The Cowboy Earns a Bride (Cowboys of Chance Creek Book 8) (16 page)

Inez let out a breath. “Thank you, Mia. We can stop him. I know it.”

The door opened behind them and Tracey Richards walked into the restaurant. “Hi, Mia. Hi, Inez.”

Mia straightened her shoulders and smiled. “Hi, Tracey. We’re not open for a few more days. Is there something I can help you with?”

“Yes,” Tracey said, rushing forward and holding out her left hand. “You can help plan my wedding. I just got engaged!”

When Luke walked
into the restaurant an hour later, he hoped to find Mia alone. He didn’t know yet what he’d say to her. He wasn’t sure how she’d react when she found out he’d pried into her past. He wasn’t sure if he should ask about Warner, either. Would she want to talk about it if the man had—

Luke couldn’t even finish the thought. Every time he thought about what Warner had done, how he’d taken advantage of young girls, how Luke still didn’t even know the extent of it, he had to choke back the bile that rose in his throat. If that animal hurt Mia—

He forced himself to take a deep breath. First things first. He needed to show Mia he was on her side—that he supported her desire to be respected. He spotted Tracey Richards deep in conversation with Mia in one of the booths, talking quietly but excitedly. When she saw him, Mia exclaimed, “Look, Luke. Tracey’s engaged! And I’m going to plan her wedding!”

A lock of Mia’s hair had slipped from the loose, artful bun she wore at the nape of her neck. Luke longed to slip the errant strand behind her ear and to draw her into a deep kiss, but he suspected that wouldn’t go down too well, so he only said, “Congratulations, Tracey. Who’s the lucky guy?”

“Bart Lawton, from Butte. We’ve been dating for months and decided to make it official. Look at my ring!”

It was a pretty, graceful ring, not unlike the one Mia had preferred to the flashy piece he’d forced upon her finger. A stab of regret pierced Luke and he wondered if things would have been different if he’d simply gone along with Mia’s choice that day at Thayer’s.

But no—it wasn’t the ring that caused the problems between them. It was the way he’d told her she didn’t have a head for business. The truth was he had no idea if she did or not. He was afraid of the consequences of finding out, too. He was afraid they’d dig themselves deeper into debt. That wasn’t his call, though. Not his alone, at least. He was here to support Mia. If she wanted to be a businesswoman, he’d do all he could to help.

“That’s real nice, Tracey. I hope you two will be very happy,” he made himself say.

“I’ve got to run. See you Friday for our first consultation,” Tracey said to Mia. “Bye!”

“Bye.” Mia turned to Luke. “That’s two weddings in May! And Lila White asked me to help with her family reunion, too. Three events in one month—two of them paid!”

Luke blinked. She’d already racked up three events? Maybe she would make a go of it after all. Except…

“That’s a lot going on in one month. You’ll still work at the restaurant full-time, too, right? When’s Tracey’s wedding?” Mia was going to be as exhausted as he was these days if she took all of that on.

A worry line creased Mia’s forehead. “I forgot to ask. But I know she knows about Rose’s wedding, so there’s no way it’s on the same day.”

“When’s the reunion?”

Mia looked away. “It’s the day after Rose’s wedding, which isn’t perfect timing, but I’m sure I can handle it.”

“The day after? Won’t the wedding go until late?”

Mia shrugged.

“Sounds to me like you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. You should carry a calendar around so you don’t double-book yourself like that.”

She pulled back. “Like you know anything about it.”

“I know that much.” He tried to take her hand. She yanked it away. “Come on, Mia. That’s just good business.”

“If it’s such good business, why don’t you get yourself a calendar? Maybe then you’d remember to come over when you say you’re going to!”

Luke bristled. “The only time I’ve ever stood you up was because there was an emergency on the ranch. If you haven’t noticed, I’m the one running it these days. Everyone else is too busy. But it’s still all getting done.”

“I pity those cows,” Mia said.

“Well, I pity those brides. You’re going to be so tired from running around trying to handle all those events you won’t get anything right. By May you’ll be as big as a house, too.”

Mia pulled back, hurt written all over her face. Luke swore. He’d screwed up again—he hadn’t meant to hurt her, just to make her see sense. “Mia, that’s not what I meant to say. I just want…”

“Go home, Luke.” Mia pushed out of the booth and brushed past him. He caught her arm. Swung her around.

“I don’t want to go home because you’re not there.” He bent down and stole a kiss, knowing he wouldn’t get one any other way. When Mia didn’t pull away, he stole another one, and another. She stayed rigid in his arms, but she let him kiss her. When he pulled away, she leaned toward him, as if she couldn’t bear to part, either. He knew she wanted him as much as he wanted her and he pressed his point home. “You’re driving me crazy. I just want to be with you; that’s all I ever wanted. Look, I brought you something.” He pulled the small, wrapped box out of his pocket.

“I won’t be with someone who doesn’t know the first thing about me. Who doesn’t care about what I care about.” She tried to break free from his embrace, but he moved with her, placing the box in her hand, and wrapping her fingers around it.

“I know something about you. I know you’re the most stubborn, determined, hard-headed woman I ever met.”

“That’s not good enough. You need to know something real.” She got free of him this time and headed toward the back of the restaurant where she slapped the small box down on the counter. Luke knew he had to work fast or he’d find that damn counter between them again.

“Like about the beauty pageants?”

Mia stopped in her tracks. “What about them?”

Luke thought fast. How could he put it without scaring her off again? “You spent all those years looking for approval—from older men, mostly. That left you vulnerable.” He bit back Warner’s name. He wasn’t ready to talk about that yet. Wasn’t sure she was, either. “That’s a good setup for falling for Ellis’s tricks.”

“And yours,” Mia said evenly. “You’re ten years older than me.”

“Is that why you don’t trust me?” Luke moved closer to her. “You know I’d never hurt you. Not like those other men.”

Mia stared at him. “Maybe not deliberately, but that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t stumble into it.” Her frank statement stopped him.

“Like I said, I just want to be with you.”

“And
like I said
, I want you to know me before you say that again. I want you to know what I want. What I need. What’s most important to me. Until then, I want you to go, Luke. I have a career to build.”

In an instant, the counter was between them once more. Luke knew better than to try to follow Mia to the other side. Without another word, he turned on his heel and left the restaurant.

He knew damn well what was important to Mia, but he wouldn’t tell her. He’d show her instead.

‡
Chapter Eleven

T
hree events in
a row. She’d booked three events in a row.

How stupid could she be? Mia sat at her desk in her rented room at the Cruz guesthouse, her newly acquired day planner laid out in front of her, the beautiful hairclips Luke had given her still in their box, and dropped her head into her hands.

Luke was right. She’d end up making short shrift of all of them, having taken on too much. But what could she do? She’d given everyone her word and she didn’t want to start off her business by disappointing a customer.

When she’d called Tracey and found out that the young woman had planned her wedding for the Friday night before Rose’s Saturday affair she hadn’t known what to say.

“You’re going to skip Rose’s wedding?” she’d asked, scrambling for her calendar.

“No, we’ll be there. We’re not taking our honeymoon until next spring. We’re spending the night at a hotel in Billings but we’ll be back by late afternoon when Rose’s wedding starts.”

“But—” Didn’t Tracey realize how rude it was to plan her wedding that Friday night when many of her guests would have already penciled in Rose’s wedding the following day? Both women were well-liked in town, and they hung out with much the same crowd. What was Tracey thinking?

Mia couldn’t think of a way to convey that without hurting Tracey’s feelings though, so she’d hung up, still booked for both weddings. She fingered the hairclips, loving that Luke had chosen them for her—that he’d obviously noticed her change of hairstyle and supported her attempt to update her image—but hating the fact that he’d been right about the three events in close succession being more than she could handle. Why, why, why did he have to be right?

She heard voices downstairs and jumped up, hoping that someone had arrived who might help. When she went downstairs she found Autumn, Claire and Morgan in the living room.

“Thank God,” Mia said. “I need some advice.”

“What is it?” As usual, Autumn carried Arianna, who yawned sweetly and snuggled against her mother’s shoulder.

“Tracey Richards scheduled her wedding for the Friday night before Rose’s. Can you believe that? I can’t figure out how to tell her to change it.”

“That is… strange.” Morgan regarded her with a smile. “She’s invited to Rose’s wedding, right?”

“Yes, and she’s coming, too. She acted like it was the most normal thing in the world.”

“I’ll go to Linda’s Diner tomorrow and see what I can figure out,” Morgan said to Mia’s relief. “I’m sure Rose will understand either way. You don’t have to worry about it.”

“It’s just I’m Tracey’s wedding planner, too,” Mia explained. “I didn’t know her date when I accepted. I figured there was no chance she’d pick the same weekend as Rose.”

“And you took the job?” Claire said. “That’s not very responsible, Mia. You’d better back out.”

Mia was used to Claire’s habit of speaking frankly, but it still rankled. “I can’t. She’ll tell people and I’ll get a reputation for unreliability.”

“If you don’t back out you’ll get a reputation for letting down your customers. What about Rose’s rehearsal? And the rehearsal dinner? Won’t those be the same night as Tracey’s wedding?”

“No. They’re on Thursday, thank goodness.”

“What about Tracey’s rehearsal and dinner?” Claire said. “Won’t they be on Thursday, too?”

“I’ll tell her she can’t do that.”

“You’ll tell the bride what she can and can’t do?” Claire’s tone was caustic. “That’s not very businesslike.”

“What am I supposed to do? She’s the one who booked her wedding on that ridiculous day,” Mia cried.

“It’s
your
business. You’re in charge. Get on the phone and sort it out. Apologize and tell Tracey there’s a scheduling conflict, and that she has two choices: change the date of the wedding or find another planner.”

“I’ve been friends with Tracey for a long time.”

“That does seem harsh,” Autumn put in.

“It’s practical,” Claire said, her black bob swinging with her vehemence. “Businesspeople make tough decisions all the time, Mia. If you can’t do that, you shouldn’t be one.”

“Mia is still learning.” Autumn adjusted her blouse to nurse Arianna. “It takes time. Everyone makes a few mistakes. Mia, find out where Tracey intends to hold her wedding and reception as soon as possible. Get as many details as you can. Maybe there are things on her list and Rose’s that overlap and you can dovetail the planning you’ll need to do. A busy New York City wedding planner has back-to-back events all the time. If they can do it, you can, too.”

“Thanks, Autumn,” Mia said, a wave of gratitude washing over her. She avoided meeting Claire’s eye as she stood up and crossed the room back toward the stairs. “I’ll go call Tracey right now.”

“She’ll never pull this off. She’s so young,” Mia heard Claire say as she went upstairs. Mia increased her pace, not wanting to hear any more, but Autumn’s answer floated up toward her.

“Don’t underestimate her, Claire. I think she’s more on the ball than any of us give her credit for.”

“Where are we
putting this thing again?” Jamie called out as he and Cab struggled to get the queen-sized mattress out of the guest room door and down the staircase of Luke’s cabin.

“The basement over at Mom and Dad’s.” Luke took hold of one end of the box spring while Ethan grabbed the other. They tipped it vertically to fit through the bedroom door.

Luke hadn’t remembered how hard it was to get a bed in and out of these rooms until they were too far into the job to call it quits. He directed the operation as best he could, hoping against hope neither of the other men would take a tumble down the stairs before they were done. He’d grabbed Jamie, Cab and Ethan from Linda’s Diner, where he’d gone to lunch after another run out to Amanda Stone’s, and asked them to help him real quick before they got back to their workdays. His own brothers were all busy today and there was no way he’d ask Holt to wrestle a mattress down a flight of stairs, not with the stiffness in the old man’s hip. Besides, his dad was nowhere to be seen these days. His mother said he had a new project brewing that he hadn’t even told her about.