sheet. “We’ll plan on tomorrow evening.”

“We’ve got performances tomorrow evening,” Aurora said, looking so sincerely regretful he was a little startled. “All week, actually. I guess we’ll have to give it a miss this time. But if you’re ever in the area—”

“I’m not giving up that easily, Aurora McEl—” Roselyn broke off. “Sorry. Unlike me, I imagine you’ve taken Galen’s name, traditional little soul that you are. We’ll just get together after your last show.”

“Won’t that be a bit late for your kids?”

“We’ll arrange a sitter service,” Roselyn assured Aurora blithely. “I’m sure Vicker’s Corners has
some
sort of agency we can use.”

Galen was pretty sure that Vicker’s Corners did not. And even though he could have named a half dozen people more than capable of watching her twins for a few hours, helping her out with child care wasn’t on his short list of things to do. So he tucked his tongue behind his teeth and stayed quiet.

“We can meet at the Hollows Cantina,” Roselyn continued. “On us, of course. Anthony can expense it and he’s been saying he wanted to try the restaurant there, since the owners used to have something to do with some mildly famous restaurant in his hometown.” She folded the note in half and tucked it inside her bra, then caught Aurora’s shoulders in her hands and brushed her cheek quickly against hers. “I’m
so
glad I caught you two here,” she added as she let go again and clicked her way to the back door again. “I’d have been brokenhearted if we didn’t have another chance to catch up.” With a wave, she sailed out the door.

Aurora’s lips twisted. “Heaven forbid that Roselyn be
brokenhearted
,” she said under her breath.

“That’ll teach you to bring me cinnamon rolls.” With the annoying woman gone, he scooped out another sticky confection with his fingers. “She’d have never caught us here together if you hadn’t. She might have gone on her merry way, never to darken your door again.”

“Proof that no good deed goes unpunished.” Shaking her head, Aurora returned to the sink, where the soap suds had fizzled.

Galen studied her slender back as she turned on the hot water again. “Anything else she steal from you that I should know about before tomorrow night?”

She added more soap. “She never stole anything that turned out to matter.”

He was glad to hear the words, though he wasn’t entirely convinced she meant them. Not about the feckless idiot who’d chosen Roselyn, anyway. The idiot whose name Aurora wouldn’t even voice. “What about that audition thing?”

She tucked the soap back under the sink and straightened to plunge the sponge back into the water. “I am sure it turned out exactly the way it was supposed to.”

“Why didn’t you go?”

She hesitated. “Because I didn’t get the message that they’d called for me until after she’d already gone in my place. We, um...” She sighed. “We had a pin board on the back of our dorm room door where we put each other’s messages. And that particular one had fallen off.”

“Convenient.”

Her only response to his sarcasm was to rotate her shoulders. “Doesn’t matter. They may have wanted me to audition, but they cast
her
. She obviously wowed them.”

“You might have wowed them, too, if you’d have had the chance. How’d they pick you out to ask you to audition in the first place?”

“Somebody with the show saw a student production I was in.”

“Shakespeare or something, I suppose.”

“Not even. It was a two-act written by an upperclassman. Last I heard, he ended up being an insurance salesman. If you go back and catch up on what my classmates are doing now, there are only a handful of people who made it in the arts. Roselyn’s the most commercially famous.”

“Because she did a daytime soap.”

“Don’t pooh-pooh it. While her character was tramping her way through scenes, the show had better daytime ratings than some prime-time shows. In a matter of just a few years, she became one of the highest-paid actresses in daytime.”

“Is that why you wanted to study acting? You wanted to get rich and famous?”

“I studied theater because I was interested in all aspects of it. Playwriting, acting, production. Mostly I just wanted to act. Be someone other than me for a while.”

“Only dream I ever had was being a rancher.”

“Which makes you luckier than most.” She finally gave up her pretense of washing dishes and turned to face him again. “How many people in this world never get to do what they’ve always dreamed of doing? More than those who do, I’m sure.”

“Mark thought ranching was settling.”

Her eyes darkened. “I know. But he never seemed to know what else he could do that would feel differently.”

“Do
you
think it’s settling?”

“I had a choice. I could have taken out more student loans and gone to a school closer to home. Could have joined a community theater group in Lubbock, or even started one up in Vicker’s Corners. I’d have still been here to support my parents. But after he died, I couldn’t seem to put one foot in that world and keep the other at home. In my mind, it was one way or no way. Probably the same mind-set Mark had, only he went the way of
no
.”

“I’m telling you, he didn’t do it deliberately, Aurora.”

She looked away, but not quickly enough to hide the sudden sheen in her eyes. “If I could believe that, maybe I wouldn’t still be so angry with him.”

He exhaled and went over to her, pulling her against him. Her head tucked neatly under his chin and he felt her arms slowly circle around his waist. “It was an accident, Aurora. That’s all.”

She sniffled. “It’s been ten years. I know I’m supposed to be able to let it go.”

He rubbed her back, swallowing his own feelings about her brother. They’d been thick as thieves throughout their adolescence. Mark could have had so much more in his life. But he’d already started throwing away his opportunities long before he’d chosen to drink and drive that night. “I should have paid more attention to you after his accident.”

She pulled back at that, looking up at him with genuine surprise. “Why?”

He would probably kick himself later.

But right now?

He lowered his head and slowly brushed his lips against hers.

Chapter Eight

T
he sound of Aurora’s blood rushed in her ears like a freight train.

She’d barely adjusted to the fact that Galen was
kissing
her when he was already lifting his head again.

“That’s why,” he said gruffly. “I should’ve paid more notice to what you were going through. You were a friend.”

She swallowed and pulled her arms away from him, and gripped the edge of the countertop behind her back instead.

There was that word again.
Friend
.

“You helped out,” she reminded. “Your whole family did. Jeanne Marie brought food and sat with Mama plenty of times. You and Deke and the boys helped Daddy. Most of the town pitched in one way or another. Just like they always do when there is a need. Just like you’ve helped out playing Rusty.” And now he was playing her real-life husband for Roselyn St. James’s benefit. “And...and everything.” She felt like an insect on a pin that he was studying and slid out from between him and the counter to retrieve the casserole dish from the table.

“No amount of these things—” she held up the pan in which only a single roll remained “—can ever make up for everything you’ve been doing.” She set it on the counter and walked over to the wall phone, lifting the receiver off the hook, and began punching out the numbers that Roselyn had written.

“What are you doing?”

“Calling to tell her the truth. And that there’s no reason—” She broke off when he plucked the receiver out of her grasp and dropped it back on the hook. “Galen, lying like this isn’t right.”

“Consider it our own student production.”

She looked up at him, studying the line of his jaw, its sharp angle blurred slightly by a haze of razor stubble. “I don’t understand you sometimes.”

“Not sure I understand me, either.” The corner of his mouth kicked up, though he didn’t look the least amused. “But we’ll get a dinner at the Hollows Cantina out of it. How bad can that be?”

Aurora smiled weakly. She hoped they wouldn’t find out.

* * *

“Does this look all right?” Feeling stupidly nervous, Aurora stepped out from behind the changing screen the next evening following their last show, and held out the sides of her dress as she looked at Galen.

He’d changed, too, out of his Rusty shirt into a black dress shirt that he’d tucked into dark blue jeans. “Dress is fine.”

High praise. She tried not to feel deflated. “I made a dash over to Lubbock yesterday afternoon after I left your place.” Which had been soon after “the kiss.”

He’d escaped even before she had, claiming he still had more chores to take care of. She’d finished cleaning up his kitchen in record time, half afraid he’d return before she’d left, and half afraid he wouldn’t. When at least that one room was restored to order and he still hadn’t, she’d called herself lucky and left, too.

The trip to Lubbock had been as much to distract herself from thinking about what he’d said, and done, as it had been to buy a dress she’d really had no business buying when she had a handful of perfectly serviceable dresses she could wear to the Hollows Cantina.

Retail therapy was supposed to be good for what ailed a person. It still hadn’t helped her forget that he’d kissed her.

Now, she self-consciously smoothed down the sides of the clinging blue fabric that gathered together slightly over her left hip, giving the appearance of curves that she didn’t otherwise possess. “I would have just gone to the dress shop I usually go to in Vicker’s Corners, but was afraid I’d run into she-who-must-not-be-named.” She knew she was babbling nervously, but couldn’t help it.

They were alone in the trailer. Everyone else had beat a quick exit as they usually did after the last show of the day. She stepped around Galen to look in the larger mirror that was situated above the bank of drawers. “I’d rather wear boots than these pumps, but I knew even my good Castletons wouldn’t look right with this dress.” Except for the bobby pins in her hair, everything she wore from the skin out was brand-spanking-new. She tugged at the surplice neckline that, again with the aid of subtly gathered fabric, gave her chest more oomph than either nature or the new one-piece body briefer had actually endowed. “Even though the Castletons cost more,” she added with a nervous giggle.

“These are Castletons,” he muttered and she glanced at the well-shined black cowboy boots beneath the hem of his jeans. “I bought ’em because they were a good investment. Built to last.”

She smiled a little. “I doubt you’ve ever bought anything because it was a fashion statement.”

His lips twisted. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. “’Cept this, I suppose.”

Dismay warred with a discomfiting sense of longing as she stared at his reflection in the mirror. The box was square. Black. Some insane part of her mind wondered if girls were born with a genetic ability to recognize a ring box when they saw one.

The saner part of her mind still warily made her ask, “What’s that?”

“You can’t be a bride without a ring. But I’m not going down on a knee here.” He pushed the box into her hand.

She immediately tried to give it back. “What you told Roselyn yesterday about the ring being sized was fine. We don’t need this.”

“It’s just some costume thing.”

It doesn’t matter!
She wanted to let the thought loose, but didn’t. Costume jewelry or not, she had a strong distaste for putting on a ring from him that meant nothing. She pulled the top off the small box and looked at the shining, oversize stone set in some whitish metal.

“Considering I found it in the drugstore, I hope it doesn’t make your finger turn green after wearing it an hour.”

She lifted out the ring and pushed it on the ring finger of her right hand. It was a little loose, the large diamond-like stone listing slightly to the side. “Looks like something Roselyn would choose.”

“So does that dress.”

Aurora sighed and looked at her reflection again. He was right, naturally. The sophisticated cut of the dress wasn’t at all her usual taste. Nor was the way she’d twisted her hair into a thick bun at the nape of her neck.

“And the ring’s on the wrong hand.”

“I’ll move it when I need to.” She had absolutely no enthusiasm inside her for what they were about to do. “We could be rude and stand them up.”

He set his black cowboy hat on his head and pushed open the trailer door. “Is it Roselyn you’re afraid of seeing, or her husband?”

Her mouth opened. Closed. “I’m not afraid of either,” she finally said.

He touched the small of her back and nudged slightly. “Then there’s no reason to stand ’em up.”

“Except for Roselyn being a nosebleed,” she reminded. She stepped out of the trailer, careful in her high heels. She wasn’t inept in them. She had simply never had a pair quite so high before. Five extra inches brought her up so far she could nearly look him in the eye.

For some reason, it felt oddly empowering. She’d heard of power suits. Maybe there was such a thing as power heels.

She shook off the whimsical thought in favor of not tripping over her own feet.

“It was a good audience tonight,” she said once they left the backstage area behind to cut across the park. “Particularly for a Monday.” Better to talk about work. Keep her mind off personal.

As if that were even possible.

“Hear anything about a real replacement for Joey?”

She shot him a quick look. “No. You?”

He shook his head. “I’ll call on the casting department tomorrow. Try to light a fire under Diane.”

“I’m sure she’d like that,” she muttered, remembering the way the other woman’s eyes had chowed down on Galen that first day. Though she had to admit that he didn’t look any too pleased at the prospect.

Instead, he changed the subject altogether. “Hear anything from your parents? They get off on their cruise yesterday okay?”

“Yes. When I got back from Lubbock, there was a message on the machine from them. They sounded giddy as kids. Mama couldn’t believe there was a phone inside their stateroom.”

“Why
don’t
you have a cell phone?”

“What? Oh.” She was having the hardest time keeping her thoughts in line when all they wanted to do was stray into fantasyland where she and Galen were on a real date that had nothing whatsoever to do with Roselyn St. James. “It’s just another expense.” They passed by the line for the Gulch Holler Rapids and could hear squeals of delight from the riders splashing down nearby. “Who needs that headache?”

“You do, driving that old truck of your dad’s back and forth to Lubbock every time you turn around.”

She stopped in her tracks and stared at him. “I don’t go to Lubbock every time I turn around. And even if I did, why on earth does that bother you now?”

“It’s a matter of safety.” He sounded gruff. He moved her aside so she didn’t get run over by a group of teenagers racing to their next attraction. “I’d say the same thing to my sisters.”

She started walking again. Nervousness had plummeted to resignation. “Never seemed to be much point having a cell phone here in Horseback Hollow.” Sisters. That was even worse than being placed by him in the friend category.

It was okay for friendship to turn to romance.

Not so with sisters.

“The landline has always been good enough for my folks. Guess it’s been good enough for me.”

“Ever think about living somewhere else?”

“Meaning at the ripe old age of thirty, I should?” Didn’t matter that she’d thought it more than once herself. She didn’t necessarily need him pointing it out, too.

“I wasn’t implying anything.”

“With all my newfound wealth playing Lila the Wild West Bride, I could buy up a McMansion in Vicker’s Corners,” she added tartly.

“It was just a question!”

She sighed noisily. “I’m sorry. I’m a little tense, I guess. Portraying Rusty and Lila is one thing. Playacting newlyweds in our own skin is obviously another matter.” She forced a chuckle. “As if anyone would ever believe you and I—” She couldn’t make the rest of the words come and was glad the sun was starting to go down. Hopefully that meant he couldn’t see the way her face was hotter than Hades.

“You studied acting, at least.”

“
Now
you regret not letting me fess up?”

“I’m not regretting anything.”

She wasn’t so sure. But she said nothing more as they continued making their way through the park and back to the employee area again.

Since they’d known they were going to the Hollows Cantina after their last performance, Galen had picked her up on his way into Cowboy Country for the day so that they wouldn’t have two vehicles to deal with, and she automatically headed toward his truck when they reached the parking lot.

She didn’t even notice Frank Richter sitting on the hood of his car until they were passing him.

“Lookee, lookee at Rory.” He slid to the ground in their path and ran his eyes up and down her. “All dolled up.” He whistled through his teeth. “Fancy and sweet.”

Aurora grimaced. “Save it for your saloon girl. She’s more likely to appreciate it.” She stepped around him. Galen’s truck was only a few yards away.

“There’s a lot I could do that you’d appreciate, if you’d let yourself,” he said after her.

She ignored him.

Galen didn’t. “Lay off, Richter.” His voice was flat. “The lady is with me.”

Aurora looked back in time to see Frank lift his hands peaceably.

“Sorry, man,” he said. “Didn’t know.”

“Now you do.” Galen’s long stride caught up to her. He unlocked the passenger door and waited until she’d climbed inside before closing it and going around to the driver’s side.

“I told you not to take anything Frank says seriously,” she said when he got behind the wheel.

“And you need to get your head out of the sand if you think he doesn’t mean what he says.”

She studiously fastened her seat belt. “Brotherly advice?”

“Common-sense advice.” He drove out of the parking lot.

They arrived at the cantina all too soon. Even on a Monday evening, the place was busy. The tables up on the second story’s open-air terrace were all occupied.

“Maybe we won’t be able to get in,” Aurora said hopefully as they walked through the front door.

As soon as they did, though, Galen’s sister-in-law Julia waved them into the dining room.

“I’ve got one of the best tables in the house waiting for you,” she said as she led them to a two-top near the wide wood and iron staircase that was a focal point in the center of the room.

“We’re meeting another couple,” Aurora told her quickly.

“I know.” Julia smiled at her. She was a few years younger than Aurora. But even though they hadn’t been classmates, Aurora had still known her from school and from Julia’s family’s grocery store, the Superette, where the other woman had worked before the Cantina opened. “I can’t believe you know Roselyn St. James!” Her eyes sparkled. “
Tomorrow’s Loves
used to be a secret addiction of mine.” She pointed at Galen. “Do
not
share that fact with Liam. He’ll never let me live it down.” She looked back at Aurora. “Ms. St. James called yesterday to make reservations. I didn’t take the call, but I heard that she made that call herself. Wouldn’t you think an actress like that would have ‘people’ for that sort of thing? Anyway, I
did
take the call she made just a little while ago that she and her husband weren’t going to be able to make it after all, but—” She broke off when Aurora let out a delighted shriek.

“She canceled.” Practically bouncing, Aurora looked at Galen. “She canceled, she canceled, she canceled!” She very nearly threw her arms around his shoulders, she was so relieved. Only the dawning realization that she was making a scene in the middle of the Hollows Cantina dining room where nearly every table was occupied made her control herself.

He had a half smile on his face. “All that worry over nothing.”

Julia pulled out one of the chairs at the table. “Anyway, in her message, she apologized for the short notice but she has a sick child, said to enjoy your evening together, dinner was still on them and she’d be in touch.”