Page 23 of Fall or Nothing

“How did you pull everything together so fast?” I asked.

“I swear, Gavin knows everyone.” She said it fondly, the way she said most things about her husband, even a little amused, and not making a big deal that he was the county sheriff. “He’s dropped the word around everywhere sinceSunday, at the feed store, the post office, the grocery store, all his deputies, of course, anyone he could talk to from here to Lewistown. Local artists all called me before I could even purchase shelves.”

“The perks of living in a small town,” I chuckled.

We added my bottles, and then beeswax candles and ornaments before the bell over the door rang. Two couples entered, and soon the rotation of ranchers and shopkeepers and townspeople stopped through on their way somewhere else. The morning swallowed us both for a while, ending our progress on the display, but at least it was a start.

I finally had a moment to breathe between customers, and started in on the tangle of Christmas lights Harper wanted attached to each shelf when the door chime rang again, but not the quick single ring of someone slipping in alone, the held-open sound of a group.

I flashed a smile, seeing Ash came in first, taking in the room in one unhurried pass the way he always did. Colt was behind him, then Jake.

My traitorous heart flipped when Carter entered last. Even unshaven and tired, he filled the doorway in a way that made the busy café feel smaller. I spun back to the shelf, heart hammering, pretending to straighten an ornament that was already perfectly straight.

Harper materialized at my elbow, her voice dropping to the register that only reached me. “Is that the new cowboy from the ranch?”

“I don’t know. Several cowboys from the ranch came in.” I shrugged.

“You know very well which one I mean.”

I did, and I regretted, not for the first time this week,having given her the full account of the barn dance and my situation with Carter.

I adjusted the handmade tag on my product. Behind me, I knew the men had taken the table by the window, draped their coats on their chairs, and were ready for hot coffee and pastries. Everyone knew full well Eldon fed the guys at sunrise with a breakfast buffet any hotel would be jealous of, but they still stopped here for coffee and a snack anytime they had to leave the ranch on errands.

I peeked at them once, flashing my eyes over my shoulder. Ash perused the menu board, but I knew full well he’d order his usual. Jake said something, and Colt laughed. Carter sat, impossibly more handsome, more unshaven, staring out at the street with the quiet, tired look of someone who’d worked hard and needed a nap. Or two.

“Come in the back with me,” Harper demanded, touching my elbow.

“I’m finishing the display?—”

“Sixty seconds.” She steered me through the kitchen door.

I tucked my hands into my apron pockets and waited.

“What are you going to do about Carter?”

“Nothing.” I kept my voice even. “He told me himself he’s not staying. Those were his words.”

Harper raised her eyebrows. “Give him a reason to stay.”

“Harper, stop. Please.”

“Look at him.” She turned me firmly toward the pass-through window that looked over the front of the café.

I didn’t want to look at Carter, but of all the people inthe shop, my eyes floated to the different cowboy. Couldn’t help it.

“He said he’s leaving in a month,” I reminded her.

“Men say a lot of things.” Harper reached around me and adjusted my neckline lower with one firm tug at the hem of my shirt.

“Hey!” Good thing I wore my best push-up bra today. Then she pulled the ponytail holder from my hair and ran her fingers through to fluff my locks.

“Men also change their minds when easily swayed to do so,” she chuckled.

“I swear, if you don’t stop?—”

“Our customers need fill-ups. Wouldn’t want to make any of them unhappy now.” She pressed the carafe handle into my hands, and conveniently the oven timer went off. “Oh, I must get the muffins out.”

I sighed and stood in the kitchen doorway for three full seconds, reminding myself I was a grown woman who could handle this. Then I went out front and absolutely did not handle it.