The Cowboy Takes a Bride (15 page)

It was an unexpected question. “Someday,” she answered with all honesty. Husband, family…it would all come—later. “I've always thought in terms of my career first. My plan is to make my dreams come true, become a star, and then think about a husband and children.”

Dottie was studying her intently, as if looking deep into her soul. It was very disconcerting.

“Your career is everything to you, isn't it?”

Sugar didn't like the way that sounded. “No, it's not
everything.
It's what God's prepared me for. He put this dream inside me, and I'm determined to see it through. I feel in my heart that I'm meant to be a star.” She knew she sounded like a broken record as she gave the same defensive explanation she'd given all her life. Suddenly, repeating it to Dottie, in this roomful of women living in this place of sanctuary Dottie had created, it sounded almost embarrassing. Still, it didn't change Sugar's conviction.

Dottie's expression wasn't judgmental, but her eyes were serious. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”

Sugar felt a sense of dread settle over her. Dottie had the kindest expression on her face, but Sugar had a sinking feeling she wouldn't like this question. Still, she nodded, curious despite her apprehension.

“What would you do if God asked you to lay it down?”

Sugar felt as if she'd walked off the end of a pier. She had come to Mule Hollow to banish that horrible voice of doubt in her head, only to have Ross imply it, and now Dottie give voice to it.

“What do you mean?” She could hardly speak as the words swept from the shadows of her heart and roared to life with the fervor of the raging wind that buffeted the house. Was it just a coincidence that Dottie had asked such a question using those
exact
words?

“I'm not implying that what you've decided is wrong, I just want to ask you what would you do if God asked you to lay your dream down. Would you trust Him enough to do it?”

“Trust Him?”

“Yes. If He gave it to you…could you give it back to Him if He asked you to?”

“Why would He ask something like that? He put the dream inside me?”

Dottie's eyes softened. “When I ended up here, I didn't understand, either. I thought I knew my life plan. It was a noble one, but I had to give that over to God and trust that he knew what was best for me. I look at you, and I think about Abraham, who wanted a son so badly. When God blessed him with Isaac, he was asked that same question. And then, though Isaac was the fulfillment of his dream, God asked Abraham to give him up.”

Outside, the storm seemed to be calming down and a sudden hush came over the room. Everyone had been involved in their own discussions, and yet Sugar felt exposed, just as she had the night Ross said that she was afraid. Yes, she'd confronted her fear of failure, her fear that somehow she'd been mistaken about what God wanted her to do. But to just say that her dream
was
what she was supposed to do, and then say that God was asking her to simply lay it down at the altar—could she do that?

Call her stubborn, but she couldn't accept that God would ask her to do that. She didn't want to hurt Dottie's feelings, or lessen her experience, but…

For a person fearing failure, accepting that God was telling her to lay her dreams down would actually be the easy way out. She wouldn't have to take personal responsibility for her failure. Could Sugar lay her dreams at the altar? In all truth, she wasn't sure. But she was sure of one thing: she wasn't copping out on her lifetime dream without a fight.

She wasn't taking the easy way out in any way, shape or form. It wasn't the way she operated. It never had been, and yet…Ross's image came to mind and Sugar's entire thought process froze up.

T
he tramp of boots on the porch signaled the men coming into the kitchen, and saved Sugar from answering Dottie's question aloud.

Stacy, who'd been sitting across the room, came forward when Sugar stood up. “I'll take him,” she said quietly, reaching for the sleepy toddler.

“Thank you. He's really sweet.”

The woman smiled briefly before she walked away. Sugar got the sense that Stacy had wanted to say something more, but when she didn't turn back, Sugar decided she must have just imagined it. Instead of dwelling on it, she hurried to the kitchen to see what she could do to help the tired, drenched men who stood dripping on the linoleum.

They were so wet the rain collected in puddles, but Dottie wouldn't let them go back onto the porch. “No,” she said when they tried to retreat. “Don't even think about this old floor.” She handed them each a towel and thanked them personally for their help.

Sugar passed out cups of coffee, then moved to stand beside Ross when everyone had been served. She'd been worrying about him the entire time she was talking with Dottie, and she'd almost thrown her arms around him when he came through the doorway, safe and sound. But she didn't need any more little hints and speculations about them falling for each other, so instead she contented herself with standing close by his side, listening to him talk with the other men.

Despite the roof damage and the harrowing conditions they'd just faced, the men were in good spirits as they talked and sipped their hot drinks.

One of them was dress-store owner Ashby Templeton's fiancé, Dan Dawson. The striking cowboy oozed mischievous “Matthew McConaughey” charm.

“Friend, I thought you were dead meat out there when you slipped,” he said, looking at Ross.

Alarm slammed into Sugar. “What happened?”

Ross paused in running a towel over his hair, and shot her a rueful smile. “It wasn't that bad. My foot slipped when I was tacking the edge of the tarp.”

Her heart stopped, knowing how steep and high that roof was.

“At the
top
of the roofline,” Dan stated. “Only the Lord saved him from plummeting off the edge.”

Ross shot him a warning glare.

“Hey, I'm just saying I'm glad you're still with us.” Dan grinned, winking at Sugar before joining a conversation with the guys on his left.

Sugar looked at Ross.

“It was nothing,” he said in a low voice, turning toward her. “Would it have mattered to you?”

She got a mental picture of him tumbling off that slick roof, and her stomach rolled right along with him. It shook her to realize just how much it would have mattered. She looked up at him and nodded. “Yes,” she said. “Very much,” she added.

Ross's surprise was palpable. He clearly hadn't expected her to admit that. Sugar was just as astounded at the admission. She blamed it on her conversation with Dottie.

“Well,” he said, swallowing hard. “I'm fine. The roof is protected and the storm is almost over. God's good.”

Sugar took a deep breath and nodded.

God was good. But she was beginning to wonder if she understood Him at all. She was suddenly wondering if she understood
anything.

 

Ross pulled up in front of Sugar's apartment. The rain had stopped, but mist still hung in the air, seeming as undecided and frustrated about its next move as Ross. He glanced at the dashboard clock. One-thirty in the morning. It had been a long, eye-opening night.

Coming face-to-face with his mortality up on that building had shaken him. He hadn't wanted to let anyone else know exactly how close a call he'd had up on that slick roof, but when his foot slipped and he went sliding down those shingles, it
had
been an act of God that he'd not ended up going over the edge. That his boot had caught the lip of the gutter and the gutter had held…well, he was giving the good Lord all the glory on that one.

Sugar's admission that what happened to him mattered to her had caused his adrenaline to pump even more furiously than it had as he plunged toward certain disaster on that roof. When she'd said that standing there beside him, he'd wanted to draw her close and hug her. He'd held back, though. He was soaked to the bone and she'd changed into dry clothes, not to mention he was sure she wouldn't have welcomed the advance.

He'd been fooling himself for weeks now. In spite of all his attempts to guard his heart, he cared about Sugar. He was obviously a glutton for heartache, because that was the only place this could take him.

“Are you going to be okay?” he asked, fighting off the urge to reach out and touch her now. She'd been quiet the entire drive into town. She nodded and started to open her door. He hopped out of the truck and reached her just as she closed her door behind her.

She stepped up onto the sidewalk. He followed, not wanting the night to end. At the bottom of the stairs she paused, her hand on the railing as she turned toward him. “You came to find me tonight.”

“Yeah, I did.” All he'd been able to think about when he couldn't get her on the phone was that she might not be safe. Just as she, apparently, had worried about him while he was out on the roof.

She'd admitted that it would have mattered to her if he'd fallen, but he knew her confession was bothering her. Still, that fact gave him a little glimmer of hope.

He'd read her like an open book after she'd made the admission. She didn't want to care for him any more than he wanted to care for her.

They were standing in the beam of his headlights, and her eyes seemed huge as she looked up at him. His throat went dry.

“Why did you come after me?” she asked, her words barely a whisper.

Why? That's what a man who loves a woman does
—Ross had been in denial about it almost as long as he'd known her, but as he slid down that slick roof he'd known he couldn't deny it anymore. At least, not to himself. “I'm your hero, remember?”

She smiled. “Cute. But really?”

There was
no way
he could tell her he loved her. He was still trying to get his mind around it himself! Besides, he knew she would be unhappy if he told her. “Why wouldn't I come after you?”

Her eyes kind of melted in the truck light, as if maybe she liked the way that sounded. But, no, she was probably just tired. “Y-you and me,” he said, fumbling for the right cover-up. “W-we're friends. You don't want me falling off roofs, and I don't want roofs falling on your head.”
Well, that was lame
.

“Oh. Right,” she said, nodding. “Thanks for that. G-good night, then.”

He snapped his arms across his chest, locking his hands between his biceps and his ribs. It was the only way to keep from reaching for her.

“I've been thinking,” she said, swinging around suddenly, her eyes flashing. “I've enjoyed working with you.” She looked and sounded as if she were fighting to keep her balance on a tightrope. Or maybe it just seemed that way to him, since that was how he was feeling.

“I've enjoyed working with you, too,” he stated. “I need to admit something—I didn't have any desire to do this production. As you know, I didn't want anything to do with it. But I've enjoyed myself more than I could ever have imagined.”

She smiled. “I thought so. I mean, well, I thought you were enjoying the production part of it. You know, getting things started. I know you haven't enjoyed the acting part.”

He relaxed. “I've even enjoyed that.”

“Oh.”

That made him grin. “You're speechless. Wow.”

She chuckled.

“We have created something special, Sugar. Because you pushed me to do this, I feel closer to Grandpop than I ever have. I know where he got his love and drive from now. It came from the pride of taking something from the ground up and building it into a legacy.”

“So, does that mean you're going to keep the theater open for certain?”

He'd led her to believe he wasn't in it for the long haul—made as little commitment as possible, but that had all changed. “I am,” he said. “I know you're not going to stay here, but I was hoping you might want to remain a partner in it.” He hadn't realized he was going to say this, but now that it was out, he knew it was right. The financials he and Sugar had worked out had only been for the immediate future, but he wanted some way to stay connected to her, some way that would keep the door open for her to come back.

She looked thoughtful. “Out there tonight at the shelter, I realized you were right. You know, about me not having a life of any kind outside of achieving my dream.”

“I was rough on you. I didn't tell you that your passion for what you do impresses me. Your dedication, your commitment to it…inspires me. Yes, I said your
commitment
to it. I know that will steal you away from our theater here, but I understand it.”

She blinked rapidly, her eyes glistened in the headlights. “Coming from you that means a lot to me.”

He wished it meant enough to keep her here. Wished he could tell her how he really felt. But he couldn't. “You're one of the most talented people I've ever known. In God's timing, you're going to make it. I know I've been hard on you, but that's the way I see it.”

She took a deep breath and then threw her arms around him and hugged him fiercely. “I needed to hear that. Thank you.” She let go abruptly, then jogged up the stairs. He watched her as she switched on the emergency light he'd given her and then unlocked her door. She gave him a small smile before disappearing inside.

He stood there, still looking at her screen door as he gathered his wits about him.

He'd worked and acted with Sugar for the last few weeks, and he'd never been around anyone he thought had more reason to believe in her God-given talent than she did. There was no doubt in his mind that Sugar was destined to be a star.

It was only a matter of time. All she needed was the right moment, the right opportunity, and she was going to soar….

Right out of his life.

 

The damage to the county wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. Several people had trees down and some damage to shingles, but no one had anything worse than the shelter's ripped-up roof. Overall, Mule Hollow residents felt relieved and blessed that all they'd received from the storm was a few small twisters and not an actual tornado.

Sugar joined in the next day as many of the townspeople pitched in to clean the shelter's yard of debris. The insurance adjuster came out and gave his estimate, and no sooner had he left than Ross, jokester Dan Dawson and several other men, including a quiet cowboy named Emmett, joined Brady on the roof to start replacing shingles.

There was plenty of work still to be done on the show. Sugar could have easily left and gone out to the barn. There were so many people working at the shelter that she wouldn't have been missed, but she realized she wanted to help. She wanted to participate. This was a community that cared about each other. These were her friends, they needed her help and she gladly gave it.

At the moment, lending a helping hand was more important than her production.

She went to the side of the house to pick up shingles from the playground area, and saw Stacy was working there also. Sugar noticed the woman's gaze flicker up, keeping track of Emmett on that steep roofline. Sugar found herself doing the same thing with Ross. She was terrified he might lose his footing again, though she realized it was a senseless fear. The man was very capable.

His words from the night before had sent her into a tailspin. He believed in her! That admission alone had almost made her burst into tears. But knowing that she'd been right about his loving the work on the production pleased her even more. And the show would go on even after she left Mule Hollow. That meant more to her than she'd thought possible. She was so proud of what they were creating.

“I think it's wonderful how you can get up on that stage in front of all those people.”

Sugar had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn't heard Stacy move closer to her. Startled that the shy woman had actually spoken an entire sentence, Sugar went blank for a minute. “I love it,” she said, a heartbeat later.

“It would terrify me.”

“Have you ever tried it?”
Of course she hadn't tried it. The woman didn't talk!

“No. I never could. I wouldn't be good at it, anyway.”

Sugar tossed a broken shingle into the nearby wheelbarrow and, then, instead of reaching for another one, gave Stacy her full attention. “You know, sometimes getting out there on that stage, or in front of a camera, is a freeing experience. You might be surprised by what you could do while playing a role, that you couldn't do as yourself.”

It was true. Sugar knew firsthand; she'd been living for the hours she and Ross could be on stage and she could let herself be the woman who was falling in love with him. Suddenly, she was inspired with an idea. “Would you like to come out to the theater one night and help me go over lines? Maybe try it out?”