Maverick (Star Valley Book 3) (24 page)

Truthfully, he thought she’d decline. He figured she’d slink back to her seat, and do her best Magician’s Rabbit impression, disappearing from anyone’s notice. But once more Leah surprised him by lifting her arm and getting the lead singer’s attention. A few people whooped and hollered as she took to the stage, taking the mic in her hand and nervously planting her feet in front of the stand.

The tune was fast, which hid a lot of her mistakes, he noticed, but he couldn’t wipe the smile off her face as he watched her. When she was finished, she practically flew off stage and into his arms. “Oh, my God!” she gasped. “I did it!”

“Yes, ma’am you did. That’s another one for the list. And I have to say I’m torn,” he told her, sweeping her around the dance floor.

Leah frowned. “Between what?”

“Between listening to you sing again and getting to dance with you.”

“It wasn’t that good,” she argued.

“It wasn’t half bad, either. Better than any of us could do. And be honest, you had fun doing it.”

She smiled and it wrinkled her nose.

He reached out and touched it.

“I did. It was great!”

“Leah!” cried Dakota and grabbed the girl for a hug. “That was awesome!”

“Thanks!”

Dakota looked up at Wash. “Want to sing a duet?”

He blinked at her like he’d been in the sun too long. “Sing what?”

“I don’t know, we’ll figure it out.” Dakota grabbed his sleeve and dragged him up on stage, making herself, Austin noticed, conspicuous to everyone gathered under the tent.

Even Leah sensed it might be a problem and glanced nervously at Walker, who didn’t appear the least bit interested.

“Thought that would go differently,” Austin muttered.

“Me, too!” she hissed.

“I’ve taken a few punches myself from him that I’m fairly certain were really about Walker thinking I was too cozy with her.”

Leah’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

He nodded. “And I was spending a lot of time with her, just not for the reasons he thought. It was all part of a nefarious plot,” he told her.

“What kind of plot?”

“To save Snake River.”

“You needed to plot to do that?”

Austin sighed and glanced at his hard-headed brother, sitting alone. “My brother is three minutes older than I am and about three times more stubborn. He’s got it in his head that it’s up to him to save the place, and only he can. Not because he thinks he’s special or anything like that, at least I don’t think so. I kind of think maybe he’s a glutton for punishment.”

Leah followed his gaze and the corners of her mouth turned down. “I think maybe you’re right.”

“Dakota and I have idea, big ideas, and some of them are—”

“Gambles?” she finished with a grin.

“Gambles. And Walker doesn’t like gambles. Walker likes a sure thing.”

Leah paused for a moment before whispering, “Dakota seems like a sure thing.”

“I have no idea what’s going on inside that thick skull of his. I really don’t. All I know is he’s more stubborn than a nasty-ass mule we had once and more dangerous than our bull, Sampson, if anyone gets too close to Dakota. Or at least he
was
. I don’t understand what’s going on right this moment.”

“That’s terrible for her,” said Leah. Austin nodded his agreement. “But it’s still been a mostly good day. Cassidy and Sawyer seem happy.” Leah smiled at the newlyweds who were doing a fair job cutting up the wooden platform that served as a dance floor.

It wasn’t long before Austin realized there was something other than mere happiness for the newlywed couple behind those eyes. It was a longing he’d seen when she looked out over the Buffalo Bill Dam or at the ultrasound photos of the baby.

It was longing.

He stopped, bringing her to a halt, as well. Couples swirled around them as the band played on. “Leah…do you want to get married?” He thought to take things slowly, one step at a time, but hell if she wanted to make it official, he couldn’t see any reason why they shouldn’t.

“What?”

“Do you want to get married? We can. I don’t mind.”

“You don’t
mind
?”

“Of course not. You live here and there’s the baby to think about.”

Leah blinked at him, like a deer in headlights.

Or a rabbit.

“I…I have to go to the bathroom,” she blurted out and sped off out of the tent.

Austin watched her go, puzzled.

Sawyer appeared beside him, “Is she all right?” he asked.

“Yeah. I mean, I guess. I don’t know. One minute we were having a good time, the next she’s running away. She said she had to go the bathroom.”

“But you don’t believe her.”

“I do, but…she could’ve given me an answer.”

“An answer to what?” asked Sawyer.

“I…I asked her if she wanted to get married.”

His brother frowned at him. “How’s that?”

“We were dancing and she was looking at Cassidy and I got the idea she might like to get married, too,” Austin explained.

“So…you’re just going to grab Father Joe and have him do a quickie? Right now?”

“No. I didn’t say now. I just meant, you know, in general.”

Sawyer peered at him. “So, you said, ‘Hey, want to get married and have a barbecue’?”

“No!” Austin huffed. “I did not! I didn’t say anything about barbecue! It wasn’t like that.”

“Then how’d you say it?”

“I…I said…I said hey, want to get married,” Austin grumbled.

His younger brother grinned. “And she didn’t swoon right there in your arms, Romeo?”

“Shut up!”

“Did you at least tell her you love her?” Sawyer asked pointedly.

Austin blinked at him.

“I’m pretty sure you do,” said Sawyer. “And what I can’t figure out is why you haven’t just told her.”

“I didn’t think about it,” Austin answered honestly. “Everything’s so backwards, so crazy and mixed up. It just didn’t occur to me.”

“Well, figure out how to tell her and the rest of it will fall into place.”

After Sawyer walked away, Austin watched Leah from across the tent. She was laughing with the other girls, paying him no mind. It was nice to see her happy. Sawyer was right, as much as Austin hated to admit it. Leah deserved more than to just skip to the end of a Happily Ever After.

And like it was when he first laid eyes on her, now that he knew what he wanted, it was just a matter of going about getting it.

‡

L
eah could hardly
breathe so she excused herself and ducked out of the tent. “Bathroom!” she called out to Dakota and Rowan who were looking concerned. Rowan nodded, probably thinking she could relate. Around the side of the house, Leah bolted into the cool, dark space of the kitchen and shrieked when she nearly ran into Sofia. “Oh, my God! I’m sorry! I thought everyone was in the tent!”

“We need plates,” said Sofia. “For the cake. Are all right, mija? Perhaps you should sit.”

Leah nodded and lowered herself into a chair to catch her breath.

“Do you need tea?” the woman asked. “Something to eat? Is it your stomach.”

Leah shook her head, unable to answer for a moment then…“He asked me to marry him, Sofia. Well, kind of.”

The older woman peered at her. “Kind of?”

“He just sort of…said it. Like out of the blue.”

Sofia frowned at her. “Just like that?”

Leah nodded. “Just like that. Well, actually, he said he wouldn’t mind.”

The woman snorted. “Dios, just like my Manny. He never asked. He just said we should do it before the spring calving because he’d be busy then. In his mind, he’d already asked and I’d already said yes.” She shrugged. “Disappointing, yes, but he was a good husband and I forgave him.” She grinned. “As long as he brought me flowers often enough.”

Leah couldn’t imagine getting flowers or even being proposed to. “I mean, I don’t need a romantic gesture or a man on one knee.”

Sofia snorted. “They only get on their knees once, honey, you should get it while you can.”

Leah stifled a laugh. “It’s just…he doesn’t mind?
Doesn’t mind
? Well, then he doesn’t really want me, does he? I’m just…here…and he’s got nothing better to do. I don’t want to be an afterthought or an obligation.”

Sofia abandoned the stack of plates and pulled out a chair beside Leah. “He is a good man, honey, he just…he’s been up on that mountain too long maybe. He forgets he’s not a grizzly or a cougar or a wolf. He won’t raise a hand to you or ever be unfaithful but romance? Eh. You might have to nudge him now and again.”

Leah nodded, thinking she could live with that.

*

The next day,
Austin had left his keys on the hook in his bedroom and Leah swiped them, stuffing them into her purse. She doubted he’d mind if she borrowed the truck, since he was the one who’d taught her to drive it in the first place.

She headed into town and parked in front of the bank. Stepping into its air-conditioned confines was a nice break from the July heat. She let her eyes adjust, still seeing spots in her vision from the blazing sun outside, and noticed a girl about her own age waving at her.

Leah headed over to the counter. The girl’s name tag read ‘Honor James-Teller’.

“Hey!” said the girl. “You’re Austin Barlow’s girlfriend, right?”

Leah must’ve looked startled because the girl offered her a shy smile.

“Small town,” she said. “Everyone knows everyone’s business. How’d you meet him though? Where are you from? Have you been dating a long time or—?”

Behind her and older man cleared his throat and gave Honor a sharp look.

“Sorry!” she whispered. Turning back to Leah she offered her a bright smile. “How can I help you today?”

Leah smiled back. “I need to set up a business account, but I don’t know the first thing about it. Do you have a…pamphlet or something?”

“No problem,” said Honor, opening a drawer. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the man, who must’ve been her supervisor, and moved away, out of earshot. “So what’s he like?” she whispered.

Leah blinked at her. “Austin?”

Honor nodded. “I don’t really know him. He’s so much older. He’d already graduated by the time I was a freshman. I know he was the quarterback. I know he was really popular with the girls. Oh! Oops! You probably don’t want to know about that. Sorry!”

Leah snorted. Austin had too many moves in bed for her to think she’d stumbled upon him as a monk. “I’m not surprised.”

“Well, you know, certain reputations have people wagging their tongues in this town.” Suddenly the girl gasped and grabbed Leah’s hand. “Not yours!” she corrected quickly. “I didn’t mean
you
. I meant the Barlow boys.” She leaned forward, glancing furtively about.

Leah moved in, too, caught up in the moment.

“Is it true?” she asked. “About the cabin in the woods? People say Sawyer took Cassidy out there because for a while no one saw her in town after they had themselves a game of pool at The Silver Spur. Kidnapped her! Like his great-great-granddaddy.” The girl’s eyes were wide and Leah couldn’t tell if it was from excitement or fear.

She suspected it might be a bit of both.

“Is she pregnant?” Honor hissed. “They got married. And boy, I heard her daddy’s pissed about that! He comes in here a lot. And he’s never friendly.”

Honor James seemed fascinated by the Barlows and genuinely concerned for Cassidy.

“She’s not pregnant,” Leah told her. “She’s just madly in love. And I don’t know any more about the cabin in the woods than you do. I’ve never seen it but I doubt anyone’s been there for years.”

Honor sighed and was possibly very disappointed. “I’d like to be kidnapped by a Barlow.”

Leah laughed. “I can’t blame you.”

The old man started coming their way and Honor pushed a folder across the counter to Leah. “Well, here you go!” said the girl cheerily. “Everything you never wanted to know about setting up a business account. Just come see me when you’re ready.”

“Thanks, I will!” Leah stepped outside thinking that she hadn’t planned it but she’d practically kidnapped her own Barlow. And it seemed to be working out just fine.

Back at the house, she laid the folder on the kitchen table next to an empty picnic basket.