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“I was bloated from all the meds they had me on when you and Mace got married,” she said. “I think I weigh less now.”
“How are you doing?” Felicity asked, and somehow, when she asked, Charlotte’s hackles didn’t get raised. But if she had been her momma, or Mason, or even worse, Beau, Charlotte would’ve come up with both fists swinging.
“Good,” she said. “I mean, I’ve been here one day. But good. I got to meet all the horses yesterday. They all love me, of course.”
“Of course,” Felicity said with a giggle. “You took them strawberry candies.”
Charlotte didn’t deny it. “I know I can be good at this job.”
“I know that too, sweetie.” Felicity sighed and added, “Okay, I have to jet. The timer on the oven is going off. We wish you were here for dinner.”
“I wish I was too.” Charlotte sank onto her bed, which she’d slept on great last night. “But Felicity, I really like it here so far.”
“I’m so glad.” She gave her a warm smile, and they waved at one another until Felicity ended the video call.
Charlotte took a moment to just sit and let things sink in, and then she got to her feet so she could finish her makeup and put on her earrings. Bennett and Ellie were getting married right here at Three Rivers Ranch, and Beau said he’d knock on her door and “pick her up” for the wedding at four o’clock.
“Is this a date?” she wondered aloud as she brushed foundation the same color as her skin across her cheeks and chin. He’d asked her to the wedding. He’d held her hand. He looked at her with the male edge of desire she hadn’t seen in a while but certainly recognized.
She’d just stepped into her shoes—a pair of clear heels that didn’t really match the dress. She didn’t have anything else, though, not for a wedding she’d been asked to attend yesterday—when a knock sounded on her door.
Charlotte hadn’t lived alone for a great many years, so knocking on her door didn’t startle her that much. Her pulse did speed a bit now, because never had she had the hottest cowboy in the state standing on the other side of that door. Usually it was a child who needed something, or her brother wanting to talk to her for a quick minute.
Now, she moved to the door and opened it, holding onto the side of it so she could lean her hip into it. She cocked her knee and stood on one toe as she smiled at Beau. “Hey, handsome.”
“Hey,” fell from his lips. He stared at her and then let his gaze slide down the dress to the clear shoes. “Aren’t you a pretty bird?”
She laughed lightly and hung her head. “It is a wedding, cowboy.”
“Sure is.” He offered her his arm, his smile already faltering. “I can’t be late. He’s my best friend, and I’m the best man.”
“I love the bowtie.”
“Thanks,” Beau said dryly.
“You didn’t have to take the rest of them down, you know.” Charlotte looked at the blank space on the wall in the hall where they’d been.
“I think I was ready for it,” he said.
“What were they?”
“Bowties from all the weddings I’ve been to,” he said. “From other cowboys here on the ranch. Some guys are still here; some have moved on.”
Charlotte heard the nostalgia in his voice, and she realized that Beau viewed his ranch friends, his cowboys, the way she viewed Felicity, Mason, and the kids—as family. “How long have you been here?” she asked.
“In Texas, about twenty-three years,” he said. “At Three Rivers, let’s see…coming up on nineteen years.” He walked slowly down the steps to give her time to place her foot just right in the heels. The gravel wasn’t going to be fun either, and Charlotte regretted her footwear choice.
“Do you remember meeting me?” she asked, her voice hardly sounding like her own. “I came to town with Mason a few times. You….” She trailed off, because she didn’t like where she’d been headed.
“I remember,” he said. “Vaguely.” They moved slowly down the gravel lane, and already Charlotte could hear twinkling music. The ranch held a vibrancy and life that only a wedding could bring, and she took in all the sights and sounds at the same time.
The bright blue sky, the striking green grass ahead, the classic red barn on the end. Beyond that, she could hear the music, and the sound of cars and trucks arriving, and if she listened hard, the din of voices who’d already gathered and were mingling.
“You must like it here,” she said when he didn’t go on about their first meeting when she was fifteen years old.
“I love it here,” he said. “I mean, anywhere is better than a ranch in New Mexico, so.” He chuckled. “But Three Rivers is my home now. The ranch, the town. I love it.”
They arrived on the lawn, and Charlotte was glad to stand for a moment to take in the scene. Balloons and streamers waved in the wind, but she didn’t see any tents, tables, or chairs. “Where are they getting married?”
